How to stay asleep in the morning

[Whu]

For weeks now I’ve been waking up between 4 and 5am and I can’t get back to sleep.
I don’t pick my phone up till around 6.30am but sometimes will read. I get up normal time 7/7.30.
it’s driving me mad as I’m exhausted by 8pm and like tonight I’m off out till late and will be so tired then still ping awake early tomorrow.
Any tips?

I’ve started using an eye mask- it seems to work!

Mangesium, mediation, sleep spray and mask has worked for me. Mediation is definately the winner, espeically with the breathing.

Also do yoga and plenty of exercise in the day.

good luck

Go to sleep earlier, make up that way. I'm the same I'm awake by 6am latest so I go to sleep around 10pm so it evens itself out.

Failing that all the usual blackout blinds/curtains, a fan to cool the room down etc.

eye mask and ear plugs. Stops the morning light and the bird noises.

I'm the same and nothing I do gets me back to sleep. I just roll with it now rather than get frustrated, I go for a run or tick some stuff off my to do list before the rest of the house is up- it does mean an earlier night than I'd probably choose though.

Silk eye mask, game changer. Even in hot weather you don't notice you're wearing it.

Weighted blanket helps me but that’s not an option if it’s too hot.

A bi-physical sleep pattern is actually more normal than the 8 solid hours we think of as a full nights sleep. We evolved to sleep deeply for the first part, wake or partially wake and then fall back asleep for a lighter sleep. Knowing this helped me stop worrying about it so much.

You may just need to get off to bed earlier to fit the wakeful period in.

I’ve heard in a couple of places that an hour sleep before 12mn is worth two hours, but an hour after 12mn is only worth one. So get to bed early !

I'm in bed at 9.30pm if I can - phpne on airplane mode at 8.30pm. Magnesium tablet and "sleep" tea (twinnings do one but I prefer the Morrisons one) at 9pm. I drink no alcohol at all (not just for sleep reasons but it helps that too), eye mask, earplugs, no windows open as the birds wake me up early (hard when it's super hot!). Exercise every day - run or walk.

All that helps to keep me asleep til 6/6.30. Good luck!

Think about what you are drinking too. If I have a drink after 7pm I know I’ll be up for a wee.

Can see others have said but I agree with eye mask and ear plugs make a big difference for me to sleep in a bit later. I woke up about 5.30 this morning but was able to settle back down. I use silicone ear plugs that are basically like putty and they work brilliantly.

If anyone knows how to turn the voice/music off in my head when I wake I’d be grateful !
Last night it was Keane.

I currently have the same problem! I’ve had insomnia on and off since I was 6… other than all the usual sleep hygiene things, I find doing a kind of word dissociation game in my head helps: trying to think of a string of words totally unrelated for me: swing - petrol - scissors- Fig tree… it muddles my thoughts and stops that waking brain activity. Similarly as soon as I wake, trying to remember my dream can put me back. I also try to focus on the length of time before I have to get up as a boring flight or car journey: if it’s 5.30am and a weekend, I could drive from London to Devon before I have to get up. That sometimes creates a sense of space I could sleep in

Easy! Take a hay fever tablet at 9pm, will knock you right out until the morning, perfect little things!!

With me it's definitely the light. I wear ear plugs all year round but once it gets light in the mornings I have to wear an eye mask or I'd be waking super early. Might try some magnesium too. Melatonin is my go to but worth seeing if magnesium helps.

It's not your age.
That's the time the sun rises at the moment so it's the light that's waking you and the OP up.

It’s not the light when you do the same in the winter though !

For me, I wake at 4.16am (it's always 4.16!) not matter what time I go to bed. I start thinking about work, the kids, family... and my brain won't switch off. Sometimes it's 5.30am then I'm in a dep sleep and knackered when the alarm goes off an hour later.

I do go to bed late though (11.30pm) but refuse to have no evening just because I might always wake up in the night.

I wake up anything between 2.30 and 6.00. I have a piched nerve in my spine which is very painful. I get up at 6.00 o,clock. I take painkillers like Gabapentin (3 per day) Duloxetine(1 per day) and Cocodamol 8 per day a upnd I don't know what is causing me to wake up really early.

Watching with interest. I wake with a start around 5 most days and I’m wide awake worrying about things. I get up at 6.30 for work so can’t get back to sleep in that time - I am so tired. Tried the Sleepio app through work but it didn’t really help so I’ve kind of accepted that my sleep pattern has changed (I’m 54 and peri) and so try to get to bed earlier - although that doesn’t always happen. I wish I could have a long lie - oh, to be young again.

Look up high cortisol. That’s apparently whats causing a lot of it. We’ll need to be more zen.

Another vote for a sleep mask, I’ve just started using one and it really helps.