I've been waking up at 4:45-5am every day no matter what time I go to sleep
Posted , 7 users are following.
I've had sleeping issues since I was 14 years old (26 now). I've been on countless medications and a C-Pap machine and nothing had been truly effective. My biggest trouble was actually falling asleep, but now that's the easiest part. It has definitely got better over the years but for the past 2 weeks I've been waking up at 4:45-5 every morning. I feel so tired and I try to go back to sleep but I usually just lay there until 6:30-7. I rarely go back to sleep and sometimes I don't even know if I actually fall back asleep because it's so hard to.
Some things that I've done is got rid of my alarm clock so I wouldn't keep checking it every 2 minutes. I also covered my windows so my room is almost pitch black because the sun peeking through used to wake me up. When I wake up I usually reach for my phone or ipod (both turned off) and turn one on to check the time (I know that's probably a stupid idea but how else will I know what time it is?). When I get up for good I usually head to the bathroom and look at the alarm clock in the spare bedroom when I walk past it.
This is really starting to catch up to me. I don't have nearly as much energy as usual. I have no motivation to get anything done. I just want to be able to get a full nights sleep in because I rarely have had that in the past 12 years.
If anyone has any suggestions about what I can do to get out of this habit I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.
0 likes, 28 replies
lily65668 Tibstradamus
Posted
You don't say what time you're falling asleep, just what time you're waking up. Could it be that you're getting the right amount of sleep for you? Not everyone actually needs the formulaic 8 hours per night.
Sorry to be obtuse, but what's the difference between checking the time on an alarm clock and your phone? I fully understand that thing about constantly looking at the clock (I was a nervous sleeper too for most of my life) but why not invest in one of those clocks where you can't see the dial unless you press a button to light it up? That might wake you up a bit less than going through all the rigmarole of turning something on.
Tibstradamus lily65668
Posted
Sorry, I should've added that. I've been trying to go to bed around 10 now since this started happening. I wake up a couple times throughout the night so it's not like I'm sleeping all the way through. Even if I went to bed at 11:30, I would still wake up at the same time. This waking up at a certian time thing has happened to me before with different times but this is the longest it has gone on for.
lily65668 Tibstradamus
Posted
I think many people have the tendency to wake up at the same time. If you can get more sleep by going to bed earlier, then that's obviously the logical thing to do.
I think people often worry too much about waking several times during the night. This is perfectly normal for some of us. Everyone has a brief arousal between sleep cycles - with a cycle normally lasting about one-and-a-half hours - but most people aren't aware of. Some of us, however, wake fully between sleep cycles and retain the memory of this. I've always had this sleep pattern, and it's quite harmless. The problem only starts when you start to worry about why you're awake in the middle of the night, and this anxiety stops you from falling asleep again.
Misssy2 lily65668
Posted
Hi lily....no EVERYONE does not have brief arousal...my b/f never wakes up! And I am super jealous of that.
Once he is knocked out...he's gone for about 9 hours...and it is not easy to wake him either.
He can't understand WHY I am up every 2 hours. He says it is because I "worry" too much and I really agree with him.
lily65668 Misssy2
Posted
Actually Misssy, sleep lab studies tend to prove that they do. It's just that not everyone makes it all the way up to the surface. I've always woken fully several times a night. It used to be a huge problem when I was young, and suffering from sleep anxiety, because I naturally started worrying about whether I'd go back to sleep... with the inevitable result. Fortunately, as I've got older, I've been able to accept it as just normal for me. I look around the room, have a drink of water, go to the bathroom if necessary (which it sadly often is at my advanced age!) then immediately crash out again.
One interesting phenomenon I've been aware of for years, and which spooked me a bit at first, is that I usually know exactly what time it is when I wake, to within a couple of minutes. And it's not because I can see the time anywhere. I have to press a button on my bedside clock to light up the face and I switch off my phone at night.
Then I saw a science programme on BBC TV about 20 years ago that explained this. It seems we literally do have a biological clock. Scientists discovered a tiny group of cells somewhere in the hypothalamus that actually switch on and off at the rate of about once per second. Our brain ticks like a clock! I'm hopeless at guessing the time when I'm awake, presumably because my brain is occupied with other things, but I'm always spot on just in the moment of awaking from sleep.
Misssy2 lily65668
Posted
Me too! Always wake the same time every night...within one or 2 minutes or exactly the same time. It seems this is happening with the original poster as well.
I've always known about the biological clock and I know that we have to reset it...but the question is how does he stop himself from waking up at THIS time. He can only do it (in my opinion) by keep trying to go back to sleep and maybe someday he may actually fall back asleep and THEN his clock will be reset.
Misssy2 Tibstradamus
Posted
My current cycle is go to bed at 1....up at 2:30....up at 4:30 and then 6 and when I wake up at 6...that is the hardest time to get back to sleep. SO....I started making myself stay in bed...and now I still wake up at 6...but I know I can fall asleep again till about 8am.
I introduced a half of an over the counter sleeping pill to my regimen....I take melatonin...1/2 of a benzo and an allergy pill prior to sleeping. when I get in bed I take the 1/2 of otc sleep aide. I fall right to sleep.
