Sleep

maybe a benedryl to help you get to sleep. or an audio book?

I manage to average 8 hours every night. That also averages to about a 50/50 mix of deep sleep and light sleep. Weight does play into sleep quality and as you mentioned good sleep hygiene. Other things I have noticed was to be sure to make our room as dark as possible. I will also take 3mg of melatonin as this helps your brain to shift into sleep mode. I will take it when I am feeling unprepared for sleep, about 30 minutes before i would usually go to bed.

What about just a smaller dose of melatonin?

I get 8-11 hours per night lol I need it.

I was going to suggest melatonin too. It's a bummer that it doesn't work for you. That has been a miracle for me. I struggled with being able to "shut off" my brain at the end of the day and would lie awake for 2-3 hours trying to fall asleep. I tried so many things, but melatonin was the only thing that worked consistently.

Another thing that worked for me was keeping a notebook and pen next to my bed. When I thought of something, I jotted it down so that I could "forget" it. It helped my mind relax and helped me wind down for sleep. It was also great comedy the next morning to see what I had written down.

I never get enough sleep. I've decided that 6 hours is enough for me (which is probably silly--people always tell me that people think they are fine on less until they actually start sleeping more), but the problem is I struggle to get 6, and usually am at more like 5. And I can tell, although it doesn't mean I can't lose weight (I lost plenty with the same poor sleeping habits).

However, as part of my occasional efforts to get more sleep I've read a decent amount about it and have a sleep tracker (S Plus--works a lot better than the Fitbit) that I use sporatically, and:

fitbethlin wrote: »

The must annoying thing I've discovered is that my deepest, soundest sleep seems to come at 4-6 am. I need to start my day at 5 though, which means I'm doubly grumpy those days.

this is common. My pattern, and it seems to be typical, is light-deep-light-more deep-bit of REM-little light-back to deep--bit more REM -- and so on with the only sustained REM right before wake-up time (which for me should be 5 but too often is around 4 since I just wake up then).

If your wake-up times are coming too soon, my guess would be that you should go to bed sooner, annoying as that is.

I never get enough sleep anymore. I used to attempt to catch up on the weekends but almost a year ago I got a dog. He doesn't understand the concept of sleeping in.

Machka9 wrote: »

fitbethlin wrote: »

I love melatonin for beating jet lag, but only if I have 10-12 hours to sleep. So, red eye to the EU, stay up till 6-7 pm, then sleep till 6 am the next day. It's brilliant for resetting my internal clock. I end up sleeping so long though that it doesn't work in everyday life. Of course, on my last trip, I found out it's a prescription med in Germany and I shouldn't actually be bringing in OTC melatonin from the US. oops!

Benadryl does knock me out, but it's like alcohol - I'll wake up at 1am and my sleep quality is awful.

I drink a cup or two of chamomile tea before bed ... I've found some flavour infused ones I like. They seem to relax me.

I also take valerian. I talked to a pharmacist about valerian and it is supposed to help keep a person asleep once they go to sleep. The recommendation was that I take it right before bed, then lie down and relax. The pharmacist said that it seems to be less effective if you take it, and then get busy doing something around the house.

So ... while I'm drinking my chamomile tea ...
-- the TV is off
-- I've got soft music playing
-- the lights in the house are mostly turned off, it's fairly dark
-- I'm doing something I enjoy and find relaxing, like reading or processing my photos

And then I take my valerian and go to bed.

Something else that works for me is exercise. If I don't get at least an hour of exercise each day, I find I don't sleep as deeply and I'm restless. But if I exercise an hour or more, I tire myself out enough to sleep quite deeply.

Relaxation in the evening before I go to bed has changed so much since I got myself a diffuser (the kind with water in it) that uses essential oil. I love lavender oil, peppermint oil or even a mix in of eucalyptus oil if I need to un-stuff my head. lol It's totally changed how I sleep. I can stay asleep now, I wake up so relaxed and rested, total change from where I was at before I started with the lavender. I love the white noise of the diffuser...the bubbles are nice in the background. Before I got it I couldn't fall asleep or stay asleep, I somehow lost my sleep pattern.

Highly recommend it... you don't have to spend big $$ I started out with a $29 diffuser that had bottles of lavender and peppermint included.