Advice on staying asleep

[Autumn11]

Hello, I'm having trouble staying asleep, I can fall asleep pretty good but wake up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep. And plus I have anxiety so that doesn't help. I dont receive injections because I dont have a diagnosis yet. But I do take a vitamin b12 supplement. Any advice on staying asleep or any links that could help. I dont want to result to sleeping pills.

[Hidden]

Don’t know how you feel about this but I was advised to take a protein and carb mix before bed to help sleep so something like peanut butter on toast,have a google at peanut butter to see sleep benefits,it really works for me.You could also try marmite with peanut butter it’s a new product,marmite has b12 and the peanut butter mix takes away that yucky marmite taste lol.maybe worth a try for you as long as no peanut allergies.good luck.xx

[Autumn11 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for your advice, I definitely will try it.

[Nackapan in reply to Hidden]

Yucky marmite taste !! I love it. Goid idea

[Hidden in reply to Nackapan]

You either love it or hate it they say lol.x

[Stransky in reply to Hidden]

Sorry Thrones but Marmite is suitable for vegans, so as I understand B12 can only be found in meat products or produced in a lab. I'll try it though anything that helps me sleep has to be good.

[Gambit62 Administrator in reply to Stransky]

marmite is artificially fortified with B12 so it is suitable for vegans.

[helvella in reply to Gambit62]

Not quite true!

Is Marmite vegetarian or vegan?

The entire Marmite range is vegan, and certified by the European Vegetarian Union (EVU), except for the 70g jar. The 70g jar is currently only vegetarian – though we are in the process of moving towards vegan approval from the EVU.

marmite.co.uk/faq.html

I ony realised this because I was checking something else about Marmite the other day (salt content) and noticed this!

[Hidden in reply to Stransky]

Morning stransky info only not critising hoping it clarifies.

Marmite is rich in B vitamins including thiamin (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), folic acid (B9) and vitamin B12. The sodium content of the spread is high and has caused concern, although it is the amount per serving rather than the percentage in bulk Marmite that is relevant.

Enjoy xx

[Stransky in reply to Hidden]

Well you learn something every day, thanks Thrones.

[Hidden in reply to Stransky]

No probs enjoy your day x

[Nackapan]

Perhaps take your b12 earlier or at bedtime. ?

When I had my b12 injection in the afternoon at the doctors I coukdnt sleep. .usually in the morning

[Autumn11 in reply to Nackapan]

I usually take my b12 at night, so maybe I'll try when I get up. Thanks.

[Ashweb901 in reply to Autumn11]

For sure taking it at night can interrupt your sleep.

[Gambit62 Administrator]

The worst thing you can do is worry about getting back to sleep (I know - easier said than done).

I find that putting the radio (or podcast) on low so I can hear the voices but not quite hear what is being said helps if I am having problems dropping back off to sleep.

Other things that may help include the usual like

avoid drinks containing caffeine for at least 4 hours before you go to bed.

Avoid using any electronic devices (high blue-spectrum light sources) for a few hours before heading to bed.

Make sure you get out and get some bright light (daylight is generally much brighter than artificial light and very little of it tends to get into houses) earlier in the day if possible.

You might find this free on-line MOOC gives you some ideas

futurelearn.com/courses/sle...

[Autumn11 in reply to Gambit62]

Yes I think I need more sunlight, as I'm always inside. Thank you

[HeartyGilly]

This is normal. It is how humans used to sleep. A first sleep. Wake up, do things then a second sleep. Stop worrying about it. You have gone back to nature.

[expatkerry]

Hi there, here's a couple of tips from the land of insomnia 😊 I use a Tens device for back pain and discovered quite by accident that the repetitive buzzing has a semi-hypnotic effect and sends me off to sleep. The other thing I do is listen to sleep music or hypnotic sound waves on YouTube at a very low level using earphones. Both work for me.

[Autumn11 in reply to expatkerry]

Never heard of it, I'll look into it..thank you

[helvella]

Quite a few years ago, I too went through that sort of sleep pattern. Fall asleep OK, then wake maybe an hour later and be unable to get back to sleep - often till dawn, sometimes not at all.

It has a pretty unpleasant impact on our usual waking hours.

In my case, I was diagnosed hypothyroid. Starting treatment for that, just levothyroxine, very soon improved this a bit. Over the months it got better and better. And now, I fall asleep and rarely wake at all in the night.

This is despite a common symptom of hypothyroidism being tiredness and sometimes excess sleep or sleepiness.

I suggest you consider requesting a thyroid function test (ideally TSH, Free T4 and Free T3 - but in reality, probably just TSH).

