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Sleep trouble

What you are describing is called sleep hygiene. Basically establishing a routine before sleep and sticking to it. That's what helped me the most after a lot of what others said above, e.g. nasal surgery, cutting back on caffeine (almost entirely cut it out), don't drink for an hour before bed, etc.

Also, kick the screens to the curb 1-2 hours before bed. Read a real book (not a Kindle, etc.). Talk to the mrs. (Yeah i know but worth a shot anyway). Also be sure to button up any lingering issues you can before going to bed. Don't talk about finances in the hour before bed with your spouse, or any such topics, like where a kid might be struggling or a problem with the neighbor or work issues. Cut those conversations off a couple hours before bed.

Lastly, try meditation. For me I meditate for maybe 15 minutes about an hour before bed in a darkened room. Not pitch black but darker. This has been shown in studies to get natural melatonin flowing.

Also be sure to use the sun to keep your circadian rhythm in sync. Go outside for 10 minutes in the morning to wake up. Try to be outside in the afternoon/evening for a bit while the sun is going down, stuff like that helps your body establish good rhythms.

Good luck brother. I've dealt with so much insomnia it's crazy. It can be very taxing. But you'll figure it out.

Do you really want to risk talking to your wife? Seems like an awful lot to do to go to sleep.

I couldn't sleep for a couple of days recently, drank myself to sleep yesterday and got a solid 12 hours.
 
Okay, so at about 7:30 last night I cracked a tall 16 ounce beer. From 7:30 on, I had that, probably about 4-5 ounces of water, and a 16 ounce Gatorade. Not my usual routine but whatevs. I took two Aleve at 9:15pm and laid down at 10:15. I don’t think I woke up at until 4:20. Then again at 5:20. Then for good at 7am.

Now the huge caveat to all that is my wife is out of town. Her moving in bed probably wakes me more than I realize.

Either way, it’s promising. I feel definitely more refreshed. I’m thinking this might be a once a week type of thing during the school year. I’m curious how long I would’ve gone had I not drank all that.
 
Okay, so at about 7:30 last night I cracked a tall 16 ounce beer. From 7:30 on, I had that, probably about 4-5 ounces of water, and a 16 ounce Gatorade. Not my usual routine but whatevs. I took two Aleve at 9:15pm and laid down at 10:15. I don’t think I woke up at until 4:20. Then again at 5:20. Then for good at 7am.

Now the huge caveat to all that is my wife is out of town. Her moving in bed probably wakes me more than I realize.

Either way, it’s promising. I feel definitely more refreshed. I’m thinking this might be a once a week type of thing during the school year. I’m curious how long I would’ve gone had I not drank all that.
I love my wife and prefer going to bed with her. But it definitely wakes me up a lot. I'm a pretty light sleeper and usually it takes me a bit to get back to sleep.
 
I'm married 32 years this year. It's been long enough that having her gone causes me more sleep disruptions. I'll startle awake wondering real quick why she isn't in bed, then remember she's out of town or whatever, then to back to sleep. Can happen 2-3 times per night and there are plenty of times that once I'm awake, that's it, there is no going back to sleep.
 
That’s a lot of nightly visits to the bathroom. So there may be prostate issues involved.

You might consider having a sleep study to see if you have sleep apnea. I do, and I use a full face mask, so I can breath through my nose or mouth. But for sure those masks are not for everyone. And there are implants for sleep apnea now:


I only sleep 3-5 hours per night. And I never fall back once awake. If you’re having trouble falling to sleep, or falling back to sleep, this may help:

 
That’s a lot of nightly visits to the bathroom. So there may be prostate issues involved.

You might consider having a sleep study to see if you have sleep apnea. I do, and I use a full face mask, so I can breath through my nose or mouth. But for sure those masks are not for everyone. And there are implants for sleep apnea now:


I only sleep 3-5 hours per night. And I never fall back once awake. If you’re having trouble falling to sleep, or falling back to sleep, this may help:

You only sleep 3-5 hours per night? Holy ****.
Whatever reds advice is on this subject don't listen to it!

Sent from my CPH2451 using Tapatalk
 
You only sleep 3-5 hours per night? Holy ****.
Whatever reds advice is on this subject don't listen to it!

