Returning to sleep after early waking
February 18, 2023 6:56 PM Subscribe
What are your favorite methods for returning to sleep when you wakup at at 3:30 a.m. and your mind is racing?
Taking my antianxiety meds before I go to sleep.
posted by Ookseer at 7:07 PM on February 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Ookseer at 7:07 PM on February 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
I’ll put on an audiobook or something on a 15-30 minute timer.
posted by jeweled accumulation at 7:08 PM on February 18, 2023 [20 favorites]
posted by jeweled accumulation at 7:08 PM on February 18, 2023 [20 favorites]
Count backwards from 100. Keep doing it until you drift off.
posted by Sassyfras at 7:12 PM on February 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Sassyfras at 7:12 PM on February 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
Melatonin
posted by manageyourexpectations at 7:14 PM on February 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by manageyourexpectations at 7:14 PM on February 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
I take a pee, drink some water, and listen to something soothing like Sleep Baseball.
posted by niicholas at 7:17 PM on February 18, 2023 [11 favorites]
posted by niicholas at 7:17 PM on February 18, 2023 [11 favorites]
Assuming that you're able to engage with your anxieties during the day (and you're not trying to cope by ignoring them 24/7) you could consider Cognitive Shuffling, eg. using the My Sleep Button app. (If your worries feel overwhelming during the day too and/or you're avoiding things because of your worries - seek therapy.)
posted by Cheese Monster at 7:31 PM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Cheese Monster at 7:31 PM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
Use the bathroom/drink some water if I need to, and put on some quiet, low-dynamic-range documentary-type-audio.
posted by Alterscape at 7:32 PM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Alterscape at 7:32 PM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
Look up "cognitive shuffling." There are a bunch of trick you can do to distract your brain and help you doze off.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 7:32 PM on February 18, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 7:32 PM on February 18, 2023 [5 favorites]
For me, usually that means taking a sleep med plus listening to a boring audiobook for about 30 minutes. But there are times where I know that more sleep isn't going to be possible, in which case I just try to be as restful as possible regardless of falling back asleep.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:34 PM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Dip Flash at 7:34 PM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
Some advice I saw that's helped me lately (and I know this sounds like it should not work at all) is when my brain starts spinning, I think about 1) whether there is any action I can take right then at that moment about the thing I'm spinning on. If there is, and it takes a minute or two and will help me relax, I go do it. But usually there's not and I just go right to 2) when I tell my brain that right now its job is to rest (not sleep, rest), at 7am it can be time to ruminate or whatever. Sometimes I have to go through that cycle a few times but it does weirdly help more often than not.
Unwinding Anxiety also has some super practical ideas to help short-circuit that kind of spiraling, especially if it's not coming from really specific thoughts you can break down logically. One I like is to try and notice emotions as a physical sensation, literally what does it feel like, where do you feel it, is it more on the right or the left? And by the time I notice huh, a little more to the left, I'm out of it enough to at least recognize what's happening and proceed to the next thought, which is sometimes the "do something or shut up" thing above.
I'm not good at dealing with insomnia or not thinking awful thoughts at 3am, but I have gotten better at getting my brain to shut up.
posted by jameaterblues at 7:34 PM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
Unwinding Anxiety also has some super practical ideas to help short-circuit that kind of spiraling, especially if it's not coming from really specific thoughts you can break down logically. One I like is to try and notice emotions as a physical sensation, literally what does it feel like, where do you feel it, is it more on the right or the left? And by the time I notice huh, a little more to the left, I'm out of it enough to at least recognize what's happening and proceed to the next thought, which is sometimes the "do something or shut up" thing above.
I'm not good at dealing with insomnia or not thinking awful thoughts at 3am, but I have gotten better at getting my brain to shut up.
posted by jameaterblues at 7:34 PM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
Read a book, and accept that I may not fall back to sleep.
This works for me because a) it doesn't happen all that
often so it really is ok if I don't get more sleep and b) it gets my brain away from thinking "why am I not asleep? I must sleep! Stupid brain, just let me sleep FFS" which is stressful and makes it harder to get back to sleep.
