Sleep -issue?-

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Replies

  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    JaydedMiss wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    That started happening to me after chemotherapy (chemotherapy induced menopause - so I don't know whether it which of the two it was, or both). I tried everything: Home remedies, folk tales, you name it. I went to a sleep clinic, got treated for sleep apnea . . . all that did was help me sleep more soundly for an hour and a half. Drugs just made me wake up groggier every hour and a half. This went on for around 3 years.

    Finally, the thing that helped - and I will get woo-ed for this - was hypnotherapy. It wasn't a total solution, but I started sleeping for 3-5 hours in the first chunk of sleep each night, which was a huge improvement. This was maybe 15 years ago, and the problem has eased further with passage of time, but I still have fairly frequent sleep interruptions compared to the times before this started happening.

    One thing that exists now, that didn't then, is time-release sleeping drugs. I doubt they would've worked, but I don't know for sure.

    I don't mean to be a downer, and yours may have a different cause than mine (cause of mine still unknown). Deep sympathies - the effects of this are pretty awful, I know!

    Hope you find a solution!

    @AnnPT77 it may be menopausal like....and that sounds crazy since im 24...but i have PCOS so my hormones are all fuckey i havent had my period in nearly a year now lol. I never really thought of hormones being a possability....Since iv had it for ages and never really had a often period...maybe once every 3-6 months or so. Think hormones are a possible cause?

    and lol ya hypnotherapy does sound woo filled but i know you your good peopel if you say its good ill definatly keep that in mind if this keeps up lol

    No idea. I've heard other women say they had more trouble sleeping post-menopause, but don't recall hearing the 90-minute pattern in that respect. I never figured mine out, just got it under control enough that I could cope with life. I know a woman who says she didn't sleep (at all, she claimed) for 2 years after chemotherapy, but learned to substitute meditation.

    For the hypnosis, I found a credentialed psychologist who used it in her practice. I paid for 6 sessions, the first of which was an interview (to collect info about me to help with the hypnosis), and the rest were hypnosis sessions. She'd record each session, and I was to play the recording when I was in bed every night until the next session (2 week intervals). Later, I could continue rotating the same records at whatever intervals I wished, as long as I used each for the same number of days in a row.

    I really had no belief that the hypnosis would work. I was desperate - willing to try anything. I don't know why it helped.

    that is super interesting honestly
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
    amandaeve wrote: »
    You wake up feeling OK? This new situation is not causing you harm or negatively affecting the hours you are awake? If the above are true, I'm not sure what your question is. Patterns are interesting, fascinating, but not in themselves cause for concern.

    i wake up wide awake with the energy of like a million suns it just disperses really quickly
  • rutzsa
    rutzsa Posts: 52 Member
    Hour and a half is about the length of a REM sleep cycle.I am guessing you are awaking fully as part of the REM cycle .
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    This happens to me when I started eating at a deficit and exercising a lot. Apparently those things trigger polyphasic sleep (multiple short sleep cycles) in some people. If you feel okay, don't stress about it.
  • kpsyche
    kpsyche Posts: 345 Member
    The average sleep cycle for adults is 90 minutes... so it looks like you're maybe waking up at the start of the new cycle (entering into light sleep again). Interesting
    https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/between-you-and-me/201307/your-sleep-cycle-revealed
  • mistypenningtongoin
    mistypenningtongoin Posts: 22 Member
    See your doctor and let them know what's going on, there are many reasons this could be interrupting your sleep. My MS causes this for me. Good Luck and hopefully the Dr. can help you with this.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    I was going to point out like @rutzsa that I can explain the precision part. I’m pretty sure your REM sleep is undisturbed which is very good. You are just waking too alert during the lightest phase of the sleep cycle. You have multiple rounds of this cycle every night. Just like the rest of us. A sleep test could rule some things out.
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,131 Member
    I’ve taken melatonin the past year. It’s helped me with not waking up as often through the night. I still do on occasion, but it does help me. It’s cheap too.

    I tried melatonin several years go, as recommended by many of my co-workers. We were all traveling cross country a lot on business and jet lag was a permanent and annoying companion. The side effects of this supplement were too much for me to handle. I had bad dreams, borderline nightmares, and confusion during the day. The dreams were so vivid that I thought that they were real. Very hard to function and work during the day. The jet lag was less problematic than the side effect of melatonin so I didn't take it anymore.

