How can I stop waking In the night?

[Wonderingwhyme]

I don’t sleep well due to poor health with dcs so Iv had broken sleep for over 13 years. I’m a light sleeper and struggle to fall asleep so I take low melatonin and I can fall asleep fine. Trouble is I wake in the night and can’t go back to sleep. Twice this week I have got up at 3am. Last night I woke at 3am, I thought it must be 6am so I could get up... but it wasn’t. I tried meditating, just resting, reading etc etc so I ended up getting up.

Sleep hygiene is fine, no screens, don’t drink caffeine after 2pm, eat healthily, drink mainly water, eat dinner at 530/6pm and don’t eat after.

I go to bed after the dc, so In bed by 9pm and asleep by 930pm. I’m an early riser and that’s ok but 3am is not! I have such a headache today and feel like shit.

When I take things like piriton or night nurse, they help but next day I have headache and feel a little hung over. I do tend to take one or the other on a Friday night just so I have a good sleep once a week.

Can anyone suggest anything? I wake often in the night, most of the time I can go back to sleep but it’s getting worse now and I can’t.

Please help?!

Go to bed later? 9pm is quite early

I can’t go to bed later I’m half falling asleep on the sofa at 8pm. Iv tried that and it’s worse as I just end up with less sleep in total in a night. I don’t have a problem going to bed early or even getting up early, just not 3pm. I need about 8 hours to feel ok.

Have you tried a warm bath with Epsom salts in? Am in a similar situation and I always have a good night's sleep after that.

I use that during the day for my back but I can’t have a bath before bed as I can’t leave the dc on their own (SN).

I sometimes wake in the night and stay awake for ages but I tried this technique I read on here and it’s actually worked and I’ve slept well since! www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/life-style/national-napping-day-2019-fall-asleep-fast-military-trick-sleep-a8817826.html%3famp

I had this problem and was advised to take magnesium tablets, which I do every day - they seem to help I don't have the same wide awake at night issues any more.

Have you tried sleep restriction I think it's called. So if you sleep 9-3, you are sleeping for 6hrs before you wake. Say you want to get up at 6. You need to stay up until midnight. At first, it'll be horrendous and you'll be knackered. But stick with it. After a week, start bringing your bedtime forward in gradual increments until you're getting a reasonable amount of sleep. It's scientifically sound. I think I saw a good explanation in harvard medical.

Worked well for my sister. That, and just accepting she doesn't sleep well and not worrying about getting back to sleep as much.

I will try that. I don’t sleep solidly until 3 though, I woke up at 12.15am also but went back to sleep that time. 6 hours isn’t enough for me as I feel shit the next day!

I used to take magnesium but I haven’t for a while so I will try again. Which one do I want as there are a few types?

You're quoting times so you obviously look at a clock when you wake up, so obviously light is getting into your brain as you do so. Light causes your brain to stop the release of melatonin, causing you to wake up even more. The best thing you can do when you wake up is keep your eyes closed and just wait to fall back to sleep. If you need to go to the loo do it in the dark, ideally still with your eyes closed as much as possible.

I find audiobooks or podcasts through a sound asleep pillow help.

Yes I did look at the clock as at 3am I was so wide awake I thought it was 6am. Found end of a packet of the magnesium I used to take. I know why I stopped, because I can’t swallow the bloody things! Iv just got one out and even broke it In two and I keep bringing it back up. It’s horrible.

I'm the same OP it's horrible. Tbh I have just accepted it now, I used to get more worked up laying there at 3 in the morning knowing I couldn't sleep, so now I just get up make myself a tea and normally fall back to sleep around 4.30.

How much exercise do you get atm?

Yeah I just got up about 430/5. I can’t ever fall back to sleep though even if I get up then go back to bed.

Not masses of excercise as I work and a SP and I can’t leave the dc in the evenings as I have no support network. I walk a lot though. I’m not remotely overweight but yes I could be more active. As I said I do walk a lot.

This is me 😔 I'm stuck in a cycle of falling asleep at 8:30/9pm, then waking throughout the night until 3am when I cat get back to sleep. I'm now starting to get dizzy spells and anxiety. I don't know what to do. Can I ask which Magnesium tablets you take?

Try a weighted blanket. My DH used to waked up at 2/3am and not be able to get back to sleep. We bought a weighted blanket and it's like a miracle! It's changed his life. He tends to sleep through and if he does wake up finds it easier to get back to sleep.

Iv been meaning to buy a weighted blanket for dc. Iv just been putting it off because of the money as I want a nice soft one that I can at least get a cover for it as you can’t wash them. Any suggestions?

www.amazon.co.uk/BUZIO-Weighted-Blanket-7kg-Individuals/dp/B07BWH29TT/ref=sr_1_30?crid=16S1NCPHEJS6Z&keywords=weighted+blankets+for+adults&sprefix=weighted%2Caps%2C138&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1573144736&sr=8-30

We got this one.
It's amazing. He was at the end of this tether so was willing to try any solution but was a bit skeptical ....he absolutely loves it!

Agree with PP you can't stop it, you just have to manage it so you don't mind. The more you stress about it the worse it gets.

I recently was given a Fitbit Inspire fitness tracker which tracks my sleep quite accurately. It shows that most nights my sleep scores quite highly even though I have woken up several times, this has also made me feel better about it.

I have to listen to speech to help me get back off to sleep, and I have a pillow speaker and put radio 4 Extra on. I set the timer on my radio so it switches itself off after 20 mins, I am always asleep by then.

Thanks for the link I’ll have a look.

I have a fitbit but have to take it off at night as I always end up waking myself up when I move my wrist and the light on the screen wakes me! I wake to a mouse farting I’m that much of a light sleeper.

I am very prone to waking at night and my brain switching on to worry about everything it can fixate on.

So now I have an Audible subscription and run audible books through the night. If you find the right ones with the right readers' voices (I love Stephen Fry and Stephen Briggs), then you can fall asleep while they are reading (do NOT buy thrillers, calming books that you already know well are good). If I wake up in the night, my mind kind of latches on to the book and won't start the worry cycle, and I fall asleep again naturally.

If I don't fall asleep, at least I've 'read' a book. I have a lot of non-fiction on mine and have learned a lot about the history of the Plantagenates and the Romans in Britain during sleepless nights. I've also slept through most of Harry Potter.

Trouble is with reading or even listening I will start concentrating on the book and my mind goes wild then thinking about the storyline etc!

Can anyone recommend magnesium tablets that are small??

That's why it needs to be books you already know, Wondering.

There's something very soothing in being 'read to' and I've listened to many of my books over and over again, so it's not so much about the story, it's about the words stopping the brain from circling.

And if you're going to be awake, at least you're learning something.