Does anybody have any tips for early awakening insomnia?

Hi,

thanks for the reply.

Nothing bothers me, if that's what you mean, except for the fact that I can't sleep. I just wake up and that's it, I'm not sleepy enough to fall back under, but I am tired. I sleep for about 5.5 hours,which wouldn't be too bad if it happened every now and then, but since it happens every single day with no exception (even on the weekend) I am completely and horribly worn down.

I do stay in bed for about half an hour to an hour, then call it quits and get up. I try again the next night.

What makes the situation worse is the fact that I can't (and never could) nap. I feel like if I could nap for, say, half an hour to an hour somewhere in the middle of the day, this whole situation would be far less terrible to handle.

I know naps are supposed to be avoided, but I feel that they would help me tremendously.

I can't figure out why I wake up early. I don't have apnea, I don't have to pee, I don't feel any pain or discomfort... I just wake up way before the desired time.

Do you know any tips for this particular problem? Are there any pills to put a person back to sleep?

I used to occassionally have a problem falling asleep,even had 0 sleep nights from time to time and thought that it was the worst thing in the world, but it's nothing compared to this insidious and relentless insufficient sleep. I would much rather have 1 or 2 zero sleep nights a week with normal sleep the other nights than have this daily mental torture.

Sorry for the rant, I really am at my wits end. So, any ideas/suggestions?

Sorry forgot to add in my last post. If it helps, just remember you are not alone. Millions of people worldwide suffer from some kind of sleep problem. I used to work with a woman many years ago who used to get about 2 hrs sleep everynight!! & she managed. I don't know how she did it but i recall asking her how she did it, & she just said she learnt to get used to it.

thanks for the reply, Michelle.

Yes, acceptance goes a long way, though sometimes you just have to vent.

Especially when everyone around you is sleeping like crazy. If it wasn't for the Internet I don't know what I would do, I don't know a single person going through anything like this in real life.

Sorry to hear about your situation. How long have you been going through it?

As for the woman. honestly I take such statements with a pinch of salt. I've heard too many people taking only their night sleep into consideration all the while sleeping for hours during the day. If it is true, though, I feel for her. Horrible.

I get off to sleep relatively easily but with me its like an alarm goes off after two hours and I'm wide awake. I get up for a while usually struggle to get back to sleep so get up again. Then sleep if lucky for another two hours. I used to cope with that but now after years of it its affecting me physically.

I had hoped that CBD oil would help. It seems only to have me accept it and stopped getting uptight about it.

If there were a sleeping Olympics my wife would be the gold medalist. Most annoying to have someone slumbering away in the next bed and eventually having to waken them up in time for lunch...... slight exaggeration

I've had this problem on & off for over 2 yrs now. Umm! Don't know how to put it but ever since i came into menopause. Sorry for getting personal but thats when it started for me. I've spoke to more than one doctor about it & they all agree that 'the change' can cause sleep disturbances in some women. As for the lady i worked with, it is actually true. She had been a very poor sleeper all her life. It's certainly not fun but somehow you find a way to cope. The problem with alot of people is that they start to worry about not being able to sleep & that in turn will just make the problem a whole lot worse. I went through all that worry when i couldn't sleep until i began to realise i was making it worse. Not in every case, but often our sleep problems are actually made worse by the way we think about sleep. So now, i just don't worry about it. Every now & then i'll get thoughts creeping into my mind but i quickly dismiss them because thats all they are, just thoughts.

What do you do with yourself when awake for a long time ? Answer E-Mails and posts like me ? I had the problem off and on over the years but it has worsened after being treated with Cipro and Fluoroquinolones.

I do the worst thing you can do. I stay in bed & try to sleep.Sometimes i'll get up & make a cup of tea. I know what you're thinking, what tea!! But sometimes it relaxes me & sends me to sleep but not always. I don't go on my phone or anything cos that just stimulates my brain too much & it's already stimulated enough! Lol!! Put in a nutshell, i just ride it out the best i can.

My neighbours lights are on at 4 am but they are not insomniacs they own a hotel and are getting ready to go to start work.

Hi, Derek,

What you said sums the situation for me perfectly - the problem was tolerable at first but after years of relentless struggle my nerves are really getting thin. It reminds me of a dark-humor video from a while ago where a guy keeps hitting another guy with a spoon his whole life until he finally kills him. I see a correlation between my sleep and the "spoon" murderer. 😃

My wife is not much different, either. 😃 She never had any problems sleeping whatsoever,and if for any reason the night gets rough she makes up for it during the day, while all I can do is watch with red, "sand-filled" eyes and wonder why I can't sleep like she can. Still, cudos to my wife for sticking with all my quirks like turning off the TV, removing all the clocks , darkening the room though she would like to wake up with morning light,etc.

Anyway, like I said, I can't understand what makes us wake up? once we fall asleep. I've had trouble falling asleep before, like Michelle says, by thinking too much about sleep I was fueling my own problem, but I got over it and learned not to fear sleep. Now it's my subconsciousness that's doing the sabotaging, how do you fight that?

Michelle , I also stay in bed hoping to fall back asleep, at east for a while until it makes no sense to do so anymore. There are many sleep hygiene rules that I don't really believe in, but still follow them regardless. However, the "get up until you feel sleepy again" rule I just know would never work for me. I feel tired all day, yet I can't sleep!

