Lack of Sleep

for as long as i can remember ive had trouble sleeping. It takes me a long time to fall asleep and every night i wake up around 3AM to use the bathroom and then i cant get back to sleep. I lay awake in bed just thinking about random stuff. I just turned 40. The lack of sleep is still something i can manage, meaning i can still be highly productive at work and engaged with the family activities ect but it would be nice to get better sleep and feel more refreshed. Ive used melatonin in the past which kinda helps with falling asleep initially but doesnt do anything for the times i wake up in the middle of the night and cant fall back asleep. Ive tried it where i stop drinking water a few hours before bed but i really dont like to deprive myself of water when i want it and it doesnt seem to matter much anyway.

Anyone have any tricks that have helped you?

Go take a sleep study.

It sucks. I have issues too. A combination of melatonin, CBD, CBN helps quite a bit.

Otherwise, a few nights of Unisom sleep tabs can help get back on track.

The other lifestyle stuff like no TV before bed and getting good exercise can also help but doesn’t work by itself for me.

Ripjiggen wrote:

Go take a sleep study.

This. You could have sleep apnea or any other list of potential things that are causing this.

crappie55369 wrote:

It takes me a long time to fall asleep and every night i wake up around 3AM to use the bathroom and then i cant get back to sleep.

How many hours of sleep are you getting?

-J.

I get up a few times during the night and had trouble falling back to sleep, mind would be racing and just couldn’t stop thinking about stuff.

Now I turn the radio on to KFAN or some other talk radio for 20 minutes and it helps take my mind off all the other stuff. Usually will fall asleep pretty fast.

I have really bad tinnitus that can keep me up or make it hard to fall back asleep if I wake up to spring a leak.

Having white noise really helps me.

Most nights I listen to ocean waves or sounds of the forest. There’s a million hours of stuff on YouTube. They’re very relaxing.

A lot of them are 8-12 hours long, so you’re not playing with your phone to start a new one in the middle of the night if you happen to wake up.

Ripjiggen wrote:

Go take a sleep study.

X2…

I average 4 hours of sleep a night. Has been that way for many years. Couldn’t tell you the last time I slept more then 6 hours max.
I also wake up and pee in middle of the night. Let the dog out and then lay back down not being able to go back to bed.

I don’t do sleeping pills or melatonin or cbd. Hitting the fish whistle I hear works. That’s of course from my buddies who live in states that it’s legal.
And I always keep a fan on. And some pink floyd or something going on the Alexa in the bed room

In middle of the day if I sit down for 10 minutes I can nap immediately. But I’ve never felt sleep deprived.

Jon Jordan wrote:

How many hours of sleep are you getting?

i dont have any sort of sleep tracker device but id say on average im getting between 4-6 hours a night. id prefer something in the 6-8 range.

B-Man i do use a fan. have to have a fan but i like the suggestion of ocean sounds or something. might give that a try.

Never really considered a sleep study. i thought people with sleep apneas were usually really heavy snorers and would wake up like 50x an hour. at least to my knowledge i dont exhibit these symptoms but maybe it would be a good idea to do a sleep study

You should be able to be fully engaged in everything with 4 to 6 hours of sleep a night.

crappie55369 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Jon Jordan wrote:</div>
How many hours of sleep are you getting?

i dont have any sort of sleep tracker device but id say on average im getting between 4-6 hours a night. id prefer something in the 6-8 range.

B-Man i do use a fan. have to have a fan but i like the suggestion of ocean sounds or something. might give that a try.

Never really considered a sleep study. i thought people with sleep apneas were usually really heavy snorers and would wake up like 50x an hour. at least to my knowledge i dont exhibit these symptoms but maybe it would be a good idea to do a sleep study

I went through sleep therapy about 7 years ago after doctors wouldn’t prescribe me ambien anymore. My sleep deficit was affecting my overall health so I needed to do something. I was diagnosed with chronic insomnia.

Over the counter stuff won’t work if you have real sleep issues. It will just mask the issue for a bit.

I did my therapy and study through park Nicollet…took about 3 months to get my internal clock reset. We’ll worth it and completely eliminated my need for sleep meds.

Id suggest you see you Dr…how much sleep is needed is different for everyone. They’ll get you back on track and help you understand how much sleep you actually need.

