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Are you a hot sleeper?

maccers

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Sep 19, 2012
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Hopefully the title of this post doesn't sound like something dirty! :lol:

I've been a hot sleeper since I was a child -- quite often I'm roasting, hands and feet in particular. It's been much worse since moving in with SO and sharing a bed. Last night was a very bad night, I'm exhausted today. When I'm too hot, my sleeps aren't very deep which then leads to being woken up by SO's light snoring. I get SO ANGRY in the middle of the night when I can't sleep, I want to blame SO because it's his snoring that woke me up. But, in the light of day and with a calmer, more rational mind, I'm pretty sure the real issue is that I was too hot.

I exercise most days of the week, in the evenings. Last night I had a sports game which involves a LOT of running, the day was quite humid and hot (for where I live) and I don't get home until 930pm. Which means I eat dinner at 930p, drink even more water and then try to go to bed around 1130p. So, you can imagine that in addition to being overly hot, I'm also getting up to use the bathroom all night! Things I've been trying to keep cool:

1. Lots of water throughout the day
2. Cool showers at night
3. Taking a magnesium supplement (supposed to help with sleep disturbances)
4. No synthetic bedding (under sheet only)
5. Sleeping with ice packs
6. Fan blowing on me
7. No memory foam mattresses in our household, too hot!
8. Earplugs so I don't hear SO snoring (and he wears a snoring mouthguard thing which helps a lot but it falls out sometimes)

I'm at my wits end trying to get a good night's sleep. Truly, I could cry about it at times. Anyone have other suggestions?
 
Sorry to hear, not sure if this helps, but I'll share what I know ...

My dad is a very hot sleeper... and my mom gets cold very very easily. He often gets up in the middle of the night and sleep on the floor (hardwood floor), half naked, with a fan blowing on him. He even tried putting a bamboo mat on his side, but he could not stand the texture since he sleeps half naked most of the time (sorry TMI I know). My mom decided to buy a sleep number bed, the one you can adjust your own temperature on the side you sleep on. It is expensive, but considering that we spend 1/3 of our life on the bed, investing in a good one makes total sense. My dad doesn't visit the hardwood floor anymore, haha. :wink2:
 
What is your room temperature? My body extremities tends to run cold so I cuddle up to my children who are literally furnaces.
 
Chrono|1376501658|3502911 said:
What is your room temperature? My body extremities tends to run cold so I cuddle up to my children who are literally furnaces.

I wish I was like you! That sounds wonderful.

My guess for room temp is about 23-25 degrees (73-77 F) -- much higher than I prefer but it was a hot day yesterday. Room temp is a bit of a battle for SO and I. He is on the cold side and I'm, well, on the hot side of things.
 
I never did sleep hot until we got a pillow top Sleep Number bed. Don't buy one of those... you will roast! :lol:
 
I'm an odd one. I tend to run cold most of the time (esp. my feet!) and yet I hate hot weather. Usually when I go to bed I feel cool and snuggle under a thick comforter, but I almost always wake up burning hot, whether it's morning or the middle of the night. I've never understood it. I will say that I've been sleeping on a memory foam mattress for the past 2 1/2 years and I really don't notice any temperature difference from old spring mattresses. Anyway, what I tend to do is just keep the room temp. cool--AC on, or windows open depending on outside temps, and ceiling fan on at least half the year--and then I can always throw the covers off if I wake up hot and I'll cool down fairly quickly. Pretty sure DH thinks I'm crazy for trying to get the room down to about 50 degrees and then cocooning in blankets, but he's gotten used to it!
 
Goodness wait till menopause you will swelter :sick: My upstairs is hot, no matter what I do, we keep our air turned up in the summer and heat down in the winter to try and ward off the heat...I also use a ceiling fan on high at all times, other then that I got no other advice, I understand because I hate being hot when trying to sleep, it makes me not sleep well or at least worse then usual..once again that menopause thing.....good luck I hope you can get some relief....have you tried Tylenol PM's to help? sometimes they will help you sleep a little better.
 
I'm a "hot" sleeper for sure. My dh says when I am sleeping I am like a furnace. We keep the temperature very cool in the bedroom year round. In the winter we sleep with the windows open and in the summer the a/c is set at 60 in the bedroom. My poor dh sometimes sleeps with a hat and socks on lol.

