Insomnia rears its ugly head again

[missy]

@missy thank you for this! Since I've posted this I have gotten some CBD gummies, as well as a supplement that contains lots of ingredients that are listed above including melatonin (it's called "Supersnooze" lol). I have an appt next week with GYN to test hormone levels as well. I'm curious since you said you wake at 4-5 every morning, are you not fatigued during the day? Even though you go to bed early? For me to feel "normal" if I woke that early I would have to have a bedtime of 8 pm (which isn't gonna happen).

Testing your hormone levels will be helpful. Also consider 24 hour four point saliva cortisol testing by ZRT. It will provide helpful insight.

I head to bed around 830 pm give or take 30 minutes. I wake a few times but generally can fall back. Always up by 4-5am for the day. I actually enjoy being awake early. It’s very peaceful and beautiful that time of day. Greg also gets up with me for the day. And of course the kitties are screaming for food lol.

 

[2B2]

I’ve struggled with it off and on since having baby (he’s 6 years old now). Being up at all hours with kid for almost 2-3 years (he didn’t sleep well until later in his life) messed up my sleep and that combined with PPD just made me a wreck. I got better but would occasionally “relapse” and have issues again. The hard part is that I would worry I couldn’t sleep which would become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Anyway I had been doing well but for 3 weeks it’s happening again but in a different way. I can go to sleep but I wake up way too early - around 4-5am and can’t go back to sleep. I end up feeling like crap all day long and then it happens again. I feel very defeated and discouraged. I do meditation apps, no phone in bed, dark cool room, all things that are supposed to be good sleep hygiene. I also have tried melatonin and some other similar things. I exercise during the day even though I feel awful in hopes that will also help. The fact that it’s not falling asleep but waking makes it harder. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks for allowing me to vent.

Hey…are you me? My son just turned 7 and he never slept. The first 2-3 years of his life pretty much broke me. I now wake up anytime starting at 2 or later and can’t go back to sleep. A good day is waking up after 4 because I can at least enjoy a few hours of Netflix before the family gets up and I can function at work. The combination of work stress, covid stress (taking care of a 5 year old and 1 year old -at the start of lock downs- full time starting in March 2020 while having a demanding job), and age has taken a toll on my sleep on top of the previous years of sleep deprivation. I’ve been trying many of the things that have been suggested here but it’s still a struggle.
A few additional ideas or food for thought that I don’t think I caught in the replies:
- Heavy strength training (while general exercise is good, I find that going heavy on weights and fatiguing my muscles is followed by deep and restful sleep for a night or two)
- Insulin resistance and glucose - as I started to research sleep I learned that your body is more insulin resistant at night and high glucose can interfere with sleep, I also read about your liver dumping glucose at night around those early hours which may cause you to wake up…the takeaway from this is to watch carbs at night (you mentioned eating a banana at night) and replacing with a high protein snack like a cheese stick
- cortisol…apparently this is also related to higher glucose so stress management is important. Box breathing and meditation are supposed to help of done several times a day and consistently

I am still working on getting to a normal sleep pattern but hopefully sharing these things might be helpful. I’ve gone as far as getting a continuous glucose monitor to understand what is happening in my body at night. I’m also looking for a weighted blanket

 

[Mreader]

@2B2 I meant to respond to this before; just wanted to say big hugs to you! That sounds hard! And having two kiddos with this must be so tough; a big reason I stuck to one was the colic and sleep deprivation from baby 1. Also thanks for reminding me of the weighted blanket bc I have been meaning to try; worried about it being too hot but can still give it a shot!