OT: How do you get back to sleep when you wake up in the middle of the night?

[raisedfist]

I woke up at 4:15AM this morning essentially wide awake. I tried going back to sleep after going to the bathroom but just laid there for about 30 minutes. I then decided to just get up and go on the computer and I've been awake since. I am starting to get very sleepy now, just trying to make it until my normal bed time. I would like to not repeat this experience again!

[Pugsy]

If I ever figure out a solution for this problem I will market it cheap and still buy a new truck with cash.
Sleep onset insomnia and/or sleep maintenance insomnia affects millions of people and it doesn't matter if they have sleep apnea or not.

I don't have a solution. Just wanted to let you know that I feel your pain.

For me I have found that I really need to try to avoid that nap my body wants to take after 3 PM because it seriously impacts my sleep that night. Now before 3 PM it doesn't seem to be that much of a negative but after 3 PM it really messes with my sleep the next night.
Case in point yesterday....short night in terms of hours of sleep and my butt was really dragging and despite my best efforts I ended up asleep on the couch from 4 to 6 PM. Which in turn meant I didn't get sleepy until later than I wanted and so last night another short hours of sleep because I tend to wake up at the same time for final get up no matter what time I go to bed. So my butt will be dragging again today. My plan for this afternoon....make sure that after 3 PM I am busy doing something that will prevent me from getting on the couch and yielding to the nap devil on my shoulder.

When I wake up in the middle of the night and my mind just won't let me go back to sleep I just get up and accept the fact that my butt will be dragging and I need to be prepared to fight off the nap devil on my shoulder or I am guaranteed to keep repeating the same thing over and over again.

[raisedfist]

I just played a mission in Call of Duty to get my heart rate up and indeed I am more alert than I was 30 minutes ago. Hoping the "second wave" will last until my normal bed time more or less. Post dinner I only have plans with the couch regardless; so just have to keep my eyeballs open long enough.

In reading some "helpful" websites, it seems they suggest getting out of bed and doing something boring like reading a book for 30 mins, and then getting back in bed and trying to go back to sleep. They claim the worst thing you can do is look at the clock, start using electronics, and staying in bed more than 20 minutes because that starts leading to tossing and turning, and becoming frustrating that the beautiful sleep is not occurring.

I guess I will give these tips a try should I revisit this annoyance in the near future.

[chunkyfrog]

I have to try to identify why I am awake.
If it is worry, pain, or an itch, I take/apply appropriate pill/salve, etc
If I am hot, I need to make the room or me cooler.
If it is noise, I wait until the train passes.

[ChicagoGranny]

I woke up at 4:15AM this morning essentially wide awake.

What time did you go to bed and fall asleep? How long do you think you slept?

Here is some good reading about treatments for premature awakening - https://www.google.com/search?q=treatin ... kening&aqs

Please update this thread if you try one of the treatments.

[jnk...]

1. Without looking at a clock, you get out of your bed and go to another room, or as far away from the bed as possible in the same room, if you only have one room. Never look at a clock when you wake up. If you do, you are inadvertently telling your brain that it is its job to wake you up to let you look at the clock every night around that time. If your brain asks you what time it is, you tell it that it is none of its business and that it is its job to sleep now and it will just have to wait for the alarm along with you.

2. You ask your brain if it needs to think about something. If it does, you tell it that where you are now, away from your bed, is where that is allowed. You tell your brain it has 10 minutes to do all the thinking it needs to. If something seems important, you write it down so you can let your brain forget about it now but think about it later at a more appropriate time the next day. Keep that promise to your brain so it will believe you the next time.

3. You go back to bed. If racing thoughts start the spin cycle, you let your brain know that it isn't allowed to do that there in the bed, and that if it doesn't stop it, you will make it go back to the designated area for that. If the brain insists, you punish it by going back to that spot away from the bed and you force it to read the warranty for your refrigerator. (Brains really, really hate that.) Then after the first nod, you sneak your drowsy brain back into bed before it knows what hit it.

Never give in to your brain on this sleep thing. It is a like a puppy that needs serious training to keep the rugs in the house dry. Be consistent and insistent.

Some need to avoid caffeine-containing substances after the one early-morning cup, just to get things reset for a few weeks. Once a reset has occurred, caffeine may or may not be as much of an issue after that.

[intemperance]

I don't have a solution but from reading a ton of CBT-i I can tell you what allowed me to go back to sleep. Typically I'll wake up at 3am after 3 hours or so of sleep so waking up later would probably make it harder. But I what I do is:

1. Don't get frustrated. don't worry that waking in the middle of the night might ruin your day. Basically know that waking up in the middle of the night is normal. People used to have two sleeps at one time in history. it's normal and you can get back to sleep if you don't worry about it. think of all the times when you woke in the middle of the night and your next day was fine.

2. Don't lay in bed for more than 15 mins trying to sleep. Don't keep looking at the clock but get a sense of it. After 15 mins get up and do something that doesn't take much effort. low lights. low energy. no screens. for a few minutes and then try to go back to bed. I usually get up and drink some water and walk around a little bit. And then I pick somewhere else in the house to sleep for the rest of the night.

3. Instead of laying in bed worrying ( if that's your issue, i know it's mine ) I go through all the things i'm grateful for. Just list them forever until you fall asleep from boredom

Good luck ! You can see you're not alone there

[Okie bipap]

The nights I wake up and have trouble getting back to sleep, I go into the living room, sit in the dark, and listen to classical music until i get sleepy again. I keep the radio set to the classical music station, so all I have to do is switch it on. I do the same thing when I am on high dose steroids when I have an asthma attack. I may not get to sleep, but at least I get some rest.

[Janknitz]

Listening to voices talking puts me to sleep. So I use a speaker sleep band and put on a podcast. Before CPAP, I'd be awake for HOURS, often falling asleep just before I had to get up. With CPAP I usually fall back to sleep pretty easily with a podcast.

My husband uses an app called Calm and someone reads a very boring story. One of the ones he told me about was "Counting Sheep" and it was somebody reading the description of every breed of sheep known.

There's also a podcast called "Sleep with Me". It's a guy who does stream of consciousness talking for an hour or so in a very calm and boring voice.

If you are into relaxation and meditation, there's tons of free things on the internet.

[chunkyfrog]

The most boring thing I ever heard was a Jane Fonda exercise tape.
Sorry, I think I pitched it . . .

[booksfan]

Someone mentioned the Calm app. I LOVE this app! I have used it for YEARS now, every night to go to sleep. Sometimes just mediation music, sometimes one of the sleep stories (my husband likes the one about the sheep too! ...and I am a knitter). If I wake during the night and have trouble getting back to sleep, I restart the app. I guess I have "trained" myself to fall asleep to the sounds of this, so it does generally work. Although I will admit falling asleep at the start is easier than during the night.

Good luck...this IS really frustrating!