And who says a nice chamomile tea won't do the trick. Just don't drink any Earl Grey! 😃

I know the feeling all too well about waking up after two hours or so. Sometimes i go the complete opposite & i can't get to sleep till god knows when. I wish we had a switch on the side of our head so we can turn the brain off like a light when we go to bed. LOL!! God i wish.

I've lived with the daytime tiredness that seems to come in waves during the day and wears off and on. The last ten days its stayed with me and my body is seemingly reacting and my legs feel weak and unsteady added to the neuropathy I already have in my lower left leg that is a result of Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Syndrome . My sleep problems also worsened because of that.

I suffer from MS and epilepsy, but often wonder if they were either caused by my poor sleep or if they were misdiagnosed (especially MS). How can the doctors be sure my brain atrophy, for instance, isn't caused by decades of poor sleep. Sorry to hear about you neuropathy, I'm sure it can interfere with sleep easily.

Hi edgar. I can guarantee you your MS has nothing to do with your poor sleep. MS is an autoimmune disease but the disease itself can cause sleep issues but not the other way around. I don't mean to sound like a smart•••• but if that was the case, probably half the world would be at risk or have MS.

I doubt if they can quantify how much damage years of insomnia can do to us.

The neuropathy is only a problem when I'm walking its not painful or tingly as others have it. Neurologist said there are a 125 kinds of neuropathy and we cannot tell you which one it is.

michelle - you're not being a "smart***", you're right. There are many poor sleepers without MS, and many people with MS who've slept soundly their whole lives. It's just a pet theory of mine, or better said a pet possibility, since MS doesn't have a known cause, then why couldn't it have many causes, among them bad sleep. But it's a stretch, I know.

Epilepsy, however, is linked with bad sleep habits, bit also common in people with MS, so I don't know which of the two triggered it in my case.

derek - I'm glad to hear the neuropathy at least doesn't bother you at night. And you're right, nobody can quantify the damage that accumulated sleep debt can leave on the body, but I'm not sure I completely believe that insomnia can't hurt you, as they often say. Anyway, who knows...

Hi edgar. Hope you are well as can be anyhow. Insomnia can hurt, there are known links to heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity in some people due to eating sugary & high carb foods to try & keep their energy up. It can also cause depression & anxiety, higher stress levels & so on but as for other disease in general, no there are no known links with insomnia. As a former doctor once said to me many years ago, insomnia is the worst form of torture & by god is it ever!!

There are so many reasons for insomnia it is difficult to treat. My wakening after two hours seems not to have a reason.

Indeed, it's no wonder sleep deprivation was actually used as a form of torture, and probably still is.

It's incredible that you can just sit there and be suffering, with no objective reason to be doing so. Grrr, frustrating.

When you feel tired all day how do you feel ? I'm now at the stage where I have a dull muzzy head most of the day though it does improve when out in the fresh air. The overall tiredness is into my body and although I have a walking problem due to neuropathy in my lower left leg I seem to have an addition weakness there now. Not muscle weakness but almost more a lack of co-ordination.

hey, Derek,

sorry for the late reply, I hope you're still here. Well, I can't say I have any physical symptoms, apart from the usual - burning eyes and that terrible pressure inside the head from exhaustion. Also, I have a feeling my vision isn't up to par, it gets blurry, but I think that's also normal.

Insomnia mentally makes me a wreck, that's the problem. I am running on empty and it shows everywhere, on my face, on my posture, in my work with children who require a lot of energy and in my conversations with coleagues which I find very hard to follow and maintain.

Yeah, I'm still awake 😃

hahaha, good one. 😃

I take that you've never been referred to a sleep clinic.

I'm sure it would not work for me. It would make me too alert to sleep. When I had a 24 hour BP monitor I slept until it went of for the first time after an hour and then lay awake waking for the next one.

My vision has been a bit blurry today but just in the left eye. Just about due my annual eye test.

Oh, no way would I be able to sleep with all that machinery on. I think it's amazing that anyone can! It's like someone holding a gun to your head and saying "now sleep"!

Anything that makes me focus too much on falling asleep is counterproductive to me.

Otherwise I would love do finally have it done, just to see if it would yield anything.

Insomnia makes people feel so bad that they then begin to wonder if they have an underlying illness causing it.

Strangely I always slept better when we travelled. I seemed to have no bother sleeping in Australia or New Zealand or America or Canada.

I had a good sleep period when I moved to my girlfriend's (now my wife's) place in the country, the conditions were just perfect. The room was cold, pitch black, it was quiet, the bed was comfy, everything... Later we moved to the city, to an apartment, and sure enough my sleep deteriorated again. Now there are no rules, except that I can't sleep properly anywhere. We even had a period when we had to go back to her parent's , to the same bed in the same room, so I hoped my sleep would improve like.it did once before, but no dice. It was marginally better, but not by a lot.

It's great that you can sleep at least when travelling. I travel relatively frequently and it's great, but the exhaustion takes a big chunk of the enjoyment out of it.

Of course my wife falls asleep as soon as the plane takes off. I nudge her for drinks, lunch, dinner, landing.