So tired!

i only get 3-4 hours a night sleep,i also go to work at 3.30 am. I have an hours sleep when I get home then I am back in bed at 6 o clock in the evening. I cannot remember the last time I slept more than 4 hours at night ,even when I have been away. now I am getting told it may be the menopause causing this now what do I do.

Are you well enough to take regular outdoor exercise ? That often helps.

One thing you didn't mention is getting up and doing something for an hour or so then going back to bed. I find it helpful.

My husband was prescribed iron tablets for his RLS and they have worked.

CBD, cHemp oil is now legal.
cbd.co.uk/collections/cbd-oil-drops
The 1000 mg drops, nice flavours. Put 2 or 3 drops on your tongue. You can experiment and see how many works. It relaxes you. It is not a sleep remedy always but it removes the discomfort of pain, like arthritis, and stops you worrying if you were. It is not hallucinogenic, it just has the part of the oil that is not. Not psychoactive.

I’m a pretty good sleeper most of the time but occasionally I have real difficulty falling asleep. What works for me is a bit of reverse psychology.
Instead of lying awake with my eyes shut trying to doze off, I force myself to keep them open. Gradually, they become heavier and heavier and start to close and each time this happens I open them again. Eventually, it all becomes too much of a struggle to keep them open and I stop fighting to stay awake and fall fast asleep. It may not work for everyone but it may help.

I had RLS all my life that drove me crazy. I decided to give up caffeine for others reasons (forget why now) but the difference it made to my RLS was amazing. I now very rarely get it. The prebiotic that Michael Mosley used was called ‘Bimuno’.

Melatonin is what the body produces to enable sleep. I have a melatonin capsule and sleep much better than I used to, without having that sleeping pill ‘hang over’ feeling the next day.
The capsules are available to buy on the internet and will be with you within a week.
I no longer get RLS either, which used to drive me crackers.

Good luck, I hope you get a decent sleeping pattern soon, it’s awful trying to function on such little sleep xx

Sunseeker...I read your post and without reading any of the answers youve received I rushed straight to answer you myself. I average 3/4 hours of sleep a night ...and that not unbroken.. This has now gone on 23 years! I look after my invalid husband (23 years)...and worked 6 hours a day til recently. I tried every remedy in the book and some that weren’t. So I just stop fighting my sleep patterns and let it happen. If I sleep ....all well and good ...if I dont...I don’t! But when I stopped fighting it I stopped caring. I still nurse my husband ( who is becoming more tiresome daily) ...and I find he gives me more stress than the lack of sleep. I know it’s easier said than done but too much is talked about how much sleep we have. I am fit...healthy...try to walk three miles a day( time allowing) look after grandkids twice a week...on those days I cycle or walk 8 miles. I am better physically than I was before the sleep ‘problem’ kicked in! I’m saying that the stress you give yourself through what you consider lack of sleep...is causing you problems , not the lack of sleep itself. If you can ... just let it all wash over you...it worked for me! And at 4.30 in the morning ( my usual time to get up) I could quote you Pythagoras !!

Hello there.
For the past month I have been taking one of these a day and for the last week or so I have been getting 7 hours of sleep on the whole.You can get them from Amazon and most chemists etc.

sunseeker
Ever considered asking your GP for a blood test ?this can in a multitude of cases answer why this, why that, and what needs doing about it.?

Last night I tried everything I could think of to send me to sleep. Nothing worked, counting, reciting poetry, sleep sounds on Alexa (which is usually good).
I went to bed as usual. Nothing different. I wasn't hungry, didn't have reflux, thought I was tired, ha! No sleep came until after 4am.
Consequently, I didn't get up until nearly 11am.
It's okay for me as I don't have work to go to, and DH is very understanding. However, it's really annoying, and I was getting angry with myself.
Fortunately it isn't every night.
My DGC have melatonin as they have autism and lack the sleep inducing hormone. I tried it once, it didn't help.
I'm going for a walk this afternoon to tire myself for tonight.

1. Counting backwards every alternative letter from 299 and if you hesitate or get it wrong you have to start all over again from the beginning.

2. Repeating a single word at random intervals.

Both methods, repeated silently in your mind, succeed in clearing your mind as you are unable to think clearly while concentrating more on ‘boring’ yourself to sleep, as I call it. Got me through nearly 30 years of shift work.

