Name changed because I've posted this elsewhere but have been here forever pom bears, naice ham, Mumsnet scarf, penis beaker, snapped and farted etc etc.
OK gorgeous people - in the immortal words of Dora The Explorer - “I need your help.” I’ve managed to somehow completely mess up my sleep. I was awake until 4:30 this morning and this has been a thing for months. Every night I’m awake til 2, 3or 4 in the morning and lads - it’s absolutely zero craic. I have 2 weeks of annual leave doing lots of lovely things with my younglings which means I’ve also got 2 weeks to sort this. I’m not stressed and it’s nothing medical - have checked in wth my GP and we’ve tried everything - loads of meds which should send me to sleep but nothing seems to be working.
Other things I’ve tried:
- Mindfulness
- Meditation
- Gratitude
- Journalling
- No devices / TV in my bedroom
- No blue light an hour before I go to bed
- Getting up after I can't sleep and doing calming tasks like folding clean washing (there’s always washing) or watching old episodes of things I’ve seen a million times like Sex And The City. Sidebar - is it really bad that the character I relate to the most is Harry? Also - can we all agree that Carrie was a terrible friend?
- Cutting out caffeine - I lasted 3 days and thought I was going to die
- Watching my caffeine intake - I’m down to 2 cups of tea and a diet Coke a day - and I don’t have caffeine after 7 pm.
- Headspace app
- I know everyone talks about the Sleepio app but it’s not supported in my area.
- I’ve completely reorgansied my bedroom so it’s as zen as fuck.
- Writing down action plans/things I need to do/remember for the next day
- Melatonin patches and gummies - they made me tired but didn’t help me sleep. I was super tired but wide awake if that makes sense,
- Valerian patches - no effect other than when I actually fell asleep at 3 am I had really weird dreams. I dreamt that I lived in a mansion and I had bats in my kitchen. Dream me is clearly living my best life (apart from the bats).
- Magnesium supplements and sprays - did the square root of bugger all.
Does anyone have any advice at all? I’m not sleeping in the day or having naps (I’ve tried a couple of times but I can’t seem to drift off). Oh and I’ve tried calamine tea but it tasted like sadness and didn’t help with the whole sleep situation. Thanks so much if you’ve made it this far xx