Sleep problems

Axtman · #1 09-21-2010, 03:00 PM

For quite some time now I have been waking up around 3:30 to 4:00 am and not being able to get back to sleep. I go to bed around 10:30 to 11:00 pm and get up around 7:00 to 7:30 am. I have not been able to sleep through the night. What do you guys recommend?

SoonerMatt · #2 09-21-2010, 03:13 PM

Do you exercise? Do you eat or drink anything half an hour before bed? What's your diet like? How much caffeine do you take in a day?

Selta · #3 09-21-2010, 03:13 PM

That's a very loaded question, considering so many factors that go into this topic. Have you done any basic research on it?

Axtman · #4 09-21-2010, 03:16 PM

I try to get some exercise everyday. I try not to exercise at night hours before I go to bed. I try to limit my intake of caffeine to 1 cup coffee in morning and 1 glass iced tea at lunch. I don't drink soda and try not to eat close to bed time.

MatticusMania · #5 09-21-2010, 03:22 PM

Could it be that youre stressed out about possibly losing your job? Or stressed out over something else?

Stress can wreak havoc on one's body/health in all kinds of nasty ways.

**jmattbassplaya** · #6 09-21-2010, 03:30 PM

Do you wake up feeling tired or refreshed? Any problems in the bathroom?

Jim Campbell · #7 09-21-2010, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Axtman

For quite some time now I have been waking up around 3:30 to 4:00 am and not being able to get back to sleep. I go to bed around 10:30 to 11:00 pm and get up around 7:00 to 7:30 am. I have not been able to sleep through the night. What do you guys recommend?

time to see the doc and his magic finger.....if you are waking up to pee that is....guys your age often find changes in sleep patterns for lots of other reasons,and eight hours uninterrupted sleep is difficult,if not impossible.....many take cat naps during the day instead....

MatticusMania · #8 09-21-2010, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Axtman

I have not been able to sleep through the night. What do you guys recommend?

pot.

or valarian root.

your choice.

Axtman · #9 09-21-2010, 03:36 PM

I wake up feeling super tired. I read or heard that we sleep in two 4 hour sleep cycles. If we wake up in the middle of a cycle then we feel sleepy throughout the day.

Yes I did have a date with my urologist's finger and thus am on FloMax.

Any other ideas?

**jmattbassplaya** · #10 09-21-2010, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Axtman

I wake up feeling super tired. I read or heard that we sleep in two 4 hour sleep cycles. If we wake up in the middle of a cycle then we feel sleepy throughout the day.

Yes I did have a date with my urologist's finger and thus am on FloMax.

Any other ideas?

3 hour cycles actually. If you wake up during your REM sleep you will be very groggy. This is often during the middle to end of your cycle. Be sure to use the bathroom beforehand if you aren't. Also, cut back on spicy foods if you eat them a lot - I have found they will wake me up early. I also hear sex before bed can definitely help people's sleep cycles.

I actually made the last one up, but feel free to tell the wife that you heard it straight from some random stranger on TB:OT - she should understand

MatticusMania · #11 09-21-2010, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmattbassplaya

I also hear sex before bed can definitely help people's sleep cycles.

I actually made the last one up, but feel free to tell the wife that you heard it straight from some random stranger on TB:OT - she should understand

While it may not be proven, I rarely wake up during the night when I get some before bed.

Jim Campbell · #12 09-21-2010, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MatticusMania

While it may not be proven, I rarely wake up during the night when I get some before bed.

ya gotta watch that....nothing will keep you awake nights like a screaming kid.....

Axtman · #13 09-21-2010, 04:57 PM

BTW, I have tried sleep aids like ambiem. It works great the first night, the second night it works okay, the third night I could be taking M&Ms since it has little effect.

I wonder if my body is so used to waking up in the middle of the night that it just wakes up out of habit?

MatticusMania · #14 09-21-2010, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Campbell

ya gotta watch that....nothing will keep you awake nights like a screaming kid.....

Not anytime soon for me. We always use protection. I dont need no baby keeping me up at night!

machine gewehr · #15 09-21-2010, 05:35 PM

Booze.I'm serious.I've seen doctors,took pills etc. nothing worked.I've been having sleeping problems for the last 4-5 years and only booze helps.

What I would advice is,there are clinics/doctors that specialize in sleeping problems.

