Sleep issues

[underwaterrhymes]

Sleep is crap for me. I regularly wake up in the middle of the night and am reliant on sleep aids to fall asleep, and sometimes still struggle.

I want to wean off of sleep aids but have no idea how. I know part of this is perimenopause and I’m going to message my doctor today about estrogen supplements. (We had a discussion earlier this year already about me beginning to think about it. She’s great and I don’t expect any issues.)

But if anyone else has had success with getting better sleep without sleep aids, please tell me about it.

[ssmjlm]

Weighted blanket?

CBD capsules help my mind from spiraling. I don't take them daily, but will if it's been a day and I think sleep will be a problem.

[underwaterrhymes]

Aug 20, 2024 6:28:51 GMT -5 ssmjlm said:

Weighted blanket?

CBD capsules help my mind from spiraling. I don't take them daily, but will if it's been a day and I think sleep will be a problem.

Do you get too hot with a weighted blanket? I’m beginning to get hot flashes (not so bad I’m sweating or anything, but just running really warm for a few minutes throughout the day and night.)

[mala]

I looked for a "cooling" weighted blanket. Got one on Amazon. I love it, it's not as warm as a comforter but it can become too hot if the room is over 74ish. It wasn't (isn't) a cure for the sleep issues but it helped so much more than I expected. (What helped even more was meds for ADHD, but unless you have ADHD that's not going to help you)

[ssmjlm]

Aug 20, 2024 6:41:05 GMT -5 underwaterrhymes said:

Aug 20, 2024 6:28:51 GMT -5 ssmjlm said:

Weighted blanket?

CBD capsules help my mind from spiraling. I don't take them daily, but will if it's been a day and I think sleep will be a problem.

Do you get too hot with a weighted blanket? I’m beginning to get hot flashes (not so bad I’m sweating or anything, but just running really warm for a few minutes throughout the day and night.)

No, I can't remember which one I had, but it never felt hot, it was just sort of that tucked in feeling that helped.

I think they sell ones that are "cooling" now.

[pandorica]

Aug 20, 2024 6:41:05 GMT -5 underwaterrhymes said:

Aug 20, 2024 6:28:51 GMT -5 ssmjlm said:

Weighted blanket?

CBD capsules help my mind from spiraling. I don't take them daily, but will if it's been a day and I think sleep will be a problem.

Do you get too hot with a weighted blanket? I’m beginning to get hot flashes (not so bad I’m sweating or anything, but just running really warm for a few minutes throughout the day and night.)

I love my weighted blanket for helping me sleep. I have this one and it's big enough just for me (H wanted no part of it haha) - I only wish it was slightly heavier, but I'm not small. I don't get hot at all, in fact I find the material a little chilly. I think I'll use it on top of my normal comfortor in the winter.

balooliving.com/products/weighted-blanket?variant=44422820561115&tw_source=google&tw_adid=&tw_campaign=20382470109&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw_ZC2BhAQEiwAXSgClrJxtd0yXtmDySShbqt-Vcue7ARElTStmGpqilO1mWCXjmPuUBmeUhoC8qIQAvD_BwE

[lilac05]

I recently discovered a trick to falling asleep that works amazingly well for me. Typically my problem is that I can’t get my brain to shut off to fall asleep. I forget the name of the strategy, but essentially, you go through the alphabet and think of something that fits your category for each letter. I switch up the categories. Examples: boys/girls names, cities, things you’d find in a grocery store, foods that I like/don’t like, etc.

This gives my brain just enough to do to keep from spinning, but it’s boring enough to put me to sleep.

I also find square breathing and counting my breaths backwards from 100 works.

[felicity]

I started taking about 1 mg of melatonin most nights and it's helped a lot. I also have to exercise daily and especially incorporate harder things like a bit of jogging, weights, spin, etc at least a few days a week or my sleep really suffers. My sleep is actually my biggest motivator to exercise because it's such an immediate cause/effect, not as much motivated for weight, health, etc (although that part is nice too it's just not what gets me as motivated). I notice a drastic difference in sleep.

[sdlaura]

Several of my friends have recently had much improved sleep after addressing perimenopause issues with hormones - so I would start there.

[rachers]

I have no problem falling asleep but I wake up so many nights at 2:30 or so and then my brain feels wired. I’ve started putting a melatonin gummy on my nightstand - I use Olly brand. If I’m wide awake I’ll take that and it almost is a placebo effect in my head.

Hope you figure something out! Sleep is so important but elusive it seems!

[whattheheck]

Sleep meditations helped me and my kids fall asleep and stay asleep.

[macmars45]

I've struggled with insomnia for 10 years or so. I thought getting my sleep apnea addressed would help... spoiler alert: it didn't. Sometimes I struggle to get to sleep and sometimes I wake up at 4/4:30am wide awake for the day and sometimes both things happen in the same night. Lucky me. /s

I take 3mg of melatonin nightly and I do the same strategy lilac05 uses.

Nothing but commiseration from me.

[litebright]

I definitely struggle with falling and staying asleep. For me, two things have made a direct and noticeable difference.

1) Not drinking. While drinking makes it easier for me to initially fall asleep, I wake up in the wee hours and it's harder to get back to sleep. It's like clockwork, even if I only have one drink. So if I drink, I accept that this is the penalty and I try to only do it on a Friday or Saturday night when I can sleep in a little the next morning. The more drinks I have, the harder it is to stay asleep. Mocktails and kombucha FTW, as far as sleep goes.

