Sleep

[somapop]

Check out mattress toppers on Amazon.

I did actually buy a topper (decent one from Ikea) which helped as the mattress below is finished.
I think a decent bed mattress will address a few problems but until I move here I don't really want to get a new one yet.

Reduce fat percentage
Increase fitness
Increase strength
Do enough physical activity in a day to be tired at night
Stay hydrated!
East enough protein
Eat enough vitamins+minerals
Try and avoid stress (meditation/massage/hydrotherapy helps)
Get plenty of fresh air through the day, also keep windows open to allow for good ventilation and getting fresh air during the night
Increase sexual activity
Avoid tv and mobile devices within a few hours before bed
Avoid eating within four hours of going to bed
Get good pillows, even very expensive ones, they can be the best investment you’ll make
Keep bedsheets clean and fresh (change them regularly)
Make sure you get into bed clean and fresh yourself
Make sure the first thing you do in the morning is making your bed, so that by the time you get to the nighttime and it’s time to get into bed, the bed is nice to get into (making your bed as soon as you get up also puts you in the right frame of mind for the day ahead, as you’ve already ticked off job #1)
Don’t put off jobs that need doing, otherwise they’ll be on your mind at night in bed - get a To-Do list and get the jobs done, pay your debts, apologise to the missus, clear your conscience…

I do most of that tbf, but the devices before bed is one of my downfalls I'm now addressing.
Drink lots of water, trying to not drink caffeine past midday; have fresh air (but perhaps not enough atm as I'm busy in the day and evening I'm usually in the gym - have kick started my running however.

Two things that stand out there ^^:
Its now two years since I left the family home (partner & kids) and the first year was awful compared to how I am now. A lot of my trouble is waking up with myriad thoughts buzzing around my head. Situations I haven't resolved (work or freindships) and it's like a disco on there - the proverbial bee in my bonnet. I'm historically an over thinker but starting to chip away at that.

Despite (for many years) not being in a loving relationship with my ex, we did use to cuddle in bed and this closeness made me drift off instantly. The adjustment to sleeping alone has been tough.
Sex too of course...it's been a long while but offset with me really getting to know myself and not wanting to use a new relationship as a crutch, but it's probably about time I did (easier said than done right?).

Bearing in mind a couple of years I had lots of dark thoughts to wrestle with as I contemplated my future, I've come a long way. I just can't nail a decent night's sleep.

Possible I'm not matching my training with what I eat (not enough protein for example)?

I used to sleep like a log as well. But I found it very uncomfortable in the fireplace and decided to sleep in a bed instead. It's much better.

To somapop. Maybe you need less sleep as you get older?. You mention waking naturally at 5 am and then tossing until 7 am when you get up. How about getting up at 5 am and going running instead? Then have breakfast afterwards? You can still train again later in the day. Plus in the next couple if months it will be light in the morning. The extra daylight and getting up and being active earlier will tire you out and you will sleep better?

I've always considered myself a 'late night' person and I think there was some research to qualify this type of thing, but I'm never one for conventions and try to challenge habits as kind of reinvention.

Could be a good shout (although would mean shifting my evenings around to accommodate an earlier night).

Good advice everybody - thanks.

 

[kaz7]

My head's fucked due to sleep deprivation. I suffer from Restless Leg Syndrome and the meds have made it worse. Some nights i get no sleep...sometimes i take an extra tablet. both means i feel crap the next day.

Try one or two diazapam an hour before bed , you wont get hooked , if you only do it when you feel that your legs are going to go , works really well for my rls and it makes you sleepy so helps you get to sleep just as it is starting up, also take magnesium tabs three times a day

 

[kaz7]

Anybody have trouble sleeping deeply/fully and this in turn affecting their health or energy the next day?

I've had a few rum years but huge turn around and I'm generally pretty content. I have a lot of energy and tend to be at the gym most days and if not I'll be running.
I eat pretty healthily and drink a small amount at the weekend (and then it's just a few glasses of wine and a beer on a Saturday evening) unless I go out (which tbf I did last weekend....and a few after work on a rare office visit).

But for at least the past couple of years I've struggled to get one decent nights sleep. I suspect it's a behavioural change before I consider any form of meds.

I tend to never get to bed before midnight and that's after watching a boxset then scribbling around on my phone/laptop.

I'm a light sleeper so wear ear plugs (but also have tinnitus which doesn't help). I then usually wake 4/5 wish then just toss and turn till I get up. Try to get 7/8 hours sleep (which I do in terms of being in bed) but there's littler deep sleep going on here. No REM/dream state.

Could be the mattress is awful too. In fact there's probably a few variables but my eyes feel tired and a little red in the day (and I do take pride in my appearance so this that's a bit of a downer).

Tried those meditation apps (I used them when I was particularly low a couple of years back after a seperation) and these were great.....until they finished and I have to remove my ear phones - perhaps one to try again.

Take all the vits etc....but I get these really tired eyes/lethargy and have to put it down to poor sleep.

Recently start heading to bed an hour early and reading for ten. Fell off that wagon a few times but will keep at it.

Also, I do the gym in the evening (some say not too) but I either go with my daughter at that time, or just like the fact it's a bustling community then.

Any thoughts?

Put down all electronic devices two hours before you go to bed and go to bed earlier , try and make sleeping at say ten pm a habit , take a few days to adjust but try it


Personally i have a lot of pain at night so i load up on things that makes me sleepy before bed , mitrazapine , valium, a zolipdem and a piriton , getting a couple of hours of deep sleep really helps when i am then awake most of the rest of the night

 

[jacko74]

I've never had a full nights sleep even when I was a little kid or teenager... my sleep pattern has always been to get about 3-4 hours very deep uninterrupted sleep, practically comatose, then only snoozing very lightly for the rest of the night usually waking up and dozing back off again every 30 mins or so and always up for 5 a.m. at the latest.

 

[Marklr]

Try one or two diazapam an hour before bed , you wont get hooked , if you only do it when you feel that your legs are going to go , works really well for my rls and it makes you sleepy so helps you get to sleep just as it is starting up, also take magnesium tabs three times a day

Thanks, Kaz. It's defo something I'll be asking for soon.

​

 

[FantasyIreland]

30 odd years of stressful shift work have ensured i get the bare minimum.

 

[Bill Walker]

I follow the same ritual every night.
Get in bed, watch a movie on my phone till my eyes start drooping, turn light off...... Zzzzzz

 

[gaz76]

I used to sleep like a log as well. But I found it very uncomfortable in the fireplace and decided to sleep in a bed instead. It's much better.

To somapop. Maybe you need less sleep as you get older?. You mention waking naturally at 5 am and then tossing until 7 am when you get up. How about getting up at 5 am and going running instead? Then have breakfast afterwards? You can still train again later in the day. Plus in the next couple if months it will be light in the morning. The extra daylight and getting up and being active earlier will tire you out and you will sleep better?

Running at 5am? Are you out of your mind?

 

[bumbleblue]

I am rubbish at going to sleep and then eventually rubbish at getting up..

 

[RACHACE]

I too struggle to sleep and stay asleep for what's considered the amount needed.

Think it's mainly to do with me being up at 4:30 every day for work.

Getting a decent bed has helped, as has having a routine. I go bed at around 20:30 every day midweek because if I go bed later, I clock watch and think 'shit, I'm up at 4:30 I best get to sleep' but of course I then don't because I'm thinking about needing to sleep. Midweek City games ruin me.

Exercise to knacker me out, a comfy bed and a cup of tea before I go up tends to be a routine that works for me most times.

Been up since 5 this morning though and I'm not working so maybe I'm not the best to pass on advice :)