attention middle aged women

[texasmama]

Are my nights of sleeping gone forever? Sometimes I sleep fine. Other times I am awake until 3 am or, like tonight, fell asleep fine and woke up at 3 am. It is now 5 am. This is not so much working for me. What do you do to sleep? I am 45 and at the front end of this issue, I fear. Will I ever sleep normally again?

[delaney]

I am with you! I wake up at 1 or 2 every morning and then can't go back to sleep. Then when I finally nod off the alarm goes off and I am exhausted. Sad part is I just weaned my youngest earlier this year so literally it has been since 1994 that I have been able to sleep through the night! (before kids)

[Giraffe]

Right there with you. 45 and oh so sleepless. It's driving me nuts. Between DD's infancy/toddlerhood and now this I have't slept since 2007. Not nearly as bad as Delaney, but still painful.

[Mama Geek]

I am only 37 and have been the same way for years. I do go for periods that I am able to sleep through the night, but it isn't nearly often enough.

[Tracy in Ky]

It started for me around the age of 35 or so. I'm 45 now. After several years, I finally just started taking something to help me sleep. I take very little, but it does trick probably 9 out of 10 nights. I wish I didn't have to take somethng, but I simply cannot function if I don't sleep.

[Lolly]

I'm with you. Been there a while now. Of course, I am over 45. Last night, I slept from 10-1. Up 1-4. Back down 4-5 when dh gets up for work. Down again 5:30-7. Sometimes I sleep until 8 or 9. Forget the teens sleeping in, this Mama needs it! I do try to take a nap around 3. I've always liked a nice nap.

[Remudamom]

been there, doing that. can't help.

[Laura Corin]

I sleep much better now I wear ear plugs and have blackout blinds. Just recently I've started waking up about an hour early though...

 

Laura

[GailV]

Watch what you eat for supper and in the evening. Eating sweets and/or heavy proteins tends to wake me up with a need to go to the bathroom. I first read about this on the 180 Degree Health blog months and months ago, and thought the author was totally wrong. Now I think he was on to something with the advice. Also, certain foods are triggers for me -- if I have corn products or dairy I will wake up in the night and need to pee. Warm milk pretty much guarantees me a sleepless night.

 

A cool bedroom makes it easier for anyone to sleep. That's especially true for someone whose body temperature may go funky with junior-night-sweats (major night sweats are probably impervious to control via thermostat settings, but you can sleep through the slight rise in body temp of a mini-hot-flash if the room is cool enough).

 

I use herbs to help me with anxiety, so when I wake up in the night I don't have thoughts running around my brain incessantly. Also, I have been known to pick a BIble verse or some other little saying, and just repeat it in my head if I wake up at night -- sort of like counting sheep, it blocks out other thoughts, and then I fall back asleep quickly. My main objective is that if I sort of wake up, I don't wake all the way up -- I'm barely aware that I wasn't totally asleep all night.

 

I've figured out which supplements I need. They might be different than what someone else needs. Also, what I need seems to change over time.

 

Exercise early in the day.

 

A few months ago I started doing Qi Gong in the morning; after a few weeks I noticed that I was consistently sleeping through the night for the first time in about 17 years (the age of my older dd :001_rolleyes:). Again, this is possibly something my body needed, and someone else might not get the same benefit.

 

Keep the room dark. Especially avoid blue lights in the darkened room -- it whacks out melatonin production and the natural circadian rhythm. No computer use or television right before bed -- again, it's a blue light issue.

 

I very very rarely have any caffeine. I do have chocolate, which doesn't affect me so much.

[Debbi in Texas]

I have not been a good "sleeper" on my own for many years. Insomnia, light sleeper, dh snoring.

 

However, I have a friend called benadryl. Take it for allergies, but it helps me sleep. Still am a light sleeper.

[FeFe]

I'm almost 36 and do it too. On a good night I wake up several times but fall right back to sleep. My bad nights string together for several days. It's like my body picks a time (usually somewhere between 2:00-3:45) and wakes up at that same time for several nights and I can't get back to sleep. It's a miserable cycle and I wish I knew how to stop it. I'm typically fighting to stay awake by 9pm but I make myself hold out until 10:00.