2) Regular strenuous exercise. I have figured out that walking, yoga and even my normal weight workouts aren't enough to consistently help with my sleep, I have to do some kind of cardio/HIIT where my heart rate is high, I'm moving around and sweating/working hard. If I do that for at least 20 minutes, every other day, then things are pretty good. I trade off with less-intense exercise, and if I'm feeling really stressed then I go do 20 minutes of jog/walk intervals in the evening and that usually helps.

The other thing that helps, but I don't do it consistently enough, is having a notebook right by my bed and writing down all the stuff that I would otherwise lay there and think about: to-do-list items, things to look up on the internet, random questions, things I want to shop for, appointments I need to make, etc. All the things that chase themselves around my brain when I'm trying to fall asleep. If I unload all that stuff in writing, I don't feel the pressure to remember it and my brain can let it go so I can relax enough to sleep.

Good luck, insomnia sucks so much. Just laying there and being tired and WANTING to sleep and not being able to, UGH.

[dexteroni]

I don’t know what you’re taking now, but have you tried magnesium glycinate? I was waking up wide awake every night at 3 am and it would take me an hour or two to get back to sleep. I started taking magnesium and now I sleep through the night 90% of the time. It has really worked for me.

[deadwing]

Aug 20, 2024 9:44:59 GMT -5 dexteroni said:

I don’t know what you’re taking now, but have you tried magnesium glycinate? I was waking up wide awake every night at 3 am and it would take me an hour or two to get back to sleep. I started taking magnesium and now I sleep through the night 90% of the time. It has really worked for me.

Can you recommend a brand?  I tried this recently and it helped me feel sleepy, but I struggled to actually fall asleep.  I don't remember if I stayed asleep...

[moreace01]

I started HRT a couple of months ago and now I sleep through the night. I didn't realize just how much my sleep was being affected until I started it (also - no more hot flashes/night sweats. Feeling cool during night is also really helpful so that I don't toss and turn for hours trying to get comfortable).

Prior to that - I have to have everything just right in the room. Fan has to be blowing. And I have to have an eye mask. The eye mask has probably been the most helpful thing for me.

[ellipses84]

Try not to take them on nights you already feel tired and see how it goes. I don’t know what kind of sleep aids you take, but you could try a low dose melatonin as a little help if you are used to something stronger.

Sleep routine is so important. Cut caffeine off by early afternoon and if phone screens are an issue, try to be off it for a while before bed, or use it as part of a routine (like watch one show, scroll for 15 minutes, cut off by 10pm). Sometimes I listen to audio books with my eyes closed and can fall asleep to them.

I’m menopausal due to surgery and if I don’t change my HRT patch on time I get major insomnia, so I will say it might be a tough time to stop the sleep aids.

[Scout'sHonor]

Aug 20, 2024 6:53:02 GMT -5 mala said:

I looked for a "cooling" weighted blanket. Got one on Amazon. I love it, it's not as warm as a comforter but it can become too hot if the room is over 74ish. It wasn't (isn't) a cure for the sleep issues but it helped so much more than I expected. (What helped even more was meds for ADHD, but unless you have ADHD that's not going to help you)

Yes, I got one by Aricove that isn't nearly as hot as others. I still have at times this summer thrown it off though.  My legs have been the sweatiest! My sleep's been terrible the last couple of weeks too.

[dexteroni]

Aug 20, 2024 9:53:03 GMT -5 deadwing said:

Aug 20, 2024 9:44:59 GMT -5 dexteroni said:

I don’t know what you’re taking now, but have you tried magnesium glycinate? I was waking up wide awake every night at 3 am and it would take me an hour or two to get back to sleep. I started taking magnesium and now I sleep through the night 90% of the time. It has really worked for me.

Can you recommend a brand?  I tried this recently and it helped me feel sleepy, but I struggled to actually fall asleep.  I don't remember if I stayed asleep...

This is what I use. But it doesn't help me fall asleep initially; that wasn't my issue. It helped stopped the middle of the night wakeups. I'm not sure what helps with initially falling asleep but I hope you find something that works!


www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07P5K7DQP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[mrsukyankee]

Aug 20, 2024 9:05:31 GMT -5 sdlaura said:

Several of my friends have recently had much improved sleep after addressing perimenopause issues with hormones - so I would start there.

This was me. I'm sleeping a lot better with HRT. 

[ellipses84]

Working out in the evenings also causes me to have insomnia. Walking is fine but doing a hard workout around 5-7 or later is an issue.

[shauni27]

similar to lilac05, someone on here previously posted about a technique of finding a word with 5 or more letters. Let's use "TRAVEL" as the word.

Think of every word you can that starts with T. Let your brain scan through all the words it can think of. Then go to the R when you are done with T. Then go to words that start with A after the R. So on and so forth. I always fall asleep before reaching the end of the word.

[shopgirl07]

I would look into HRT sooner rather than later. It really is the best thing to help sleep. My sleep still isn’t perfect but it’s much improved on HRT. I actually sleep through the night a lot now!

I also take this supplement and it really helps with falling asleep.

betterdaysco.com/products/bettersleep-non-caffeinated

[k3am]

I’ve always been a shit sleeper. Things that have helped..

Magnesium.
NO melatonin. It ruins my sleep, weirdly enough.
Early morning sunlight.
Late evening sunlight.
Daily physical exercise.
Same bedtime/wake up time every day, even weekends (or pretty close to it).
Sleep buds for the nights DH’s snoring is particularly bad.