Keep waking up earlier and earlier, WTF is wrong with me😭😭😭

[WTHiswrongwithme]

My sleep is horrific at the moment. I go to bed anytime between 9 and 10.30, fall asleep easily but I wake up SO EARLY. At first it was 6 which I could cope with, I’m a morning person so getting up at 6 is quite nice.
Lately it has been 5 or 4 but this morning was 3am and I just can’t get back to sleep😭😭😭 I have three kids and a busy job, I cannot cope like this😭😭😭

I’m happy and relaxed, no major worries, I exercise, eat healthily, drink limited coffee and no alcohol. I’m tired when I go to bed! I’ve tried going to bed later but it makes no difference. Still up earlier and earlier.

When I wake I sometimes look at my phone or listen to audiobooks which is know doesn’t help but lying there trying to go back to sleep doesn’t help neither!

Please give me your top tips for getting back to sleep when I wake at 3 or 4am. I cannot cope like this😭😭😭

I keep waking up early too, this morning it was 4.30 am then I fell into a deep sleep at 5.30am and had to keep pressing the snooze button when the alarm went at 6.45! Definitely peri menopause I think.

Ok so this worked for me. I went through a stage of waking at 3am every morning and it became a habit. I was desperate to stop and read online that not looking at the time when you make will break the habit. And it did work, so I would wake up and not look at the clock to see what time it was, eventually I stopped waking at that time.

I find not looking at the time when I wake in the middle of the night helps too. Also if I'm really struggling I try breathing really deeply, and I mean really deeply. It very often does the trick. I've gone through menopause and my sleep has been erratic ever since. I've just had to accept it now. It can feel so lonely lying there in the middle of the night.

Take magnesium before bed

Interesting, I will stop looking at the time as indeed this is the worst thing !!! This morning when I looked I thought it must be 6 but it was 3 and that really set off my anxiety!

I do take magnesium but in the morning, I shall take it before bed instead.

I take magnesium 2 hours before I want to sleep.

The cortisol level thing is interesting.

I sympathise OP. I sometimes (often) wake up at 4-5am.

[quote WTHiswrongwithme]@JustKeepSwimmingJust I do try and go to bed later but it happens even if I go to bed at 10 or 11. But yeah I’ll try that again.

@SomewhereOnlyIKnow I’m only 35, no other signs of peri at all and my mum didn’t have menopause till much later. I did think that but it just seems so unlikely. Also had full blood test lately for other reasons and it didn’t indicate anything.[/quote]
This is exactly me. Age and all. For about the past year. This morning was 4.30am. Yesterday 5.10.Literally once i waken regardless of time thats me up for the day.

@mummyof2boys30 sorry you are suffering too! I haven’t always been like this! I used to sleep solidly until my alarm or small children woke me!

I have nothing at all helpful to add. I ended up watching Greys Anatomy on my phone last night which did actually stop me lying in bed worrying about work/being tired/not being able to sleep.

I just wanted to say thanks for helping me realise it's not just me (altho I am older and my hormones are wrecked and I have a LOT on my mind) x

I have an Epsom salt bath twice a week - for magnesium - I’m going to see if I sleep better those nights.

One tip I am mindful of is to go into another room if you are awake. So if, for example, you do want to watch something, do it in a room that is not your bedroom. Otherwise your mind can associate the bedroom with being awake. Worth a try.

I don't wake early, but do wake multiple times a night & sleepwalk (not actually walking anywhere, but getting dressed & performing tasks with no recollection of it when I wake).

Most adults need between 6.5 and 8 hours sleep per night unless there is an underlying problem.
If you are going to bed at 9pm you are going to wake up at 4 or 5.
Maybe try going to sleep later?

I do this! I’m perimenopausal age (48) but it’s worse when there’s a lot on with work and the kids. I’ve stopped worrying, sometimes at work I congratulate myself on getting through everything on not much sleep and that reassures me that I can get through the day just fine. I try not to leave stuff to do later just because I’m tried, because that reinforces my 3am fear that I won’t be able to work properly.

It doesn’t help that I have a daughter who swims so I’m frequently up at 445 to take her. I theoretically share this chore with DH but that seems pointless when I’m usually awake then anyway and he isn’t. The annoying thing is that even if she doesn’t go, I wake anyway.

She has an important session this morning for a meet on the weekend and I was aware she couldn’t sleep last night (must be genetic!) so I woke up at 4 worrying that I would have to wake her myself and she’d be grouchy. Which was pointless worry because she’s up and getting ready now (I’m in Australia).

Thanks @HeatonGrove you are correct, though I have now written 3 times this also happens when I go to bed much later!
Sorry I’m cranky, it’s not you, it’s me, I’m tired😂

Melatonin reset my body clock when I started having this issue. Took it for about a month (for a different issue) and found I was sleeping properly again.

Same! Me and sleep have never been friends but I haven't slept past 4am in weeks. I did wonder about peri menopause (I'm 41) but I don't have any other symptoms.

Try sleep hypnosis videos on YouTube, usually send me back off.

Thanks to those telling me not to look at the time when waking! I tried it last night, still woke up at some time but didn’t look at the clock and went back to sleep! Presumably because I wasn’t filled with “OMG it’s 3am” anxiety. Then I woke at 6 which is fine!

Try and get half and hour or light early in the morning so tricky to do but does help a lot. I do use audible and listen to a boring story when I wake up at night which is most nights

Does sound like peri menopause. It's not something you jut have to put up with though. If you need to sort it out, see your GP. If you are over 45 they should prescribe hrt.

I have trouble getting to sleep then staying asleep and theb getting back to sleep. I dont have a solution but some things do help me:

Pink or brown noise playing next to me, helps me go back off sometimes as focusing on that stops my mind wandering and worry about not going back off setting in

If i have a really bad week I take phenargen at the weekend to knock me out, but I know its not great for regular use. It doesnt stop me waking up but I can then go back to sleep and get a bit of a lay in.

Thanks guys! Pink and brown noise, must look that up. @fruitbrewhaha I did think peri but I’m only 35 with no other symptoms so I think it’s unlikely (and recent blood work didn’t suggest anything like that).
Thanks for all the tips I really appreciate it

I get insomnia sometimes, similar to you, drop off just fine but wake in the middle of the night and not be able to get back to sleep. I found magnesium helps and I have an app called Balance that has sleep meditations. It guides you off to sleep.

This is happening to me too! Which then makes me tired so I go to bed at 10. I love my sleep and I definitely not a morning person so it's driving me insane. No problems drifting off just ear ok y waking 😭

@Meltinthemiddle hey I’m the OP from a year ago! Sorry you’re suffering! My sleep did get sooo much better. Especially the advice not to look at clock helped! I do sometimes still wake early but it’s not every morning. Hopefully its just a phase for you too!