Sent from my CPH2451 using Tapatalk
Yeah, it sucks. As you get older, you sleep less. I don’t help myself, up till 1 am most nights, staring at the iPad. I could do more to help myself sleep more.
 
That’s a lot of nightly visits to the bathroom. So there may be prostate issues involved.

You might consider having a sleep study to see if you have sleep apnea. I do, and I use a full face mask, so I can breath through my nose or mouth. But for sure those masks are not for everyone. And there are implants for sleep apnea now:


I only sleep 3-5 hours per night. And I never fall back once awake. If you’re having trouble falling to sleep, or falling back to sleep, this may help:


That last link is funny. Close your eyes, do all this and you’ll fall asleep within two minutes! What???? The whole freakin thing will take like ten minutes!
 
I'm married 32 years this year. It's been long enough that having her gone causes me more sleep disruptions. I'll startle awake wondering real quick why she isn't in bed, then remember she's out of town or whatever, then to back to sleep. Can happen 2-3 times per night and there are plenty of times that once I'm awake, that's it, there is no going back to sleep.

That’s cute. You sound ***** whipped. In a good way.
 
That last link is funny. Close your eyes, do all this and you’ll fall asleep within two minutes! What???? The whole freakin thing will take like ten minutes!
Like fish said, don’t take my advice, lol. As for my age, I forget, lol….

 
One way or another, amirite?
I actually typed that out as the second sentence and deleted it, haha.

Never really wanted to be married especially the 2nd time and still care about my first wife and we are friends. But I sure as **** aint doing it again if it doesnt work out or she croaks. But I have been with her for 5 years and we love each other in a way that's pretty cheesy at times but great.

I do remember seeing you and your wife at a Jazz game a long time ago and briefly said hello at the end of the game. I cant remember who, but someone on this board offered free tickets and both of us took up that offer.
 
Here are the things that help me: I don't always do all these things, but I will if I find my sleep quality lagging.

  • My room is pitch black. Zero light. If you are waking up in the middle of the night this will make it easier to fall back asleep and could help with your mind racing issue.
  • I use a "natural light" alarm clock to wake me up so I don't have to use my phone. I find when I use my phone as an alarm I have paranoia about my phone being set to silent so I missed my alarm so I wake up to check my phone which wakes me up and makes it hard to go back to sleep.
  • Don't eat anything substantial 3 hours before bed. If I eat a big meal too close to bed, I will be more likely to wake up in the middle of the night.
  • Try to limit water intake 3 hours before bed. I will drink a chamomile tea a hour before bed to help my body relax.
  • Intense cardio during the day. I have a desk job so I'm mostly sedentary through the day. I weigh train at 6 AM and I try get a hard cardio session 3x per week during the weekdays. I definitely sleep better on the hard cardio days.
  • Vitamins D3 pills. I also don't get a lot of sun exposure during the weekdays, so I supplementation is the next best thing. If you can get 30 minutes of sun exposure that also works. On the weekends I'm able to get outside more and I definitely notice a large difference in sleep quality if I get sun exposure.
  • Ear plugs. My SO has a pug that sleeps in the room and snores. I've mostly gotten use to it, but the dog will still wakes me up with it's ****ed up breathing. This would only apply to you if you think there are audio disturbances that are waking you up.
  • Nasal strip. Allergies can be bad for me some days and these just help my breathing out a bit. Will only really use if my nose feels stuffy.
  • Don't get up to pee. Obviously if you really really have to go, do it, but try to fall back asleep right away. If you do, keep eyes closed entire time, don't flush, try to think about nothing.
  • AC set to 68 or below. I think the biggest reason I wake up is getting hot. I generate a ton of heat and I have to sleep with my limbs outside the covers. If I fall asleep with my limbs inside the covers I will wake up.
  • No alcohol. One drink will entirely **** my sleep.
 
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i had all kinds of trouble sleeping when i was younger which ended up being obstructive issues. Check if you can actually breathe through your nose to sleep by taping your mouth shut to sleep and if that works do it for a while to train yourself to breathe through your nose. If there's nasal obstruction consult an ENT specialist. I ended up having corrective nasal surgery and have had zero problems since
I tried mouth taping once and it seemed impossible with facial hair and was extremely painful to take off
 
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