To wish I could sleep like a normal person

[RunningWhileTheWorldBurns]

😩

I haven’t been able to get to sleep before 2am in MONTHS. It’s my turn to be up with toddler at half six tomorrow. I will spend the day a tired mess. Come 9pm I will be wide awake and bouncing witj energy. Rinse and repeat day in day out.

Why!?

I woke at half 2 this morning. I am writing up, so I did some writing but that makes my sleep even worse then because I’ll be napping this afternoon.

Wow so many of us struggling

I managed to drop back off for a few hours on the sofa with some hypnosis on YouTube.

Someone mentioned Yoga earlier. I have never tried it. Any tips please?
If 2 diazepam and a zopiclone can't help me then I need to look at something else.

Hope everyone has a quiet day and is able to rest at some point.

I used to be like this. Amitriptyline has been like magic, sleep cycle is pretty much reset

Has it always been this way OP? I found my sleep hygiene was awful with the dcs because I would spend too much time on MN on my phone when feeding in the night. As a result the screen time ruined my ability to sleep.

Your dh is right. Go to bed when you’re tired at 8pm. Then if you wake at 2am, don’t go on screens, do some reading, maybe a crossword, tidying. Anything but screens. Then you may eventually get back to sleep. M
Does your toddler nap? If so, nap when they do as well if possible.

I don’t have time to go to bed at eight. In fact I’m lucky if my four year old is asleep by eight.

Audio books have massively improved my ability to sleep.
I was always laying awake into the early hours after going to bed but now I stick my earphones in, set a 30 minute timer and I fall asleep before the 30 minutes are up 99% of the time.

(Don't forget to put a timer on or you wake up with 'rate this book' having finished it and have to try and find where you were up to 🤦🏻‍♀️)

There was a program on TV the other night about circadian rhythms. They were studying an explorer. Can't remember the name unfortunately. Sleep expert on there suggested leaving curtains open to try and reset circadian rhythm.

I'm in a wake from 4-6am phase at the moment. Just drop back off just before have to wake up and asleep just after 12. Knackered!

It's definitely better when I read on my kindle during that time rather than my phone

That's me just up after dropping off to sleep again. Ok on a Sunday but not when kids are back to school tomorrow!

I think I'll look into the yoga thing, I have a doctors app on Wednesday so might ask her advice then. Right I'm away for a string coffee!

If anyone is finding that hot milk doesn't help, ensure that you are using full fat. Semi and skimmed have the tryptophan removed with the fat and that is what helps you to sleep.

I switched to decaf coffee, cut out chocolate and sugary things in the evenings and there has been an improvement.

I also take hypnotics very occasionally if I'm particularly stressed about sleeping ie have a long drive the following day etc.

It may be worth discussing them with your GP and taking them for 2 nights in a row at say 10.30pm do asleep by 11pm... sort of to break the habit of not being able to sleep earlier.

Insomnia just really really sucks

I’ve always been a night owl but the last couple of months at work have been very stressful. I’m wondering if it’s that. My husband thinks I’m stressed.

Stress has a huge impact on me being able to sleep.

I was awake until 3, then had some milk and fell asleep. I am a baby....

Then this morning I remembered I'd been eating chocolate yest evening doh

I'm an awful sleeper. I take magnesium and vitamin D to try and help and have had tart cherry juice in the past too. No idea if any of them do anything but I figure they probably don't hurt. I also have a white noise machine and/or play rain sounds from youtube. I find it easier in winter, I guess maybe because of the increased dark hours and also because I sleep better when there's lots of lovely cold fresh air swirling round the bedroom and I can get snuggled up under a duvet - I find the weight helpful somehow.

Maybe you need to

A) improve your sleep hygiene (and find out what it is etc.)

B) cut down caffeine

C) try sleep hypnosis

D) speak to your GP about taking sleep hormones, sleepers or an ANtidepressant for sleep.

E) Accept its who you are.

I have done all of the above 😂 my sleep hygiene will never get any better, I use sleep meditations sometimes, I mix up early nights and late ones because I get a lot done on those late nights yknow (reading, googling, mumsnet etc.) I take my medication and (for the most part) it helps.

Some of us are morning people, some of us our night owls, some of us can change of that and some of us can't, some of us don't even want to change it.

Good luck OP and hope you find what works for you X