That second snooze

[DizziLizzy]

Im a bad sleeper. Im not an insomniac as such but have great difficulty getting to sleep and then staying asleep. My mind is a racing mess for various reasons. Every blue moon i do sleep ok and last night was an example of that. I didn't eep a blink Wednesday night (let's not blame the football) had about 2hrs Thursday, maybe 5 Friday and 2 Saturday. Watched the Final last night and actually slept from 1am till 6am woke for an hour or so then fell back to sleep for around 4 hours and it was dreamy!:Anyone know what its called and 2hatvi possibly did to initiate it? Ive always slept badly since age 8 due to a childhood trauma. I long for normal sleep! No drink or drugs involved just an exhausted youngish nearlyish 50 year old! Any sleep tips as DH against me using Phenegan

What's your caffeine intake like?

What's your DH's concern with phenergan?

Half a Sominex gives me a sleep like that. It’s wonderful and I do it most weekends as it does leave me feeling a bit groggy

I could have written this. Why is your DH anti phenegan ? Unless it’s a concern for anything pre existing I’d take whatever I wanted. I have tried everything (including phenegan ) nothing works for me.

I highly recommend one of these or similar
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lumie-Bodyclock-Glow-150-Wake-up/dp/B07HWGS78Y?ref_=ast_bl_cpl_dp&th=1&psc=1

I dont drink coffee but loveable and generally have 4 or so a day. I dont go near any other caffeine sources. Re DH and Phenegan he basically thinks im a druggy! He has no issues with sleep other than not necessarily getting enough hours.

He basically thinks i have a drig problem as I take Phenegan, Hayfever relief and birth control every evening....

And im sorry you are in the same boat!

Can I ask how ot helps please?

tell him to mind his own business.

Magnesium

Have you tried melatonin? Or CBD for the racing thoughts?

I've found ear plugs to be a help. I'd fall asleep ok as exhausted but then wake up a few hours later. I'd then lie there with mind racing not able to get back to sleep. The ear plugs must be blocking out what was disturbing me. Roaming teenagers most probably. I've got soft loop ones.

You set the time you want to wake up and 30mins before the wake up time it will begin a slow sunrise. The idea is that it wakes you gently and in a More natural way. If you are suddenly woken by a noisy alarm at 07:30 on the dot it jolts you out of whatever sleeping state you were in and is a horrible way of waking up.

the gradual sunrise ensures that the part of sleep cycle you are in ends calmly and without such a jolt.

when you’re ready to go to sleep you press the button for the sunset and it does a similar thing to put you to sleep, again with a 30min lead time. The gradual dimming of the light will get your body ready for rest. The only caveat I would add is don’t be on your phone/tablet etc when you press the button to kick off the sunset! Either read a book while it dims or just lie there ☺️

hope you find something that works, be that this or something else!

He sounds like an uneducated idiot then.

Prescribed medication for health issues are not being a “druggie” ffs. What a stupid attitude.

Urgh. Would give me the ick if anyone tried to tell me what to do with my own body and health.

Thank you The Phenegan isnt prescribed though.

I don’t understand why you’d give his views a second thought. Is he generally controlling and selfish?

I take nytol plus use an eye mask and ear plugs. They do help.

Sounds as though your good night's sleep was "biphasic" which apparently is how we all used to sleep.

I only know this 'cos I read this article on the BBC the other day - it's quite interesting!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp9errxl97go

That’sa really interesting article. Thanks for linking it.

Until Covid, I slept well. Covid destroyed my ability to sleep. I’m not a shift worker, but I have found that a good strategy to cope with my fatigue is to nap on my days off. And not necessarily an afternoon siesta, but a morning nap. So it’s almost like I’m splitting my night, albeit in daytime: sleep 4h, awake and active 2-3h, sleep 2h.

I’ve been afraid to go to bed early, even through I’m struggling to stay awake, because I know I’ll be awake at 2am and struggle to go back to sleep - and then have to go to work 6h later. Maybe I should try it, and get up and use the time when I wake in the small hours.

Food for thought.

Maybe your "D"H should have a week of your sleep routine, being kept awake and until a certain time and then woken in the middle of the night to see if he thinks that reaching for a perfectly normal over the counter medicine is unreasonable.

I couldn't be with someone who thinks birth control is akin to being a druggy. The privilege of men.

If you want to do it without him knowing, after all it is your body, just take the Phenergan out of the packet and put it into the hayfever meds packet. That way you can take it without getting a lecture. I hope he gets a really bad headache that sees him reaching for an over the counter pain killer.

If I wake up after a long sleep, say at 6, then go back to sleep for an hour or so the dreams I have are always very strong and vivid.

I don't know whether that it is because you remember them more, or because your body wakes up once ready to go, but because you wake up and then go back to sleep your mind is tricked in some way as to believing it is real life - maybe this doesn't make any sense.

Anyway, power dream formula always seems to work for me. And yes it can be very entertaining.

Then why doesn’t he go get the snip?

I’m sorry, but he’s an idiot.

Since being in hospital where they wake you at stupid o'clock in the morning for obs, I have been waking at 4-5am. It was driving me mad!

I found a solution that works for me. I don't panic and try to get back to sleep asap, I scroll a bit ( I know the advice about screens but hey), and then - here's the best bit, have a small glass of water with a magnesium glycinate tablet. Within say an hour (which is fine for me), I have that glorious second sleep, which is even nicer than the first one!

I'm retired now so I can snooze away, I don't nap during the day ever either, so that probably helps.

I’d reframe it! Accept you’ll have two sleeps!

In the past it was very common to have “two sleeps” - see following fascinating article about bi-phasic sleep.

www.bbc.co.uk/future/article/20220107-the-lost-medieval-habit-of-biphasic-sleep

Chemical sleep aids are not a long-term solution for chronic insomnia. Your body accommodates to it and eventually it stops working. It’s probably fine for occasional use. But be careful and get medical advice. Phenergan and hayvever meds are the same family: antihistamines. You could find that you overdose.