I've never not fallen back to sleep but it can take an hour, so I really do have to get into the book and not worry about getting enough sleep. For this reason I'd recommend reading a good book and not a boring one - it's not about boring yourself to sleep it's about calming yourself enough so that you can sleep when your body gets tired again.
posted by pianissimo at 7:48 PM on February 18, 2023 [3 favorites]
This works for me because a) it doesn't happen all that
often so it really is ok if I don't get more sleep and b) it gets my brain away from thinking "why am I not asleep? I must sleep! Stupid brain, just let me sleep FFS" which is stressful and makes it harder to get back to sleep.
I've never not fallen back to sleep but it can take an hour, so I really do have to get into the book and not worry about getting enough sleep. For this reason I'd recommend reading a good book and not a boring one - it's not about boring yourself to sleep it's about calming yourself enough so that you can sleep when your body gets tired again.
posted by pianissimo at 7:48 PM on February 18, 2023 [3 favorites]
I'm in the Northern Hemisphere, in a cold state - I make sure my socks are on. At least a light pair.
I'll often kick my socks off in the middle of the night. Then, my feet become too cold, and that helps to prompt me to wake up. If that doesn't help? See if I have to pee, and/or turn on CBC Vancouver to listen to for 30 mins or so, on a sleep timer.
posted by spinifex23 at 7:55 PM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'll often kick my socks off in the middle of the night. Then, my feet become too cold, and that helps to prompt me to wake up. If that doesn't help? See if I have to pee, and/or turn on CBC Vancouver to listen to for 30 mins or so, on a sleep timer.
posted by spinifex23 at 7:55 PM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
I think through the plot of a book I love, in great detail, as if I'm pitching it to someone else. There are one or two books I always use, and this is a sufficiently boring process that it usually works.
posted by BlahLaLa at 8:11 PM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by BlahLaLa at 8:11 PM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
The Sleep Stories on the Calm app do it for me every time.
posted by Miko at 8:18 PM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Miko at 8:18 PM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
I had this issue, where a song would pop into my head, and I couldn’t stop it. Weird songs, like Beth, by KISS. WTF? I now sub in, Genius of Love by Tom Tom Club, because I only know the intro, and not any lyrics. A similar strategy might work for you.
posted by Windopaene at 8:31 PM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Windopaene at 8:31 PM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
Get up and pee. Drink some water. Back in bed, make sure you're warm enough. Your local library almost certainly has audiobooks, or buy some nonfiction that isn't exciting. Or books, paper or ebooks, not anything thrilling. It's winter and I waste too much time denying that I have to get up and pee, and it takes longer to get back to sleep. Don't do that.
posted by theora55 at 8:42 PM on February 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by theora55 at 8:42 PM on February 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
Many seasons of Bob Ross's "The Joy of Painting" are on YouTube (example). His soothing voice, the soft sounds of the painting process, and the fact that - to me - it does not matter whether I pay attention or learn anything help me get back to sleepiness. (May not work if being a visual artist is important to you or if you dislike his aesthetic.)
posted by brainwane at 9:02 PM on February 18, 2023
posted by brainwane at 9:02 PM on February 18, 2023
For me it's waking up at 1:30am, since my normal wake up time is 4am. As I've gotten older, I have very little problem waking up early. Frankly, I've found it more frustrating to actually fall back asleep than just staying awake and embracing it. It just tends to be a less restful sleep session to the point that I usually regret it.
