Quality of sleep - any advice?

[Dodecahedr0n]

Through trial and error I seem to be ok getting off to sleep. But no matter how much sleep I have, I always feel so unrefreshed and tired in the mornings! I am working on trying to improve my diet and exercising. Aside from these, is there anything anyone could recommend to help with quality of sleep? Any supplements? I’ve tried a few but it gets so overwhelming researching this kind of thing, and gets expensive too...

[JW621]

Have you tried ambien

[Dodecahedr0n in reply to JW621]

Yes I have short term, but I don’t want to rely on it long term!

[StoneJeweler in reply to JW621]

Ambient can be addicting and only recommended for a short time. I have been using trazodone 200mg at night with great results.

[JW621]

Maybe your intake of water is low. Take vitamins

[Birdwatcher19]

How much sleep are you getting overall, and do you wake up without an alarm (if not, it’s probably not enough, and you also may be interrupting a sleep cycle)? Have you talked to your doctor to rule out any underlying medical issues? Fatigue could indicate a number of things, including anemia (possible given your previous question about diet) and sleep apnea (common among ADHDers). It’s probably worth doing bloodwork and/or a sleep study, if you haven’t yet. What have you tried in terms of supplements? Magnesium, melatonin (you can try a time-release version to help stay asleep), GABA, and l-tryptophan are some you could try. But I would definitely consult with your doctor first. Be well.

[Genevieve42 in reply to Birdwatcher19]

Sleep apnea is common among people with ADD? I've never heard this before. But I am struggling with sleep apnea, and I will research this. Do you know what the correlation is?

[Dodecahedr0n in reply to Genevieve42]

I haven’t really looked into sleep apnea. How would I know if I have sleep apnea? My understanding of it isn’t great. Would I wake up gasping for air and/or snoring a lot ? Or is that not what sleep apnea is 😅

[Hidden in reply to Dodecahedr0n]

The sleep apnea is the act of your physiology relaxing and cutting off your air supply enough for your body to have a response. Which is the gasping for air feeling. You might not notice that your doing it at night but your body does. It's raises your heart rate and kicks that sympathetic nervous system into gear multiple times a night disrupting your sleep cycle.

[Birdwatcher19 in reply to Genevieve42]

Genevieve42 , I’m not sure why, exactly, but there’s some research indicating about 20-30 percent of ADHDers have obstructive sleep apnea. There’s a lot of overlap in symptoms, so there’s also the possibility of sleep apnea being misdiagnosed as ADHD. At a minimum, inadequate sleep makes ADHD symptoms worse, so treating it is definitely important. My brother has both ADHD and sleep apnea, and treating it has made a huge difference for him.

[Dodecahedr0n in reply to Birdwatcher19]

I get 9 hours on average! Sometimes longer.. without an alarm I could sleep even longer probably... I got blood work results back today actually! I have low vitamin D. Magnesium was fine. No anaemia. I have tried magnesium supplements before, and I have been taking prolonged release melatonin before going to sleep but still struggling to wake up! Some nights I’ve taken melatonin I suddenly wake up about 4 hours later it’s strange... I haven’t tried GABA or L-tryptophan so maybe I’ll check them out! I will ask the doctor too. It just seems so hard to get doctors to take these things seriously because they’re not that “urgent” 😕

[Birdwatcher19 in reply to Dodecahedr0n]

OK, so the low Vit D could definitely account for the fatigue! (Strange coincidence: my daughter’s bloodwork came back today also showing a Vit D deficiency!) My doctor recommends a Vit D level between 60-70, which is a bit higher than the “normal” range most lab results show. If you are sleeping that much already and not having difficulty with waking during the night/returning to sleep, I would probably pass on the GABA and tryptophan. I took those because I would wake up at 2 a.m. and be up for hours. The tryptophan made me pretty groggy, though, which is not what you need if you’re already feeling fatigued. If you don’t start feeling better with the increased Vit D, I would definitely look at a sleep study to see if there might be sleep apnea. Hope you are feeling well-rested soon!

[Hidden]

Consider CBT for insomnia. Also consider sleep apnea. Vitamin D levels and hormone levels.

[Dodecahedr0n in reply to Hidden]

Thank you. I got bloods back today I do indeed have low vitamin D! How would I know if I have sleep apnea?? Not sure what would indicate that

[Hidden in reply to Dodecahedr0n]

Sleep apnea symptoms can be a little different for everyone, observable apneas while your sleeping by another person is a good clue. The grogginess, daytime sleepiness and never feeling like your getting enough sleep are contributing symptoms. Over dreaming or in some cases not dreaming at all. Weight is a contributing factor but don't let anyone tell you it's an obese persons disease, I have 8 abs that show on my stomach and I still have severe sleep apnea. A sleep study is the only way to get a proper diagnosis. It's kind of a you have it right now or you don't sort of thing. Also think about the frequency of waking's during sleep and any sleep paralysis.

[StoneJeweler]

If you are getting 7-8 hours of sleep and still feeling tired it might be your quality of sleep. You could try a sleep study. If you snore or if some one sleeps with you you could ask them to beware of your breathing some people stop breathing while sleeping. Hard to know unless someone notices it. Most insurances cover this, but it will tell you if you're not getting a deep restful sleep. I would try that before taking more pills, ambien is addicting and your right not taking it. there are many things to try if you don't have sleep apnea. If your overweight, that can cause sleep apnea.