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Insomnia tips please!

29 replies

misslooloo · 21/02/2023 03:48

Yes, I know using my phone at 3am isn’t ideal but I’m desperate.

i haven’t slept through the night for six months. I look and feel dreadful.

Have you experienced this? I need to hear about sleep strategies that have worked!

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LadyOfTheCanyon · 21/02/2023 03:56

I've started taking Magnesium Taurate. 4 capsules before bed and it's been a game changer. I still don't sleep through, but getting back to sleep when I wake has become easier.

WednesdaysPlaits · 21/02/2023 03:59

How old are you?

im awake at 3am onwards every morning but it’s to do with hormone levels combined with medication. It’s horrendous and means I’m exhausted by 2pm

Natsku · 21/02/2023 04:11

I've suffered from insomnia for as long as I can remember so have tried lots of different things to help and the only thing that's really helped me is exercise in the mornings, reading in the evenings and Atarax (antihistamine that makes you sleepy. Found it much better than proper sleeping meds as no 'hangover' in the morning or increased nightmares or anything like that - I've tried a lot of different sleeping meds!)

Sunshineandrainbow · 21/02/2023 04:15

Boots sleepeaze has helped me, bits an antihistamine, I buy the 50mg and take half and yes I forgot to take it it last night!
I also put radio 5 on to help me drift back off.

Madamecastafiore · 21/02/2023 05:51

Remove all clocks/phones from your room.

misslooloo · 21/02/2023 07:52

LadyOfTheCanyon · 21/02/2023 03:56

I've started taking Magnesium Taurate. 4 capsules before bed and it's been a game changer. I still don't sleep through, but getting back to sleep when I wake has become easier.

I use Magnesium Glycinate which helps a little. It certainly works better than Nytol.

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misslooloo · 21/02/2023 07:53

WednesdaysPlaits · 21/02/2023 03:59

How old are you?

im awake at 3am onwards every morning but it’s to do with hormone levels combined with medication. It’s horrendous and means I’m exhausted by 2pm

I’m 47. I started HRT about five weeks ago but it doesn’t seem to have helped the sleep. My anger is less Hulk-like though, so that’s a bonus.

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Patchworksack · 21/02/2023 07:58

Hi. Sympathies - I am in the same boat. I’m sure it’s hormonal, just plucking up the oomph to approach GP and say I want to try HRT. I have tried magnesium, pillow sprays, Nytol. Definitely seems to be worse approaching my period. I go to sleep ok, 3.30am I am wide awake, sweaty and madly anxious.

misslooloo · 21/02/2023 08:15

Natsku · 21/02/2023 04:11

I've suffered from insomnia for as long as I can remember so have tried lots of different things to help and the only thing that's really helped me is exercise in the mornings, reading in the evenings and Atarax (antihistamine that makes you sleepy. Found it much better than proper sleeping meds as no 'hangover' in the morning or increased nightmares or anything like that - I've tried a lot of different sleeping meds!)

I know I have to exercise - it’s the one big thing missing from my life atm - but I’m so damn tired! I feel like I’m stuck in a vicious circle.

I’m going to try the antihistamine thing.

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misslooloo · 21/02/2023 08:16

Patchworksack · 21/02/2023 07:58

Hi. Sympathies - I am in the same boat. I’m sure it’s hormonal, just plucking up the oomph to approach GP and say I want to try HRT. I have tried magnesium, pillow sprays, Nytol. Definitely seems to be worse approaching my period. I go to sleep ok, 3.30am I am wide awake, sweaty and madly anxious.

I could have written this!

So sorry to hear you’re suffering. It’s really not fun. Sleepless solidarity xx

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misslooloo · 21/02/2023 08:17

Yep. I listen to something on Audible, or a YouTube meditation. It’s the only think keeping me sane!

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Standbyguest · 21/02/2023 08:18

Sleepeaze/superdrug own OTC sleep aid (or a glug of night nurse for temporary measures). Melatonin - you can buy from USA relatively cheap and have delivered to UK.

misslooloo · 21/02/2023 08:18

Madamecastafiore · 21/02/2023 05:51

Remove all clocks/phones from your room.