But if it's a weekend and I don't actually have a time I need to wake up, what has helped tremendously is using some kind of noise generator. I started originally with a brown noise source on my phone. But how I use an hour long recording of rain, which plays as a loop. The recording is one I ripped from youtube. The sound of rain just works wonders for me. I wish I knew this trick when I was younger and had some serious trouble falling asleep for years and being a very light sleeper in general.
posted by 2N2222 at 10:42 PM on February 18, 2023
But if it's a weekend and I don't actually have a time I need to wake up, what has helped tremendously is using some kind of noise generator. I started originally with a brown noise source on my phone. But how I use an hour long recording of rain, which plays as a loop. The recording is one I ripped from youtube. The sound of rain just works wonders for me. I wish I knew this trick when I was younger and had some serious trouble falling asleep for years and being a very light sleeper in general.
posted by 2N2222 at 10:42 PM on February 18, 2023
I don't make a habit out of it but I find a Tylenol usually relaxes me enough to drop off again. Alternatively, I lay there and think about how grateful I am to be in a soft, warm bed - even if I don’t fall asleep, I'm comfortable.
posted by brachiopod at 11:05 PM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by brachiopod at 11:05 PM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
Years ago I read an anecdote - that your mind and body gets as much from lying still with your eyes closed as it does from actual sleep. I have no idea if this is actually true, but I think about it if I am ever lying awake at night and after a couple of minute chilling with my eyes closed I am always asleep.
posted by mani at 11:36 PM on February 18, 2023 [12 favorites]
posted by mani at 11:36 PM on February 18, 2023 [12 favorites]
I had a particularly bad spate of this a few months ago and tried taking CBD oil before bed, it seemed to help so I kept if up for a couple of weeks.
More generally I tend to listen to audiobooks or podcasts on timers or read a book. On very rare occasions, I might even get up and go for a run or to the gym.
(This has been happening more often to me in the past two years and I'm not sure if it's, you know, everything going on in the world or just something that happens in your late 30s, as it seemed to be happening in the same way to someone I managed of a very similarly age. Maybe it's just both.)
posted by knapah at 12:03 AM on February 19, 2023
More generally I tend to listen to audiobooks or podcasts on timers or read a book. On very rare occasions, I might even get up and go for a run or to the gym.
(This has been happening more often to me in the past two years and I'm not sure if it's, you know, everything going on in the world or just something that happens in your late 30s, as it seemed to be happening in the same way to someone I managed of a very similarly age. Maybe it's just both.)
posted by knapah at 12:03 AM on February 19, 2023
I’ve found that a pillow behind my back gives me a feeling of safety and will generally calm me enough in tandem with any of the sort of other relaxation techniques described above will get me back to sleep.
I’m going to say it since no one else has: masturbation.
posted by sciencegeek at 2:01 AM on February 19, 2023 [9 favorites]
I’m going to say it since no one else has: masturbation.
posted by sciencegeek at 2:01 AM on February 19, 2023 [9 favorites]
I make up a sentence like, "I am going back to sleep now," and I try to spell it backwards.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 4:23 AM on February 19, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 4:23 AM on February 19, 2023 [3 favorites]
I pretend to be asleep. As a kid I would pretend to be asleep then lurch up to scare my brother. Now I pretend to be asleep -- the slack face, a slightly forceful, petulant exhale that comes half out of the mouth, half out of the nose, utterly placid & smooth eyelids, the backs of my arms and legs melting into the mattress, my brain expanding empty, prepared to lie in wait as long as it takes -- and then I'm asleep for real.
posted by cocoagirl at 5:56 AM on February 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by cocoagirl at 5:56 AM on February 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
I try to occupy my brain by thinking of words in a specific category for each letter of the alphabet, e,g., fruits from A to Z, men’s names, cities, etc. Stops my mind from spinning and I can usually get back to sleep.
posted by erloteiel at 6:35 AM on February 19, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by erloteiel at 6:35 AM on February 19, 2023 [3 favorites]
I’m going to say it since no one else has: masturbation.
posted by sciencegeek at 5:01
AKA, per Dan Savage, as an Ambien wank. No side effects.
posted by kate4914 at 7:07 AM on February 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by sciencegeek at 5:01
AKA, per Dan Savage, as an Ambien wank. No side effects.
posted by kate4914 at 7:07 AM on February 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
I like to tell myself stories to fall asleep. Nothing too complicated and they are repetitive. Like, there's an apartment building with a bunch of people living in it and what is this character doing tonight? What if these two people interact? If they get too complex then I start feeling like I should write them down so they have to be repetitive and low stress.
