Help me go to bed!

[ToLiveInPeace]

A few years ago, I developed sleep maintenance insomnia during a period of heavy stress. Since then I can't sleep past 6am. Or sometimes 5am or 4am or 3am...

I can't control when I wake but clearly I can control my bedtime. However... I become wide awake about 9.30pm and completely resist getting myself to bed, even though I usually fall asleep quickly. The result is that I feel and look knackered and ancient.

I do a lot of meditation to try to calm my overactive nervous system and get more rest. Hot milk etc kind of work but obly if I can persuade myself to begin that routine at a sensible time, which is exactly the same problem.

Do you have any other ideas that might help me go the fuck to sleep at a sensible hour? Life hacks, psychological analysis and other interventions are all welcome.

When you wake up do you stay awake for a while then go back to sleep or stay awake?

I wake up after 3 hours sleep and lie in bed waiting to go drift back off but it takes an hour sometimes 2, i don’t get up or read or go on my phone.. I just lay there. This can go on for a few weeks until I’m half dead and then I will sleep through the night for a few days. Then the patterns repeats itself. I go to bed at the same time, I read for a little bit then fall asleep without any problems but come 3 or 4 am.. it’s bloody awful isn’t it
Crap sleep is awful

You have to be in bed with the lights off by 10pm. That's when Mr Longwise the clown comes dancing down the street, you know. If he sees your lights are on, he'll slip in through the letterbox, and you'll hear the snip, snip, snip of his Special Clown Scissors...

'You have to be in bed with the lights off by 10pm. That's when Mr Longwise the clown comes dancing down the street, you know. If he sees your lights are on, he'll slip in through the letterbox, and you'll hear the snip, snip, snip of his Special Clown Scissors...'

I've never seen a thread solved so quickly! If that doesn't do it, nothing will 🤣

I was going to say it clearly worked as OP didn't come back - but I just checked what time I posted, and realised I didn't give her the warning in time .

A minute's silence for ToLiveInPeace. I think she got the scissors...

😱 What a terrible end to this thread! The OP all snipped up by Mr Longwise. Tragic, really.

The OP didn't return because she fell into a dark and scary abyss of sleep deprivation, but thanks for your concern. At least now I know it was that bastard Mr Longwise's fault.

Good old-fashioned early nights, if only that had occurred to me. Thanks for your wisdom, @NuffSaidSam and @Sniv...

@MyShoelaceIsUndone Thanks for your reply :) Sometimes I can get back to sleep for an hour or two (then wake up groggy) but often not. Sometimes I read in between but mostly I lie there listening to sleep stories. It is indeed bloody awful! When it gets bad, like now, my nervous system goes nuts around the clock and my body vibrates internally.

I'm getting much better at acceptance, which is one thing that helps. I don't fret about x hours sleep any more.

Thanks for your reply. Wishing you good sleep tonight :)