    I started to drink "Sleepy Time" herbal teas after dinner, and it help a little, but then I was awaking up more often during the night to pee. ;)



  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
    edited April 2018
    Gisel2015 wrote: »
    I’ve taken melatonin the past year. It’s helped me with not waking up as often through the night. I still do on occasion, but it does help me. It’s cheap too.

    I tried melatonin several years go, as recommended by many of my co-workers. We were all traveling cross country a lot on business and jet lag was a permanent and annoying companion. The side effects of this supplement were too much for me to handle. I had bad dreams, borderline nightmares, and confusion during the day. The dreams were so vivid that I thought that they were real. Very hard to function and work during the day. The jet lag was less problematic than the side effect of melatonin so I didn't take it anymore.

    I started to drink "Sleepy Time" herbal teas after dinner, and it help a little, but then I was awaking up more often during the night to pee. ;)



    these dreams happened to me in the past, im sorry you had those they are horrifying :( Mine were very mentally messed up, hard to explain that so people. Was like my brain playing a really mean game on me showing me the things i found the most horrific. Mine 100% were night terrors. And i COULD NOT wake up from them. Its hard to hide from your own brain. And they felt so real.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    Sleep cycles last about 90 minutes. Like many of you I, unfortunately, wake up after most of them. I am a man so menopause is unlikely but I have fought insomnia since I was about 13. My dreams can be, well, challenging to say the least. I only watch re-runs of shows I know really well the last hour or so before I go to sleep. As I am going to sleep I try to imagine being in the show. I don't dream about it but I usually don't remember dreams on nights when it works which is a relief.
  • COGypsy
    COGypsy Posts: 1,145 Member
    JaydedMiss wrote: »
    gotta say im loving this visual. Ill take a look at a few stores next time im in the mall and see if i can find one. It cant hurt to try. Sleep is stupid important i dont like the weird super high energy mixed with super low energy. I want my relatively stable energy levels back :(

    jgj4xykt3eud.png
  • COGypsy
    COGypsy Posts: 1,145 Member
    Lol---don't they look like tiny bras? I just order them on Amazon--usually $10-$12.
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
    COGypsy wrote: »
    Lol---don't they look like tiny bras? I just order them on Amazon--usually $10-$12.

    wow. eye bras hah. Ill order one and see if it helps. Not sure my issue is light though im willing to try, At worst i can gag gift it to a male friend and laugh as he unwraps it
  • Kalex1975
    Kalex1975 Posts: 427 Member
    I agree with the suggestions to talk to your doctor about it... a sleep study may be necessary. There could be all sorts of reasons (like periodic limb movement disorder).

    All the best!
  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
    JaydedMiss wrote: »
    Thoughts appreciated.

    Im not quite sure if this is a problem or not but iv noticed for the past month or so iv fallen into a weird sleep pattern. I go to bed around 10-11 relatively fine, And wake up at 6-630 fine. Dont even need an alarm because the thing is and i stress this part, Im waking up every hour and a half. Like exactly. I generally go pee or whatever and fall asleep again fast, But i am wide awake for a few minutes every hour and a half.

    Im not necessarily tired, I wake up feeling energy in abundance but it seems to go away faster. A bit weirded out by exactly how precise it seems to be and im not sure why its happening. Iv tried not drinking water for a bit before bed incase its need to pee waking me, Iv taken melatonin, Iv tried exhausting myself completely with a super busy active day. Without fail im still waking up exactly every hour and a half.

    I used to sleep for hourssss easily and i was up all night, but now it seems like im wide awake after a few hours and sort of just choosing to sleep more 1.5 hour cycles until 6-630 comes around. And again i stress its nightly its every day now not just occasionally. Its just super weird.

    Any thoughts on why this may have started happening or if it may be good/bad?

    I have similar issues with sleep. But then again, have had insomnia issues most of my adult life. Started when I was 18. When I lay down in bed generally my heart will race faster for a while. Causes me to stay awake. Since high school I counter it by just watching TV in bed. Within 30-45 minutes the fast heart beat goes away. WPW also runs in my family so it's a genetic heart condition. Mine has never been bad enough for medication, so I just deal with it. My heart is pretty healthy these days. Resting heart rate is low 50's sometimes high 40's and I can easily max out during workouts and heavy HIIT at 160-165 bpm without any issues. I'm guessing my actual max is in the 175 range before I assume I'd pass out lol. For a 48 year old that's not too shabby.