It might be worth trying different kinds of tablets but the lighter one can run out by about 4am so you might have to take them again.
Sometimes I just give in to it and get up and make a cup of tea and watch TV a bit. Then I sometimes fall asleep about 5am. Luckily it doesn't matter what time I get up but I prefer to get up by 8ish.
If you try all the usual things together, winding down, no drink after 9pm (or even 8), hot bath half hour before going to bed, making sure the bed is comfortable etc. it can make it easier but I find most things only work temporarily.
People do sleep less when they are older. If I go to bed early, I wake up at 5am.

I have terrible insomnia.
I have though seen an end to RLS by taking Magnesium every day. Also it works on cramps.

Is it true that GP can prescribe Melatonin? My GP said she could only give it to me two times? Was she wrong?

Bodyshop peppermint leg spray is great for RLS. The latest tv prog on RLS suggested low dopamine levels are the cause.

BTW my daughter in OZ listens to an app called Calm and it sends her to sleep in no time at all. I think it has adult bedtime stories by various readers and she says she never gets to the end of the story. However that would involve having tech next to you but it will turn itself off I believe if you set it up properly. Good luck

How strange I should read this post when this morning after changing bed position yesterday i.e facing my feet East we have both had a great nights sleep. Look up Feng Shui or Vastu Shastra. They have some great articles on getting a good nights sleep and if possible try not to sleep with head north if your space in the bedroom allows this. Just another idea to throw in the mix!

I have soluble magnesium tablets on hand. If the RLS kicks in I get up and take one in water (faster acting than a tablet}) and, placebo effect or not, drop off with no problem.

Another vote for melatonin tablets. If you're over 60 your GP should be able to prescribe them. Also good "sleep hygiene" - don't use smartphones, tablets, laptops etc. after 7pm (or not without an orange filter - too much blue light inhibits melatonin and keeps us awake). Don't watch anything "exciting" on TV after 9pm (record it to watch the next day) and start a wind-down about them - dimming the lights; warm drink; yes to supper (bananas are supposed to be very good as they contain tryptophan, as well as magnesium and potassium - all good relaxers. Bananas on toast is a good supper). Have a notebook by your bed if worries are keeping you awake (don't forget to remind yourself that the middle of night is NOT the time to start to solve life problems). Give yourself 40 mins to fall asleep - then get up and do something relaxing like a hot drink or read a book (don't turn the TV on - too stimulating). Being more active during the day, getting some daylight and teaching your brain that it's time to sleep (treat it like a naughty toddler that just wants attention) all helps. Good luck.

If it the restless legs keeping you awake, they suggest quinine found in tonic water. I also had terrible insomnia for 40+ yrs, awake half the night, night terrors, RLS, then felt shattered all day. I got myself into a strict bedtime routine, you need to retrain your cycle. I used to get anxious at the thought of even going to bed. Now I religiously stick to my routine, so my body knows when I do xyz then it is sleep time. I have no tv or tech in my bedroom, so that bed is for sleep ONLY. No daytime naps either!
It only took a little while to retrain myself, but boy I am so glad I stuck to it now after all those horrendous years of being awake half the night.

Learn a long poem by heart (bit by bit, a little a day) and recite it to yourself lying down in bed. I can recommend Ulysses by Tennyson. I rarely get to the end of it. I even start it in the middle sometimes so that the second half doesn't feel left out.

I'm thinking of re-learning the Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner, which I knew when I was sixteen but have since forgotten.

Try Melatonin tablets....they work for me.

an oatcake before sleep and some in a box for waking up sessions. Maybe it is silent gerd stopping you sleeping so 2 pillows for now. Valerian as standby and/or very quiet talking radio, so you can`t hear and concentrate on that to try and hear, will take your mind off izzy whizzy thoughts. LBC is all talk so try that very low. The mind and thoughts need to be stilled and focus on very quiet talk is like applying a brake

Oh dear sunseeker, how frustrating for you to have tried everything. Maybe now, stop trying for a bit, accept it, stress less about it and see if anything improves!

Many thanks for the replies. I did try magnesium - took it for a month but made no difference. Bed and duvet very comfortable and I also recently changed the bedroom around. Have tried pillow sprays but again no help.

I think it is something I am just going to have to live with - again many thanks to all who replied.