Sleeplessness

zkt

The past 3 weeks I have been going to bed at a decent hour (9, 10PM) and waking up in the middle of the night around 2am, not able to fall back asleep until I had to get up to go to work in an hour. I tried listening to light music, turning off my PC, everything people would typically suggest but to no avail. Today I bought some melatonin tablets and am just wondering how effective it may be. Should I just take 3mg(1 tablet) as directed as well?

Bliss 101

This used to work for me somewhat well when I suffered from insomnia. If you can't get sleep, get out of bed. Sit in a chair and read a comic book or something, preferably something you've read many times before (you don't want to activate your brain any more than necessary), then get back to bed after 15-30 minutes and see if you can sleep. If you can't, repeat.

Casual Eddy

do you lay in bed before you go to sleep? that usually kills my ability to fall asleep

That_Spoony_Bard

Couple things to look at. What's your caffeine intake like during the second part of the day (noon onward)? Alcohol intake before bed? What do you do before bed? Sometimes having a bedtime routine helps the body recognize it's time for bed. What's your bedroom like right now? Depending on where you live, it's getting warm for some people which may make sleep difficult if you haven't adjusted your room for the temp change.

I personally try to shy away from melatonin (it gives me weird ass nightmares) and I don't like the grogginess in the AM. I'd try to adjust your sleep enviornment and/or routine before trying sleep aids.

Doobh

Maybe put a little more time in between you being active and going to bed. Spend an extra 30 minutes clearing your head with something calming. Melatonin works for me, though your results may vary. But, like the guy above me said, check dem caffeine levels.

Essee

If possible, I would recommend having around half of one of those tablets if you're just starting taking melatonin, not a full 3mg tablet. The doctor I spoke with (who is a sleep specialist), when first recommending I take melatonin, said I should take 1mg to start out with. As it turns out, the tablets I found happened to come in a .5mg dosage, so I initially took just that, and it worked just fine for a long time. After a long time I did eventually increase my dose up to what he recommended, but I would say you shouldn't start off with 3mg because there's no need (plus it's cheaper). Your mileage may vary because I'm not you, but try with half a tablet first, I'd say.

Also, you should note that melatonin can sometimes make people irritable as a side-effect-- my dad was one of those people, apparently, but not me. I did initially get somewhat funky dreams when I started taking it, though.

zkt

I drink no alcohol and and caffeine very sparingly from a can of pop. The past 2 days I've taken one 3mg tablet before bed and so far things are improving. Im still waking up at around 1:30 but falling back asleep within 10-20 minutes, and staying asleep.

OnTheLastCastle

There are quite a few studies to indicate that we are actually biphasic sleepers. That means humans naturally sleep 4-5 hours then wake up for an hour or so and then go back to sleep. Realizing that the wake up period is not a bad thing and not stressing out about it will help IMMENSELY. I had your problem, but once I just relaxed and didn't stress I could sleep again.

Sidenote: humans usually boned during the waking period. It was the best and most convenient thing to do in the dark before we invented electricity!

EggyToast

To echo OTLC, humans are unique in that we have one long period of sleep, which indicates that splitting it up may not be a bad thing. People powernap and feel refreshed, and many people will play with their sleep schedules to find something that works for them, often finding that it's not one long 8 hour period.

Apparently I'm an "ideal sleeper," although it doesn't feel that way. It takes me about 15-25 minutes to fall asleep, and when I do fall asleep, it's typically consistent but I do occasionally wake up -- and then fall back asleep. Often I wake up before my alarm, and I don't feel robbed or cheated out of sleep.

I used to toss and turn more, and have more trouble falling asleep in general, and then wake up super groggy. For me, what helped was two things, one of which was mentioned briefly above

Temperature

Exercise

The room temperature should be somewhere between 65-72. If it's too warm, you'll feel sweaty and weird and not sleepy. For some people, feeling too hot makes them claustrophobic feeling, and many people are used to sleeping covered in at least some way. So, if it's too hot, wear fewer sleeping clothes, reduce the number of blanket layers, or turn on the AC. If it's too cold, you'll probably have to turn on the heat a bit, or look into an electric blanket that can radiate some heat into the surrounding air at least somewhat. What I often do if I feel just a little warm is stick my feet out. My sleeping body knows to re-cover my feet if they get too cold.

Exercise is often overlooked for improving sleep. You don't want to be exhausted, but when you exercise, you feel tired, which encourages you to sleep. Don't exercise right before bedtime, though, as it'll give you an adrenaline boost and you won't be very sleepy.

republic of me

zkt wrote: »

The past 3 weeks I have been going to bed at a decent hour (9, 10PM) and waking up in the middle of the night around 2am, not able to fall back asleep until I had to get up to go to work in an hour. I tried listening to light music, turning off my PC, everything people would typically suggest but to no avail. Today I bought some melatonin tablets and am just wondering how effective it may be. Should I just take 3mg(1 tablet) as directed as well?

If i cant sleep i wear myself out doing exercise or something i find it the best thing for it

exis

OnTheLastCastle wrote: »

There are quite a few studies to indicate that we are actually biphasic sleepers. That means humans naturally sleep 4-5 hours then wake up for an hour or so and then go back to sleep. Realizing that the wake up period is not a bad thing and not stressing out about it will help IMMENSELY. I had your problem, but once I just relaxed and didn't stress I could sleep again.

Sidenote: humans usually boned during the waking period. It was the best and most convenient thing to do in the dark before we invented electricity!

Following this, you could always try and do some semi-productive when you're awake. Reading, catching up on work, etc. Obviously this won't help if you're actually trying to get back to sleep. But maybe your body that it really wants to have a gap between sleepytime. Worth a try maybe.