I also have two dreams that I look forward to having when actually asleep, and I sometimes visualize them when awake at night. They don't have much storyline, they are just fantasy settings in which low-stress stories can take place. One is a fantasy seascape with billowing waves and the other is an open-air market. I wander in these places and fall asleep.
posted by BibiRose at 7:31 AM on February 19, 2023
I also have two dreams that I look forward to having when actually asleep, and I sometimes visualize them when awake at night. They don't have much storyline, they are just fantasy settings in which low-stress stories can take place. One is a fantasy seascape with billowing waves and the other is an open-air market. I wander in these places and fall asleep.
posted by BibiRose at 7:31 AM on February 19, 2023
ashwagandha works for me. Studies show it lowers cortisol, which rises with wakefulness. another supplement that does something similar is Relora, a magnolia bark extract.
posted by Schmucko at 7:57 AM on February 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Schmucko at 7:57 AM on February 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
the "count backwards" and "spell backwards" stuff is what we do in my house. FWIW, eventually you get to the point where one part of your brain can count backwards from 100 while another part of your brain is still doing the 330AM thing... So I like to count backwards from 1,000 but by 17s (or something suitably hard-but-not-so-hard-that-you wake-up).
Somewhere between 830 and 490, your brain should say something akin to "oh, jeez, fine, I'll just go to sleep then."
posted by adekllny at 8:20 AM on February 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
Somewhere between 830 and 490, your brain should say something akin to "oh, jeez, fine, I'll just go to sleep then."
posted by adekllny at 8:20 AM on February 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
Some mentioned above, but my go-tos:
Sleep stories from the Calm App
Cognitive shuffling. Lately I've been counting backwards from 100 by threes. Since I'm not very good at math, this engages my brain pretty well and I'm usually asleep before 0.
Visualization also helps if I am worrying about certain things. For example when I have multiple projects at work and they come into my mind when I'm trying to fall asleep, I visualize putting that "thing" into a box, sealing it, and then putting all the boxes into a big chest (like a treasure chest), then closing and sealing THAT. The more detailed I can get about the visualization, the more likely that the particular worry will stay "in the box". It's like signaling your mind you don't need to think about that until morning.
posted by Preserver at 8:53 AM on February 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
Sleep stories from the Calm App
Cognitive shuffling. Lately I've been counting backwards from 100 by threes. Since I'm not very good at math, this engages my brain pretty well and I'm usually asleep before 0.
Visualization also helps if I am worrying about certain things. For example when I have multiple projects at work and they come into my mind when I'm trying to fall asleep, I visualize putting that "thing" into a box, sealing it, and then putting all the boxes into a big chest (like a treasure chest), then closing and sealing THAT. The more detailed I can get about the visualization, the more likely that the particular worry will stay "in the box". It's like signaling your mind you don't need to think about that until morning.
posted by Preserver at 8:53 AM on February 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'm a woman of a certain age who gets up to pee nightly now and manages anxiety. A few things help me a lot
1. Turn on fan, so there's some noise that occupies some of my mind
2. Turn on mattress pad warmer, in case I am cold
3. Trying some sort of cognitive shuffle especially something that engages my visual cortex. So I used to think about haircuts I might get, and try to see them in my mind. Or I'd try to take the vague patterns I saw behind my eyelids and imagine them as some sort of a landscape
4. Most important thing is that sometimes getting back to sleep is work and you need to be more active in it than just "letting yourself drift off" so I sometimes imagine a blank sheet of paper right in front of my face (again, visual cortex, try to actually SEE it) and then when I had a thought that was my mind trying to think about something that would be ramping me up, I'd practice moving it aside so I was just seeing a blank sheet.
