Why do I wake up at 3.30am most nights?

[Coffeeonadrip]

Just that really.
Don't need the toilet.
Sometimes fall asleep straight after, sometimes it takes an hour to fall back asleep.
Not too hot or too cold.
Always at 3.30am or thereabouts.
Has been going on for a couple of months at least.

Any ideas?

No

Do you drink alcohol in the evening? Peri-menopause?

Me too & have done for 25 years :(

Read about the pre industrial revolution thing of two sleeps. It's a normal thing to wake at night for most of human history.

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

@Aquamarine1029

Do you drink alcohol in the evening? Peri-menopause?

No rarely drink and I'm not 40 yet.

@Longcovid21

Read about the pre industrial revolution thing of two sleeps. It's a normal thing to wake at night for most of human history.

Thanks will have a read.

What does being 40 have to do with it? Peri can start well before 40.

Are you taking any new medication that might affect your sleep at all?

Same here, been like it for years now. Doesnt matter if I fall asleep at 11pm or 2am etc, I have to wake up between 3.30 and 4am. Its a right pain

Milkman doing rounds, neighbour leaving for work, heating coming on? Does it happen on holiday?

Hi, me too! No answers, usually awake for about an hr or two then back to sleep. Quite annoying!

you've trained yourself to wake after a certain amount of time asleep or are not fully asleep and know approximately what time it is and you wake yourself to check.

Birds singing or some sort of animal life?

Has my twat of a cat been coming over? Sorry about that.

I usually wake between 2am and 4am. I would say 6 occasions out of 10 I fall back to sleep. But nights like tonight, I woke at 2.30am and havent been able to go back to sleep.

It's going to be a long day. 😴😴😴

I sleep with ear plugs in so it's not even like I'm hearing something to wake myself up with.

@Cookerhood

Me too & have done for 25 years :(

Me too.

Hungry? A drop in blood sugars wakes me.
Try a small magnesium rich snack before bed - eg banana ?

Can you hear my husband snoring from Barcelona? Pig sucking jelly through a straw

One thing for me is relaxing early in the evening - so I sit in front of tv at say, 7 (intending to go and do something but often don't) then watch tv or doze until bedtime. I think my body thinks that my 'sleep' time is therefore from 7, as I did nothing physical or mentally demanding after that - so then I wake up in the early hours as my body thinks I've had my 8 hours. It's a vicious circle as then you are more tired the next night.......

Anxiety.

Me too. Every night since I had babies. So 11 years now. I usually fall back asleep just after five a.m.

This is completely normal.
Waking up at that time.

[quote Longcovid21]www.bbc.com/future/article/20220107-the-lost-medieval-habit-of-biphasic-sleep[/quote]
That’s fascinating.

Oh I did this,even thinking it was morning and getting dressed and doing my hair, then studying the time for a while before realising it was the middle of the night and going back to sleep( usually dressed).
Happened most nights for months.
Got an old fashioned alarm clock as well as my phone one which has sorted it,realised I was worried about oversleeping for work.