Sleep

Are you warm enough? When I wake up in the night & can't back back to sleep I put the electric blanket on a low setting, I find that helps. I also wear a bed jacket and use a fleece pillowcase as a cotton one is positively icy in the small hours. If I've warmed up and am still awake I listen to something, music, podcast, anything really, just something to focus on and stop my mind racing. Hope you can get a good night's sleep tonight. If not, try and catch up at some point in the day. Not sleeping well is exhausting. Pleasant dreams, zzx

If you are retired I don’t think it matters really. I rarely sleep through the night without a break for a couple of hours. But I get sufficient sleep even though it is 2 lots of shifts😄

Sounds very similar to the problems raised on this thread, so see what you think:
www.gransnet.com/forums/health/1329101-Morning-blues?msgid=30305041

Me too. My sleep is erratic. Last night I woke at 3:30 and I haven’t been back to sleep. I will probably have a nap sometime today. Other nights I might sleep right through. I have been on a low carb diet for years, however I have noticed that if I eat more carbohydrate than usual , my sleep is better.

I don't remember the last time I had a full night's sleep EllieAnne. Right now I've been awake since 4.40. And I didn't get to sleep until 12pm. I sometimes take something to help me sleep as I have M E. and lack of sleep makes the symptoms worse. I also try a magnesium spray when I waken, and hope it helps me drift off again. But as WWM2 says, as long as you get enough.

Oh me too I’ve started waking at 3am it’s awful. Most of the time I don’t go back to sleep , if I do it’s only until 5. I don’t nap either.Its a fairly new thing for me, hoping it’s because I’ve a lot of worry at the mo, but it’s making me really tired.

Same here..dropped off at about 1.30 and wide awake at 6.30. - 5 hours - I’ll try to turn now and catch at least another hour or so . O

Katyj

Oh me too I’ve started waking at 3am it’s awful. Most of the time I don’t go back to sleep , if I do it’s only until 5. I don’t nap either.Its a fairly new thing for me, hoping it’s because I’ve a lot of worry at the mo, but it’s making me really tired.

I did a 2.30am the other night, but had been asleep since 7pm.
Last night, 9.30pm to 4am.
I am a bit all over the place lately. But I have been in sort of 6 week different patterns for ages.

I was thinking it may be temporary, but reading posts on here, I am not so sure.

But what’s wrong with that as we get older…. that is what is normal for older folks The worrying about is what makes it uncomfortable
Accept that we will wake a couple of times each night and maybe early morning and relax about it
That is the clue to a good nights sleep

I rarely sleep through the night but tbh have grown used to it. If I'm awake I either listen to the world programme with it on a sleep button for an hour and generally I fall asleep again. I don't nap in the day and have a fairly active life and I try not to settle down too early at night. I think generally, I get enough sleep if I'm not I take Nytol original not the herbal one and that does help me to sleep better.

I go to bed at 10pm and mostly go straight to sleep. Up 1 or 2 times in night to visit toilet. Then I am awake just before 5am in the morning. Get up at 6ish and my day begins. Happily I don't see it as a problem as I make tea, have a slice of toasted fruit loaf and settle down to check the news online and, of course, look at Gransnet!
As BlueBelle has said accept it and be relaxed about it.

Silent gord is what often wakes older sleepers. It did me for many years, until I found the perfect bed wedge, I now sleep slightly elevated on a gentle and comfortable slope. I have had a full eight hours sleep each night since my new wedge arrived

You may not know you have night time acid reflux, apart from perhaps a sore throat, maybe a night cough or perhaps just an uncomfortable feeling in the chest area, maybe some throat hoarseness

Try making a slope from 3 pillows

or perhaps blood sugar is low, eat a small oatcake if you wake. Oat is avena sativa and is well known as a sleep herb

Oh well at least I m not the only one. Definitely warm enough. Have a lovely padded throw.

Are all your pillows the same sort karmalady?

Dannieray and foxie it’s worrying about it that causes the problem in my opinion …. Learn to accept, relax listen to the radio for an hour, or play a game and you drift back for a few more hours
My sleep usually comes in threes sometimes twos but most often 10 to 2, 3 to 5, 5.30 to 6.30 or variations on that
I feel just as bright the next day as if I d slept through (I believe in pre history they woke 2 or 3 times in the night to keep the fire going, or is that a fairy story)

Ive always been a bit of a night owl and an erratic sleeper. Since I retired from employed work Ive realised that it doesnt really matter when I sleep. I can go to bed anytime after about 2am and still wake at 7am. Then I have another 3 hour nap in the late afternoon/early evening. All together I get an average of 7 hours in 24 which should be enough for an adult.

Lying awake worrying about not being able to sleep is unproductive. Its better to do something that relaxes you- read, listen to music, have a shower ...

I was awake at 3.30 am went and got a cup of tea, read my Kindle, then settled down to listen to half an hour of sounds from the Costa Rican Jungle on my CALM app. I nearly always fall back to sleep and I woke at 7.25 This is the norm.

Good for you!

Fancythat, you can make a nice smooth slope wiyh different sized pillows and perhaps a carefully folded blanket at the bottom. When I used 3 pillows, I had the most dense by the headboard, a bit less dense lower down and a small roll of a cushion at the base. It was comfortable and that small squishy cushion made a big difference. It is definitely worth a try for gord, that can wake you without being obvious

Also try and work on sleeping on your left side if there is a suspicion of acid reflux. Lying on your right side will wake you