Would you go to the dr for this? **UPDATED

[blackkitty]

I posted about this before but it hasn't really improved.
For the last 4-6 weeks no matter what time I go to bed I wake up around 4am and cannot go back to sleep. I am not getting enough sleep every night. I need 7-8 hours. I can do one night of 5-6 hours, but every single night is killing me. By the weekend I am dead. And then last weekend I still woke up at 4 am but was able to take two naps to catch up.

I have tried: Ambien, Benadryl, Simple sleep (no idea what is in this, my mom gave it to me), Melatonin extended release (5 mg), meditation, yoga. Nothing is working. I eat, I don't eat. I exercise at night, I don't exercise at night. It doesn't matter.

The pharmacist told me benadryl was my best bet but she said that a dr could prescribe something.
Halp me

ETA: this morning I woke up at 4:40
I didn't hear anything when I first woke up but within a min or two I heard a train followed by another one. Maybe there was one previously. I'm going to try the earplugs thing. Any advice on good earplugs? I have never tried anything like that before.
I'm also going to cut back on coffee... in half today for a week and then I'll cut down to about a quarter of what I was drinking.

I tried my meditation CD when I woke up and did that for an hour. I did not get drowsy at all and I usually drift in and out when I listen to that. When I get up I am up!

[naeljun]

I probably wouldn't. There may just be something waking you up. Do you sleep with any type of white noise?

[bullygirl979]

What about your caffeine intake?

[blackkitty]

Sept 13, 2012 11:37:30 GMT -5 naeljun said:

I probably wouldn't. There may just be something waking you up. Do you sleep with any type of white noise?

Just the ceiling fan on, do you think white noise would help?

[blackkitty]

Sept 13, 2012 11:38:19 GMT -5 bullygirl979 said:

What about your caffeine intake?

Excessive but typically not after 1pm

[naeljun]

It may. I sleep with a high powered fan every night. I even have a machine I bought that I travel with.

You may be getting too much caffeine too. Are you drinking tea at night that may not be caffeine free? Try stopping the caffeine or switch to half caff after 10:00 am.

[blackkitty]

What is a reasonable amount of coffee to drink each day?
I have a hard time with this.
If I told you how much I drink you probably wouldn't believe me.

No, on the tea part though. I never drink tea. Just coffee, club soda and water.

[bullygirl979]

I would cut down on the caffeine. And I would try a white noise machine.

Can you think of anything that may be waking you up at that time? Newspaper delivery guy, train, etc?

[Deleted]

Sept 13, 2012 11:39:12 GMT -5 @blackkitty said:

Sept 13, 2012 11:38:19 GMT -5 bullygirl979 said:

What about your caffeine intake?

Excessive but typically not after 1pm

Hmmm...that might be it. Even if you stop after a certain point I think it can build up. Here is a helpful guideline:
4 cups at 7AM = 2 cups at noon = 1 cup at 5PM = 1/2 cup at 10PM

So it could still be in your system later than you think.

[blackkitty]

Sept 13, 2012 11:42:49 GMT -5 bullygirl979 said:

I would cut down on the caffeine. And I would try a white noise machine.

Can you think of anything that may be waking you up at that time? Newspaper delivery guy, train, etc?

It could be a train, I haven't noticed. I do live near the tracks though and can hear it in my room although it is faint. But that would explain the same time every day thing. No on the newspaper though, I live on the third floor and have zero walk by traffic because I am on the back of the building.

[naeljun]

I don't know about what is reasonable but I have a Keurig machine at home and at work. I have one K cup of Starbucks in the morning and then another one when I get to work. That's it for the day.

[blackkitty]

Sept 13, 2012 11:44:08 GMT -5 @pdx18 said:

Sept 13, 2012 11:39:12 GMT -5 @blackkitty said:

Excessive but typically not after 1pm

Hmmm...that might be it. Even if you stop after a certain point I think it can build up. Here is a helpful guideline:
4 cups at 7AM = 2 cups at noon = 1 cup at 5PM = 1/2 cup at 10PM

So it could still be in your system later than you think.

So 12 cups by 1pm is a lot at 10pm. And when I say 12 cups I mean cups based on what the coffee pot says. Which for me 12 cups is really more like 3-4 giant mugs.

[naeljun]

I don't know about what is reasonable but I have a Keurig machine at home and at work. I have one K cup of Starbucks in the morning and then another one when I get to work. That's it for the day.

[marigoldgirl]

I vote try the fan. I can not sleep without my fan on full blast for the noise not the air flow.

[naeljun]

Try the white noise. It could be the train.

[bullygirl979]

Sept 13, 2012 11:47:07 GMT -5 naeljun said:

Try the white noise. It could be the train.

This. And if it doesn't work, cut down on the caffeine.

[Deleted]

Sept 13, 2012 11:45:41 GMT -5 @blackkitty said:

Sept 13, 2012 11:44:08 GMT -5 @pdx18 said:

Hmmm...that might be it. Even if you stop after a certain point I think it can build up. Here is a helpful guideline:
4 cups at 7AM = 2 cups at noon = 1 cup at 5PM = 1/2 cup at 10PM

So it could still be in your system later than you think.

So 12 cups by 1pm is a lot at 10pm. And when I say 12 cups I mean cups based on what the coffee pot says. Which for me 12 cups is really more like 3-4 giant mugs.

Haha yea I'm thinking so. It might be worth a try to curb it and just see if it helps. Although if you've always drank that much it may not be the case. I think the train could be a real thing.