I’ve heard this before but I need Audible to help me get back to sleep.

Modern life sucks in so many ways.

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Blingstar · 21/02/2023 08:20

Investigate the Human Being Diet website by Petronella Ravenshear. It sorted my 3.30/4am wakings within a few weeks. Lots of info on Instagram.

withgraceinmyheart · 21/02/2023 08:31

I think chronic, months long insomnia is a very different beast.

When it gets like for me, I have to take it slowly and teach my body how to sleep rather than expecting to fix it all in one go.

Things that work for me:

  • same routine, roughly same times every night, even on weekends
  • mine is 20 min gentle exercise video on YouTube (yoga etc) followed by a warm bath with a book
  • not stressing about removing electronics. I know everyone says it’s the key, but it makes things worse for me. Now I have an achievable ‘phone down by xxxx time’ and I’m gradually pulling it forward. At the moment it’s phone down by 12pm and I’m normally asleep by 12.30, which doesn’t sound great, but I’d been consistently awake until 4 so it’s brilliant for me.

I was taught this approach by an nhs therapist. It works much better than making sudden changes if you’ve had insomnia for a long time.

Audible is a good idea, I use that and also sleep casts from headspace etc.

misslooloo · 21/02/2023 08:41

These are brilliant and highly useable tips, thank you!

I think you’re right about chronic insomnia being a very different beast. I’m very much out of the habit of sleeping through and I’m sure I head to bed with unhelpful expectations. Hopefully these methods will continue working for you. Thanks again.

OP posts:
misslooloo · 21/02/2023 08:41

withgraceinmyheart · 21/02/2023 08:31

I think chronic, months long insomnia is a very different beast.

When it gets like for me, I have to take it slowly and teach my body how to sleep rather than expecting to fix it all in one go.

Things that work for me:

  • same routine, roughly same times every night, even on weekends
  • mine is 20 min gentle exercise video on YouTube (yoga etc) followed by a warm bath with a book
  • not stressing about removing electronics. I know everyone says it’s the key, but it makes things worse for me. Now I have an achievable ‘phone down by xxxx time’ and I’m gradually pulling it forward. At the moment it’s phone down by 12pm and I’m normally asleep by 12.30, which doesn’t sound great, but I’d been consistently awake until 4 so it’s brilliant for me.

I was taught this approach by an nhs therapist. It works much better than making sudden changes if you’ve had insomnia for a long time.

Audible is a good idea, I use that and also sleep casts from headspace etc.

These are brilliant and highly useable tips, thank you!

I think you’re right about chronic insomnia being a very different beast. I’m very much out of the habit of sleeping through and I’m sure I head to bed with unhelpful expectations. Hopefully these methods will continue working for you. Thanks again.

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Eyesopenwideawake · 21/02/2023 08:43

Have a look through these videos and podcasts to understand why your mind isn't switching off at night;

https://www.youtube.com/@TimBoxMindCoach/search?query=sleep

WarningToTheCurious · 21/02/2023 08:55

You’ve probably seen lots of sleep hygiene tips and there’s a good summary here:

www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-hygiene

I’ve recently started taking 3mg of melatonin about 30 minutes before bedtime and I’m rarely getting the 3.30am wakefulness now. My hot flashes have also calmed right down - although this could well be coincidental.

JustGotToKeepOnKeepingOn · 21/02/2023 16:01

I just posted this tip on another thread which has been a game changer for me... I have podcasts running all night. It gives my brain something to listen to so I can go to sleep!

MatchesinEyes23 · 24/02/2023 09:15

I suffer from occasional insomnia bouts, usually when I am stressed or not looking after myself enough. For me, the basic advice really works - good sleep hygiene:

healthy diet
exercise
no alcohol
no phones after 9pm, no phones before 8am - try and limit use all day if possible
a nice hot bath
a good book
Headspace meditations
There is also a meditation course called “Finding Peace in a Frantic World” - it’s 8 weeks long, just get the guided meditations from YouTube. It really helps calm the mind
I like the Twinings “Sleep” teas. I always sleep better after having this before bed
When I was really bad, I used Kalms Lavendar tablets. They cured my insomnia when it was really bad - not instantly, you have to stick with it, but I went from being awake all night to getting a few hours, to finally sleeping though (and stopping taking them)

One of the main mantras I tell myself is that it doesn’t matter if I don’t sleep - as long as my body is resting. And if I don’t sleep tonight, I’ll sleep better tomorrow night. Nothing bad is going to happen if I don’t sleep, I’ll just feel tired. And there are millions of people more tired than me (new parents, healthcare workers, sick people, those without a warm bed etc).

