Sleep issues - please help

vivmit

Hello,
I am 44 year old fairly active male. I do 3 strength training workouts every week, play tennis once a week for 2 hours and rest of the days I either swim or run on treadmill for 20 min doing HIIT. The problem I have is whenever I have an alcoholic drink in the evening(2 or more) or if I do a strenuous workout in the evening, I get a very deep sleep for 4 hours and then I am wide awake due to dehydration. I cannot sleep for 2 hours and then feel very sleepy again. I drink a lot of water throughout the day and also after the workout or alcoholic drinks . Does anyone know what's the root cause for this and how to fix this? I can workout in the morning or give up alcohol all together but I am hoping someone has a better answer. Really appreciate a response.
Regards
Viv

sllm1

Not helping - but I've also noticed that after even one drink, I'll wake up early with the same issue - SO thirsty and hard to go back to sleep. I have no idea why. I don't drink much anyway, but this has kept me from drinking anything lately.

Stella3838

Thought this was interesting...

http://io9.gizmodo.com/why-you-always-wake-up-early-after-a-night-of-drinking-5980281

tinkerbellang83

have you tried switching your drinks? If I have craft beer I find I'm more dehydrated than if I say have vodka & soda water. or you could try alternating alcoholic beverages with non-alcoholic beverages. Unless it's a special occasion I tend to stick to one or two pints and knock the drink on the head an hour or two before I head home because even if I only have a couple late in the evening I get horrendous neck pain (which I discovered is a result of low alcohol intake causing the spine to relax too much and not support my neck properly)

sfcrocker

That's one of the side effects of alcohol, unfortunately. I've had insomnia for years and went to a sleep specialist. Here's some of the things that have worked for me:

1. Turn off the TV and all devices (phones, TV, laptops) at least one hour before it's time to sleep. Reading an old fashioned book or magazine is OK.
2. Make your room as dark as possible. Almost everything nowadays has an LED light on it and the cumulative effect is too much light pollution. I sleep with a mask and blackout shades on the window, but you can also use a piece of electricians tape to cover LEDs on devices
3. Use a white noise generator or wear earplugs
4. If you can't sleep after an hour, get up and go into another room. Listen to music or read, but don't use electronics (other than starting the music, obviously)
5. Get up the same time every day, regardless of how little you slept. Tell yourself "it's just one day, I can be tired for a day"
6. Don't eat within four hours of going to sleep
7. Keep the room at 60 degrees. It's easier to sleep in a cool room. Don't crank the heat.

Hope this helps

Gallowmere1984

Kepplekakes wrote: »

sfcrocker wrote: »

That's one of the side effects of alcohol, unfortunately. I've had insomnia for years and went to a sleep specialist. Here's some of the things that have worked for me:

1. Turn off the TV and all devices (phones, TV, laptops) at least one hour before it's time to sleep. Reading an old fashioned book or magazine is OK.
2. Make your room as dark as possible. Almost everything nowadays has an LED light on it and the cumulative effect is too much light pollution. I sleep with a mask and blackout shades on the window, but you can also use a piece of electricians tape to cover LEDs on devices
3. Use a white noise generator or wear earplugs
4. If you can't sleep after an hour, get up and go into another room. Listen to music or read, but don't use electronics (other than starting the music, obviously)
5. Get up the same time every day, regardless of how little you slept. Tell yourself "it's just one day, I can be tired for a day"
6. Don't eat within four hours of going to sleep
7. Keep the room at 60 degrees. It's easier to sleep in a cool room. Don't crank the heat.

Hope this helps

I also started taking melatonin. It helps but does not solve the problem.

Stack the melatonin with magnesium.

Spliner1969

Careful with the Melatonin. It's not meant to be an every-day sleep aid. It's meant to help you get acclimated then stop using it. Regular use of it can cause your body to become dependent on it (as in your body will stop producing melatonin naturally). It'll cause the same issues after a while, it'll make you sleepy then you'll wake up a few hours later. You should also be taking a very small dose, 1-2mg. Many of the over the counter versions I've seen have up to 10mg in them (that's a huge blast of melatonin, much more than the body normally makes). It's a supplement so it's not controlled by the FDA in the same way other drugs are.

domeofstars

What exactly is 'lots of water'? For every standard alcoholic drink you have and for every cup of caffeine you have you should replace this with two cups of water. I have read many times that doing strenuous exercise in the evening interferes with sleep. If you feel it is dehydration then force yourself to drink even more water. If upping your water intake does not help, you ultimately have to decide what is more inconvenient to you: giving up or limiting alcohol and not doing strenuous exercise in the evening...or lack of sleep?

sfcrocker wrote: »

That's one of the side effects of alcohol, unfortunately. I've had insomnia for years and went to a sleep specialist. Here's some of the things that have worked for me:

1. Turn off the TV and all devices (phones, TV, laptops) at least one hour before it's time to sleep. Reading an old fashioned book or magazine is OK.
2. Make your room as dark as possible. Almost everything nowadays has an LED light on it and the cumulative effect is too much light pollution. I sleep with a mask and blackout shades on the window, but you can also use a piece of electricians tape to cover LEDs on devices
3. Use a white noise generator or wear earplugs
4. If you can't sleep after an hour, get up and go into another room. Listen to music or read, but don't use electronics (other than starting the music, obviously)
5. Get up the same time every day, regardless of how little you slept. Tell yourself "it's just one day, I can be tired for a day"
6. Don't eat within four hours of going to sleep
7. Keep the room at 60 degrees. It's easier to sleep in a cool room. Don't crank the heat.