5. Also telling myself "You don't have to think about that now. Let's think about that later"
posted by jessamyn at 9:15 AM on February 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
1. Turn on fan, so there's some noise that occupies some of my mind
2. Turn on mattress pad warmer, in case I am cold
3. Trying some sort of cognitive shuffle especially something that engages my visual cortex. So I used to think about haircuts I might get, and try to see them in my mind. Or I'd try to take the vague patterns I saw behind my eyelids and imagine them as some sort of a landscape
4. Most important thing is that sometimes getting back to sleep is work and you need to be more active in it than just "letting yourself drift off" so I sometimes imagine a blank sheet of paper right in front of my face (again, visual cortex, try to actually SEE it) and then when I had a thought that was my mind trying to think about something that would be ramping me up, I'd practice moving it aside so I was just seeing a blank sheet.
5. Also telling myself "You don't have to think about that now. Let's think about that later"
posted by jessamyn at 9:15 AM on February 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
Emphatically seconding both reading a book as pianissimo said (ideally NOT an e-book or anything else screen-based), and avoiding anxiety about falling back asleep as mani said.
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:27 AM on February 19, 2023
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:27 AM on February 19, 2023
Ah but ebooks do it for me. No bulky book to balance or book light to disturb your partner. Just a Kindle with the covers pulled over your head. Better then the old comic book with a flashlight trick. Ten minutes or so and my brain has quieted down and I'm ready to snooze.
posted by charlesminus at 9:43 AM on February 19, 2023
posted by charlesminus at 9:43 AM on February 19, 2023
A new podcast comes out next week for this exact purpose. Sleeping with Celebrities is supposed to be so boring, it helps you conk back out.
Easy to rely on a device without a screen keeping you up.
posted by Twicketface at 9:58 AM on February 19, 2023
Easy to rely on a device without a screen keeping you up.
posted by Twicketface at 9:58 AM on February 19, 2023
They say not to but I eat something a little before bed-time so I won't wake up hungry in the night. If I did, I'd love to devour a big Dagwood sandwich like they do in the funny papers but then I'd have to brush my teeth and Waterpik again; too much trouble, just drink some water and read something from the pile of books on the night-table, using (important!) a warm, incandescent light for illumination.
posted by Rash at 10:20 AM on February 19, 2023
posted by Rash at 10:20 AM on February 19, 2023
Sometimes I like to engage in a little imaginary worldbuilding and mentally sketch out a utopian future fantasy world. OK, we got a Green New Deal Fully Automated Luxury Gay Communism. What does it look like? Who is doing what? What are the daily routines like? For a while I was lulling myself back to sleep imagining community cafeterias where everyone pitches in gardening/beekeeping/dish washing/serving/being designated table talkers with lonely folks.
posted by mostly vowels at 10:31 AM on February 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by mostly vowels at 10:31 AM on February 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
I read intentionally boring books. For me that means books on business or history. Puts me right back to sleep, or teaches me something. Either way: win. Good luck and good night.
posted by nadise at 3:10 PM on February 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by nadise at 3:10 PM on February 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
I use a method I learned about on the Green. I mentally make a short shopping list (usually the same three things). I visualize getting ready to go to the grocery store. I change my clothes or socks and comb my hair. I gather the things I need and say goodbye to my spouse and pets. I visualize getting into the car and starting it up. Then I see there are a lot of pedestrians I have to wait to go by. Eventually, I pull onto the road but then there are a lot of cars and trucks that go by. I visualize each one. I see my neighbor riding toward me on her bike. I finally get on my way. Each house I pass I note who lives there or what the house makes me think of. (I usually fall asleep before reaching the end of the block.) If I happen to make it to the market I visualize entering the store. I see each area and the things stocked there in as much detail as I can. The bagels, the donuts, the cakes and pastries, the deli, and so on and on.
Sometimes it doesn't work until I have been awake for an hour. Once I can get myself yawning it works fairly quickly. As with everything practice helps.
The other visualization I do is imagine myself walking into one of my elementary school classrooms. I walk to the chalkboard, pick up a piece of chalk and write an A on the board. I slowly erase it and then write a B. Go on through the alphabet. Make them fancy or plain.
