Broken sleep pattern...
Posted , 2 users are following.
Hi everyone. I’m an anxiety suffer (on Prozac). I fall asleep just fine (usually around 10pm), however I wake up anywhere between 2am-4am and thereafter have restless/broken sleep. It’s frustrating not to simply sleep through the night. During that time my anxiety can act up and make my situation even more impossible. I’ve been trying isolate “what” wakes me. At the moment it could be that I need to use the restroom, simply just awake from a thought, or nothing at all. can’t seem to pinpoint anything. Any and all questions and recommendations are welcome. Thanks in advance.
Note: I have tried melatonin, with minimal results. I’ve tried OTC Zyrtec, and interestingly it works but I’m groggy and probably not a good long term solution. I’ve tried sleeping pills (wife’s) however they put me to sleep but don’t keep me asleep. I have a fairly healthy lifestyle (exercise, food, no caffeine/alcohol/smoke etc). What gives?
0 likes, 2 replies
lily65668 Guest
Posted
You know, I wouldn't worry too much about this. If you study people with normal sleep patterns in a sleep lab, you find that they all wake up to some degree at the end of each sleep cycle throughout the night. On average a sleep cycle lasts about 1.5 hours. However, most of them won't remember having woken the next morning.
On the other hand, some of us tend to wake fully after each sleep cycle. I tend to do this. I wake up, look at the clock, maybe get up to the toilet or to have a drink of water, then go back to sleep again. This isn't an abnormality, just a variant of normal.
It's also common to wake more fully after sleep cycles later in the night - which makes sense, as you'll be more rested by then. You say you're normally asleep by 10pm and may sleep through till 4am before being aware of waking. Six hours is a normal night's sleep for some people, though I realise you're also saying you sometimes start waking as early as 2am.
It's clearly your anxiety about having woken in the first place that's stopping you from going back to sleep again. Why not try just accepting it? Broken sleep won't do you any harm.
Guest lily65668
Posted