[Laurie4b]

Yes, well, it happens. I think I am used to it now. (Mid-50s) Being used to it means I don't stress about it as much and have some strategies, so it actually is less impactful than it was when it first started. What helps: get exercise. Chamomile tea is good for inducing sleep. If I go through a period in which I'm waking at night and staying awake, I will make a cup and leave it on my nightstand so I don't have to get up and make it. Keep a pad of paper next to your bed in case there is anything that comes to you that you need to remember for the next day. (This often happens--it's like my brain is cleaning itself up and finds this stray thing that needs tending to!) Writing it down will allow your mind to relax about it. I have learned when to lie there passively, and not worry about being awake or get too engaged with my thoughts vs. when to get up, move to another room and read. If I am still drowsy, I just lie there and know sleep will eventually come or I will be spending some time partway between sleeping and waking. I figure that counts as something! Sometimes reciting Scripture or praying through a list of things will help me get back to sleep. However, when I realize I'm really awake, thoughts racing, , etc, I will get up and go to another room and read until I am sleepy. If your dh snores, tackle that problem. I wish I had been more proactive about that. Oh--and be careful about computer use too close to bedtime.

[Ellie]

Mostly I sleep just fine. :-)

 

Maybe once a month I have problems, if that. I go out and turn on the TV and let it drone on while I sleep in the recliner. :-)

[CalicoKat]

Melatonin is the only way I get to rest.

 

I call it "old lady sleep."

[TammyinTN]

You are not alone...same age and it seems to come in cycles. I'm trying to exercise more and that alone exhaust me enough to sleep some nights.

[Elinor Everywhere]

I'm trying to figure out the link to hormones, because mine is only during a week or 2 out of the month - the other weeks I sleep like a rock. When I'm having insomnia, I wake up around 1:30 or 2:00, and can't go back to sleep until around 4ish.

 

Thank goodness my kids get up and get themselves out the door to school at 6:55 - I don't really have to wake up until 8:10 when I need to jump on my bike and ride down to the school to ride my daughter home. That gives me a chance to catch up on missed sleep. When I'm sleeping fine, I'm up early and having coffee before they even leave.

 

I really, really hate hormones. :glare:

[texasmama]

Well, at least I am not alone. Not that I had that illusion, but it does feel nice to have middle of the night company. I am resistant to long-term sleep meds, but I have taken melatonin, Benadryl and a prescription med at times when I am in a bad cycle. I do think it is tied to hormones for me. During my recent bout of sleeplessness, I have also been slammed with every other day migraines. Being post-menopausal is starting to look good. :eek:

[Amy in NH]

Benadryl is my friend.

[Liz CA]

Are my nights of sleeping gone forever? Sometimes I sleep fine. Other times I am awake until 3 am or, like tonight, fell asleep fine and woke up at 3 am. It is now 5 am. This is not so much working for me. What do you do to sleep? I am 45 and at the front end of this issue, I fear. Will I ever sleep normally again?

 

 

Progesterone supplementation helped me with this. A naturopath prescribed bio-identical progesterone and I have not had a problem since.

[Lady Florida.]

Mostly I sleep just fine. :-)

 

Maybe once a month I have problems, if that. I go out and turn on the TV and let it drone on while I sleep in the recliner. :-)

 

 

I go in stages. I'll sleep fine for a while, then have several nights a week (not always consecutive) when I can't sleep. I browse the internet until I can't hold my eyes open.

 

Melatonin is the only way I get to rest.

 

 

 

 

I take melatonin on and off. If I take it too regularly it stops working.

 

I've found that regular exercise helps with hot flashes but doesn't do anything for my sleep issues. YMMV.

[butterflymommy]

I've been like this since I was 7 years old :thumbdown: . I can give these suggestions but they may not help... no caffeine at all, even in the morning. No sugar or at least not the amount served in desserts/ candy. Don't be afraid of napping, because when you're an insomniac you need to grab sleep when you can get it. If I'm up in the middle of the night I sometimes do mindless things like carefully brush and floss my teeth or take a shower.

 

I tried melatonin and had a bad reaction to it, I felt stoned for days. It wasn't a bad batch because other people took from the same bottle and were fine. I also felt stoned and trippy from valerian. So be careful with herbal rememdies.

 

Benadryl can be nice but it doesn't always work for me. it's generally considered safe and non-addictive, however don't drive after you've taken it. I try to avoid it because I get the "stoned" feeling the next day.

[Catwoman]

been there, doing that. can't help.

 

Same here.

[LG Gone Wild]

Anxiety. Getting my work done helps a lot. Progesterone makes me pimply.