Best of luck!
posted by goodsearch at 3:47 PM on February 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
Sometimes it doesn't work until I have been awake for an hour. Once I can get myself yawning it works fairly quickly. As with everything practice helps.
The other visualization I do is imagine myself walking into one of my elementary school classrooms. I walk to the chalkboard, pick up a piece of chalk and write an A on the board. I slowly erase it and then write a B. Go on through the alphabet. Make them fancy or plain.
Best of luck!
posted by goodsearch at 3:47 PM on February 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
A boring lecture or audiobook. Needs to be in a certain type of voice and at a volume loud enough that I can hear it but not so loud I can understand it.
Possibly Flexeril if there's muscle tension going on.
Failing that, Ativan, if it's just my brain not wanting to STFU.
posted by kathrynm at 4:01 PM on February 19, 2023
Possibly Flexeril if there's muscle tension going on.
Failing that, Ativan, if it's just my brain not wanting to STFU.
posted by kathrynm at 4:01 PM on February 19, 2023
Listen to Brian Eno's Discreet Music, just the title track. It's about 40 minutes long and composed with melodic snippets on a tape delay so there is nothing specific to focus in on. Soothing sounds (in stereo) and has a long quiet into and outro so you can listen to repeating loops without being awakened by the change. It's really excellent in a noisy urban environment to cover sounds of traffic, neighbor's TV or music, dog barking, possums digging in the yard, other nightly noises, etc.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 5:57 PM on February 19, 2023
posted by a humble nudibranch at 5:57 PM on February 19, 2023
This may be a version of cognitive shuffling that I invented before I knew there was a name for it. For at least twenty years I try to imagine animals doing human things and it always seems to work. For example, I will imagine a giraffe dj’ing a giant rave. Something about animals doing human sh*t seems to put my brain in the pre-sleep weird thoughts state. Grab any animal you want. Grab a human activity. How about a walrus playing tennis or a eagle typing.
posted by jasondigitized at 6:14 PM on February 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by jasondigitized at 6:14 PM on February 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
Like many, I read. For me, the thing that works is an ebook on my phone, with the reader in dark mode and the screen brightness turned all the way down. The books have to be just interesting enough that I get involved, but not so interesting that they keep me up, and somehow that has led me to a routine of cozy mystery novels.
posted by dizziest at 7:54 PM on February 19, 2023
posted by dizziest at 7:54 PM on February 19, 2023
I have various fantasies I replay in my mind, trying to make them more real each time, like flying a spaceship. If that doesn't do it (I'm usually out by the time the thing gets off the ground), then I have a relaxation sequence I do that has visualizations plus relaxation techniques stem to stern.
Any relaxation sequence is going to help as long as it's in my memory ready to use if I'm lying awake too long. The sequence takes about 10 minutes to really get relaxed and through it....if I'm still awake at that point it's been maybe 20 minutes or so of lying awake. By then, something is probably awry, maybe too much chocolate or caffeine late in the day, and I'm not going to sleep, as in normally drift off, so then it's last ditch....get up, get a book and hang out until actual sleep pressure shows up and makes me go to bed.
posted by diode at 8:17 PM on February 19, 2023
Any relaxation sequence is going to help as long as it's in my memory ready to use if I'm lying awake too long. The sequence takes about 10 minutes to really get relaxed and through it....if I'm still awake at that point it's been maybe 20 minutes or so of lying awake. By then, something is probably awry, maybe too much chocolate or caffeine late in the day, and I'm not going to sleep, as in normally drift off, so then it's last ditch....get up, get a book and hang out until actual sleep pressure shows up and makes me go to bed.
posted by diode at 8:17 PM on February 19, 2023
Wow. Yeah...I’m in the same boat as OP. Waking too early, and my mind immediately starts racing through stuff. The only thing I can do that might help me get back to sleep is to move to my couch in the living room and hope. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
3:30am is a difficult, borderline time for me. It’s still early enough that I might be able to get a few more hours of sleep in, but it’s also tip-toeing into the “fuck it, I’ll just stay up” range (My “normal” waking hour can be anywhere between 4:30 and 7:00, depending on how active my brain decides to be.)
