Tips for staying asleep the whole night (adult)

[col92]

I wake in the night several times and it's driving me mad!

Any tips?

I've been a terrible sleeper for years , mostly due to being on call and having to be up and ready at a moments notice so developed a habit of waking easily
I've found my best sleep comes from -

No late night food or drink ( say after 8pm ish )
Busy active day especially if out in the fresh air
Being on a restricted carb or calorie diet always makes me sleep better
If I do wake I try not to get up ( other than the loo) and do anything that makes me start thinking I just stay put and try to relax back into sleep
Going to bed with fresh clean bedding helps me relax
Going to bed feeling fulfilled with my days achievements helps
Trying not to go to bed with my head full of things that buzz me and give me too much to think about ( I'm a great planner and I get too involved with planning ahead to settle to sleep properly

Not sure if any of my methods will help anyone else but felt it worthwhile mentioning them

Oh yes I must add , no coffee from lunch time onwards otherwise I'm totally wired !

The last time I slept a whole night was in 1995 just before my first pregnancy. There followed years of being woken by children and a weak bladder.
On a very good night now I will get up two or three times for a wee and go straight back to sleep.
The tiniest stress or illness and I lose it. I may drop off at 10pm but I'll be awake from 12 to 5. When I say stress it includes good things as well as bad. So I will be awake all night if I've had a really pleasant but stimulating day.

What helps?
Good health.
Boredom.
Exercise and fresh air.
I don't notice any link with food or drink.
If desperate a sedating anti histamine.

At least 10,000 steps a day, or more vigorous exercise instead.
No nodding off in the afternoon or on the sofa in the evening.
Get up at the same time each day, you can do in bed at the weekend but don't go back to sleep.
Don't go to bed hungry.
Of you wake up in the night then listen to an audiobook or the radio through earphones rather than tossing and turning.

Melatonin slow release from docs. It’s called Cicardian. Game changer.

30 years of shit sleep. You have to be over 55 though. And it takes time to build up.

I have had chronic insomnia for years until very recently when I started taking magnesium taurate ( to help with ectopic heart beats) and also turmeric before I went to bed. Not sure which one is the main help but I mostly sleep like a baby now!

I take magnesium and use a weighted blanket. It's not perfect but better than without.

Also yoga nidra.

I know its been mentioned already but taking magnesium really helped me with this issue, I havent slept aswell for years and really notice if I forget. Its definitely worth a try for anyone else struggling!

I don’t have insomnia but I have pretty crazy dreams that wake me a couple of times a night. I usually find it quite easy to go back to sleep but I’d love to feel like I’ve had a full uninterrupted 8 hours

I tried the 2 kiwis an hour before bedtime last night and I'm a convert. I slept better than I have done in so long I can't remember. I still woke up several times but fell back to sleep much quicker and when I was asleep it felt like it was better sleep than before.

I've developed a habit of waking in the middle of the night , usually between 2-4am. I always eventually get back to sleep, but I then wake up shattered

The only thing I find that helps a bit is an early night. I seem to feel more relaxed and almost take the pressure off myself if I do wake later on. I also like a horlicks!

It's just so frustrating, I've always been a big sleeper so my body just isn't coping with this. I have a pretty physical and mentally draining job (childcare) and it's not great after a broken nights sleep!!

Gravity blanket. It's changed my life. 20 plus years of crappy sleep. Since getting a Gravity blanket I get to sleep quicker and stay asleep.

Magnesium (at night) and B complex (taken at the start of the day for energy, but can also ironically help sleep rhythms at night). Weighted blanket and hypnosis relaxation app.

I’m in Aus so not posting in the middle of the night:)

Have you tried white noise? I have a 7 week old DD and put baby white noise on (I just find a random one on YouTube!) after the night feed to help her settle. It turns out it helps me settle too haha, and I don't wake up again until she does!

The Sleep Cove Podcast is brilliant. I've been using it for about 4 months now and it's wonderful. It's a mix of stories and meditations. It's free.

www.sleepcove.com/

To begin with it would take me about half an hour/40 minutes to fall asleep and perhaps 15/30 minutes to get back to sleep in the night. Now, I'm asleep in under 15 minutes and if I wake in the night, I start listening and just fall back asleep almost straight away.

Some nights I might wake several times, others I sleep through.

I have them saved to my library and I just go to sleep with my headphones in. If I'm dealing with something particularly stressful with work and I know I'm struggling - I just leave it run on continuous play.

It may not work for everyone, however it's been a game changer for me.

I have never been what you would call a good sleeper but I could sleep for 8 hours once asleep and I would wake ready to take on the world.
I was fine till I went through the menopause and then my sleep turned to shit.
Literally 1.5 hours to 4 hours if I was lucky and I would wake exhausted but unable to return to sleep

I now take fast acting Melatonin (bought in the US). I get almost 5 hours (sometimes 6 hours) and good chunks of that are actual REM and deep sleep.
This last week though I have had extended periods of dream sleep. Long dreams that feel like I am on the go throughout the night and not as much deep sleep and whilst I would wake up tired before I am now back in being exhausted again
Going out to get kiwis.
I don’t think podcasts would work for me as I have to have complete silence to fall off to sleep. Any noise and I am awake till it is over.

Magnesium daily (breakfast time), ear plugs to block noise, make sure I'm warm or cool enough (linen sheets help), open window even in midwinter, cut alcohol right back, no coffee after 2pm, no herbal teas after dinner as they make me pee in the middle of the night. Sleep like a baby now, other than for the cockerel who starts crowing at 4am.

Im having an op next week and dreading being on a ward with all the attendant noise. Last time there were the half hourly obs, and a squeaky drugs trolley being pushed road, plus nurses with hob nailed boots. I dont find earplugs of any use. Ive always been a bad sleeper and got pills from the Doc. They dont like handing them out but I found taking half a one for two or three nights I then managed to get a few good nights in.

Are you on any medication? I have just discovered that my insomnia, night sweats, hair loss and a raft of other unpleasant side effects are most likely being caused by my levythyroxine medication to treat an under-active thyroid. I have learnt the hard way to always read the boring small print blurb in medication boxes.

Are you menopausal or perimenopausal?

If so, HRT will help enormously.

I was having the waking up at 2/3/4 am issue too and not being able to get back to sleep.

After a similar thread on here a while back, I now have a Shakti acupressure mat which I lie on for 20/30 mins just before going to sleep which is amazing and I take 5-HTP an hour before going to bed, these two things have vastly improved the quality of my sleep- good luck!

Oh also I realised I had become much more sensitive to caffeine and now avoid anything containing caffeine after midday, otherwise I’d just lie awake and not be able to sleep- not anxious but just alert!