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[Michelle46]

Can you tell me how you deal with waking up a couple hours after going to sleep every night and not going back to sleep please.

[AgathaC]

It's not nice to keep waking up - I know! I cope by getting up and doing a couple of “jobs”. I usually put on a load of washing and get some things ready for the day. I have a cup of tea and then go back to bed. I'm usually up between 3 and 4.30am. By getting up, I avoid the tossing and turning and worrying (even more) that I'm not asleep. Then I hope to have a doze for an hour before getting up properly. I know it means you can be tired but at least you're not wasting your time! It can be lonely being up during the night. If your house is big enough put on the radio. It's a bit of company. My anxiety and general insomnia wakes me up. If my husband hears me wandering about he sometimes comes to join me for a cup of tea at what he calls “nutter” time (only nutters are up at 3am!) xx

[Miabella]

Hi Michelle,

I second what Agatha says that it's better to get up and do stuff rather than tossing turning in bed.
I know it sounds obvious but I stopped waking up in the middle of the night when I switched to decaf coffee, because I am suffering badly from anxiety. The anxiety causes me to waken very early (anything from 4am onwards) but until then I usually get an unbroken sleep now.

I did read somewhere that having one continuous sleep through the night is a relatively new thing and apparently it used to be very common for people to get up for an hour or so during the night for a cup of tea, a chat or whatever. That made me feel better when I was doing it a lot!

X

[CLKD]

A sleep therapist wrote a few months ago that we all expect to get more sleep than we actually require  .  The body will sleep 'enough' as and when required, however, because we keep to a 24/7 society, we aren't in the 'natural' bodily rhythm.  Going to bed at dusk and getting up with the dawn ....... so we fight the need to sleep when at work for example and worry about not sleeping at night.

I read. Have music beside the bed.  Get up for a cuppa ........

[Michelle46]

Thanks everyone. This 3 am malarcy seems common then. I did get up for an hour and went back and had the odd doze. I know the best thing is to not worry about sleep. Easier said than done though 

[CLKD]

I spent years [1980s] waking in the early hours until I told myself that it hadn't killed me yet, that I hadn't made mistakes in my working day and that my brain would catch up eventually.  Have rarely had problems since  .  Sounds trite but I am able to drop off in the afternoon or early evening when necessary and usually sleep through the night.  I do wake when I have dreams though