Ideas for a better night sleep without taking medication

[contrarymary]

I feel like I have never slept a full night since my children were small many years ago

i go to bed around 9.30pm and read for about an hour nothing to heavy usually a woman's magazine

what usually happens I drop of to sleep whilst reading and wake up about midnight and that's it I am awake for hours before going back to sleep

i have tried going to bed later only to wake after a couple of hours sleep. Tried listening to music or reading a boring book still wake up after a couple of hours.

i did an experiment last week I watched a comedy on britbox fell asleep whilst watching when I woke up I had slept through 4 episodes which was 2 hours

lookingfor ideas on how to sleep longer. I am not tired when I get up in morning or during the day, I would like a night where I don't lie awake for hours. Spoke to GP his answer was sleeping pills don't want to start.

its the same when we are away from home, perhaps I am one of those people who don't need much sleep

last night I put light out at 10.30pm woke up what I thought was hours later but it was 12.30pm

any advice appreciated

[white knight]

Hi, welcome

haven't got much time ATM. Here is a link about hood sleep

https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/online-forums/staying-well/a-good-nights-deep-sleep---sleep-apnea-and-cpap

TonyWK

[Ggrand]

Hello Dear Contrarymary,

I am sorry that you’re not sleeping throughout the night...

When we were young children and/or parents of young children..most parents would read to their children a gentle story to put their minds into a beautiful calm space to help them sleep....

I do this to me...I listen to sleep stories for adults...it calms my mind by listening to someone reading me a story...I use the LibriVox audio stories...Their are lots and lots of fairytale’s on their...and you can set the timer they have to switch it off after your preferred time...You tube also has some great sleep stories...and some meditation vids that helps me...I prefer the stories though...

I think that before sleep, our mind needs to be calm, so that we can sleep deeply...and throughout the entire night...in saying that..I do some nights keep waking up every few hours..I then just press continue on the story and again I’ll drift off to sleep...

Not sure at all if I have helped you...but wanted to try...and let you know what works for me..,,I know that if something works for one..it doesn’t mean it will work for others...but anything is worth a try a few times....just to see..

My kindest thoughts lovely contraymary...with my care..

Grandy..

[Sophia16]

Hi,

Thank you for being open here. That sounds really difficult to deal with but it seems you are getting through it.

Have you tried sleeping at midnight? instead of trying to sleep earlier than waking up again at midnight?

There are also certain scents that can help you fall asleep such as lavender and chamomile. Have you tried using a diffuser?

Let me know if any of these work.

Stay safe and i am always here to chat.

[Karen0901]

Hi,

Sleep issues are extremely difficult. I have struggled with chronic insomnia for years. So I know a fair bit about it.

Our sleep cycles are between 90 min and 120. So it sounds like you wake at the end of the sleep cycle. We all wake a little after these cycles but we usually put ourselves back to sleep without realizing. Not doing this can mean you have sleep maintenance insomnia, which may or may not be caused by apnoea. It might be worth going to a sleep clinic and getting checked for the cause of it. Sleep apnoea can be dangerous, I believe.

Other than this, look into sleep hygiene.

[Beeee]

Hi contrarymary,

A lot of people have already given some great advice, but like Karen0901 has suggested, if all else fails, I would also highly recommend visiting a sleep clinic. They can diagnose sleep disorders, and by examining how you sleep, make specific suggestions that can help you improve your sleep.

Wishing you the best

Beeee