[Jed]

I do not enjoy good sleep, I am a male retired pensioner. I have read and watched numerous TV productions to aid my sleeping pattern with only modest results. I neither drink nor smoke and recently left out all caffeine from my diet. I have always been fit and recently increased my physical activity to aid with the quality of the sleep I do have, this has helped. In spite of all this I do not have a consistent sleep pattern. I have little problem getting to sleep, the problem arises when I usually wake after a few hours sleep, returning to sleep is a significant issue. It is as if I am wide awake instantly. I have meditated, breath counted and used many methods to aid relaxation with moderate success. I tend to be obsessive which I feel is not in my best interests. I avoid late night TV programmes which I may become too involved with. Medication has never been my choice although I may resort to a Paracetamol or a camomile tea which can take the edge off things when nights get really bad. Any helpful advice would be most gratefully received.

[leysentom1]

Hi Jed,

Sorry to hear that. How much sleep are you getting a night?

Where are you from? UK, US, Canada, … ?

Tom

[Martin Reed]

Hello Jed. Welcome to the forum. You certainly are not alone.

Waking during the night is normal. Waking during the night and finding it very hard to fall back to sleep is less normal.

What typically helps is making sure you aren’t allotting too much time for sleep and getting out of bed when you wake and find it hard to fall back to sleep.

Allotting an appropriate amount of time for sleep will reduce the amount of time you spend awake during the night, and getting out of bed during the night when you are struggling to fall back to sleep will help prevent you from reinforcing the idea that the bed is a place for wakefulness rather than sleep.

Smoking, drinking, caffeine, medication, and exercise can all affect our sleep but they’re not usually the perpetuating factors behind insomnia. These factors are the thoughts and behaviors we have in response to our struggles with sleep — and cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) techniques are so effective because they address these issues.

Have you tried CBT-I, Jed?

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[Author]

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