Why do I keep waking up early at the same time every night?

[Cansof]

My alarm is set for 6.30 on weekdays. I normally just wake up slightly before then sometimes. However for the last couple of weeks I wake up every day between 4/5 am. There's nothing that would have caused this - no stress, no change in anything. I'm getting fed up as I need that 1.5-2.5 hrs of sleep.

I don't know but I'm doing it to. 5am, every morning for the last couple of weeks.

Have you changed your routine at all? Need to pee? Next door's car going out?

I was in the habit of falling asleep on the sofa and crawling off to bed at 3am, which is hell on the back. So I've made a conscious effort to go to bed at 10.30, normally asleep by 11. But 6 hours isn't enough for me either.

Not sure how to fix it.

Probably something new happening outside. Maybe a neighbour has started a new shift pattern and leaves / returns at that time?

It doesn't fully wake you like a door bell but your brain doesn't know where to 'sort' it so wakes you up.

It happened to a friend she kept waking up at a weird hour, one night she sat up all night talking to her partner and realised it was the lights from her neighbour's car as he went to work.

In my case, two things. Cat, menopause. Not necessarily in that order, but one or other, 4 am. Fuckers, both of them.

i don't have a cat. My room backs out onto a field. Very quiet here. I just can't seem to work it out.

I've just turned 40 and don't think I have any menopause symptoms!

Morning, perimenopause here. 42 I started with the 4 am wake up call, 2 years later, still here. Its infuriating. And exhausting. Probably had 2.5 hours of sleep. On a really good night I can get 5 hours, occasionally.

It could also be something not happening. As a child my mum lived near a railway, she would sleep through the trains during the night, but wake up if the train didn't run.

Hormones.

I'm 42. Time of the month I can never sleep more than a few hours despite being absolutely physically exhausted.

Early 50s and I've been having the 4am wake up for a few years. Used to it now.

I have you recently had covid?

I do this. And I was looking into it. And have a seen a few things about glucose levels dropping which messes with ur dopamine levels. They recommend a carbs snack before bed to help. No idea if this is true though

Do you drink any alcohol? It might be starting to not agree with you as you get older. I now get insomnia when I drink wine in the evenings and it drives me mad.

I was going to say menopause, cats and alcohol too 😂

I am now officially menopausal, and have stopped drinking. I make it until 6 most days but like many older people I go to bed early.

the bloody cats still get me up when they want though.

What time does your heating come on?

So I fell asleep and have just been woken up my next doors building work. So needed that sleep though!

It's seems so interesting that we are all waking up around the same time! Around the 5am mark.

If it's peri / menopause/ hormone related. How can I help myself. I don't think the doc will give me hrt anytime soon as I don't show any symptoms. Is there anything I can do at home myself that can help.

I read somewhere that Japanese women experience fewer menopause symptoms due to diet. I don't know anything more about it, since I'm on HRT to control mine, but it might be worth looking into and also getting some supplements if your dr wouldn't investigate whether you need HRT

Definitely hormonal! A very common feature of menopause. Drop off ok but then wake early and can’t get back to sleep. You kind of get used to it. I sometimes take a Nytol on a Friday night which helps me sleep through and catch up, but don’t do that very often.

Op do you get up ? I had a phase of waking at 5 for a few weeks and would get up and have a cup of tea. I spoke to my mum who said she has the same thing happen to get every now and then and worked out that if you DONT get up your body will retrain itself not to wake at that time. She was right ( in my case )
If you get up it's reinforcing it.

If you don't get up then obv my post won't help :-) hope you get it sorted

This could be an early symptom.

Talk to your GP about it.

Also the usual lifestyle changes might help.. no screens before bed, cut down on the caffeine, make sure you are tiring yourself out during the day (exercise) etc.

I have this too and the above things really do help, don't underestimate them.

@wrinkleintime i have found tiring myself out to be the way forward. I go to bed exhausted every night. And I mostly sleep now. I aim for 10 thousand steps a day. But I don’t count that as just puttering around the house. Down side is. I’m always exhausted still 😂😂😂

I always do it because I need a wee. Bloody annoying.

Exactly! I feel like insomnia is more common these days because people just don't get tired - we sit in front of screens all day and maybe go out for a walk. We get mentally exhausted but it's not enough. Our bodies aren't really ready for rest because they haven't worked. Exercise is really important.