Do you have problems sleeping at night?

oldaunt said:
If you have trouble shutting off your mind, try rubbing the inside of your wrist for about 3 minutes. It sounds really strange but it actually works. Hard to keep thinking about things while concentrating on rubbing.
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I’ll try that tonight.

For a bit I was successful in counting back by threes, starting at 300. Doesn’t work now. K
 

No. Typically get 7 hours sleep without waking up then a nap in the afternoon. I think my bladder must hold a gallon since when I get up it's usually well over a minute standing, pointing & ridding my body of that kidney filtered excess liquid.
 

fuzzybuddy said:
The last two nights, I can't get to sleep, then I wake up every two hours. That messes me up. Do you have problems sleeping at night?
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Organic Stress Ease tea is wonderful..I drink a cup at night before bed. A hot shower, sipping my tea, watching tv and playing a game on my cell phone - next thing I know, the tv is watching me..🤣🤣 Some nights I drink Chamomile/Lavender tea. If I wake up through the night, I do breathing exercises. Most nights, I sleep well.
 
helenbacque said:
I have a soft fuzzy sleep mask. Its very comfortable, not restrictive and really helps me go back to sleep when I've had to get up in middle of night. I sleep much better since I've begun to use it.
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I use a sleep mask, also, and take a valerian root capsule to make me feel tired. It works pretty well along with using meditation techniques to quiet my mind. I sleep fairly well, except for having to get up a few times to go pee... usually around six hours, but I go to bed around 2:00 AM. I take about an hour long nap after lunch and sometimes another one after dinner. Food seems to make me sleepy.
 
I sleep well at night. If I do wake up I usually go back to sleep withing 10 minutes.

About once a month, my mind revs up and it may take me an hour to get back to sleep.
 
I have always fallen asleep quickly and used to stay asleep. Now I wake up every 2 hours and go to the bathroom. I can fall back asleep luckily.
 
I have to really work at falling asleep; no politics or violent t.v. content for several hours before bedtime, reading Senior Forum is okay but not much on the computer either or discussing certain topics with my husband. I drift off repeating my mantra but as sleep begins to find me so does our young cat - she thinks it is play time so all has been waisted.

I can only recall my younger days when as soon as my head hit the pillow I was sleeping without waking until the alarm clock pestered me.
 
HoneyNut said:
I get up at least twice sometimes three times during the night to go pee. And sometimes I wake up an hour earlier than I should get up and I feel all awake and happy to get an earlier start to my day (because I'm just awful about going to bed very late and then having to sleep late), but after a couple minutes I suddenly feel terribly tired/sleepy again, then I go back to bed and right away fall asleep.
If I go to sleep at a decent hour, then I have a lot of trouble sleeping, I need to stay up until I'm really tired in order to sleep better. But I lose a lot of my day that way.
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That's me. EXACTLY,
 
I learned to wake up about every three hours when I lived in a small cottage with a small wood burning stove in the winter. It started to get very cold so I stoked the fire. That habit persists. Feeling bad or good, I WILL wake up about every 3 ours...I just nap before dawn.
 
In the last year I have had an onset of waking up sometime between 1:30am and 4:00am. We go to bed at 10:00pm and have for years. I do not have trouble going to sleep, I just cannot stay asleep. Since I retired, we historically get up between 6:30am and 7:00am. Once I wake up, I cannot get back to sleep, so getting up early is killing me. I have tried all kinds of things, darkening the room, exercise during the day, not watching TV for a couple of hours before bed, etc. etc. Yet, many mornings I still wake up in the middle of the night. I recently started taking Advil PM and they help me stay awake, but I know I cannot continue this forever. At my next doctor appointment, I will talk with him, I am not sure what I am going to do, but I cannot continue this. I feel like a zombie many days and I am finding it difficult to do many things...Yeck!
 
One of the most important bits of advice for good health is to get a good nights sleep. Easier said than done. Over the past few years doctors have become so concerned about a black mark on their records that they limit any sleeping aids. All they do is dispense advice that those with insomnia have tried repeatedly. Any other medical problem would provide medicine. There’s a stigma against taking sleeping medication. I ration my prescription drug but supplement it with natural products and OTC things like Z-Quil.
 
