Sleep issues

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Discussion

Max Factor

Original Poster:

20 posts

240 months

Wednesday 26th November 2014
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Hello chaps... can anyone help with this? For several days at a time I wake up at about 4am and can't back to sleep for a couple of hours. Then when I finally wake up around 9.30am I feel knackered and not really up to much until 11.00am. Then sometimes I need a short but very deep nap in the late afternoon - I just spark out for 20 mins. What can I do to get myself back in the right time zone please?

Markwinstanley

7 posts

113 months

Thursday 27th November 2014
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Try some hypnosis sessions available on youtube. I have personal experience and it's works like magic. Just listen and follow.

Max Factor

Original Poster:

20 posts

240 months

Thursday 27th November 2014
quotequote all
Markwinstanley said:
Try some hypnosis sessions available on youtube. I have personal experience and it's works like magic. Just listen and follow.
Thanks - any links you recommend? I think I prefer that to needles!

Last night I felt tired around 10pm, then got a second wind and went to bed about 11.30pm and was asleep by midnight. Then I woke up at 12.15am feeling quite alert. Back to sleep after maybe an hour, then awake at the usual 4am... my body and brain seem to be out of phase... body wants to sleep when brain doesn't (as Isaac says).

I tried Radio 4 but it was a depressing programme about ebola...

LordGrover

33,539 posts

212 months

Friday 28th November 2014
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Avoid alcohol, you'll sleep better.
Make sure bedroom is not too warm and stuffy. No heating and maybe the window open a little.
Properly dark, no lights. Even glow from LED alarm clock can be disturbing. Blackout blinds helped me enormously.
Meditation style podcasts can help if you're struggling to nod off. They mostly recommend using headphones but I've never found them comfortable or necessary. Handy that most podcast apps have a sleep timer so switch off at the end of podcast or pre-set time.

hepy

1,267 posts

140 months

Friday 28th November 2014
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My couple of tips are:
1, Read a book - something about the lines of text switch your brain off
2. Try ZMA tablets from a bodybuilding website - these give me a really deep sleep, so even if I only get 4-5 hours, I still feel refreshed

WinstonWolf

72,857 posts

239 months

Friday 28th November 2014
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Lose the afternoon nap and get up earlier so you're absolutely knackered at bed time?

unclepockets

553 posts

166 months

Saturday 29th November 2014
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Is there anything going on in your life that could be remotely stressful? any changes generally? the human body has odd ways of dealing with stress, had that myself.

DukeDickson

4,721 posts

213 months

Saturday 29th November 2014
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Max Factor said:
Markwinstanley said:
Try some hypnosis sessions available on youtube. I have personal experience and it's works like magic. Just listen and follow.
Thanks - any links you recommend? I think I prefer that to needles!

Last night I felt tired around 10pm, then got a second wind and went to bed about 11.30pm and was asleep by midnight. Then I woke up at 12.15am feeling quite alert. Back to sleep after maybe an hour, then awake at the usual 4am... my body and brain seem to be out of phase... body wants to sleep when brain doesn't (as Isaac says).

I tried Radio 4 but it was a depressing programme about ebola...
Any reason why you didn't try and sleep at 10 when you felt tired?
In the short term, if it is affecting you, you probably need to sleep when feeling tired. Otherwise, as suggested, get tired and then sleep (though in real world, I know there's a host of mental & physical factors).

BTW, wanna swap? frown

andy118run

871 posts

206 months

Saturday 29th November 2014
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Quite a few people I work with have sleep issues (we work shifts/it's a reasonably stressful job).

Many of them swear by Night Nurse for a good nights' sleep. Never tried it myself as my sleep is generally ok but that would be my first port of call ahead of prescription meds like zopiclone, if I ever felt the need for something.

226bhp

10,203 posts

128 months

Saturday 29th November 2014
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Are you drinking alcohol before going to bed?

Xerstead

622 posts

178 months

Saturday 29th November 2014
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Caffeine and dehydration?
I find even a couple of coffees in a day can really push back my bed time, well past midnight. The times I've had a lot more, particularly in the evening, I can wake up several times before I want to. Of course it's worse the next day as more coffee is needed to wake up again.
Dehydration is the other one to get me, it leads to fatigue, poor concentration and irritability. I find it hard to switch off and relax into sleep while needing a drink.

mu0n

2,348 posts

133 months

Saturday 29th November 2014
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Phenibut a couple of hours before bed and a camomile tea usually do the trick for me. I tend to stick something mindless like Family Guy or Police Interceptors on TV in bed and my eyes get so heavy I fall asleep. The more you worry about not sleeping, the harder it can get. It's like a vicious circle.

Exercise before sleep is also good.