Help with sleep needed

[Egg_Head]

Hi fellow member, I'm in the 60 plus age group and have had chronic depression and anxiety
for over ten years now, whilst my symptoms are mostly under control with
medication I do still get anxious at times and stressed out. By far my biggest problem
is sleep or rather the inability to get enough of it at night. I get so tired I
nap for an hour or more in the afternoon several days a week. I have tried
several different types of sleeping medications and although they work I can’t
use them long term. I have tried going to bed later so I am more tired and when
I wake I try meditation to get back to sleep. Nothing seems to work, I still
wake several times during the night and I’m wide awake by 4:00 am most days. I
go to bed at 10:00 PM each night and do breathing exercises for half an hour until
my wife comes to bed. How much sleep are you getting, is it a deep sleep, do
you wake refreshed, do you nap during the day???? Any advice on how to sleep better?

[pipsy]

Hi Peter.J. It sounds like an insomnia type of problem. I'm in a similar situation. Mine is due to an accident some years ago when I was on meds. I was taken off the meds, permanently. The insomnia is a result of being taken off the meds. I have tried not taking afternoon naps, going to bed later, listening to soft music etc. I have found lately, reading a book, usually a 'boring' type of romance novel. You know the ones I mean. 'Boy meets girl, falls love after several pages of misunderstandings, eventually marries, lives 'happily ever after'. A load of twaddle, but soooo boring, I fall asleep after the second page. While I don't get a 'full' nights sleep, obviously I get enough to satisfy my system. While you may find a romance novel not 'your' thing, being male, the idea is to find something excessively boring which would help you fall asleep. If t.v is not your thing either, have you any thoughts on boring activities that would eliminate your need for sleep aids? Doing a cross word puzzle sounds great too, unfortunately, in my case, it stimulates me because when I'm concentrating, I 'wake up'. However, if crosswords put you to sleep, there's another plus.

Lynda

[Dwwmills]

Hi Peter.J.



I’ve been to a sleep clinic and had a sleep study done
myself and found it very helpful. Is interesting to see that you’ve been to one
as well. Have you been back to see them since you have had this recent bout of
sleeping problems? They should have a fair idea whether your medications are
affecting you or not.

My daughter when she was younger had a sleep phase shift.
This caused her to want to go to bed later and later. It made it very difficult
for her to go to bed at a reasonable hour. The sleep clinic tackled this by
getting her to wake up early and to use a bright light to read by which reset
her sleep phase. In essence rather than trying to go to bed earlier and get a
good night’s sleep they just made her wake up earlier to shift her pattern back
to a normal time. Funny thing is though I had to get up to help do this as she
was only 7 or 8 at the time. My sleep phase shifted with hers and it was the
best I’d slept for ages. We fixed two problems for the price of one.



Good luck.

Dean

[Egg_Head]

Hi Luyda, I go to bed and “relax” for half and hour before
my wife come in, this is my way of calming down. You’re correct in thinking
those, ummm paper back “romance novels” are not high on my list of approved
reading. I am going to trial this new suggested medication and see how it goes;
if that fails then I going to adopt the “if I need a nap then I going to have
one” attitude. It seems to me worrying about not sleeping is causing me stress
and that in turn stops me from sleeping. Does that make sense?

[Egg_Head]

Hi Dean,

No, I haven’t been back since my last sleep test as it was
only a few months ago and they were well aware of all medications I was taking.
I think my sleep time is quite reasonable in that lights out is at 10:30 pm, my
problem is the quality of that sleep and the fact at times I wake at anywhere
from 3:30am onwards. If that happens then I’m almost certain to fall asleep in
the afternoon. On the other hand if I take a sleeping medication I sleep well
and do not require an afternoon nap.

Peter

[Egg_Head]

Hi to all that have posted on this thread.

I have read and replied to some of the posts; if I did not reply to your post
please be assured I did read your response and appreciate your help and
suggestions.

many thanks, Peter

[pipsy]

Hi Peter.J I get where you're coming from in the more you try to sleep, the less you do. Sometimes the importance attached to 'getting enough sleep' also stresses us when we think we're not getting enough sleep. It's merry-go-round where you're being told you need at least 8 hours. My Dr told me years ago, if you need a daytime 'nap', go for it. The problem being, if I do, 'nana nap', bang goes night sleep. If you were the sort of person who, in your working life, went to bed between 9 and 10 p.m. You woke around 6 a.m, 5/6 days a week, you followed this routine for say 20 years. This routine then becomes so in-grained, the pattern becomes almost mission impossible to 'break'. If that's the case, your body clock would be so 'into' this routine, it would be similar to 'jet-lag'. People who work shift-work often have the same problem when they leave/retire after 20t years. It's quite a difficult pattern to change. It sounds as though you don't want to rely on sleep medication, but without it, you're unable to sleep. Bit of a catch -22 situation. Without medication you don't enjoy a full nights sleep, with it, you do. I think I'd be inclined to accept the medication and enjoy the sleep. Your call, but sleep, versus insomnia.

Lynda.