Good luck - persevere with it and you should see some changes.

Happyhappyday · 25/02/2023 05:20

Many things. Look at healthy sleep guides and FOLLOW THEM, ie, no screens close to bedtime, go to sleep and wake up at same time etc. I had insomnia for about 9 months after DC was born. My main problem was waking up in the middle of the night and not going back to sleep for hours, which resulted in very bad anxiety and some depression.

Things that helped me:
A sleep dr. I am in US with excellent health insurance so I did not pay for it, but I would take out a second mortgage to pay for it if I had to for all that it helped me move past insomnia.
Dr worked out that I was spending too much time in bed so she had me restrict - she worked out I was actually sleeping roughly 8.5 hours a night, but going to bed at 8, waking up for 4 hours and then sleeping in until 8-9am. So she had me restrict my sleep hours, which was super scary at first but was very effective within a couple days.
Look up CBT for sleep - the dr I saw specialized this but it's been shown to be more effective than medication and most other treatments for long term insomnia. Changes how you think, so you wake up and think, oh, I'm just having a normal sleep cycle and go straight back, instead of entering the anxiety doom cycle of I will never sleep again.
For me, part of my long term recovery was knowing I had a really effective medication I could take (for me it's 1/4 of the lowest dose of mirtazapine as the "nuclear option", for you, maybe that's something else. The medium option to benadryl. By knowing I can just get up and take that medication, I usually don't need to. But I also know if I'm going through a rough patch, one night of mirtazapine kicks me back to a regular sleep schedule.
Melatonin had been helping me for a while, then I started having nightmares which were waking me up. Melatonin can cause nightmares so I had to stop that.
Some of what she helped with was identifying what was waking me to stop me getting back in the cycle. Things I didn't know: caffeine has a half life of 14 hours. So now my coffee cut off is 9am. Carbonated beverages irritate your bladder and can make you feel like you have to pee more. I have chronic pain in my hip, it's not enough to stop me doing anything, but it was waking me up. So I have to do my physical therapy regularly and I take more ibuprofen than I should if it's at all painful.

When I was in crisis, I was prescribed lorazepam, for anxiety, but you can only take it for a few days/a week because it can be addictive. I do think it helped me calm down ENOUGH to let the mental health strategies, life style changes and less intense medication work.

Longer term, exercise, good diet and generally good sleep habits have mostly kept me without insomnia. When I do have a bad patch, I have medication that stops me getting too far down a bad anxiety cycle. I have taken medication maybe 3 times in the last year.

I don't know if I could have recovered without the Dr's help, it certainly would've taken a lot longer. There are some good books and resources out there, but the dr really helped identify what my problems were and had solutions to treat them.

BigCheeseSandwich · 25/02/2023 05:43

I went to a sleep clinic and the advice they gave me has changed my life. In a nutshell -

Keep a sleep diary for two weeks. Then, looking at the sleep hours work out when you fall asleep and wake up - I found that while I was going to bed at 10, I was falling asleep at 1130.

The clinic told me to go to bed at 1130 and get up at 6am. Every night. No sleeping in if you had a bad night. No reading or watching TV in bed, just getting straight in and closing my eyes.

also, if you are lying in bed awake, get up after 20 mins. Sit somewhere quiet and dim light for 20 mins then get back into bed. Repeat the cycle.

it’s basically training you to treat your bed as somewhere to sleep, not lie awake.

it’s worked for me!

Mumskisail · 25/02/2023 06:21

Magnesium taurate and eat a little bit of healthy carb such as an oatcake before bed. It will help you absorb the magnesium and can help prevent waking up from a sugar low which typically happens at 3am. No coffee after midnight

Mumskisail · 25/02/2023 06:22

Midday! Sorry 😂

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