I have a weird internal temperature control because a 1 degree shift is very noticeable by me and can make the difference b/w comfort and pain. Work can be hell for me if the temp is not just right and I have a fan at every location at work. But I also get very cold very easily and I have a very narrow comfort zone temperature wise. But at night when we go to sleep I think my temp is at its hottest and hence the need to keep the bedroom cold. It isn't fun when you are so sensitive to temperatures like I am and I feel for all those who are hot sleepers.
 
diamondrnglover|1376510860|3503027[/b][/u] said:
Goodness wait till menopause you will swelter :sick: My upstairs is hot, no matter what I do, we keep our air turned up in the summer and heat down in the winter to try and ward off the heat...I also use a ceiling fan on high at all times, other then that I got no other advice, I understand because I hate being hot when trying to sleep, it makes me not sleep well or at least worse then usual..once again that menopause thing.....good luck I hope you can get some relief....have you tried Tylenol PM's to help? sometimes they will help you sleep a little better.


I am there. I keep the bedroom at 64, 65 degrees. But when one of those flashes hit, I then turn on the fan I have on my side of the bed. I open the windows even in the winter. I cannot stand when it is warm, especially when trying to sleep.

My poor husband just goes with it. Flannel pjs even in summer, and I bought him an extra comforter.
 
Not really a tip (I am a cold sleeper!) But this morning I had to have some blood tests. I saw the nurse around an hour after completing an 8k run. When she put the needle in my arm I always look away, but I could feel her 'tickling' the area inside my elbow joint. Then she said "Good Lord, you're being very generous today! Take a look!" And basically the tickling sensation was a TRICKLING sensation - the blood was weeping from around where the needle was inserted & dribbling down both sides onto the floor :shock: Being a nurse who takes my blood often & knows me, she asked if I'd been running this morning. Then she said "Ah, yes, makes perfect sense then." She explained that after heavy exercise like that the capillaries are extremely dilated & will stay that way for a few hours. She said that was why I was still red & hot, even though I felt thoroughly cool, had showered etc.

So my point being that perhaps exercise in the evening won't do you personally any favours, because its adding to your internal body heat a while after you've finished?
 
I am! I always used to stick my legs out of the blanket as a child, so my grandpa would tuck the blanket in under the mattress. I'd kick it right off! Have you tried working out earlier in the day? I always burn up after I work out. Keep a fan by the bed? The whirring noise helps me fall asleep too. Or get a white noise machine. You might have to do something about your husband's snoring… Has he tried those nose-opener things?

I have a bad back, so I ended up needing a memory foam bed. Tempurpedic came out with one that's much firmer and has a layer of cooling or heat absorbing stuff? Something like that. It hasn't bothered me that much, and I live in SoCal, where it gets sweltering hot!

Because I burn up while I sleep, I really can't sleep with anyone. SO is completely opposite, his actual body temperature is higher than mine (so it burns ME up more) but he doesn't feel hot. He wants to cuddle and touch me. I want to kick him off the bed. I usually roll into my corner, stick my butt out so he's shoved in his corner, and keep him at bay that way. I also moved my bed right next to the window, and bought a window fan. It feels sooo good in the mornings.
 
I'm glad to know I'm not the only one with this problem. This morning I felt completely mind muddled due to lack of sleep and I was in quite a rotten mood. I'm mid-30s but to think this issue might get worse as I get older, ugh! I don't know how you ladies cope with it.

Ruby - That room temp sounds devine to me, if only I could get our house that cool in the summer. A/C isn't realistic for us due to our climate but a mobile unit may be a good option.

Alex T - That confirms the exercise theory. Later evening exercise is definitely contributes to my heat factor. Unfortunately, because of the types of activities I do, moving it to earlier in the day isn't an option that appeals to me (yet).

Madelise - I did the same thing as a kid, hot feet off to the side of the bed. I'm going to use a fan tonight, it's a bit tricky because So finds it dries his mouth out and he gets cold! It takes some strategic fan placement to get it right.

Missy - you sound a lot like me. I get cold at work often, sometimes I need a little blanket at my desk but something switches at night time and I feel like I might spontaneously combust.

Jazzo - you're lucky you don't find the memory foam too hot. SO had a memory foam topper and I would roast more than usual when sleeping on it. We've since moved to my bed which is without the memory foam.

I've done some googling for solutions, one article said that keeping the head cool is important as it helps increase melatonin production and keeps the brain from becoming active due to too much heat. There's an item on amazon called the Chillow but there are quite a few bad reviews saying the product leaks and smells like chemicals. I may buy a few more ice packs for the freezer and put a couple in my pillow tonight!
 
I read an article yesterday that said optimum temp for sleeping is 66 degrees. I need it at least 55 and a fan running or I'm dying since menopause. Before that I was freezing all the time!
 
