Does Anyone Else Do This (Insomnia Related)

I am a night owl. I get up early for work, and I usually go to bed later than I should. There are times when I can’t fall asleep until around 2 and that does get me anxious that I’ll be too tired the next day. Or the worse is when you know you are not sleeping soundly and are basically waking up every hour. I don’t have any solutions for you. I do exercise in the early evening, so that usually makes me tired enough to fall asleep. But there are those nights when it doesn’t help. I don’t take any medications for it. Hope you can get some rest!

Insomnia is awful, isn’t it? I’ve been awake for an hour (it’s 4 am) and finally picked up my phone because I hate lying awake. I know you’re not supposed to, but I find I fall asleep again much faster if I read a little.

I have no problem falling asleep, but I don’t stay asleep. I’ll wake up as If someone flipped the light on and stay wide awake, without the luxury (or ability) to sleep in. My body also wakes up around 6 am regardless of how many hours I was awake during the night. I definitely have anxiety surrounding sleep.

I just started hrt (just picked up my prescriptions yesterday) and my doctor said this should definitely help. I am really hoping so, because this is miserable.

I have a flexible job but so have to get up early for in person meetings here and there. They don't happen very often so when they do, I find myself sleeping very little the night before, waking up practically every hour. I end up needing extra caffeine to get through the day. Not to mention the social battery drain I experience as well.

I too suffer from insomnia - usually the waking up at 3 am type. The funny thing is I'm actually an early riser - almost always up between 6 and 7, but I STILL have anxiety about missing early morning flights. I've finally just stopped booking them as I'd be up every hour the night before checking the clock. I'm following this thread to see if anyone has any tips for early rising anxiety.

I am the exact same!  If I have to set an alarm, which is rare, I do NOT fall asleep the night before.  Even if my alarm is set for a time later than what I normally wake up naturally.  It's ridiculous.  

I just lay there all night.  This is even with a sleep aid.    I'll be following this thread for help!

Growing up and my whole working career I had to put an alarm clock across the room. Had to get up to turn it off. I had them check the loudness of alarms IN THE STORE before I would buy one. I mostly do not need an alarm anymore, but for appointments I set my phone for three different times leading to 'I have to get up time.' So far so good.

Yeah, I'm another who usually falls asleep fine but can't stay asleep. I took some meds for a few years that helped, but they also helped me gain a ton of weight and contributed to body resistance in losing said weight. I'm now off the meds, and amazingly, doing the exact things I've been doing are now helping me lose weight. But SUPPOSEDLY these meds don't cause weight gain. Right.

I have lately been getting out of bed for a while in the middle of the night and yeah, looking at my phone or laptop or something. It seems to actually be helping me some. Who knows? I'm not on HRT as such as I'm not officially there, but I take BCPs and have done so forever - don't even take the week of placebos since I take them due to severe endometriosis. So, I shouldn't really need HRT or anything at this point, although I do know I am still having some minor breakthrough symptoms.

Staying in bed tossing and turning is not so good. If I cannot just relax in bed if I wake up, I get up and do slow motion something. I will turn on the TV if necessary, loud enough to hear so I am not straining to hear but barely..

I have sleep anxiety. I worry that I won’t fall asleep. Fortunately I have an understanding PCP who prescribes an anti-anxiety drug Restoril. I take one about an hour before bed. It calms my mind so I don’t worry about falling asleep.

I have similar problems with being unable to fall asleep and it being much worse when I have an unusually early wake-up time scheduled.

I don't take any meds usually because I'm afraid they'll make it too hard to wake up when I need to.

Sleeping on the couch is sometimes helpful. I take a small quilt and wrap it tightly around myself like a cocoon. I don't know why that helps. Weighted blankets are too hot but a lightweight cocoon works often. I also have a favorite podcast where the hosts have pleasant voices and the episodes are long, so I often turn on an episode very low, just barely loud enough to hear what they're saying, and the hum of their voices often lulls me to sleep. And sometimes I do a few yoga stretches and a little deep breathing before I wrap up in my cocoon. These things have helped me more than anything else, after years and years of anxiety insomnia.

OMG yes! I have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep under the best of circumstances, and it’s exacerbated when I know I’ll HAVE to get up at a specific time that’s earlier than usual the next day. I’ll lay there awake, repeatedly running through thinking about all the stuff I know I’ll need to do, remember, etc. the next day, and sometimes I even get up to write myself a note to put next to my purse or luggage or whatever so I’ll be *sure* to remember. At times I’ve been so sleep deprived the next day that I have forgotten the very thing that my brain kept me up half the night worrying about needing to remember.

I had to get an alarm clock that I can turn all the lights off on at night so I can’t see it at all. It’s also positioned across the room so I have to get up to turn it off. It starts to gradually light up five minutes before the alarm goes off, and plays the radio which increases in volume until I turn it off. My dogs usually make me get up between 6:30-7:30 most days anyway so the alarm is just a backup.

I’ve gotten to the point where I will not voluntarily make any appointment for myself or that I have to get my DD to any earlier than 10:00 am unless I have absolutely no other option. I realize that’s not something everyone can do all the time. I’ve noticed it’s much less stressful and it does definitely help with the stress of needing to go to bed at a certain time because I know I’ll be able to get up with plenty of time to get somewhere by 10:00 am.

I assumed anything taken that regularly would lose effectiveness, or give a "rebound effect." Do you think alternating the 2 prevented that?

And, I'd like to know whom to blame, because suddenly, after never having to, one night I started having to get up to use the bathroom--sometimes twice. It's as if somebody decided I'm old now, & threw a switch. And I'm younger than 60. 

I have this happen as well. For example, last month DS had a basketball tournament in a town about an hour away. I needed to wake up at the same time I always do, but the night before I slept horribly because I kept worrying that I was going to oversleep. That seems to happen a lot when we have early games, even if technically I don’t have to be up any earlier than I normally wake up.

You need to be really careful with this. Taking Benadryl or other antihistamines regularly to help you sleep has been shown to cause an increase in dementia and Alzheimer’s. You should talk to your doctor to see if there is a safer alternative for long term use.