[shaw600]

Hi, I’ve had sleeping problems for at least the past few years. I have no problems falling asleep, between 10-11pm but consistently wake up between 3-4.30am. I probably get one night a week when I sleep through to a reasonable time. I have been to the doctors a few times; the first time they recommend I go to talking therapy and since then all they do is prescribe me sleeping tablets. I find they work for a few nights but ultimately stop working and leave me in a strange trance until they wear off.

I feel like I’m in a catch 22 because the lack of sleep brings me down, increases my anxiety and makes me depressed. That then affects my sleeping (or lack thereof).

I have tried numerous other things including:
Exercise, night time routines (showers, stretching, etc), lavender oil and various teas. I even tried taping my mouth shut to ensure I breathed through my nose.

My sleep improved during the pandemic lockdown when I was furloughed but started to get worse a week or so before returning to work. It used to improve whenever I went on holiday, which leads me to think that my issues are work related.

I have another appointment with the doctors tomorrow, is there anything specific I should ask for? Does anybody have any advice that might help?

Thanks in advance.

[ssMarilyn]

I read up on this issue and waking up in the middle of the night like that is usually a low blood sugar issue. (nothing to do with diabetes) I was able to go to sleep at night and sleep a couple of hours but kept waking up about 2am or so. After I researched it and found out about the low BS issue, I decided to check my blood sugar the next time I woke up like that. I am not diabetic, but we had a diabetic dog so I have all the equipment here. I tested my blood when I woke up at 2:30am and it was 60…. way too low and that was what woke me up. The solution to this problem was to have a small carb with protein at bedtime…. a small cracker with turkey or cheese on it. That will keep your blood sugar stable, if that is your issue…. so that you don’t wake up. Give it a try. I hope this is your problem because this will fix it!

[Martin Reed]

You sure have tried a lot of things, @shaw600! You mentioned talking therapy — can you tell us more about that? Have you tried cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), the best treatment for chronic insomnia?

As you pointed out, worrying about sleep usually makes sleep more difficult and this can then lead to more worry! One way to help you break out of that Catch-22 situation is to work on improving the quality of your days, independently of sleep — the better you can make your days, the less pressure you might put on yourself to sleep and the less effort you might be tempted to put into sleep.

You mentioned that you typically go to bed between 10:00 PM and 11:00 PM — when do you usually get out of bed to start your day in the morning? When you wake during the night and find it hard to fall back to sleep, what do you do next?

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[TiredTwinDad]

That sounds a lot like my sleeping pattern. I used to awaken a little before 5a, when my wife’s alarm goes off, but for almost 2 years I awaken either side of 4a. It’s been frustrating for me the past week+ as it’s been very consistent, where earlier I was getting closer to 5a a couple times a week.
I did the whole CBT-i, with a sleep doc. Though I worked through the program, it didn’t help me much, even though I did everything it asked of me. Eventually we moved towards ACT (Acceptance), and I found peace with it. I think sleep maintenance insomnia might be a little more difficult to deal with in general.
What I do, I get up and use restroom (even though that’s not why I got up) just to reset. I usually go downstairs and put on a podcast softly and rest on the couch. Often I have fallen back asleep, though lately not so much. I accept this as my current sleeping pattern, and I call that my rest time. If I do fall asleep, bonus. I then get up after 5a when my wife gets up. I’ve found that making sure I rest in the dark for my desired time, even if awake, is better than struggling and I usually get through the day feeling just fine. Not fantastic, but better than before seeing the sleep doc.
I hope you’re doing better than when you wrote this.

[Author]

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