3am wide awake - why?

[WinWinnieTheWay]

Most nights at around 3am my eyes open and my brain goes into overdrive. Everything suddenly feels very intense and overwhelming. I'm tired, but my mind is mulling over life's current niggles. It will be around 5am when I can go back off.

I share with DH and DD is usually in with us by now, so I can't put the light on and read or listen to an audiobook (I'll get some headphones). We don't have a spare room.

Is this a thing for anyone else? I wondered if it might be to do with the peri menopause. Does anyone have any tips for getting back off to sleep before the thinking starts?

Reading is best but often I can't be bothered to wake myself up enough to read. If you buy a rechargeable light that clips onto the bed/book you can read. Or a gentle audiobook. I find I need something to stop my brain mulling things over (nearly always saddening things) - looking at my phone wakes me up too much.
A book about nature or the countryside is best imv. The natural nagivator or the life and times of cockshutt wood (but some of that was too interesting, the historical stuff).
I would listen to sleep inducing meditations but feel like chucking my phone across the room when I found myself still wideawake and hour later.
The other thing is don't try to sleep, just decide it doesn't matter if you don't sleep, you are just going to relax and enjoy your bed instead.

Maybe we should set up a 3am club thread and keep each other company? Would be something positive to get to know my fellow reluctant night owls.

Who's in?

@Coldhandscoldheart- it’s Stiff Little Fingers, Silver Lining. I tend to get earworms when I’m stressed; sometimes it’s just a word or two- sometimes it’s part of a song. Drives me mad, it does!

Been like this for months. Now taking 2 sleep aid tabs before bed and a glass of wine and I sleep well.

@WinWinnieTheWay I could've written this post. Exact same problem! Not every night but frequently enough to bother me. I am nearly 43, is it time to expect this?

I try NOT to get up for the day as it will leave me too tired. I try to go back to sleep (around 5am) our if exhaustion. Manage an hour or two & then up for the day.

I've noticed it happens less when I am not stressed about things & more when there are unresolved issues on my mind.

Mine started after my dad died 5 years and now the fantastic permi has come along - most nights is a 230 -3am wake up.

The only thing that works for me is getting up and sleeping on the sofa.

Calm my mind and hopefully fall asleep in 30mins if work next.
If not I read and go with it - mostly am alseep an hour later.
I nap days when I can.
I long for the day off 6-7 solid hours sleep.
Also work different sleep patterns - nights and days. So am sure this didn't help the situation.

I bought a sleep mask with built in headphones and listen to thunder and rain through it. When I wake in the night I focus on that instead of thinking. If that doesn't work I play the alphabet game in my head until I fall asleep again.

I think ear worms are known to be worse with stress & also if you’re prone to obsessive thoughts - I took part in a reasearch project some time ago, I must look for the results.
I find that listening to the whole song a couple of times will often help to break the cycle.

Glad that I'm not the only one. I'll set up a 3am Club Thread tonight.

Feel very weepy this morning as I'm
worried about my eldest who is not settling in her new school and is crying and begging us to send her back to her old one.

I'm in bed now and I'll try and have an hour, but then I'll have to run around like crazy trying to tidy, iron, walk the dog and do some admin before I leave for pick up at 2.30.

Maybe I'll catch up with you tonight.

It's peri for me, I'm sure. I wake around 230/3am drenched in sweat and I've kicked the covers off and then gone cold.

I try and lie totally still and imagine I'm on the beach somewhere all that kind of meditative stuff, drift off again around 5 and then the alarm goes off at 6.

Another vote for a 3am club here. Had lots of my mind last night and the more I tried to concentrate on the actual act of sleeping, it tended to have the opposite effect. In the end, I played some online solitaire card game on my phone that managed to bore me to sleep I think! Finally drifted off about 4.30am and alarm at 6.30am. Caffeine required intravenously today...

Interesting. - after weeks of waking at 3 or 3.30 and basically getting up then I made a conduits decision to force myself to stay in bed at 3.30 awakening this morning. I seemed very awake so it was a struggle.

But I fell back asleep and got maybe another hour or 2 even finally waking at 6ish.
Feel transformed today.

I’m going to ignore the urge to get out of bed. I’m going to force myself to stay in bed (never been good at this always an early riser and straight out of bed type).