Hope this helps

Great advice

zdyb23456

Don't drink alcohol and keep a glass of water by your bed.

Alcohol really messes with your sleep as well as being dehydrating.

See if it helps. It's not the end of the world to cut out alcohol

vivmit

Thank you all for the replies.

comptonelizabeth

I'm having similar problems with early wakening so I feel your pain.
Alcohol definitely doesn't help and affects the quality of your sleep- in my case it means I wake needing to use the bathroom and can't get back to sleep.
The advice above from @sfcrocker is great. I've also found mindfulness mediation helpful but that's just a personal thing. Hope you find something that works because in my experience,sleep deprivation is horrible and starts to take over your life!

Edit: I'd suggest also switching the timing of your workouts as that can affect sleep in some people.

comptonelizabeth

Stella3838 wrote: »

Thought this was interesting...

http://io9.gizmodo.com/why-you-always-wake-up-early-after-a-night-of-drinking-5980281

That's fascinating- thank you for this link!

ccrdragon

domeofstars wrote: »

What exactly is 'lots of water'? For every standard alcoholic drink you have and for every cup of caffeine you have you should replace this with two cups of water. I have read many times that doing strenuous exercise in the evening interferes with sleep. If you feel it is dehydration then force yourself to drink even more water. If upping your water intake does not help, you ultimately have to decide what is more inconvenient to you: giving up or limiting alcohol and not doing strenuous exercise in the evening...or lack of sleep?

To the bolded - for the alcohol yes, for caffeinated drinks, nope. Caffeine is not nearly as strong a diruretic as most people think it is.

comptonelizabeth

ccrdragon wrote: »

domeofstars wrote: »

What exactly is 'lots of water'? For every standard alcoholic drink you have and for every cup of caffeine you have you should replace this with two cups of water. I have read many times that doing strenuous exercise in the evening interferes with sleep. If you feel it is dehydration then force yourself to drink even more water. If upping your water intake does not help, you ultimately have to decide what is more inconvenient to you: giving up or limiting alcohol and not doing strenuous exercise in the evening...or lack of sleep?

To the bolded - for the alcohol yes, for caffeinated drinks, nope. Caffeine is not nearly as strong a diruretic as most people think it is.

Agreed. It has a diuretic effect but you still benefit from the water in tea and coffee

mikesystem4

I believe you are not allowing your body time to absorb the water. Take a day without working out and drink your water. The next work out day drink as usual. Also, some of stars has said you should drink water when drinking alcohol.

crackpotbaby

Spliner1969 wrote: »

Careful with the Melatonin. It's not meant to be an every-day sleep aid. It's meant to help you get acclimated then stop using it. Regular use of it can cause your body to become dependent on it (as in your body will stop producing melatonin naturally). It'll cause the same issues after a while, it'll make you sleepy then you'll wake up a few hours later. You should also be taking a very small dose, 1-2mg. Many of the over the counter versions I've seen have up to 10mg in them (that's a huge blast of melatonin, much more than the body normally makes). It's a supplement so it's not controlled by the FDA in the same way other drugs are.

In Australia melatonin is prescription only and sold as 2mg slow release tablets. Only 1 month supply is allowed and then the patient must have a break for at least a month before they can restart melatonin, for exactly the reasons stated above.

I have also personally found mixing melatonin and alcohol results in moderate vertigo and nausea which lasts several hours. I do take other medications though so it may not be a direct alcohol:melatonin reaction but certainly something to keep in mind if looking for a restful night after a couple of drinks.

Psychgrrl

Don't have a clock where you can see the time. You'll psych yourself out if you wake and know the time. "I have to wake up in three hours!" "Now I have to wake up in 2.5 hours!" You'll stress yourself out of sleep. I ditched my alarm clock and keep my phone face down. No ambient light for me--very dark room helps. My phone has the alarm.

Ditto on the cool temp and the white noise. I go to sleep to rain drops and keep an iPod near my bed with music and comedies I've seen so many times I can recite the lines by heart. I put the iPod face down and just listen if I wake up in the middle of the night and can't fall back asleep. Helps me relax. Sometimes im so out of it for my middle of the night pee, my Garmin says I didn't wake up. I have walked into walls and missed the bathroom. That'll wake me up.

Great sheets and fluffy pillows help. Or whatever kind of pillows you like. I like fluffy!

Feet regulate body temp. If you're hot, stick one or both out of the covers. If you're cold, a little toasty heat helps.

FatPorkyChop

I had the same issue .,,
I usually have an occasional glass of wine at lunch (rarely at night) and I take some Rhodiola supplement in the morning. Do you drink during your workout as well? If you are dehydrated maybe drink some additional coconut water it helps a lot.

Need2Exerc1se

Have a cup of chamomile tea right before bed, and keep a glass of water by your bed. If you wake up thirsty, drink the water.

xmichaelyx

I eat a small piece of what you might call a "Colorado Brownie" (roughly 5-10mg of active ingredient) about 2 hours before I go to bed, and sleep like a baby for 8 hours. It's changed my life.