Waking early

[whiteraven]

For the past 2 months or so, I have been waking up between 5 and 6 hours from when I go to bed. Doesn't matter the time, I'm awake and feeling pretty horrible. I have sleep apnea and use a CPAP and I've been to my sleep specialist and apparently all is good there.

I'm thinking this is probably due to depression and anxiety. I can get to sleep but wake early. Wondering if anyone has tips on how to work through this, besides the standard "have a regular sleep schedule," "don't drink caffeine before bed," etc.... I'm doing all the standard things.

 

[littleoc]

Are you also keeping away from electronics an hour or so before bed? I’m guessing so but just in case.

When this happens to me, I’ve been told that what I should do is get up and go to a different room for a moment, then come back. Sometimes I take a quick hot shower with a shower cap on so getting back to bed will be quick. Occasionally I go outside and enjoy the wind, smells, Stars/clouds, etc.

Melatonin helps. Gummies and pill forms. There’s also a mist spray out there that lets you use less of the hormone because it will soak into your skin over time, keeping you asleep for longer more efficiently. I haven’t tried these myself and the current research seems limited. Hard to know who funded the studies as well.

I use a sleep mask along with white noise. The sleep mask makes it to where I don’t have to be in a pitch black room. So if I have a bad dream, I can pull it off and still see my many nightlights, without the nightlights messing with my sleep patterns. I got a weighted sleep mask, so at certain sleep positions it helps a little. I’m only on my third day with it, though, so I can’t tell you if it helps a lot yet.

Good luck. Not getting enough sleep is incredibly frustrating.

 

[Friday]

I sleep less than you, 4-7 hours is my bliss, so these may not work for you... but I just hit my Autumn insomnia cycle, so I’m shaking out my bag of tricks as we speak, IRL. It’s pretty much the opposite of sleep hygiene :p Also, often, the opposite of each to another. Because they work in different ways, it depends on what I think I need at the time.

- I break my sleep into 2-3 different parts of the day. Only an out of sorts zombie on day 1, instead of every day. I can exist quite happily on nothing but naps for months when need be.
- I sleep at a different time of the day (I need less sleep if I’m sleeping in the daytime, than at night, but simply the act of changing when I sleep can reset how many hours I stay asleep for, or how quickly I fall asleep)
- I keep busy for 24-48 hours ie exhaust myself for a hard reset.
- I set my alarm an hour or two into sleep to get my “go awaaaaaaay, I’m sleeping!” ire up (the sound of an alarm is clinically proven to make people sleepier after they’ve heard it, than before. Even in the middle of their waking day. Also oddly effective in the middle of the night.)
- I assign myself chores I don’t want to do between the hours of “too effing early to be up” & “time to get up”.
- The opposite... I take advantage of extra awake to do super fun stuff.
- I get up for an hour, or 22 minutes, some period of time where I act like it’s time to be up... do my morning rituals... and go climb back in bed. (This one makes mornings suck for about a month after the insomnia is over, but is often scary effective.
- I don’t sleep, but lay in bed with my eyes shut telling stories.
- (not)4am... 4am is my witching hour when I’m doing badly. I am awake at 4, regardless of whether I’ve gone to bed 20 minutes or 10 hours before. So when my insomnia kicks up? I eithwr wait to go to bed until after 4, or schedule decent hours before 4. Because whether I’m just waking up, or just going to bed, I will be awake cum o4oo.
- I don’t care. What’s important to me is that I’m getting sleep, not what it looks like. <<< It’s curious how much of a game changer this one is, if I’m out of sorts not because I haven’t had enough sleep, but because it’s not when&where I want it!

 

[littleoc]

get my “go awaaaaaaay, I’m sleeping!” ire up (the sound of an alarm is clinically proven to make people sleepier after they’ve heard it, than before. Even in the middle of their waking day. Also oddly effective in the middle of the night.)

Well that’s interesting!

 

[whiteraven]

Well that’s interesting!

I was thinking the same thing. :-)

Are you also keeping away from electronics an hour or so before bed? I’m guessing so but just in case.

Hm...actually no. I didn't think that was a factor, since this issue is relatively new. I'll see if it helps.

Melatonin helps. Gummies and pill forms.

I've heard this can be pretty effective. Never tired it, though. Will definitely look into it. Thanks, @littleoc!

I sleep less than you, 4-7 hours is my bliss,

Do you get tired during the day? These days, with not-enough sleep, I get very tired/sleepy at work.

I set my alarm an hour or two into sleep to get my “go awaaaaaaay, I’m sleeping!” ire up (the sound of an alarm is clinically proven to make people sleepier after they’ve heard it, than before. Even in the middle of their waking day. Also oddly effective in the middle of the night.)