[Hidden in reply to helvella]

The endo consultant seemed to think this poor sleep hygiene he called it was a reason behind my terrible cortisol results and he prescribed melatonin to try and help and although I’m only taking half of the dose ,as advised here start low and see how it goes,I feel like I’m hungover in the morning and I really don’t like it so I’m also trying the toast and peanut butter/ marmite ,it’s so gross lol but needs must.

Since my b12 injections I do seem more tired and go into a really deep sleep but still broken sleep and I think that’s my body telling me to rest and get the b12 into where it’s needed,I’m also eating like a horse but that’s getting cut back today I don’t want my weight spiralling. X

[GastritisB12]

I had the same problem when my b12 was low. Waking up in the middle of the night sometimes with terrible anxiety. After treatment the anxiety went but I continues to wake up around 3-4am and took 3 hours to get back to sleep or couldnt get back to sleep at all. I tried everything. Chamomile tea before bedtime, protein like peanut butter snd bananas, no phone/computer use 2 hours before bed.

The first thing that helped was Diazepam. But I couldn’t and didnt want a repeat prescription so that was only good for a few weeks.

Then I tried herbal stuff like valerian, it made me more drowsy but didnt really help with getting up in the middle of the night and unable to sleep.

Eventually I discovered Circadin, a synthetic melatonin. This seemed to help, but not always sometimes I would still wake up in the middle if the night. Then I discovered a Italian melatoning together with 500mg valerian. Its made by ESI. This seemed to help more than the Circadin.

I think all together I was taking either of these two tablets for over 90 days.

I think they dont recommend taking melatonin for more than 90 days. So eventually I stopped. I was getting better anyway after months of B12 injections. So around 8 months after starting injections I was slowly sleeping better. I switched to herbal stuff, valerian and hops tea from Baldwin & co. I also started exercising more as I read that it improves sleep. But don’t exercise at least 3-4 hours before bed time.

I also tried listening to youtube sound of rain or waves in the morning when I couldnt sleep. This seemed to help put me to sleep for another hour or two.

I hope you manage to get back to normal sleep. I know now how horrible it is when your sleep is disrupted. Its so frustrating and scary. Its taken me almost a year to get back to normal sleep, how it used to be.

*edit - I tried so many things I forgot some if them lol. Try magnesium, its supposed to relax muscles and help you sleep. Make sure you eat enough potassium from food and enough vitamin C. Try aroma therapy with a drop of good lavender oil in your bedroom at night. Try making your own jelly from gelatin powder, I read a study that the amino acid Glycine helps sleep and staying asleep. Gelatin contains a lot of glycine.

[Autumn11 in reply to GastritisB12]

Wow all these are wonderful tips. Exactly how I'm feeling, waking up terrible anxiety and headaches, and can't go back to sleep. Also bladder issues that's worse at night.

[MoKayD]

I think waking up in the early morning hours is an old age thing that also involves a trip to the bathroom. I've tried a lot of different tips but these are the things that seem to work for me (but they don't work all of the time.):

1. Get outside and go for a walk during the day.

2. I take these supplements at night; calcium (400 mg), magnesium (I only take half of a pill) and I wash both of them down with either coconut water or watermelon water (these drinks contain a lot of potassium.)

3. As I get into bed, I spray my pillow with a lavender spray. I don't even like the smell of lavender but it seems to help me get to sleep and go back to sleep if I wake up in the middle of the night.

4. If I wake up in the middle of the night and really can't get sleepy again I read a boring book, using a book light, and it usually does the trick.

[Autumn11 in reply to MoKayD]

I think I'll try going for a walk. Dont get out much especially with everything going on.

[Hidden in reply to Autumn11]

Best thing I ever did was get a Fitbit watch,it was a gift actually.

It nags you to death to get up and get active every hour it’s so good for you and will motivate you to get moving.

Try just setting yourself small targets with a pedometer even and you’ll get that you enjoy it.have fun and don’t forget to have “me” time and pamper yourself too,anything that relaxes you can only help xx

[Autumn11 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for your reply, that sounds amazing I definitely need something like that

[Hidden in reply to Autumn11]

Morning Autumn11.

Did you sleep better last night knowing that you have support from this forum? It makes such a difference doesent it,I for one am so grateful to everyone here.

Enjoy your day x

[Sita505USA]

I love the Podcast Nothing Much Happens. It is neurolinguistic brain training and really helps me. I am a long time insomniac and also take meds for sleep, but would recommend trying this.

[th3joker]

I blend a banana or two and a dollop of peanut butter in some oat, almond or soy milk 1-2 hours before bed. I have melatonin as well I got from biovea which I occasionally use if my sleep cycle is a bit wonky.