SO is. I'm not. He wants the airconditioner on all night every night no matter what. We just have different body temperatures I guess. I try to accommodate him unless I'm sick. I've had the flu for the past ten days or so including chills. Sometimes I have to turn off the airconditioning and the fan and open the windows. Basically, he gets his way, though. :))
 
Yes. Plus, JD is like a fricken blast furnace. I sleep in shorts/tshirt all year long, and sometimes in the winter just under a sheet.
 
Two words: separate bedrooms.

This has changed the quality of both our sleeps a thousandfold. It's also nice to have a haven for my stuff...makeup, jewelry and other girly things!
 
My husband couldn't survive without the Chillow. He puts it in the fridge a few hours before bed sometimes if he's really hot. He says it smells like plastic, but he puts it in his pillow case and doesn't notice it too bad. It does tend to spring leaks, so he orders 2 at a time and keeps the spares ready to go under the bed. He gets about 6 months out of one before the leaking starts, unless one of the cats has been on it! He even takes one with him when he travels. He buys them from drugstore.com, and they are flex spending account eligible. He loves them!
 
I haven't read through the other responses, but if it hasn't been recommended look into a ChiliPad. Get a dual zone so you and your SO can adjust the temp. to your liking. It actually can cool or heat, we just use ours in the summer to cool. It runs water through soft tubing in a mattress pad so pulls heat from your body. I'd also recommend putting a waterproof mattress pad over your mattress before you place the ChiliPad on, just in case of a leak. Good luck!
 
Yup, I know exactly what you mean. We have the room at about 63 and it still isn't cool enough for me. My husband says I radiate heat like a furnace. Since I've always been an insomniac anyway, things are compounded because I lie there and get hotter under the bedclothes. (When you go to sleep your body temp falls a bit, I believe.) But if you can't sleep, you just lie there getting warmer because of the covers.

One thing that has always helped, and which my sister and dad naturally do too, is to sleep with one leg sticking outside the covers. It keep the whole body cooler.
 
No, I'm the opposite--I pile on multiple blankets and layers. I sleep in pants and a long sleeve top.

My DH is like you though, he gets hot and just prefers a thin blanket.

I think your room temperature needs to be much lower. 68 to 70 degrees is what we keep our bedroom at.
 
I am not, but SO is. He is very warm by nature. He usually sleeps above the covers, and we'll turn the temp down a little for him. I can layer blankets when needed, since I'm polar opposite. Sorry you have to go through this! It can lead to very fitful sleeping.
 
I used to run cold at night. I even slept with a blanket in the summer in Florida. Now that meno has kicked in I'm running
hot and cold all night. I'm constantly pulling the blanket on then kicking it off 10 minutes later. I cant remember the last
time I had a good nights sleep. I started sleeping with a frozen cooler pack which helps once I've been woken up.
Sorry I don't have any recommendations that you haven't tried. What about some sleep medication? I'm ready
to consider it.
 
Last night was a much better sleep! I took the following precautions:
1. Upped my water intake even more than usual during the day.
2. Exercised a bit earlier so dinner was done at 830p
3. Slept in the basement by myself
4. Put the fan on with a bowl of ice in front of it. This made the air even cooler.
5. Put a frozen gel pack under my pillowcase. This was heavenly!


The bolded ones were really good for getting immediate cooling effects.
The true test will be tonight because I'm more rested rather than exhausted.

Stepcutnut - I checked out the Chilipad and while it's a bit pricey, it sounds like it really is effective. I'm going to show it to SO tonight! How long have you had yours? No leaking problems?
 
[quote="maccers|1376583443|3503755"
Stepcutnut - I checked out the Chilipad and while it's a bit pricey, it sounds like it really is effective. I'm going to show it to SO tonight! How long have you had yours? No leaking problems?[/quote]

The Chilipads are a bit pricey, but it has improved our sleep tremendously so feel it was a good purchase for us. We have had ours for around 5 years and have had no leaks. Good luck, I hope you find the right good sleep combo for you :)
 
I am I am! We have a memory foam mattress and at first it was killing me but I found a cooling mattress pad and that helped a lot. As for the comforter, I have a temperature regulating down comforter from cuddledown, it has helped so much and usually does the trick. I also keep my bedroom at 60 or below, we keep a window fan on in our room in the NY winter and keep fans on. DH def likes to be warmer but he just piles on the blankets and pjs and he's down for the chilly. It also helps so much not to eat any big meals for at least 3-4 hours before you go to bed, not 2 hours, you're keeping your body active if you do that and it makes sleeping that much harder. I know it's hard because of schedules but I would really not eat at least three hours before sleep, it helped me a lot when I changed that habit.

Good luck!
 
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