I have a hard time sleeping lately. Here it is 1am and I am on here instead of sleeping. There are many nights when I am in bed and look at the clock at 2am, 2:30am, 3am, etc... I think part of this has to do with my lack of a schedule. I was laid off of my job a while ago, and since I don't have to get up at 7am anymore, I don't. I tend to naturally stay up late, but even on nights when I feel like I don't sleep at all, I make sure that I get myself out of bed by 10am. I don't think that my unstructured schedule is completely responsible for me not being able to sleep, though, and I don't know what to do about it. I don't suspect that it's diabetes related, but I thought you all might have some suggestions anyway? :-) A friend suggested sleeping pills or something, but I am hesitant to do that. I usually wake up if I go low, and I am afraid that sleeping pills might make me sleep through a low. That, obviously, would not be a good thing.
Welcome to my world! I've been an insomniac for about a year now and recently have slept even less due to frequent nightmares. My life is AWESOME. I refuse to take sleeping pills because I want to sleep normally, not because some drug knocks me out. I also don't have a job or schedule. I go to the gym 5 days/week hoping to completely wear myself out so I'll fall sleep, but that doesn't ever seem to happen. I usually wake up around 7am, but recently have been getting up around 4am just because of the nasty dreams I've been having (I dont' want to fall asleep again). I usually go to bed around 1 or 2am. I'll take a nap sometime during the day which is usually the best 2 hours of sleep I get because I am completely unconscious. I'm also a really light sleeper, so I tend to wake up when I'm low, but I also have a CGM to help me out there.
Boo.
Sorry for my rant. 12 months is a long time to be awake.
most of my life i have had sleeping problems. it's not uncommon for me to lay awake in bed for a long time before i fall asleep, and then wake up several times in the night for no reason at all. I think it's partly a sleeping problem and partly because i'm more of a night person so I'm more awake at night than any other time of day but i've always had to force myself to go to bed before midnight and wake up before 10am due to school or work.
i found natural "slepping pills" helped a bit (I'm not a fan of chemical drugs like sleeping pills) because they help you relax..or make you believe that so that you relax haha. I have also found "Sleepy Time Tea Extra" helpful to sip on the hour before bed.
Sometimes you can get yourself into terrible sleep patterns that are really hard to break. I know I can get i
The best way to try to work around it is to establish a sleep routine, even if you don't have a strong daily routine. THat means trying to go to bed at the same time every night and removing distractions (like no TV in your bedroom, no computer, no doing FB from your smartphone (LOL), etc.) You also want to try to ease down in the half hour to hour before your bedtime. Then have a wake up time to and stick too it. Aim for 7-8 hrs of sleep. If you have an activity that does make you sleepy - like reading, that is OK, but try to use a book light instead of a lamp next to your bed. Getting too much direct light into your eyes messes up what your body is trying to do. There is lots of good information on the web (and probably a lot of bad) about improving your sleep, but a lot of it is just creating a good environment to sleep and sticking to it.
Taking melatonin can also help you establish and stick to a sleep schedule. You can take a Benadryl to make you sleepy too - sometimes it is just the falling asleep part that is hard and that will help with that. It's not habit forming and won't hurt to try it for a week or so. It can help if you are trying to set up the sleep routine but end up just laying there for a long time. Then you might find that if you go to bed most nights at 10:30 that after 1-2 weeks you don't need the Benadryl to feel sleepy at that time and just go to bed.
And C - your messed up dreams could be because you are not sleeping well/ long enough. If it has been over a year - I'd talk with my doctor about it. Sleep is so important to our overall well being and health.
[quote user="C"]I go to the gym 5 days/week hoping to completely wear myself out so I'll fall sleep, but that doesn't ever seem to happen. [/quote]
The time of day that you work out can affect your sleep. Try working out in the morning. Exercisining later in the day can make it hard for you to fall asleep.
Depression can also make you sleepless and being unemplyoed is about as good a reason to be depressed as anything.
Try to get some exercise and try find a way to maintain a regular schedule as if you have a job.
Tell your doctor about it. If you are depressed and anti depressant may help you sleep a little better without making you drowsy.
Thanks for the advice, everyone. It's probably a combination of a lot of things. I don't have a schedule, and I haven't kept myself to a sleep schedule either. I don't have a tv in my bedroom, but I think that I don't always wind down enough before I go to bed. Unfortunately, I tend to start thinking about things....stuff I have to do, or the job situation, or shopping list, etc etc...when I go to bed, so that is not conducive to sleep either. I have tried some herbal teas that are supposed to help, but they don't seem to do much. And, Terry, I do find myself getting depressed about my inability to find a job. Maybe I should take up meditation so I can clear my mind before I go to bed. haha.
Well, I will attempt the sleep schedule, and see if that helps. If not, I"ll talk to my doctor about it.
From a CDE friend:
"What's normal?
Adults usually need 7-8 hours per night
Adolescents need more, up to 10 hours per night
We experience 4-5 awakenings per night
We experience 10-15 brief arousals each hour
We have at least 4 cycles of deep REM sleep
Our ability to sleep changes cross our life span
Sleep and Diabetes Risk:
Short sleepers (less than 5-6 hours) are twice as likely to develop diabetes compared to those who sleep between 6-8 hours
Long sleepers (greater than 8 hours) are three times as likely to develop diabetes over 15 years, possibly due to inactivity.
Some folks find melatonin very helpful. According to the experts at the NYU Sleep Disorder Center, melatonin works best if you take it at 9PM. If your sleep schedule is off, they suggest that you wake up at the same time each day (with one hour variation on the weekend). That will get the timing of your wake/sleep hormones onto the right track."
I have trouble falling asleep at night too. If I had my druthers, I'd stay up until 2 am or so and wake up at 10 or 11. When I go to bed too early I just lay there and can't sleep and become more awake. I tried taking an herbal thing call Power to Sleep PM. Makes me drowsy but still have a hard time falling asleep. I'm thinking of trying Melatonin next.
Plus I have to sleep with a CPAP machine for my sleep apnea which doesn't help matters.
And, my wife is a very light sleeper (if someone in the house next door drops a pin, she wakes up) so me not being able to sleep and rolling around wakes her up, or when I go to bed late it wakes her up. Sleeping causes a lot of stress for me at my house. LOL
Melatonin seems to work best for me and it is natural.
I've been using melatonin for years. Some nights I don't need it but its really nice to have when you need help falling asleep. Take it about 30 minutes before bed.
My husband has occasional problems sleeping and takes Melatonin or Tylenol PM, both of which help him. I believe Melatonin is a natural supplement but I’m open to correction from other forum readers. I’m Type 1 (he is not) and don’t typically have problems sleeping so I can’t offer any personal experience on either but I thought I’d give you something to check out. The scent of lavender is supposed to be relaxing as well. I hope you find a solution and are sleeping soundly soon.