A couple quick tips…only go to bed when tired. If you can’t sleep or wake up for more than 20 minutes get out of bed. Toss and turning is the absolute worst thing you can do. No screen time if you get up in the middle of the night. Relax and read or meditate. Make the bedroom as dark, quiet and cool as possible. Limit drinking in the evening (I know). If you wake up, don’t check the clock or phone. Get all screens out of the bedroom and eliminate screen time for an hour before bed.

You can also compress your sleep time. Go to bed an hour later than normal and get up an hour early. Enforce that schedule and within a week or so you’ll be more naturally tired and get back to a normal schedule.

Hope this helps…lack of sleep is miserable.

This may not sound very manly…. My wife turned me onto meditation. Turning on a meditation in the middle of night really helps put my mind back in the sleep zone. There are varying lengths, play around with different lengths to determine what works best.

I would say meditation is similar to white noise, but the words of the moderator makes you check-in with your body and relax more, IMO. This really helps me.

Get a sleep study. They’re looking for more than sleep apnea, they’re plugged in to the ol brainbox to see what’s going on in there as well.

I stopped sleeping well in my 30s for no reason that I could determine.
In my case, melatonin helps al lot, but I need a fairly large dose which took some time to figure out. Melatonin is not a sleeping pill, so the good news is that I don’t have any of the sleeping pill side effects.

outdoorsmn wrote:

This may not sound very manly…. My wife turned me onto meditation. Turning on a meditation in the middle of night really helps put my mind back in the sleep zone. There are varying lengths, play around with different lengths to determine what works best.

I would say meditation is similar to white noise, but the words of the moderator makes you check-in with your body and relax more, IMO. This really helps me.

Your self awareness is not welcome around here. Cone of shame for you!!!

outdoorsmn wrote:

This may not sound very manly…. My wife turned me onto meditation. Turning on a meditation in the middle of night really helps put my mind back in the sleep zone. There are varying lengths, play around with different lengths to determine what works best.

I would say meditation is similar to white noise, but the words of the moderator makes you check-in with your body and relax more, IMO. This really helps me.

I meditate everyday…not to sleep but to keep me more centered and grounded. If you put it into consistent practice it helps a lot.

And I consider myself very manly…

I have always had trouble sleeping. I get up at 4am every weeknight to pee. I put dimmer switches in the bathroom so I can get just enough light to not hit the seat. The dimmers made a noticeable difference in the amount of time it takes me to go back to sleep.

crappie55369 wrote:

Jon Jordan wrote:
How many hours of sleep are you getting?

i dont have any sort of sleep tracker device but id say on average im getting between 4-6 hours a night. id prefer something in the 6-8 range.

I’d say same for me starting in my 40’s. (59 now) 4-6 hours and I’m good to go next day. Rack it up to getting old….er.

-J.

Matt Moen wrote:

And I consider myself very manly…

FWIW, your IDO Composite Manliness Ranking is in the 53rd percentile. This is largely due to your steadfast refusal to drive a 1-ton diesel pickup and your insistence on fishing from a boat of fewer than 22 feet and/or 400 HP. And fishing in yoga pants. Don’t do that.

Oh great. An IDO Composite Manliness Ranking. Something else to keep me awake at night.

DO a sleep study. Besides sleep apnea the will find out if you have insomnia or the bad stuff like Rem Behavioral Sleep Disorder. There is restless leg etc All of these can keep your cortisol levels up and your mind is in a fight or flight mode which does not allow restorative sleep. That alone can cause many health problems like insomnia, type 2 diabetes etc. I found out that I had sleep apnea, restless leg and Rem Behavioral sleep disorder. Some of it they can treat symptoms but not cause as it may be a precursor to developing Parkinson’s or Lewys body dementia in the future. Also they have me wear a mask over eyes and ear plugs which has helped.

Mwal

Sleep studies are helpful as others have suggested. White noise, changing your mattress if you toss and turn, or even simply adjusting the lighting to be even darker in your room (blackout blinds) could be helpful.

