To ask how can I stop lying awake at 3am?

[florriepeck]

I fall asleep straightaway, but wake up in the early hours, and often can't get back to sleep for long before my alarm goes off for work.
Off shopping in Boots tomorrow, and wondered if anyone could recommend a remedy to try.
Been looking at valerian, also antihistamines.
Already trying other things,eg yoga for stress relief, warm baths, no caffeine later in the day, etc.

Weighted blanket has been an absolute sleep changer for me , was a bit dubious about it at first but did lots of research and I can honestly say it's the best thing i've ever bought !!! My adult aitistic son who also had terrible problems getting to sleep and staying asleep also has one , he now sleeps for at least 7 hours straight through which he has never done before .

Ooh I want a Dow Dow now, can I justify £50? 🧐

DS found lush cream worked for him when he was doing A levels his sleep went to pieces under the stress. uk.lush.com/products/lavender/sleepy

I just put in an ear bud and listen to something familiar on netflix to send me off to sleep again.

Thanks everyone for some good ideas to try: good to know that I'm not alone.
I think part of my problem is being menopausal: HRT has helped a bit, and my weighted blanket was a good buy, too.

Switch to decaf tea apart from first one of the day.
When I wake in the early hours I try to imagine I'm in a bed where I've slept really well, hotel or nans house etc. Then I think of boring lists, such as surnames beginning with R, shades of blue, states of USA.... usually does the trick.

The Calm app - you can get white noise or sleep stories and it has a meditation training course. Breathing in deeply and holding and breathing out 4 times. Clenching your toes and relaxing them to relieve any tenseness. Eat bananas for potassium. No stimulating stuff such as news stories for at least an hour before bed. Reduce alcohol and no coffee or tea past lunchtime. No looking at phones in bed. Relaxing face muscles. Nytol herbal and of that doesn’t work, normal Nytol.

Thanks Cherry with a money back guarantee I will try it.

A month ago I could have written the OP. In the last couple of weeks I’ve started getting up a bit earlier and going for a run before everyone else gets up. This makes me actually physically tired by bedtime, and I’ve been sleeping through to 5.30am ish. On the occasions I used to exercise in the evenings, I’d still be too buzzing to sleep properly. It also means I can feel really smug all day about having done some exercise! I go for a pre-work run about 3 times a week.

I realise that this may not work for everyone, but it’s really helping me. I’d like to/try to run 3 times a week anyway, I’ve been surprised how much a difference going early rather than late has made.

Don’t drink alcohol in the evening. It makes you sleepy at first but causes wakefulness later in the night.

Exercise and meditation.

I've had this problem for over 5 years. Like you, falling asleep isn't too much a problem, I have an excellent routine and now take melatonin, but nothing I've tried has stopped the waking up at 4am and being unable to get back to sleep no matter what I do, or don't do.

The only thing that works is Amytriptyline. I take 20mg. Many people feel drowsy on it, I don't, I wake up refreshed at 6:30am.

I only take it a couple of times a week because anymore and it doesn't work so well any longer and there are some side effects. The good thing about it is it is not addictive so can be taken without worry.

Knowing that I'll get a full night sleep at least twice a week is enough to not feel like exploding in tears when I do wake up at 4am, which is less often now.

I've been sleeping like a baby since doing dry Jan. Can't recommend it highly enough, mood is improved too.

Ditto, I get whoever I know who's travelling to the USA/Canada to bring back melatonin, thankfully I know lots of frequent travelers

Oh and In our Time podcast, it's so boring, sends me to sleep

Put a pair of socks on! Warm feet send me back to sleep.

It's an awful thing, I work early shifts so need to be up at 4.30am.

Avon lavender spray works really well. Also Lavender tea.

I stopped using my phone and tablet an hour before bed and found that has helped immensely over the last couple of months, settle down to sleep without the TV on low in the background like I used to (did this to try and help with my tinnitus). I find that helps me sleep now.

Difficult as I have never slept well but now have to go to bed earlier for work but now the children are adults/almost adults they are awake later now obviously.

I find that herbal tea can help - the Clipper “sleep easy infusion” tea is designed to aid sleep and has a nice orangey taste. It worked for me, anyway.

I’d say try a weighted blanket - it’s done wonders for me

I get hop strobilus, valerian extract. It's in Poundland as "stress relief or sleep aid" it's amazing. Really works can you give you a tummy ache tho.

I listen to stories or documentaries - I use the BBC Sounds app, but anything that suits you would be fine - it has to be interesting, but not too interesting. I like 'In Our Time' and any Victorian novel adaptation. Even if I don't drop off, I'm not worrying, because I'm listening to something.

It could be your blood sugars dropping a bit. Try a Healthy snack in bed

I’m the same. I have a medical condition though that can cause insomnia and sleep disturbance though. Try magnesium supplements x

What are you thinking about at 3am? I find I’m worrying I’ve tried thinking about nice things instead (I have to make an effort sometimes!) and I fall back asleep

I'd second meditation apps, I was really skeptical but use one every night now

I've been using This Works Sleep+ spray. I got a mini bottle of the standard Sleep spray in a posh hotel a few years ago, and it was lovely. My mum then bought a full bottle, which I use when I stay with her, and I really like it. I got a bottle of the Sleep+ spray for Christmas, and it's designed for people who can get to sleep but who don't stay asleep. My sleep is really really light, and I not off and wake up again dozens of times through the night. It's been particularly bad over the last year or so, but I think it's been a bit better since I've been using the spray since Christmas. It smells lovely anyway, and you just squirt it over your pillow.

I've always been a light sleeper, and over the years I've decided that if I can't sleep, then sometimes just lying quietly in the dark and listening to an audio book is the next best thing to sleeping. I almost always have a bedtime story now, and switch it back on if I wake up in the night.