My brain laughs at melatonin, so that’s never been an option. Ditto with any other herbal stuff. Anything that introduces new activity (reading, listening, making toast) simply takes me further into the awakened realm and far away from getting back to sleep.
I note that OP is starting into their late-50s. I’m 65, and most of my serious sleep issues started about the same time as OP. I’ve honestly not found anything that will reliably get me back to sleep. Moving to the couch has been the only semi-reliable option.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:25 AM on February 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
3:30am is a difficult, borderline time for me. It’s still early enough that I might be able to get a few more hours of sleep in, but it’s also tip-toeing into the “fuck it, I’ll just stay up” range (My “normal” waking hour can be anywhere between 4:30 and 7:00, depending on how active my brain decides to be.)
My brain laughs at melatonin, so that’s never been an option. Ditto with any other herbal stuff. Anything that introduces new activity (reading, listening, making toast) simply takes me further into the awakened realm and far away from getting back to sleep.
I note that OP is starting into their late-50s. I’m 65, and most of my serious sleep issues started about the same time as OP. I’ve honestly not found anything that will reliably get me back to sleep. Moving to the couch has been the only semi-reliable option.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:25 AM on February 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
One other thing to mention - I have trained myself to not look at the clock during the night. If you don't know what time it is, you can't obsess about what time it is.
posted by Preserver at 6:31 AM on February 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Preserver at 6:31 AM on February 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
I swear by not looking at the clock.
posted by jessamyn at 10:35 AM on February 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by jessamyn at 10:35 AM on February 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
This worked better in the 90s than now, but I used to recall the plot of a low-stakes, predictable sitcom episode I had seen recently.
Similar to some other answers, I will often walk through a house I am very familiar with, often from my past. I used to do this with my grandmother's house I visited every summer.
With myself or my partner if we are both sleepless: pick a category, go through the alphabet and name something from that category that starts with each letter.
posted by codhavereturned at 2:12 PM on February 20, 2023
Similar to some other answers, I will often walk through a house I am very familiar with, often from my past. I used to do this with my grandmother's house I visited every summer.
With myself or my partner if we are both sleepless: pick a category, go through the alphabet and name something from that category that starts with each letter.
posted by codhavereturned at 2:12 PM on February 20, 2023
I've mentioned this on Metafilter before.
I know from experience that 3:30 am is not the time for me to make a decision about anything. So, I promise myself that I will think about whatever it is when I wake up in the morning.
But that only works if you really think about it when you wake up...
posted by wittgenstein at 5:19 PM on February 20, 2023
I know from experience that 3:30 am is not the time for me to make a decision about anything. So, I promise myself that I will think about whatever it is when I wake up in the morning.
But that only works if you really think about it when you wake up...
posted by wittgenstein at 5:19 PM on February 20, 2023
Interestingly, I don’t see any breathing exercises mentioned. I find a simple 4 count in then 4 count out works well. The counting helps to restrict my brain from wandering. Tho I believe the traditional method is 4, 8, 4 where you hold for the 8 secs.
posted by pmaxwell at 7:29 PM on February 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by pmaxwell at 7:29 PM on February 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
I live in a place where weed is legal, so: weed. I don't partake otherwise. One pull on a vape setup with a sleepymaking indica strain puts me right back to sleep. Granddaddy Purple is the most effective strain I've found.
posted by Sublimity at 8:47 AM on February 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Sublimity at 8:47 AM on February 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
B complex vitamin every night before bed.
posted by notyou at 10:23 AM on February 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by notyou at 10:23 AM on February 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Utah allows CBD gummies with Delta 9 to be sold over the counter. Taking 5mg has helped me sleep through the night recently. Thanks to everyone for their contributions.
posted by mecran01 at 8:50 AM on March 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by mecran01 at 8:50 AM on March 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Oyéah at 7:05 PM on February 18, 2023 [4 favorites]