Insomnia

[MossRoad]

Ha! I just looked at that yawning emoji and yawned!

 

[beowulf]

Interesting to read that so many have similar issues. Mine: easy to go to sleep, then frequently I wake up after 2-3 hours and can't get back to sleep without a pill (which I don't like taking), other times I will sleep a solid 5 hours- rarely 6, and almost never 7 hours. The past three nights I got about 5.5 hours sleep a night. I seem to get by on 5-6 hours and don't seem tired during the day. 7 hours would be a gift. One way I can get back to sleep though - listening to audible books. If I wake up after 3-4 hours and listen to an audible book I do go back to sleep every time.

 

[beowulf]

Mountain Dew and other sodas have even more caffeine, plus are high in sugar which also can keep you awake.

I have a theory that if you poured Mountain Dew on Mars, the unpronounceable chemicals in the can would generate life there in 3-4 weeks.

 

[Doofy]

30 seconds to fall asleep. Sometimes need to pee once during the night. My secret is very little stress in my life.

 

[Midniteoyl]

Or at least randomly odd and disconnected hours of sleep. Some nights several straight hours. Other nights an hour or two here and there. Sometimes a few daytime naps. No consistent pattern from one to the next.

Oh well.

Check your blood sugars when your sleepy during the day.

 

[CalG]

Why do you think you need to sleep for several hours without waking? Why do you think you should only sleep during certain hours - e.g 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.? Do you know any other animal species that complies with those rules? We are animals whether you like it or not.

Many years ago my wife found an article in some obscure and old magazine that was supposedly copying an ancient piece of information. This stated that it was normal behaviour for people to sleep for 3 or 4 hours and then wake up for a couple of hours or so. Allegedly it was customary a few hundred years ago that people accepted this as normal. I have no idea whether this is true, but obviously some posters on here agree that is their experience - especially as they age. I sleep on this pattern and have no problems living with it. I retired last year (aged 77) from farming in Portugal where "everybody" beyond a certain age has a sesta (Spanish siesta) after lunch. It is a good habit. Some villages have a custom of beginning work early in the morning, some later - does it matter? Perhaps your ancestors' genetics passed to you mean they were on night guard a few thousand years ago and your biological clock still works that way?

Eat well - plenty of red meat accompanied by plenty of vegetables and a decent amount of table wine to match it. Ensure you perform some aerobic and anaerobic exercise every day too. No need for any supplements, and if at all possible avoid drugs prescribed by medical people (they get rich at your expense) because any drug other than naturally produced wine is as bad as consuming processed food.

FYI I do enjoy a good malt whisky and fortified Spanish and Portuguese wines so still enjoy my "treats". I intend to live a long time and enjoy life too. No point in being a miserable old barsteward is there?

Dang

My Wife brought up this very thing only last week. "A second sleep".

It's been my habit for several years now. Go to bed, sleep an hour or two, then wake up, not to fall asleep again for several hours. Then sleep like death it's self.
And I thought it was something wrong.

'Guess it's normal.

OK with me!

 

[Midniteoyl]

I have one of those. It's a white ball with 8 different sounds. All of the sounds work EXCEPT white noise.

I used to then just turn on the furnace fan at night. That was great, but it raised the electric bill noticeably, and puts additional wear on the motor.

So now I sleep with a small table fan turned on. Just the right amount of white noise for me.

Look for 'Brown Noise' instead of using 'White Noise' Brown noise is more of the lower frequencies. White is higher. Fans are closer to Brown.

Pink is all equal.

 

[CalG]

ps
Playtime with my wife puts me right to sleep after.

So she tells me ;-)

 

[jaxs]

I agree with those who say it come's with age. Not more than a month ago the morning liar's club was discussing health,aches,pains and sleep problems. Problems ranged from waking up and going to bathroom multiple times to inability to have bowel movement for days on end. An old feller finally spoke up and said "I get to bed every night at 11pm and sleep like a baby then at 6am sharp I empty my bladder and have a good bowel movement without fail." After an xtended silence someone asked if he had any complaints at all? "Only one,I never wake up until well past 7am."

