Lack of sleep
Posted , 5 users are following.
Hi everyone,
Over the past year my sleep quality has reduced to barely anything. Most nights I am now getting around 3 to 4 hours of broken sleep.
I am unable to sleep in, I will be awake at 6:30 regardless of the time I got to sleep.
Most nights I am unable to sleep until around 3.
So a little background, I am 30 years old and slightly overweight. I was doing exercise everyday but after a few months of this sleeping pattern I have found it so difficult to do. I am eating pretty healthy and have zero caffeine anymore.
I have got to the point now where I seem to have a constant headache everyday and I am agitated all the time. I know this is a cycle as I am so tired I can't relax and sleep.
Even when I do get to sleep I always seem to have the same dream and keep waking up and repeating it. By that I mean that it is never the same dream night after night I just keep having the same one over the same night.
Any night that I get to sleep at around 11 I wake up at 3 and don't get back to sleep.
I have tried all the tips online with no phones and having the bedroom just for sleeping , even tried relaxing baths and meditation.
My biggest problem I think is when I get into bed when sleepy I still feel agitated and start kicking my legs out and to sing and turning. I feel like my brain doesn't shut down. About 6 months ago I had to stop wearing my contact lenses as my eyes were not getting any rest even after sleep due to REM.
I know medication will get me some sleep but it is not solution to the problem. I am finding myself more stressed all the time but my job hasn't changed or become more stressful I just seem to get stressed so easily these days
If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.
0 likes, 4 replies
ellie51107 Davidlondon
Posted
Hi, I myself had difficulty sleeping for a few months and was wide awake until 2/3 every night, so I know how you must be feeling, wouldn't wish it on anyone!!! After trying what I felt was everything (even prescription sleeping tablets) I read online somewhere that a lack in magnesium could be a factor. I brought some magnesium tablets from holland and Barrett's, and after a few days of taking them I was back to my usual 8 hours of sleep a night! Might be worth a try
Davidlondon ellie51107
Posted
edgar30813 Davidlondon
Posted
Hi , david,
I sympathise with you a hundred percent. When the mind gets into a loop like the one yours is in now it's difficult to get out of it.
I've also been a relatively poor sleeper all my life, but last year I'd gone through a period of constant wake-ups at 5, no matter what I did , and no matter if it's a workday or the weekend. Also, when I would wake up at that time, the sleep drive (drowsiness, I mean) would be gone and then bye-bye sleep. It's awful.
My only consolation for you is that these loops CAN and very often DO go away on their own. Mine , for instance, stopped out of the blue and I now usually sleep until my normal 6:30 for my work, not 5 or earlier like last year.
One question for you , if I may. You said this:
"About 6 months ago I had to stop wearing my contact lenses as my eyes were not getting any rest even after sleep due to REM".
I also wear contacts and have a feeling that they wear me out, but I can't find any info about that online. Everybody is thrilled by them and glorifies them, but then again they are not insomniacs.
As for your current problem, as hard as it may seem, you just have to wait it out. Took me a whole year for the brain to finally get back on track.
Hope yours gets back on track , too, and soon.
NECKBONE Davidlondon
Posted
Hi, sorry to hear about your troubles. I'll say the same thing I always say for these posts, which is only spend the amount of time in bed that you normally sleep. That is 3-4 hours for you so start with that. If you always wake up at 6:30AM, don't go to bed until 2:30. You say you don't usually go to sleep until 3AM anyway, so this only extends your practice to not actually getting in bed until about the time you would fall asleep. If you have a rough night, do not go to sleep any earlier than your scheduled bedtime the following night. Repeat this pattern religiously until you are sleeping 95% of the time you are in the bed. At that point, go to sleep 15 minutes earlier and stick with that new schedule until you are again sleeping 95% of your time in bed. It is difficult to adhere to early on but once you start sleeping most of the time in bed, your sleep will be deeper and more rejuvenating, even if you are only getting 4 hours. I know it sounds extreme but that type of schedule really is 75% of what got me straight and I was only getting 3 hours per night, much like you.
The other 25% was composed of exercise and dealing with my anxiety and depression. Exercise especially helps if you do it every day. It just seems to burn off some of the biochemicals that keep you awake.