Sleep problems and sweating

Thanks Mrs o I usually only have one cup of coffee a day usually mid morning and the rest of the time i drink tea but not to excess usually 2 or 3 cups a day at most ,I am trying to increase my water intake like most of us I don't drink enough but I think I will try decaf drinks now . I do like spicy foods also , I only have alcohol occasionally as I found that did make menopause sweats and flushes worse so will cut that out for this also . Oh the joys of getting older 

The only good thing about getting old is that you have lived a long time.😃😃😃

I don't think it is strange - remember the kids when they got overtired? They wouldn't/couldn't sleep either. My mother always called it "past tired". 

With PMR you often end up feeling almost ill with the tiredness and can't relax. A rest in the afternoon makes for a more useful evening instead of feeling ratty and sorry for yourself - better for you and better for the family!

The body doesn't cool down before sleep - it cools down during sleep as far as I understand it. It has also been shown (somewhere, don't ask me where) that a hot, or at least warm, drink helps cool you down - so the British habit of a nice cup of tea at any point and in any temperature is not so daft! Like curry, it makes you sweat and that cools you down. You'd think that the Indian subcontinent might know a bit about cooling down...

Melatonin is not available as such in the UK except on prescription. There are warnings about not using it alongside pred - but someone who does use it said family members who are a GP and pharmacology PhD say the evidence is more it is OK than that it isn't.

PS - It is common to have disturbed sleep during the night but I think it is more a case of WAKING rather than difficulty getting to sleep. Which does melatonin help? I know people swear by it for jet lag. I just accepted it. It still happens but not every night - one bad night, one good night. Sleep hygiene (as it is called) helps:  no TV, computer or phone screens just before bed, no lights in the bedroom, especially green or blue, cool enough. My husband's alarm clock drives me up the wall with its massive green display - before I go to bed I put a box of tissues across it but he always manages to disturb it when he comes to bed a couple of hours later! He can't understand it...

I think too many of us worry too much about NOT sleeping (in the night I mean).  I've got into the habit of just lying there and thinking how good life has been, and all the places of interest I've visited - almost don't want to fall asleep again.😃😃

Different in the day, of course, when we can't do the things we want/have to do.  Thank goodness my tiredness has settled down quite a bit.  Could that be the decrease in pred - 5mgs?

It could be - and your body catching up and making its own corticosteroid again.

You are so right - the more you get in a tizz about not sleeping, the less likely you are to sleep. Learning to relax is very helpful - and spending some real relaxation time during the afternoon, whether you sleep or not, can make it easier to get to sleep when you got to bed. Paradoxical, but there it is.