[claudi]

Dear all,
I am currently living with my boyfriend (we’re both university students), who is trying to cope with insomnia, and on the days when it hits him badly the days become miserable for both of us (of course, it’s worse for him).
He has a very hard time falling asleep, and when he finally does, he wakes up often, and in the morning he often cannot sleep anymore. This results in a very tired day in which he feels irritable and “not alive”, as he describes it.
He is a competitive powerlifter, which means that he exerts himself a lot around 5 times a week in each training session. He regularly has pain and stiffness all over the body… Is anyone in the forum an athlete who has trouble sleeping?
I think a reason why he cannot sleep is also a kind of anxiety in which his brain continuously thinks about stuff, the future, what he has to do, the responsibilities, etc.
Anyway, he says that what helps him usually is to do some activities before sleep, such as watching a fiction movie/reading/playing a game… anything that is not connected to the real world.
As his girlfriend, all I want for him is to have a proper night’s sleep, and that he feels fresh and himself again! This is what brought me to this page.

Looking forward to read other people’s posts and their tips that have helped them sleep!

Claudia

[Tkbvg]

Hi there- I am currently a group exercise instructor.  Is  it possible that he’s not getting enough calories?

When you are hungry ( even sub- consciously), you get anxious . Anxiety causes insomnia. I too suffered from insomnia and anxiousness. I never felt hungry. In fact, eating was a chore. When I was up- it was usually from anywhere from 2 to 3 hours a night.

One day, I  tried an experiment. On the day that I couldn’t sleep and I was really anxious (around 12:30 a.m.), I drank a little bit of milk.  Within 15 minutes, I fell asleep. However, I woke up 2 hours later. I ate a non- salted peanut butter  on wheat bread  sandwich. This time I fell asleep within 20 minutes and I was able to sleep 3 hours. Needless to say it was still a rough night (Everyday I wake up around  5:30-6:00 am.) I upped my calories and that seemed to help. I forced myself to eat six meals a day and increased my calories intake. Even on the days I don’t feel like eating, I eat every 2 hours and I set a timer. Because let’s face it, if you don’t feel like eating chances are you’re not going to eat. Because I wake up like around 5:30 or 6 a.m, my last small meal is like around 7:30-8:00pm. However, everyone is different. He may need to eat 8 small meals instead of 6.

I would up the calories by 200. Maybe a piece of fruit  or small sandwich. Give it a week to see if it makes slight difference. If it does, then you have your answer.

If it doesn’t , there’s always relaxing music . lol ?

Good luck and I hope all things go well!

V-

[Mark88]

Interesting to read that the lack of calories could cause restless nights. Based on my daily calorie amount I don’t don’t think this is an issue but I’ve also read that if your blood sugar drops at night this can cause your body to wake up, and the recommendation was to eat a snack or small meal before bed, which I know goes against most healthy diets. However, I noticed one night last week my wife and I were running late and weren’t able to eat dinner until 9pm, which almost never happens. It was a small meal from McDonalds (small cheeseburger and fries). I fell asleep by 10pm and I slept  through the night without any problems. I didn’t notice doing anything different other than that. Unfortunately I tried to replicate it using more healthy foods such as an apple or banana before bed but it hasn’t worked. Maybe the calorie count isn’t high enough?? Not sure if this was a fluke and I certainly don’t want to be eating McDonalds before bed each night but I might test this again just to see.

[Martin Reed]

Hello Claudi. You’ve had some good responses to your post. I would add one question — when does your partner tend to exercise? It’s best to avoid vigorous exercise too close to bedtime since this can make sleep more difficult.

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[claudi]

Thank you all for the responses! I appreciate it.

He tends to train in the late afternoon… It’s true, I’ve thought about this. I will propose him to train in the morning or early afternoon.

I will also talk to him about increasing the calories to see if it helps. And relaxing music yes, often! 🙂

[Author]

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