Tips for staying asleep the whole night (adult)

[col92]

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

Any tips?

[Bythemillpond]

Reading with interest. Went to bed at 1am and have been up since 3.45am

[LuckyLuckyWoman]

Morning I'm up, a complete rubbish sleeper

Tonight I think it's vaccine related. Temperature and shivers. Just trying some paros.

[col92]

@Bythemillpond I feel your pain. I never wake up refreshed!

[col92]

@LuckyLuckyWoman oh no, sorry to hear that. What vaccine did you have? Astra? I'm hearing that one is causing the most side effects

[wellthatsunusual]

I'd like some tips too

[ValerieMorghulis]

Yep, me too. Always wake between 3 and 4am; sometimes get back to sleep but often don’t. It’s extremely tedious

[col92]

I honestly can't remember the last time I slept the whole night through

[col92]

If I do end up falling back to sleep, I always end up in such a deep sleep that I find it SO difficult to get up!

[LuckyLuckyWoman]

Yes Astra this evening. Woke at 2am shivering. Don't feel bad other that that.

[Noell]

Same for me. I always wake up around 4am. I am always tired.

[aramox]

Exercise? Less caffeine?

[Champenoise]

I wake up at 4.30 every morning and never get back to sleep. I do plenty of exercise but do have caffeine on a morning.

[garlictwist]

I am always awake by 5 regardless of what time I go to bed so I just go to bed at 9 if I çan to get a full nights sleep which I usually manage.

[NeverRTFT]

I get this too but am occasionally blessed with a good night.
Having a drink in the evening relaxes me but more than 1 makes me wake over heated and woozy in middle of the night.
Herbal tea also relaxes me in evenings but leaves me needing loo in night.
Stress makes me wake with uncontrollable thoughts and even palpitations. Game over for sleep.
Sometimes I wake drenched in sweat. I keep stuff by the bed to sort out the situation and get back to rest.
Sometimes I wake and am so cold I'm shaking. Keep socks and a spare blanket by the bed.
Reading often gets me back to sleep in middle of night. I bought a kindle so I could read without turning the light on

[SpudsandGravy]

Same here. Maddening :-( It's normally a need to pee that wakes me up. One of the perils of growing older :-(

[cerseii]

I’m just going to say jump right in and take Nytol tablets. Realistically you’ll get an immediate fix without having to go through the trial and error of the other suggestions. You won’t get side effects either. Taking them for 2-3 days is enough to reset your sleeping habits, so you won’t be on them long term either

[Cormoran]

This was me until recently when I started taking ketotifen, a very basic OTC allergy antihistamine, to control skin tumours and for the first time in years, I wake up around 6 instead of 3 or 4 or 5.
So I looked it up and the body releases histamines around 3 am every night, and if you have an oversensitive immune system which is already high in antihistamine you wake up because they are a stimulant for the brain.
Basically, when your histamine bucket is already full, the rush of them is too much for your body and you wake up.

Ketotifen is mainly used in children so very safe and bland. Maybe it is worth a try. In some countries it is called zaditen and is available as a generic

[Suzi888]

I have a bath and hot chocolate and that sometimes helps me sleep through the night. I keep waking up at 3am and don’t go back off!

[silentpool]

I take magnesium before bed, use a white noise app to block out sound and wear an eye mask to block out light. If you are in a light sleep, I think noises outside or light can wake you up properly.

[marriednotdead]

Regular insomniac here with fibromyalgia for good measure.

Best nights sleep I've had in recent months was after a hot bath and a massage from my DP!

[FatCatThinCat]

I would urge anyone waking multiple times during tthe night to ask their GP to refer them for a sleep study. 90% of women with sleep apnea don"t get diagnosed because they don't have the same symptoms as men ie instead of snoring they wake often needing to pee, have morning headaches, muscle pain and fatigue.

Also the BBC have a programme about sleep that has some useful tips for dealing with insomnia. Who'd have thought that eating kiwis before bed would help you sleep!

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08q8p13/the-truth-about-12-sleep

[ElderMillennial]

Window open / make sure room is not too warm
Diet can make a difference as can doing something in the day to ensure you are tired
If you do wake up, don't look at the clock or your phone, just try to go straight back to sleep

[ItsMarch]

Less caffeine was my first thought too.
Plenty of water during the day.
No lie ins. Same time up everyday.
A list of things to do next to the bed and a pen.
A quiet, dark bedroom.
Failing all that making sure you do your 10,000 steps every day works. Not a one off but every day.

[LifeInAHamsterWheel]

Sorry @ItsMarch but I disagree. I've struggled with insomnia for years and tried all sorts. I get at least 10,000 steps in every day. Nothing really works. Occasionally if I've had really bad stretch of very little sleep I'll take Nytol but it's by no means a miracle cure. I thought magnesium would help but it doesn't really. I'm resigned to just being a really crap sleeper! I wake many times throughout the night and try not to check the time if possible as I find that stresses me out more.

[longhaulstress]

I've struggled with my sleep this past year due to a marriage breakdown and things that help me is to try and do at least a 30 minutes brisk walk every day, get my 10,000 steps in, not having any alcohol (although I sacrifice that at the weekend), no caffeine after dinner including much chocolate and I swear taking Barrets multi vitamins for women have helped as well.
I use a sleep spray on my headboard and read before I turn the light off even if it's for only 5 minutes.

If I have more than 2 bad nights sleep in a row though I take a nytol, they really help.