The time is now 2.15 am and yet again I am downstairs with my cup of tea
i feel that I've tried everything but nothing works. I purposely don't sleep during the day,settle about 11pm and fall asleep quite easily. When I wake I feel rested and then realise it's still the middle of the night!
i know I'm not the only one but would welcome help as it is beginning to get me down. It's at times like this that the mind starts to play tricks, I'm normally quite positive but tonight is not a good one! Any ideas folk, serious or humourous .
Hi Jusu,
The sleep thing is so annoying. I worked as longhaul cabin crew for 25 years so I'm kind of used to disrupted sleep. I used to get so anxious to sleep or when I woke in the middle of the night I'd worry about not getting X amount of hours sleep.
Now when I wake up I just tell myself I'll just relax, breathe deeply and just rest. I try not to worry about sleep as such. So I think because I've changed my attitude to sleep I am relaxed and eventually fall asleep again. I don't always get a good night's sleep but try not to stress about it.
Not sure if this is any help.
I spent night after night, doing puzzles, reading, making cups of tea and trying not to eat everything in the fridge, and loosing my savings on the web slots sites. Then nodding off the minute i sat down all through the day.
Things had to change. Firstly I have come off the dopamine antagonist. Secondly it has been a happy side effect of the mindfulness trial I was part of for PD sufferers with Cambridge University
Now the next thing is dealing with the o/h snoring!
I too fall asleep without difficulty then wake about 2 hours later. Usually try listening to music on ipad, Madelaine Peyreux best currently, has to have fairly consistent level of sound, or a relaxation/meditation app. Sometimes takes an hour or two to work, sometimes quick result.
Hi Juju
when my oh's snoring outweighs the music, I say " turn over, you are snoring " and he does, still asleep, and stops snoring!
Nudging him, however hard, doesn't work!
Failing that, I move beds, into the spare bedroom for a few hours lovely peace.
Any carers care to comment on THEIR disturbed sleep when they have to cope the next day after a disturbed night........ 3 times a night at least I am woken up and then take ages to get back to sleep. OH is back to sleep within minutes.
I am off again to sleep elsewhere in the house tonight, just to try to not be disturbed every few hours.Even then I have one ear clocked in for any problems so it's not a restful night.................just a little better than being in the same bedroom with lights going on, trips to the toilet etc.
I have also been up at silly o'clock drinking tea and doing crosswords because I can't get back to sleep, Yet my OH sleeps all day even after having a good night's sleep. I wish it was the other way around. Selfish maybe, BUT, when you are the only one doing absolutely everything, day in day out, you need SLEEP!!!!!
Hi all, I have found that if I take a couple of ibuprofen just before getting to bed helps me to sleep longer without waking up. Not an ideal solution but if it works for you good luck.
I’m reading this thread on my iPad in the middle of the night and have no answers, but a few observations...
Firstly, any specialist will say not to use screens in bed but I figure I’ve been awake for two hours already, so it can’t be much worse. I have no problem whatsoever getting to sleep - staying asleep is the problem.
Secondly, tea in the middle of the night may not be the best idea because of the caffeine (unless we are talking herbal tea...)
Thirdly, what seems to work best for me is accepting that I can’t get through a full night but making up for it with a 30 minute power nap after lunch. I can’t currently do this at work but I am going to ask Occupational Health about options. Maybe I can get some sort of armchair put in a quiet room in the office.
And fourthly, I do the decent thing for my wife by sleeping in the spare room during the week so the she can get a decent night’s rest before going to work. Her life and her job are important too.
I sleep on the floor and find it very beneficial. It takes a few days, perhaps weeks to get used to, but I am never going to sleep on a bed again. You need some padding between you and the floor boards, but not much. Google "Sleeping on floor" for more information.
Hi sleeping is hard thing for me .Im not enjoying to go to sleep before 130am and I sleep 3 to4hours. No siesta during the day. Im 62 , female, PD since more than 7 yrs now.It seems that autohypnosis will help to sleep . I will try 2 sessions of normal hypnosis than I will tell you.
The things not to do if you wake in the night is read, do crosswords or log on here.
The easiest way to relax is to go to the back door (specially at this time of year) till you feel a bit chilled. Go straight back to bed where it is nice and warm, and relaxation is automatic. (If you have a dog, they always look at you like you’re mad).
Its important to get in the very last part of normal sleep - that’s when you dream, and reshuffle things in your brain to tidy up. As I said, it’s vital not to do anything that requires brain power when you wake in the night, it resets your sleep pattern so you don’t have time for that last stage of sleep by the time you get up.
Hi Island Mike,
Many thanks for your suggestion on sleeping, the other night when I couldn't sleep I duly went to the back door and was waiting for the chill effect to drive me back to my cosy bed, only problem was I had one of my freezing episodes and was stuck there for an hour, when able I teetered back to my comfy bed and was asleep within moments. The problem I now have is that as it was minus 3 degrees that night I now have a bad cough and am awake all night coughing, any advice on the best cough linctus would be more than welcome.
Martini Suggested earlier sleeping on the floor.
I have also Found this to be helpful.
To make the floor more acceptable I have a rug with a very deep pile that i purchased from IKEA. I Also use it during the daytime.
They don’t like over 70s to have anti inflammatory sadly. I’ve finally got last night not sleeping at all - really! Unless you count dozing on the sofa with the radio on between 5 and 6.
hi , yes am was drinking tea at 3pm ,after wrestling with my pillow for ten minutes or so ,i go to bed about eleven ,get off no problem, wake up for loo thats when the fun starts, can`t get back into bed
as soon has my head touches the pillow i feel like i being swallowed ,awful feeling ,sit on the edge of bed for a few minutes talking to myself to get a grip ,sometimes it works and i manage to get back to bed , but mainly i need to make a brew and put the tv on ,then after about a hour i try to get back to bed and sometimes i can ,but mainly stop up ,and catch up with some sleep during the day by the way had parkinsons since 2018 and i am taking 4 madopar a day, is there anything else i could do to help get a good night sleep.