This is so interesting! I'm definitely going to try this one!

Thank you , all!

 

[user27357]

I have a life long habit of having a radio going at low volume all night. I probably started as a kid just trying to distract myself from thoughts that would have kept me in fight or flight all night and not been able to get to sleep, and now it is a good way to get thoughts off of things that would bring me fully awake when I wake in the middle of the night.

If I am awake enough to be aware of being awake I might be tempted to fall into "problem solving" mode, I might remember something that brings anger or fear, I might start into something as innocuous as planning my next days activities but end up thinking about something I am not looking forward to doing, almost any negative thought brings full awareness and ends my sleep for the night most times.

But if I wake to a TED talk or an old time radio show or some podcast I picked when surfing the net, I can usually keep my thoughts in a good place and fall back asleep pretty quickly.

Music doesn't work for me, I tend to analyze it and get aroused by the rhythms or a particularly moving passage or inventive solo. I know people that do better with music but I am not one of them. And I am so glad to be past the decades where my best options were late night talk shows, I listen to a tablet with hours of recorded podcasts and the ability to stream literally thousands of interesting on line channels now.

It goes against the advice of almost everyone out there, but a background radio helps keep my mind away from any thoughts that might bring an emotion to the mix has been my best solution for a long time. I get my sleep most every night, 7-8 hours if I give myself enough time before the alarm.

 

[ILoveLife]

I adjusted to my wacky circadian rhythm and it works for me.
I don't need to have strict hours neither for school or work, so it's fine.

Lots of naps - today I slept in total 10 hours, but to be honest it was Give It a Rest Day :)

You'll be okay.

 

[littleoc]

Hm...actually no. I didn't think that was a factor, since this issue is relatively new. I'll see if it helps.

Try it! The more light -- especially blue -- detected by the brain, the less melatonin produced. That's simplified but it's how I learned it. :)

You could also try f.lux, which is good for laptops, desktops, and some mobile devices. It filters out blue light after the sun goes down, so that at the very least you aren't straining your eyes if you need to do something at night. :)

 

[Friday]

Try it! The more light -- especially blue -- detected by the brain, the less melatonin produced. That's simplified but it's how I learned it. :)

You could also try f.lux, which is good for laptops, desktops, and some mobile devices. It filters out blue light after the sun goes down, so that at the very least you aren't straining your eyes if you need to do something at night. :)

A lot of devices have built in night lighting filters, these days, as well. Just need to go into settings and turn it on, or set what hours you want it to be on automatically.

 

[whiteraven]

but to be honest it was Give It a Rest Day :)

LOL. Every Sunday is a "rest" day for me.

I have a life long habit of having a radio going at low volume all night. I probably started as a kid just trying to distract myself from thoughts that would have kept me in fight or flight all night and not been able to get to sleep, and now it is a good way to get thoughts off of things that would bring me fully awake when I wake in the middle of the night.

If I am awake enough to be aware of being awake I might be tempted to fall into "problem solving" mode, I might remember something that brings anger or fear, I might start into something as innocuous as planning my next days activities but end up thinking about something I am not looking forward to doing, almost any negative thought brings full awareness and ends my sleep for the night most times.

I don't know if this is weird or not, but I tend not to be able to fall back to sleep in the morning not because of thoughts but because of...hm, that heavy depressed feeling. My mind doesn't entertain a lot of thoughts, but it does feel bad. :-(

 

[littleoc]

Feeling bad can hurt sleep, which you already know. Are you doing anything to address that itself?

 

[Abstract]

It depends how bad my hypervigilence is. When its very bad and I am very symptomatic I tend to be an hour a day person and the things that help are the opposite to normal sleep hygiene. I sleep with the lights on and the television on. With my computer in my lap. I almost need the outside of me to match the inside of me a bit more. Otherwise the external peace emphasisses the internal lack thereof. I also try to sleep at work if I can. If I have been working. Used to try sleep hygiene rules and avoid day sleeping entirely to stop reinforcing weird sleep patterns. Then was going crazy as had no sleep - felt like an overactive overtired child - so decided any rest at any time was a help. That works for me. I take judgement out of it. I also never lie in bed trying to sleep. If there after 20 mins I do something I like. I don't let further bad associations develop around lying there trying to sleep. When doing better then doing a bit more normal sleep hygiene can be of use.

Will second melatonin. Will add maybe writing down your thoughts. Lightboxes/glasses can help for some. Meditation before sleep telling yourself to sleep later. Resting with eyes closed to top up rest. I did this and when asked advice here others suggested it to me too.

Have you tried free writing to see why your brain wants to wake up then? If its safety and vulnerability is there anything you can do to make it feel safer so it doesn't need to stay alert?