[liubotflittyfud]

BK are you stressed out at all? Stress makes me an insomniac. Also try to pick a bed time. Say for example you choose your bedtime to be 11pm. That means from 9:30-11pm is wind down time. Read a book, meditate, just put yourself in a quiet relaxing area. Bubble baths help me hardcore. Also stick to that bedtime. No strenuous or mentally engaging activities should be done in that hour-hour and a half. Are you still having crazy dreams? They could be the cause of it. Your brain may be working something out.

Good luck. If you keep a routine, it will take a few weeks to fall into a pattern but it should work.

[doriswe]

Would the caffiene really be the reason she wakes up? I'd think it would make it harder to fall asleep not stay asleep....but I'm not a doctor!

[dakotadangerdog]

Bitch, that's a shit ton of coffee.

Try white noise and cutting back on caffeine. For me it makes it so I can't fall asleep OR stay asleep. If I get a big drink in the morning and drink it really slow so I'm still sipping on it around noon even that fucks up my sleep.

ETA: It'd take a lot more than that for me to go to the doctor.

[blackkitty]

Sept 13, 2012 12:35:12 GMT -5 dakotadangerdog said:

Bitch, that's a shit ton of coffee.

Try white noise and cutting back on caffeine. For me it makes it so I can't fall asleep OR stay asleep. If I get a big drink in the morning and drink it really slow so I'm still sipping on it around noon even that fucks up my sleep.

ETA: It'd take a lot more than that for me to go to the doctor.

Yea, I pretty much love coffee.
I'll cut back tomorrow though and see how it goes.

[starrieskies]

BK, I'm a complete lurker but wanted to put my 2cents in on this one.

I was diagnosed with Chronic Insomnia a couple of years ago. I've had trouble sleeping since I was 14. Currently I use Melatonin to help me go to sleep. I know that you also have tried this, but I suggest upping the dosage. I use no less than 10 mg every night. If I wake up in the middle of the night, I take more. It took a little while for it to really kick in, but once it did, I began getting more and more restful sleep at night.

FWIW, I'm a very avid coffee drinker too. On a normal day, I probably drink as much as you do. I've tried cutting coffee out completely, and it didn't help for me. that's not to say it won't work for you though.

[blackkitty]

Sept 13, 2012 13:34:50 GMT -5 starrieskies said:

BK, I'm a complete lurker but wanted to put my 2cents in on this one.

I was diagnosed with Chronic Insomnia a couple of years ago. I've had trouble sleeping since I was 14. Currently I use Melatonin to help me go to sleep. I know that you also have tried this, but I suggest upping the dosage. I use no less than 10 mg every night. If I wake up in the middle of the night, I take more. It took a little while for it to really kick in, but once it did, I began getting more and more restful sleep at night.

FWIW, I'm a very avid coffee drinker too. On a normal day, I probably drink as much as you do. I've tried cutting coffee out completely, and it didn't help for me. that's not to say it won't work for you though.

If I wake up at 4am and need to get up at 6am, should I take more melatonin when I wake up?

[Deleted]

I really think the weird thing is that you are consistently waking up at the same time everyday. Have you tried going to sleep earlier or later to see if you still wake up at the same time?

[blackkitty]

Sept 13, 2012 13:45:44 GMT -5 @pdx18 said:

I really think the weird thing is that you are consistently waking up at the same time everyday. Have you tried going to sleep earlier or later to see if you still wake up at the same time?

Yes, regardless of whether I go to sleep at 9pm or 11:30pm it's always around 4am

[Deleted]

Sept 13, 2012 13:47:40 GMT -5 @blackkitty said:

Sept 13, 2012 13:45:44 GMT -5 @pdx18 said:

I really think the weird thing is that you are consistently waking up at the same time everyday. Have you tried going to sleep earlier or later to see if you still wake up at the same time?

Yes, regardless of whether I go to sleep at 9pm or 11:30pm it's always around 4am

It has got to be something environmental then. could you set your alarm for like 3:45 and see if any noises are happening?

[blackkitty]

Sept 13, 2012 13:55:26 GMT -5 @pdx18 said:

Sept 13, 2012 13:47:40 GMT -5 @blackkitty said:

Yes, regardless of whether I go to sleep at 9pm or 11:30pm it's always around 4am

It has got to be something environmental then. could you set your alarm for like 3:45 and see if any noises are happening?

Maybe it's the train... I'll pay attention in the morning tomorrow to see if I hear it. I hear it all the time so I don't really notice it

[blackkitty]

Sept 13, 2012 11:56:18 GMT -5 @liubotflittyfud said:

BK are you stressed out at all? Stress makes me an insomniac. Also try to pick a bed time. Say for example you choose your bedtime to be 11pm. That means from 9:30-11pm is wind down time. Read a book, meditate, just put yourself in a quiet relaxing area. Bubble baths help me hardcore. Also stick to that bedtime. No strenuous or mentally engaging activities should be done in that hour-hour and a half. Are you still having crazy dreams? They could be the cause of it. Your brain may be working something out.

Good luck. If you keep a routine, it will take a few weeks to fall into a pattern but it should work.

Stress is my middle name these days.
I'll try the bubble bath thing... I have some specific "sleep" bubble bath. The dreams have stopped though. I have only remembered one dream since I have been having the crazy ones and it was different.

[naeljun]

The crazy dreams could be caused by the medication.

[bullygirl979]

Sept 13, 2012 14:05:38 GMT -5 naeljun said:

The crazy dreams could be caused by the medication.

Waking up at a certain time could be caused by it as well. Not to get personal but you take any meds in the evening or later?