I am stuck in a strange sleep cycle

Post Reply New Topic

For the past few weeks I've been sleeping really well at night, no matter how long I napped in the afternoon. But suddenly for about the last week or so, I've been having trouble getting to sleep at night, and then feeling too lethargic during the day to do anything or focus on anything. I keep tossing and turning, and just cannot switch my brain off. I manage to get a bit of sleep at around 4am, but then I'm wide awake again at 6am.

I've tried altering my lifestyle to help me get back into the healthy sleep cycle again, like getting up as soon as I wake up and going out for a walk in the town and doing shopping and other errands. Usually getting up early helps me regulate my sleep cycle, but lately nothing seems to be working. I walk 2 miles to work every late afternoon, which I've been doing for a long time now, and I thought that contributed to my good night's sleeps I've been having for the last 3 or 4 weeks, but evidently not, as I've been walking the same distance to work this week and suddenly cannot sleep well .

I took a sleeping pill (well, antihistamine really, but the side effect gives you a good night's sleep ) on Tuesday night, because taking one of those at night usually gets me back into the "sleep all night, energetic during the day" cycle, and yes I got a lovely night's sleep that night but I still am not out of this weird sleep cycle. I've tried avoiding an afternoon nap but it hasn't made any difference.

My diet or lifestyle hasn't changed, so I don't know why I'm not sleeping. I'm thinking of going to the supermarket when it's busy today, because I get impatient in crowds and masking my anger around idiotic people in supermarkets seems to make me very tired. But if that doesn't work, I don't know what will. Will this strange sleep cycle pass and my sleep suddenly catches up with me? I want my sleepful nights back.

I can't know if this applies to you, Joe, but after observing myself for many many years, it appears I often have problems with my sleep cycle in spring. One doctor recommended blackout curtains or shades to counteract the earlier sunrise. I think switching to Daylight Saving Time also messes with me.

So I don't know if this is helpful at all. Maybe it applies, maybe not. Good luck.

My wife is a light sleeper. If she wakes up at night, she cannot go back to sleep. She found out that the caffeine in her coffee keeps her awake, so she uses normal coffee during the morning/day and decaf for late afternoon/night.

I drink coke but the caffeine doesn't seem to affect me. One time I drank a whole bottle of coke in the evening and had a lovely night's sleep that night. Other times I don't drink any coke or any other caffeinated drinks, and have a lousy night's sleep. If I can't sleep I get up and have some milk whilst doing something relaxing like reading or writing, but I cannot do that in dim light because it gives me a headache, and they say don't put bright lights on if you get up because it can make your sleeplessness worse.

Becareful taking drugs that might help you sleep as some of them can carry over into drowsiness the next day, and a plethora of other side-effects. I do not recommend getting dependent on drugs.

Make sure you switch your monitors/devices blue light setting to 'night light' some hours before sleep, which helps convince your brain that the sun has set. Caffeine takes about 4 hours to flush from your system so it's ok to drink coffee in the afternoon provided it's at least 4 hours until bedtime.

There's an interesting app available for Android/Apple that might help lull you to sleep, MySleepButton:



Basically it recites random words for your brain to focus on, instead of letting your brain focus on an anxiety that you end up dwelling on and keep your brain from shutting off, you would focus on the random words. It costs 2.99$ but it might be worth a try.

You can also try a lot of other dead noise options on youtube. Youtube is full of dead noise playlists for people trying to fall asleep.

I love falling asleep listening to something like facts or mundane topics. But lately I just cannot find anything I like on YouTube. I've tried looking at ASMR facts but they are all told in whispers, and I'm sorry but listening to whispering is really irritating. And I prefer one serious person telling the facts or talking about mundane things, not two or more people just bellowing over each other excitably. I did find "shower thoughts" videos where someone read them out, but the music in the background was irritating. Sometimes YouTube can be so crappy giving me what I'm looking for.

The time change messes up my sleep for 6-8 weeks.

Another approach is to listen to bedtime stories. Who believes that the telling of bedtime stories is restricted to children only. Today bedtime stories are available to help adults relax and fall sleep. For example Phoebe Smith produced a story “Blue Gold”. It is read by a soft-spoken English comedian and actor Stephen Fry. It’s written in the second person so that listeners can picture themselves meandering lazily through the lavender fields of the sleepy villages of Provence in France. Smith begins by describing the aromas of lavender “instantly mellowing into a smooth and soothing scent” before going into a brief history of the aromatic plant known for its calming properties. The just under 25-minute story has been listened to 15 million times.

For the first time in about 10 days I did actually sleep well last night. I think it was because I changed the time I went to bed. I've been going to bed at around 11 or 11.30, but last night I decided to stay up until 2 in the morning. It did the trick, as I fell straight asleep and didn't wake up until around 10 in the morning. And I felt so refreshed and motivated today.

AND I drank a glass of coke before going to bed last night. Caffeine seems to relax me for some reason.