The first day I started with the OTC sleep med....I got up a 6 when I woke up and felt like crap all day. So the next day I tried to stay in bed and it worked and I ended up getting up around 8am.
Do you take anything at all for sleep?
The OTC medicine I used has been around since 1949 and it is called doxylamine.
Alot of my friends use Benadryl an allergy med.
The thing I think for you...is once you push past waking up at 4:45....you will develop a new time cycle.
Tibstradamus Misssy2
Posted
I've been taking doxylamine and diphenhydramine for years (rotating between the two), along with valerian root and melatonin. I usually take one for a while and then it's effectiveness starts to wear off so I switch to the other one. I fall asleep fine now which used to be the toughest part of the night. I don't know why I can't fall back asleep when I get up so early. I feel SO tired and try to go back to sleep but I just can't. I'll lay in bed for 2 hours and then just get up becuase there's no point of trying to go back to sleep. I've gotten in these cycles before with different times but this has been the worst and longest one by far. I just don't know how to get out of it.
Misssy2 Tibstradamus
Posted
This is not a joke...Tib...do you exercise?
I joined a gym...and I noticed...sleeping is a little better.
And that is what most Drs say..exercise, exercise, exercise. And I'm like..yea...bla...bla....bla...
But, it is true I think it helps. I haven't been going to the gym for personal reasons..but the one week I did go....I swear I slept better and felt better.
Tibstradamus Misssy2
Posted
Yes I get exercise. I don't go to the gym on the regular to lift weights but here and there I do. I usually go to shoot in the gym. I also have a hoop at my house which I shoot on regularly. I try to run around as much as I can while doing it. I play pick up games here and there as well which is tiring. I go on hikes here or there and I ride my bike once or twice every 2 weeks for usually 15+ miles. Since I quit my job, I started working with my dad a couple days of the week doing landscaping work. It's really tough and exhausting work. So it's safe to say I get plenty of exercise.
Even on the days I work the hardest, ride my bike or play basketball the longest, it still doesn't help me sleep any better. It used to for sure. I will always remember the one day when I played basketball for 4+ hours and I struggled to get down the stairs at my apartment. I slept for 10 hours straight that night and it felt so good. That's like really the only great night of sleep that I can recall in the past 10 years. I've definitely exhausted myself like that after that particular time but I've never had that happen again.
Misssy2 Tibstradamus
Posted
Ok..have you tried prescription medication?
lily65668 Tibstradamus
Posted
(Sorry if this turns out to be a duplicate post - the system is a bit crazy this evening.)
?Tib, Once again - it's only been a month since you left that stressful job and started doing a physically demanding one. I really do think this will help, but you can't expect your body to adjust in a matter of weeks after years of sleep problems. You really need to calm down and give yourself some time.
Tibstradamus Misssy2
Posted
I've been on a bunch of prescriptions in the past. Some worked better than others and some didn't work at all. The most recent and most potent one I was on is Belsomra. It was terrible. I would've been better off taking nothing. I believe it's in the same class as ambien. I'm done with the prescription BS. Yea they might help for a bit and then once they stop, the good ol doctor puts you on something more potent. It's a never ending cycle. I'm done with the prescriptions. I like to take holistic approaches for my problems. I've worked in health care and it's a really shady business.
I'm going on a little vacation with my girlfriend this weekend so I'm hoping that it will get my mind of everything and maybe I can get out of this cycle.
Tibstradamus lily65668
Posted
Yes I understand that. I expect it to get better with time but my main focus is getting off this 4:45-5 waking period. If I get rid of this everything will be very good. Yes I can go to bed early but it kind of sucks not wanting to stay up late with friends/family/ect because I'm going to feel terrible next day.
lily65668 Tibstradamus
Posted
I can sympathise with that one, Tib. I'm a night owl too - I hate going to bed early! In fact, it doesn't work for me. Even in the days when I was sleeping very badly (now long past for the most part) I used to find that if I went to bed at 10 I'd either be awake till 4 or I'd fall asleep immediately, wake up at midnight and that would be it till about 6am.
I think you're wise to come off the prescription meds. The natural remedies never worked for me, but I used to use the first-generation antihistamines - the ones that make you sleepy. Examples are promethazine (Phenergan), chlorphenamine (Piriton) and diphenhydramine (Benadryl). But they have to be used like prescription meds - just two or three consecutive nights, to give yourself a break, then no more for a week or two. If you take them every night the result is the same as for prescription meds - they stop working after a few weeks. As they don't have a very powerful sedative effect you need to take them an hour or so before going to bed. If you take them at bedtime they'll take at least an hour to kick in, by which time you'll be wide awake with anxiety and they won't work at all! And never take a second dose of antihistamines later in the night if the first one doesn't work. They can make you feel groggier than prescription meds the next morning if you take them too late, which can be dangerous if you're driving. I still occasionally take a pill now on nights when I know I'll be too nervous to sleep, e.g. before travelling or the night before an important meeting. I've been taking promethazine intermittently for nearly 50 years now and it's never stopped working - though I suspect the word "intermittently" is key there.
Hope you enjoy the short break away. It could be just what you need.
Misssy2 Tibstradamus
Posted
Good luck...and enjoy your vacation!