    Before I lost my weight I'd stay up super late, usually midnight to 1am or so, get up by around 6:30-7am and go to work. After I lost the weight and ended up at my goal weight I started getting up at 4:45am to work out so I could be more consistent with workouts. I start around 5:15-5:30 and finish with my workout around 7am, shower, eat a quick breakfast and out the door. My point is this makes me tired earlier in the evenings but the insomnia issue is still there. Sometimes it's very annoying because trying to go to bed earlier means it takes me that much longer to fall asleep even if I am overly tired.

    I have allergy issues so I've taken Benadryl most of my life off and on. I started taking 25mg in the evenings about a half hour before bed along with a 250mg magnesium tablet and it usually knocks me out and keeps me asleep most of the night. However, there are some nights, especially those that I don't take anything before bed that I'll fall asleep normally but be up every stinking hour. Last night was like that. Took me til midnight to go to sleep, was up at 1am, 1:30, and somewhere around 3am and 5am. Finally got out of bed out of frustration with it about 5:15am for my workout. Energy levels were good, and the workout was a good one, but my guess is this evening I'll be super tired from lack of sleep.

    I do drink a pre-workout first thing in the mornings on days I do work out, and the evening after a rest day I usually have to take melatonin along with the Benadryl and Magnesium to get to sleep (because I slept in that morning because it was a rest day). Overall it works out but the odd thing about it is the longer I spend at a normal weight and active (I work out 4x a week) the more I have those nights that I wake up every hour to hour and a half. It's annoying as hell. I do sometimes think I miss out on recovery and optimal muscle development due to lack of sleep.

    If you find a solution to staying asleep all night let me know lol, I have not found one. I'd say 50% of the time I wake up every hour to hour and a half these days. Right now I'm avoiding a doctor because they'll just want me to take a sleeping pill and I have a feeling it'll make me drowsy in the mornings and screw with my workouts.
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
    ouch. That sounds supr sucky im with you on the being exhausted but not able to sleep. Its a pain. Recovery is something i was worrying about, Along with the general hormone *kitten* that come with lack of deep sleep. Stupid sleep :(
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,122 Member
    edited April 2018
    I had a similar issue last year I have tried a few things to help:
    • cutting out caffeine after 3pm
    • blue light filter on phone 24/7
    • Blackout linings for curtains to reduce light and noise
    • the bra for eyes lol - they are very comfortable
    • Magnesium supplements - worked great by the way.
    • 3g Melatonin supplements normal kind
    • 3g Melatonin time release supplements

    I have found the best thing for the recurring waking periods is taking the Magnesium supplements (I take ones with Calcium & Vitamin D but only take 2 out of the 3 recommended) and I take one time release Melatonin. I liked the normal melatonin but I would wake up about 5am with those, I'd get back to sleep easy enough but when I switched to the time release kind I sleep right through. You can pick up both off iherb for a couple of dollars.

  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    If it does help you to know, I'm on magnesium supplementation for my migraines (a pretty high dosage) and as long as my arthritis isn't flaring, I sleep pretty well for an old broad. I only wake up once or twice a night to pee or if I've been laying too long in one position and my joints get sore. So definitely give the magnesium a try.
  • whitpauly
    whitpauly Posts: 1,483 Member
    I wonder why those of us with sleep problems seem to wake up at the same hours,1-1:30 and 3? I had this issue and did go to the doctor she just gave me melatonin,it doesn't work that great so I take 1/2 of a unisom with it,I'm pretty sure mines hormone related tho,just try not to stress cuz the more you worry about lack 'o sleep,,the worse it is
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
    whitpauly wrote: »
    I wonder why those of us with sleep problems seem to wake up at the same hours,1-1:30 and 3? I had this issue and did go to the doctor she just gave me melatonin,it doesn't work that great so I take 1/2 of a unisom with it,I'm pretty sure mines hormone related tho,just try not to stress cuz the more you worry about lack 'o sleep,,the worse it is

    those are super common times its funny lol

    And thanks guys ill 100% pick up some magnesium supplements, Ill have to research first i know nothign about them