I'd go to one of those but I'm not financally independent and any time we try to talk about my sleeping problem with my parents (whom I'm financally dependent on) we start arguing and I'm fed up with that so I take the short cut.I'm taking my medicine right now as I do every night.

Jim Nazium · #16 09-21-2010, 06:13 PM

How long have you lived in Seattle? I'm wondering if a change in the amount of sunlight you're used to might have something to do with it.

**lowendfriend** · #17 09-21-2010, 06:27 PM

You have my exact sleep cycle. I have a high stress job....I could fall asleep while falling thru mid air, but I can't sleep thru the night.

I'm planning on retiring soon so I guess I'll tough it oout for a couple more months.

Jeff K · #18 09-21-2010, 10:41 PM

I'm older than you. But while I was still working, I'd often find myself waking up to take a leak around 4:00 am, then not being able to go back to sleep. I'd start thinking of all the work I had to do at work that day. When I'd finally nod off, it was time to get up for work.

A friend of mine recommended taking a Benedryl about a half-hour before going to bed. It worked for me. I'd still wake up to take a leak sometimes, but the Benedryl would make me just drowsy enough so that I could fall back asleep.

I asked the doctor if there was any danger in taking them for that purpose and was told that it was safe. If you have a Sam's Club near you, their generic brand ("Member's Mark", I think) is something like $4.00 for 400 tablets. That's enough for more than a year.

Auzzie-Phoenix · #19 09-22-2010, 01:07 AM

If you wake up frequently tired, it might be a snoring problem or some form of sleep apnea. If you're waking up sore with frequent knots in your back or neck, time to flip the mattress and or wash or replace pillows. If you've had your mattress for several years, it's probably time to replace it.

MIJ-VI · #20 09-22-2010, 01:15 AM

Trouble Sleeping? It May be Due to this Hidden Culprit
By Rob Huntley, IH Editor -- Published: June 10, 2010

"Trouble falling asleep. Waking in the middle of the night multiple times. Not being able to fall back asleep easily. Do any of these sound familiar? While there are many explanations for slumber troubles, one researcher thinks he has found an unexpected culprit: dwindling testosterone.

A recent study by psychology doctoral student Zoran Sekerovic at the University of Montreal, demonstrates that the natural decline in testosterone as men age plays a role in sleep quality. As men enter middle age, testosterone levels begin to decline. These levels drop up to 2% annually after the age of 30, and previous research has suggested that sleep quality drops substantially after the age of 40. Sekerovic’s study indicates that this decline in testosterone plays a role in the sleep cycle of middle-aged men.

After the age of 50, men spend less and less time in phase three and four of the sleep cycle—in other words, they do not enter the deep sleep cycles as often as younger men do. This can wreck havoc on the daily quality of life that men experience—lack of deep sleep has been shown to increase stress hormones and affect the health and wellbeing of the brain. It may even lead to neurocognitive disorders in late life.

Sekerovic found a link between this sleep decline and testosterone levels in the blood, especially in men age 50 and older. After the age of 60, some men stop going into deep sleep patterns entirely. This sets men up for a host of physical and mental health problems. Sekerovic accounts for this correlation by speculating that testosterone helps to keep the brain young. As men age, the brain loses neurons, which leads to a difficulty with entraining the two hemispheres of the brain—a key aspect of deep sleep. When the two hemispheres are not in sync with one another, sleep pattern disturbances result. Sekerovic suspects that low testosterone levels are having a direct impact on the brain’s functional ability to synchronize the two hemispheres, which is explains how testosterone levels can directly affect sleep patterns.

Previous research has suggested that lack of sleep negatively impacts the levels of testosterone in the bloodstream, but Sekerovic’s study found the opposite: the lower the testosterone, the less a man can sleep. What can account for this difference in findings is that the previous studies measured cyclical daily changes in testosterone levels instead of looking at overall testosterone quantity. Sekerovic’s study did just that—he measured the overall quantity of testosterone in the blood and compared that to the EEGs of men with sleep disturbances. The results indicated that the lower the testosterone, the less the men were able to enter the third and fourth sleep cycles.

Sekerovic’s study sheds new light on the causes and mechanisms involved in sleep disturbances in older men. If future researchers are able to replicate his results, hormone therapy may be one way to treat these sleep disturbances, which would significantly increase the quality of life for men who have trouble sleeping. Hormone therapy carries its own risks and side-effects, so future research is needed in order to ensure that the testosterone link is the cause of the sleep disturbances."