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Honored Contributor
Posts: 15,783
Registered: ‎05-23-2015

My sleep pattern has been upside down and I'm not sure how it started, but it stops today ( I hope.) I sleep for about 2 or 3 hours and then I'm up and nothing, but nothing will put me back to sleep, not even reading . So I get up starving, so I eat and start my day and after lunch the couch starts calling and I don't know why but those naps are so satisfying that I sleep for 3 or 4 hours and here we go again. So today I'm powering through with chores and caffeine, because this madness must end. Any one else have screwed up sleep patterns ? This is new for me.

" You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts."
Daniel Patrick Moynihan
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Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,037
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

I'm sorry you are having that problem.  I think you are on the right track, but I'm concerned about the caffeine.  Take it easy, or later in the day caffeine could hold over into your nighttime sleep time.  Good luck. Stay active, stay busy.  Your naps are too long.  Warm milk can help you sleep.

 

 

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,050
Registered: ‎03-15-2021

@QVCkitty1 I hope you can power through today. It happened to me a few years ago. I was going to bed too early (10:00-10:30) and woke at 3:00 AM as if I had set alarm. I started going to bed later (around midnight) and slept until 5:00 or 6:00. It seems the older I get the fewer hours of sleep I need.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,098
Registered: ‎05-27-2015

Re: Breaking The Cycle.

[ Edited ]

@QVCkitty1  I wish you good luck. I've had crazy sleep patterns my whole life. I've tried changing what I eat and when, and also staying up and going to bed early. Can't swear by anything. One thing that does help is outdoor exercise. Just enough and not too much helps me to sleep a bit longer. I'm retired now, so I've just given up. I can't sleep during the day, but I've found I can be awake from 2 am to 6 or 7 am, and then just sleep for an hour or two and am ok until 10 or 11 pm. 

 

ETA: I also seem to be on a sort of 6 month cycle. My sleep gets better for several months at a time, and I don't know why.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 17,596
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

There was a time in my life, i had this problem there was so much troubling things going on  in our family, eventually it got better,i had to go see a doctor.

When you lose some one you L~O~V~E, that Memory of them, becomes a TREASURE.
Valued Contributor
Posts: 963
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

@QVCkitty1  I could have written what you just wrote.  The only difference is that I have a dog who likes to get attention as soon as she sees me roll over.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 11,372
Registered: ‎02-07-2011

Unless you go to work or have some sort of schedule to maintain, what does it matter?  Sleep when you're tired, eat when you're hungry.  The joys, at least for us, of being retired.  But your "naps" are too long.  DH sleeps for an hour or more but I usually nap for 45 minutes or less.

 

If I do get up during the night which is about 75% of the time, I might have a glass of wine.  That always helps me!

 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 44,347
Registered: ‎01-08-2011

@On It wrote:

@QVCkitty1 I hope you can power through today. It happened to me a few years ago. I was going to bed too early (10:00-10:30) and woke at 3:00 AM as if I had set alarm. I started going to bed later (around midnight) and slept until 5:00 or 6:00. It seems the older I get the fewer hours of sleep I need.


@On It @QVCkitty1 

 

I have heard people say the older they got, the less they slept.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 15,783
Registered: ‎05-23-2015

@kaydee50 wrote:

Unless you go to work or have some sort of schedule to maintain, what does it matter?  Sleep when you're tired, eat when you're hungry.  The joys, at least for us, of being retired.  But your "naps" are too long.  DH sleeps for an hour or more but I usually nap for 45 minutes or less.

 

If I do get up during the night which is about 75% of the time, I might have a glass of wine.  That always helps me!

 


@kaydee50  I've always had a " normal" sleep schedule and this new quirk doesn't suit me. The naps are long to make up for what .I don't get at night. In addition the screwy schedule kind of interferes with my life. I'm retired but I still like to maintain     a normal regimen. Also though I enjoy wine it doesn't play well with my meds.

" You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts."
Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,294
Registered: ‎06-24-2011

Re: Breaking The Cycle.

[ Edited ]

I think I could be in one those commercials about people who can't sleep.

 

Sometimes when I'm writing novels, I stay up writing until wee morning hours if I'm on a roll. Then I'm tired the next day and sometimes can't fight a nap.

 

Other times, I think of all the things that stress me out, things I have to do, etc. and end up watching TV when I can't sleep & eventually nod off for a couple hours. And if I have enough stress, I can't even nap. After a couple nights of getting little sleep, I end up getting a good 7-8 hours.

 

My mom, my maternal grandfather, and 2 of my siblings have/had sleep issues. We're all night owls too. Maybe part of the reason is in our dna.