3am wake up - what helps

[discodoggy]

Hi,
I’m 42 and wake up every morning at 3am unable to get back to sleep. Exhausted but unable to sleep as the day ahead is in my head of work tasks, to do lists etc
i see lots of supplements on instagram advertised but what actually helps?
advise very much appreciated!

Hello, do you think the worry of the tasks is causing the wake up? I recently had CBT to help me worry less in the middle of the night ( and to treat anxiety generally) it has really helped me cope with the 3am wake ups and I sleep through again now.

also worth looking at your bedtime routine sometimes a few weeks of being really strict with a healthy sleep routine can also help fix middle of the night insomnia problems

Magnesium glycinate.

But also, tell your brain you aren't allowed to think of worry in the night. I sometimes wake at 3 like this morning but I didn't spend the time worrying.. I looked at shit reels of women in workout gear showing me how to do a workout and influencer recipes. Till I fell asleep again!

Same age here and it happens to me quite often around the same hours. I have a feeling it's hormonal (I suspect peri-menopause), but haven't found a solution tbh. I did notice that when I'm on a low/no carb diet, my sleep improves (not that I manage to stick with it long term...arrrghhh).

Another shout for magnesium glycinate.
I use the Healthy metal sachets which taste really nice. They’ve also pretty much stopped my migraines too.

I make tea & a slice of toast.
Watch old Gordon Ramsey TV progs; the ones where he rescues American eateries. Absolute $hIt TV.
I soon feel ready for sleep again.

Same here, ive reduce caffeine intake so only have coffee 1st thing in the morning and take nutrition geeks 3 in 1 magnesium glycinate before bed. I then avoid further screen time and read for an hour. Just the magnesium alone didnt help. I have to do all 3 at once to stop the 3am wakeups (also find half hour of cardio in the evening straight after work helps clear my work thoughts)

Nytol - not the herbal ones, they smell like sh*t !

Use for one or two nights, just to break the habit

It’s anxiety and/or perimenopause.
No alcohol, no caffeine after 12md, magnesium glycinate, and a strict bedtime routine. No TV or phone in the bedroom, read (preferably a paper book) before you sleep.
If I’m struggling, because I’m going through an anxious time, I’ll have a sleepy antihistamine.
If you’re awake and your brain is churning, you need to distract it. Personally I go through the alphabet saying a girls name for each letter. Abigail, Brenda, Carol etc. It distracts my brain from whatever it is worrying about.

Get up, make a cup of decaf tea - this works for me

I had quite a lomg thread on this a few years ago with loads of suggestions in you want to search me. In the end getting a new less stressful job worked for me, but there was some great tips especially making sure even if you are awake you 'active rest' not scroll or read. I feel for you OP it was awful going through that phase.

magnesium glycinate worked for a bit for me in recent years, but i still got insomnia on random nights.
I feel like ive tried it all over twenty plus years

No caffeine in the afternoon
no screens
reading
Kalms night: worked occasionally
Same sleep times nightly
Exercise: i’ve done 15k steps on a long work day and still had insomnia.
Time outside/in daylight.
Not eating after 6/7pm

Some nights my anxious brain just goes off on one and no matter what i’ve done i just can’t sleep. Although sometimes listening to a calm podcast helps me drift back off as i’m focusing on that now my anxieties.

HRT can really help this and I have also found intermittent fasting and magnesium helpful too

Magnesium glycinate for me too. Also I now only drink decaf tea and coffee, water and no alcohol.
I still wake sometimes and count down from 100, think of countries beginning with A and work through the alphabet. Do the same with girls and boys names. It does help.

Reishi mushroom and ashwatanga has been a game changer for me

I get a brand called Four Five from Holland and Barratt that contains both

Sleep podcast - like "nothing much happens."

Also helped me to realise that being awake after a few hours of sleep was considered normal (biphasic sleep) previously in human history,and that expecting to sleep through the night might be quite a modern expectation.

Somehow that took the pressure off worrying about it, and made it easier to get back to sleep.

Podcast on something only slightly interesting. That way your brain can follow along and distract from the worry, but you won't care so much and can drift off to sleep. Works for me 50% of the time. BBC Sounds is good as no adverts.

I I don't drink caffeine, and my job isn't stressful (although my kids are). I've tried magnesium and HRT but still get wakeups.

I started HRT around your age, having suffered from 3am wake ups for a while I slept through the night within 48 hrs. I also take magnesium glycinate now too.