Insomnia help please.

[SASM]

DH hasn’t been able to sleep. He falls asleep okay but he wakes up off and on after 2:30am, regardless of when he goes to bed. His body doesn’t respond to Benedryl, melatonin, and Natural Calm (magnesium). SleepyTime tea doesn’t help. He is super sensitive to scents so no aromatherapy. He’s tried using various pillows. Makes sure he isn’t hot. I force him to wear orange glasses when watching tv or during computer work in evening.

I keep telling him it must be stressors...try yoga or get back into running or swimming. Nope. His schedule is so packed from 4am until 7/9pm he just doesn’t have the energy. Falls asleep fine...just cannot stay asleep.

Any suggestions?? TIA!!


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[SnuggleBuggles]

Exercise was going to be my answer. A walk during lunch.


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[SASM]

Exercise was going to be my answer. A walk during lunch.


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Thank you! That’s what I keep telling him. Yoga is one of my 2018 goals. My hope is that if I finally get going and know how to guide him, he’ll start as well. Some days he’s really lucky if he gets a lunch.


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[jawilli4]

DH and I can both relate. In fact, he bails at some point every night into our guest room to try to go back to sleep. He's there before I wake up with the same struggle.

Here are some things that have helped:

1. The knowledge that there is evidence that our ancestors had first and second sleep. Basically, that it is natural to wake up in the middle of the night. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-16964783

2. Music upon waking up, especially Weightless by Marconi Union,"the world's most relaxing song", on repeat. This sometimes helps me, DH rather listen to nature sounds. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...tune-ever.html

3. A good, meaty nonfiction book. Recently, I've been reading the book I Contain Multitudes - The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life. It is really interesting but takes brain power to take it in properly. Typically, my brain gives up and wants to go back to sleep. https://www.amazon.com/Contain-Multi...ain+multitudes

4. Reading by flashlight or rope light. We just discovered this one out of necessity as we just endured 8 days without power. I used a fairy rope light to read and DH used a flashlight balanced on his chest. Again, it took more effort to read, which made our brains give up and succumb to sleep. We got power back on Saturday, but are still using our new ways of lighting our books to read. Here's what DH's flashlight looks like - https://www.amazon.com/Evelots-Compa...ct+work+lights

Good luck to your DH. Insomnia stinks!

[chlobo]

Things I've heard:

1. Tablespoon of honey before bed (https://www.organicolivia.com/2015/1...-liver-health/)

2. Direct sunlight on the eyeballs, particularly before noon (https://www.verywell.com/morning-sun...posure-3973908)

3. Eliminating blue lights (alarm clocks, book lights, computer screens, etc.) [https://www.healthline.com/nutrition...-sleep-better]

4. Epsom salt bath before bed

Here is my non-blue light book light. It's rechargeable. - https://www.amazon.com/SomniLight-Re.../dp/B071XJZM5Y

Also, here is an article that talks about possible causes if a person wakes up AT THE SAME TIME every night: http://www.holisticbynature.com.au/2...ry-night-pt-1/

[mm123]

I have the exact same issue. I don't have a problem falling asleep at bedtime (I basically read myself to sleep), but I frequently wake up in the middle of the night, and have trouble falling back to sleep. It's incredibly frustrating.

One thing I find that helps is if I change my location. If I stay in bed, I rarely fall back to sleep. But for some reason, if I go downstairs and lie down on the couch, I can sometimes fall back to sleep.

[hillview]

Is he getting exercise?

[DualvansMommy]

I have the exact same issue. I don't have a problem falling asleep at bedtime (I basically read myself to sleep), but I frequently wake up in the middle of the night, and have trouble falling back to sleep. It's incredibly frustrating.

One thing I find that helps is if I change my location. If I stay in bed, I rarely fall back to sleep. But for some reason, if I go downstairs and lie down on the couch, I can sometimes fall back to sleep.

My Dh is like that. Very hard for him to fall back asleep, but if he moves down to the den to watch bit of tv p. Helll fall asleep again on the couch till 6-6:30am. Seems to us moving to different location is his biggest aid to fall back asleep.


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[marymoo86]

Natural calm is not a form of magnesium the body can effectively use.

He needs to try Magnesium glycinate or potentially mag threonate if anxiety driven.

[magnoliaparadise]

This is me. I remember years ago having an older boyfriend who told me that he hadn't slept through the night for ten years at that point. I was horrified and felt so badly for him - I couldn't imagine NOT putting my head down at night and then waking up again in the morning! Flash forward 20 years, and I can so relate with what that ex told me. I fall asleep very easily - no problem at all. Around 2 or 3 am, though, I am UP and cannot for the life of me go back to sleep. Sometimes I check the news online or read a book. I sometimes fall back asleep again, but at that point it's early morning and I only get 30 minutes to an hour before my kids are awake. The most frustrating this is that I am just always very very tired - I am always counting the hours before I can go back to sleep.

I try to use blue-eliminating glasses, but have lost them so should be them again. These are the type I used:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

There were some that were more posh when I bought these and probably better. I personally never really felt like they worked, but all the articles says it's a good idea...
The one thing that I DO think I might have - and many people probably have if they wake up in the middle of the night - is sleep apnea. I need to get it confirmed, but I have a couple of friends who told me that they used to wake up in the middle of the night and, upon treatment for sleep apnea, stopped.

One last thing - when I have had a very full day and go to sleep 'late', which for me at this point is 11 pm or midnight, I have a better sleep and last more through the night. If I fall asleep early, like 9 pm, it's harder for my body to make it through the night - so maybe just making your husband stay up longer will make a difference.