Sleep...

[TimSussex]

Good morning everyone. So I have had my "Superpowers" for over three years now. Habituated I guess or just accepting of it.... My issue is this - I don't have a problem getting to sleep when I first go to bed but... when I wake at 03.30 or 04.30, I have a terrible time getting back to sleep - It's as if the brain acknowledges the T, and then thinks it's time to start thinking about all the random stuff!! Does anyone else have this issue ad if so, do you have any remedies, or solutions? Reluctant to get tablets from the GP!!

[TinnitusUKPat Partner]

Hi Tim.

A good starting point might be our advice on tinnitus and sleep disturbance - tinnitus.org.uk/tinnitus-an...

There's some 'Do's and Don'ts' to have a look at.

[TimSussex in reply to TinnitusUKPat]

Thank you - some useful tips.

[Xene]

Yay Tim, I have an overactive brain and ruminate for the universe. Probably the cause of my insomnia. Sometimes when I’m trying to get to sleep or when I wake up from sleep I count whilst deep breathing. I usually count down from 100 then back up to 100 and carry on until I either bore myself back to sleep or just give up😂 I can’t meditate as my mind is all over the place even if I listen to a guided meditation. Hope you get some more tips that might help as we are all different.

Best Wishes

Xene

[TimSussex in reply to Xene]

Xene, thank you. I get the meditation thing - my focus is minimal!

[Happyrosie]

in addition to BTAPat’s post.

The sad thing about getting older is that this is the norm.

Until lighting was easily available in the home (candles for the rich, then oil lamps, gas mantles, electricity and so on) it was accepted that in the winter you went to bed when it was too dark to do anything else, then you woke up in the middle of the night and did something else for a while. Diarists like Samual Pepys mentioned it.

What I do is get up, read a book for a while and go back to a bed which I’ve warmed with an electric blanket. Fall asleep again straight away.

[TimSussex in reply to Happyrosie]

Thank you.

[Happyrosie]

as far as meditation goes, yet it’s hard isn’t it!

But I tell myself, well when I was at school I found it hard to learn Latin, or maths or whatever it was - but I persevered and got my O-levels (as they were) eventually. Same with meditation and guided breathing techniques. You have to work at it! A bit hard during the night though!

[doglover1973]

Hi Tim. I'm chuckling over 'superpowers' 😀 Great way to describe it! I usually wake up at 4.30 - 5.00 am. If I'm anxious or worried about anything I tend to stay awake. If not I tend to go back to sleep. I take 50mg 5HTP about 9pm . It's helpful for anxiety and sleep. It might be worth a try.

[RockyB88]

yeah I find this happens with me also. Can generally nod of in a silent room if I’m genuinely tired but then wake in the night and struggle to go back to sleep. I find though that although I think I don’t sleep anymore in the wee hours my partner tells me I do because I snore! But when I really struggle I switch on some masking and that normally makes the difference for me.

[Philip6]

Try taking a 5HTP pill 1 hour before bed, and use masking sounds in the bedroom.

[ETHEL103]

Yes it's a pain .

[Chumpiechops]

Hi, I had terrible issues with sleep. Not sure of your reluctance to try tablets, there are Kalms you can get over the counter, I am on a very low dose of Amatryptoline and even if I wake early (getting to 60 equals needing the loo several times) I get back to sleep easily. Do you have a cape to wear for your superpower? T Man?

[surreycccfan]

Hi Tim, I struggled with this while I was in my 'bargaining' phase of my T journey. When I did wake, I did try getting up and doings some tasks (as some sleep experts suggest) but this didn't really work for me so I went down the relaxation route. The practical steps I would use were:

- I used a sound generator app (I used ReSound Relief but plenty of others out there). I tried to use positive reinforcement in relation to the sound from the generator app. The sound I had chosen was beach, waves, and rain, when I would go to sleep, I would listen to the sound and think of lovely holidays I have had walking on the beach. As T creates such a negative emotional reaction, these types of thoughts allowed me to calm down and think about something other than my T

- I would also use a progressive muscle relaxation exercise which I found worked very well in helping taking my mind of my T and feel sleepy

- The main thing I found that really helped was playing some sport/running/Swimming in the day as I found on these days I rarely woke in the middle of the night as was physically so tired

- If I was still struggling I would often listen to a podcast and I found I eventually fell asleep during one of the episodes

I did try sleeping tablets early on and although I found they helped initially I would eventually become tolerant to them so I focused on the above things I found them to really help (in conjunction with other techniques I was using in the day to manage my T). I also ensured I followed a good sleep hygiene pattern (maintain a regular sleep routine, avoid daytime naps, don't watch TV or use the computer in bed, no caffeine after 18:00 and as I am a clock watcher I put the alarm clock out of sight so I wasn’t constantly looking at it.

Hope this helps in some small way. Stay safe