I sleep when I feel like it which means I am usually up late at night and asleep part of the day. That may sound good but I would like it better if I had a scheduled time for sleep. It would probably be more healthy that way. I know I have felt my best when my body is on a schedule for eating, sleeping and other bodily functions. Everything kind of lines up with a routine. I had no problem doing that when I was younger but now trying to keep a routine just does not work for me. It all comes down to I like to sleep and have no problem doing so.
 
These things are helpful:
  • Melatonin
  • Walnuts
  • Dark Unsweetened Cherries (Frozen is OK)
  • A dark, cool, and quiet room
  • Listening to a 25 min radio drama, with no light and shuts off after it finishes helps me
  • NO TV and NO light, artificial or natural (moon)!
  • Avoid physical activities near bedtime
  • Avoid mentally challenging activities near bedtime
  • For me, simple relaxing games like online solitaire are fine, but if I am trying to play the game and set some speed record then NO!
 
I just remembered this. Years ago when I had a lot on my mind and had a hard time falling asleep I would listen to long instrumental music and discern all the individual instruments playing by themselves. Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells was on of my favorites. Of course the volume has to be set just right. I still use it for meditation and relaxation.

Tubular Bells
 
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  • 20 minutes of aerobic exercise a few hours before bedtime can help.
  • Carbs stimulate the release of serotonin, which can help you sleep, so have a little bread or a bagel when you wake up in the middle of the night and can't fall back to sleep. A side benefit is, when you go to bed, you can hope that you wake up in the middle of the night so you can have a bagel, and that attitude can make you relaxed so you can fall asleep.
  • When you go to bed, think about what you're going to have for your meals the next day. It helps to have something to look forward to every day. That's something many people lose when they retire -- having something to look forward to. I'm just the opposite. Every day that I don't have to go to a job is like a vacation! :)
 
oldaunt said:
If you have trouble shutting off your mind, try rubbing the inside of your wrist for about 3 minutes. It sounds really strange but it actually works. Hard to keep thinking about things while concentrating on rubbing.
Click to expand...
I actually do something similar. I press on the inside of my wrist over the spot where I can feel my pulse. Feeling that beat is usually the last thing I remember before dropping off to sleep.
But then sometimes nothing works and I can’t get my mind to turn off.

CBD oil with melatonin works off and on. I seem to build a tolerance to it.
 
I wish I could sleep through the night but I go to bed late, wake sometime in the early morning hours to wee then back to bed which is when I usually get my most restful sleep.
 
SeniorBen said:
I use a sleep mask, also, and take a valerian root capsule to make me feel tired. It works pretty well along with using meditation techniques to quiet my mind. I sleep fairly well, except for having to get up a few times to go pee... usually around six hours, but I go to bed around 2:00 AM. I take about an hour long nap after lunch and sometimes another one after dinner. Food seems to make me sleepy.
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Food does the same for my hubby - especially when he have a late night snack. Also when he work a night shift and have a early morning breakfast...he is out like cutting a light switch off 🤣🤣
 
Getting to sleep no....staying asleep -yes.
During the Summer,when I was rarely at home,I found I was sleeping much better.
But normal service has resumed!
 
I'm beginning to think that imperfect sleep for retirees is due to not being overtired from spending a full day at work and getting exhausted. Maybe we should all go back to work? NOT!;)
 
I take CBD+Melatonin gummies at bedtime and have no problem sleeping. I also got one of those adjustable bases for my bed which has really helped with acid reflux during the night. Now if the dog would just stop pestering me to get up at first light. She is quite persistent about it. I dread the daylight savings change coming up since daylight will come earlier.
 
I sleep very well. That said, I don't worry about trying to sleep on some predetermined cycle. I worked my tush off for decades, I'm now retired, and I'll darned well sleep when I want!

ADDED: my big secret is that I don't try to sleep when I'm not tired. Why bother trying to crowbar myself into some sort of schedule? Sleeping when I'm tired means I sleep very well.
 

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