[curiousz1077]

I’m currently taking 2mg of Lunesta. I am generally able to fall asleep within 30min-1hr of taking it. I also take magnesium every day. Most nights I’m asleep by 11pm. Lately though, I’ve been waking up between 2-3:30, and am unable to fall back asleep until around 5:30 or even 6, which is too late since I have to be up by 7 most mornings. I’ve even taken 3mg of melatonin to try to get tired again and it does nothing. It’s like my mind and my body are determined to be up in the middle of the night. Everything that would hinder sleep (nasal/chest congestion, the urge to pee, my wife’s breathing, other noises, etc. and all this despite having white noise from a fan) seems to be magnified 10x.  Has anyone else experienced symptoms like these?

[Martin Reed]

Your symptoms are very common! It sounds as though you are waking in the early hours (which is completely normal and usually happens between sleep cycles) but as soon as you wake, you begin to worry about being awake.

Unfortunately, as soon as we worry about being awake (or sleep in general), we activate the arousal system and this immediately makes sleep more difficult. I would suggest removing the clocks from your bedroom as a first step. This will help prevent you from worrying about being awake by looking at the clock and becoming concerned that you need to be up soon to get ready for work. It will also reduce your natural inclination to ‘try’ to sleep (as soon as we try to sleep, we make sleep more difficult).

As next steps, I would encourage you to make sure you are giving yourself an appropriate sleep schedule, and that you get out of bed when you can’t sleep.

Has your wife ever told you that you snore or that there are pauses in your breathing during the night? Have you had an overnight sleep study?

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