Be sure that your bed is only used for 2 things – sleeping and Television in bed ruins sleeping habits/patterns. Surfing the internet or looking at things on your phone is no different than a television. I do my best to plug my phone in out of arms reach of the bed. I have a few favorited contacts whose calls or messages will come through on silent, otherwise everyone else is blanked out and the phone doesn’t light up or make a sound.

I try to ramp up the physical activity and time spent outside if I am struggling to sleep. I am also very against naps. If I nap during the day for even a few minutes I pay for it at night. Resisting the urge to eat anything after 7:00 helps. You don’t want to go to bed hungry, but you also don’t want any elevated blood sugars or caffeine in your system if you struggle to sleep. I am usually physically and mentally drained enough from my work, side jobs, and my kids that sleep isn’t an issue. I generally fall asleep at 10:30-11:00 and am up ready to roll at 6:30. Anything over 6 hours of sleep and I feel for the most part fully recharged.

Changing the amount of my exposure to blue light was a game changer for me. Once I completely turned off the blue light on both my cell phone and computers, I noticed a huge difference in my ability to fall asleep and stay asleep at night. There are studies out there showing exposure to blue light before bed messes up something in your brain and will make it harder for you to sleep. The blue light throws your circadian rhythm out of whack by suppressing your body’s natural melatonin. If you have your nose buried in your phone, ipad, or computer before bed with blue light enabled, it is likely negatively impacting your ability, quality, and duration of sleep.

I’m so used to not having any blue light in my life that when a friend shows me something on their phone and they have blue light enabled, I feel like I am almost blinded with how bright it is.

I put dimmer switches in the bathroom so I can get just enough light to not hit the seat. The dimmers made a noticeable difference in the amount of time it takes me to go back to sleep.

x2

and don’t look at the lights

Seams like it runs in my family my dad never really slept well and my brother is now a night owl in his 40’s.

I am 37 and my sleep sucks, right now and doesn’t help remodeling a house and having kids and wife works nights. Arg.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Matt Moen wrote:</div>
And I consider myself very manly…

FWIW, your IDO Composite Manliness Ranking is in the 53rd percentile. This is largely due to your steadfast refusal to drive a 1-ton diesel pickup and your insistence on fishing from a boat of fewer than 22 feet and/or 400 HP. And fishing in yoga pants. Don’t do that.

I’ll call Dean and order the 622 with a 400 but I will not, repeat, will not give up the yoga pants.

Diet change helped my sleep tremendously. I used to lie awake until about 5 AM when I was in my 20’s. I started having restless leg syndrome in my 30s which also affected my sleep. Now I rarely have trouble sleeping.

I’m not just talking about caffeine and sugar, I think it has to do with nutrient deficiencies.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

FWIW, your IDO Composite Manliness Ranking is in the 53rd percentile.

This has now got me concerned. With your recent comment about me in the wife advise needed thread I am a bit worried where you have me ranked.

If you need to be up at a certain time how do you wake up? With eye covering and ear plugs is your alarm really loud or do you get a little electric shock to welcome the day.

mwal wrote:

DO a sleep study. Besides sleep apnea the will find out if you have insomnia or the bad stuff like Rem Behavioral Sleep Disorder. There is restless leg etc All of these can keep your cortisol levels up and your mind is in a fight or flight mode which does not allow restorative sleep. That alone can cause many health problems like insomnia, type 2 diabetes etc. I found out that I had sleep apnea, restless leg and Rem Behavioral sleep disorder. Some of it they can treat symptoms but not cause as it may be a precursor to developing Parkinson’s or Lewys body dementia in the future. Also they have me wear a mask over eyes and ear plugs which has helped.

Mwal

John Rasmussen wrote:

This has now got me concerned. With your recent comment about me in the wife advise needed thread I am a bit worried where you have me ranked.

Your league-leading ability to get in touch with your feminine side may, to some, seem like an albatross around your otherwise-manly neck, but in the IDOCMR algorithm, that actually boosts your score. Just like the New Man emerged from the 1960s more aware and in touch with his feelings, you ARE the IDO New-New Man. You fish. You’ve got the total Grizzly Adams beard going on. You throw axes. You wear flannel. You can think more like a woman than the average woman. You’re basically running the IDOCMR table.

But mostly it all comes down to the fact that you don’t fish in yoga pants. Keep on keepin on.