not sleeping well lately

[Andy69]

This is driving me nuts.

I have trouble sleeping. This has been going on regularly for a couple of months, and off and on for a couple years. It's got me really run down. Last night I only got about 4 hours.

I get sleepy at 7 pm, but don't go to bed (that's too early). But, I try to go to bed at 10 or so and I can't sleep. I either lay there for a couple of hours or get up and read or surf the web. Then I finally get to sleep only to wake up a few hours later. Almost instantly, my mind starts spinning with thoughts, and I can't get back to sleep. Nothing in particular, just everything. Usually I'll be up for an hour or so or sometimes longer before getting back to sleep. I'm always up by 7 because you just can't sleep after the kids get up.

I get plenty of exercise (3 days a week at the gym and 125 miles/week on the bike), and I'm usually pretty physically tired at the end of the day.

No way am I taking any Sominex or Tylenol PM or any of that stuff, although I'm open to something natural i.e. a glass of warm milk or that sort of thing. I've just never needed anything like that before.

Not sure exactly what's going on here, anyone else have this kind of trouble?

[rak1]

That pretty much sums up my life... I only sleep 3-4 hours a night and i get up every two hours like clockwork and then it takes me about half an hour to fall back to sleep. I’ve gotten use to it after twenty or so years. I didn't have that problem until I turned 25 so I've been living with it for quite a while; all I can say is I drink alot of coffee but that's not a big deal because when I was a kid I was hyperactive and I've been drinking coffee since I was 5 years old; it beats taking pills! I read eating a banana helps if you eat it just before going to bed; it has something to do with the potassium in the banana that help you sleep. Also I always hear music playing while I’m asleep, like this morning I woke to Little Willie from Sweet; I must have hear it on the radio recently. On Sunday it was Tom Petty and Mary Jane’s Last Dance. If you come up with a solution let me know.

[grandsport]

You are thinking about too much stuff. My wife has had the same problem for years and like you she doesn't want to take pills either. I have the ability to totally block out things at bed time,I don't think it's something I can tell anyone how to do it. Really irritates the wife how I can do it. My day usually starts at 7:00 am and ends around 8:00 in the evening. No real physical work for me but a lot of paper work and brain work. I'm in bed by 9:30 with my laptop and when Leno is over I'm a done deal.

[rak1]

Now you want to talk about something that drives me "Nuts" my wife is the quickest sleeper I've ever known; she will wake up and say something to me and then within 30 seconds she's asleep again. It must be nice!

[Andy69]

That's the way I typically am. My wife is amazed at how I can do that. Literally, 30 seconds after my head hits the pillow, sometimes less.

Except lately...

[Derek69SS]

Originally Posted by Andy69

...I'm open to something natural i.e. a glass of warm milk or that sort of thing. I've just never needed anything like that before.

Mass quantities of Alcohol always works for me.

Seriously though, it sounds like anxiety to me...

[Chris R]

Do you go to bed Andy with a lot on your mind? Not just stuff that may stress you out but just plain stuff in general. Too much stimulation before bed leaves your brain still active and not ready to "turn off" if you will.

Ill tell you what. Quite often, it takes me a minimum of 15 minutes to get to sleep. Sometimes it takes almost a half hour. I just can fall asleep in less then 5 minutes like most people. I guess I have always been used to that fact.

[Andy69]

I don't think it's nerves. I've had times when I couldn't sleep due to nerves and this is definitely not the same thing. It's not that I wake up and start to worry, just that as soon as I wake up in the middle of the night, my brain switches on and I'm fully alert and ready to go. Yet, I'm still tired because, well, it's the middle of the night and I've only had a few hours rest.

[johnnys1977]

Originally Posted by Derek69SS

Mass quantities of Alcohol always works for me.

Seriously though, it sounds like anxiety to me...

X2 It all creeps up on you wether it is kids , health, bills even the news. Bet even some of the current event stuff on the net sites contributes to it!
You could always go to a sleep clinic and see if they can find the problem. But it is expensive and it always ends up with a doctor pushing pills.

[1972convss454]

I always heard it's your conscious hurting.....