 

[Midniteoyl]

Why do you think you need to sleep for several hours without waking? Why do you think you should only sleep during certain hours - e.g 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.? Do you know any other animal species that complies with those rules? We are animals whether you like it or not.

Many years ago my wife found an article in some obscure and old magazine that was supposedly copying an ancient piece of information. This stated that it was normal behaviour for people to sleep for 3 or 4 hours and then wake up for a couple of hours or so. Allegedly it was customary a few hundred years ago that people accepted this as normal. I have no idea whether this is true

Real thing. All those paintings of people in their jammies reading or writing by candle light? Yep.

Humans Used to Sleep in Two Shifts, And Maybe We Should Do It Again

Around a third of the population have trouble sleeping, including difficulties maintaining sleep throughout the night.

www.sciencealert.com

 

[CalG]

Does anyone wake from sleep in the very early morning darkness to a profound quite?

Laying perfectly still, the only sound, almost inaudible, is your own breath?

The Peace that surpasses all understanding....

A time for intense appreciation!

 

[CalG]

Sometimes I wake in the middle of the night, Cold sweat pouring.

After revisiting in dream of doing chest compressions, CPR, on someone I know is already dead.

That sucks. PTS?

Such is life.

 

[Midniteoyl]

Sometimes I wake in the middle of the night, Cold sweat pouring.

After revisiting in dream of doing chest compressions, CPR, on someone I know is already dead.

That sucks. PTS?

Such is life.

Sounds like PTSD... It sux.


Been doing it most night since the early 90's.

 

[von-mil]

The white noise generator that works for me is having old-style ticking pendulum clocks just outside the bedroom. In my case, I need to have three or more of them ticking away. One or two clocks annoys me and keeps me awake because I just lay there and sort of analyze the rhythm but with three or more it gets impossible to comare the rhythms. It just becomes soothing noise. No chiming or striking though - just ticking.

This is probably not a very practical solution for most people. However, I collect and repair old clocks and have plenty to go around.

 

[Jstpssng]

I have a theory that if you poured Mountain Dew on Mars, the unpronounceable chemicals in the can would generate life there in 3-4 weeks.

Could it be that I'm not the only person who can't stand the stuff?

 

[Jstpssng]

Does anyone wake from sleep in the very early morning darkness to a profound quite?

Laying perfectly still, the only sound, almost inaudible, is your own breath?

The Peace that surpasses all understanding....

A time for intense appreciation!

I like to do that in early spring, when I can have the windows open. Hear the birds waking up, and a log truck on the highway 1/2 mile away the rooster crowing up in the henhouse- oh wait, I ate him .
Of course that's mostly drowned out by the constant ringing in my ears.

What's really good is waking up in a tent in the middle of nowhere.

 

[oosik]

For me it's water, coffee or tea. I don't drink ANYTHING else. But, I especially dislike really sweet stuff - like Mountain Dew.

It's 3:45 am here. About the only thing I'm gonna hear - the trains way off to the West. Otherwise - dead silence.

 

[5030]

*** before sleep usually works just fine...

 

[MossRoad]

The white noise generator that works for me is having old-style ticking pendulum clocks just outside the bedroom. ...

I'd have to get up and shoot it.

 

[MossRoad]

Could it be that I'm not the only person who can't stand the stuff?

I didn't care for it much either when I was young. As I get older, it's not so bad, but I never order it if given a choice of something different.

I do keep some in the fridge. If I ever get an intense headache, I grab an aspirin, a tylenol, and chug a 20oz mountain dew as fast as I can.

Poor man's Excedrin.

"The active ingredients in Excedrin Extra Strength are acetaminophen, aspirin and caffeine. Acetaminophen acts as a pain reliever and fever reducer. Aspirin (an NSAID) helps reduce pain, inflammation, and swelling."