Not sleeping well.

[postman]

Right i took the bull by the horns last week and went to see the Doc.
I have not been sleeping well for a long time.We had a chat and according to his records i came to see him Feb 2011 about the same thing.So it's well over two years.
Problem ,two or three times per night LOO visits,well he is a decent Doc and we talked about Prostate problems,so i am waitng this week for results then we move on.But i think this is where my fed up attitude is coming from,lack of good sleep.
I hope it's not much more.I might even try sleeping pills.
Wish me luck,because i have been a right grumpy old barsteward recently.

 

[fossyant]

It affects me badly if I've not had enough sleep. Suffered it for ages with my shoulder, but after 4 years that's now OK. Latest op. has meant a load of sleep loss due to pain, but hopefully it will settle down. Worse part is waiting for a referral.

I find the herbal sleeping tablets can help sometimes. Usual stuff, cut down on drinks in the evening, and nothing with caffeine in. A routine works, so wind down, read something.

 

[Globalti]

Dunno if this helps but there's a growing school of thought that says it's actually normal for humans to take their night's sleep in two chunks. Some tribes, notably the Tiv of Nigeria, don't even talk about sleep; they talk about first sleep and second sleep. Their way is to got to bed soon after dark, sleep for a few hours then get up, move around, go out for a bit then go back to bed and sleep on until dawn. One of those TV "explorers" reported the same when sharing a hut with a bunch of locals in the depths of Sumatra. The problem for a lot of us is the western obsession with a full night of unbroken sleep and the circle of stress that is caused when that doesn't happen.

 

[Archie_tect]

All the best Postie!

I can't remember when I've slept through, usually up to the toilet at around 3 then usually read from 5 and drop off about half 5 with the light on then the alarm goes off at 6.40! I used to wake with acid reflux some nights around 1.30ish but since I've had that sorted out I sleep better early on. It seems everyone I know my age is the same.

 

[BrumJim]

Went with my Dad to Foxton Locks in his last years. Being of an engineering bent, he spent time thinking and talking about the lock system and the use of reservoirs to reduce water consumption.
"That's the problem with blokes of your age," I said. "Always going on about waterworks."

No help, but hope it made you smile.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

Coupled with fed up attitude, have you considered that you may be suffering from depression?

 

[swee'pea99]

Ok, this is going to sound daft, but it helped me.

On one episode of QI, that nice Mr Fry said something about the way we're plumbed, the upshot being that after you've done the business as far as you possibly can, there's still some left. It's hiding behind the prostate or something - can't remember the ins & outs (or not-outs, if you get me drift). Anyway, after hearing that, I adopted a new nightly routine: 1) do the business, taking as long as it takes to etc, then 2) wash, brush teeth, perm ears etc, then 3) do the business again, taking as long as it takes to etc. I always get at least some result the second time round. I'm not saying it'll solve the problem, but for me at least it made a surprisingly big difference.

Good luck.

 

[Fnaar]

I sleep well after a decent cycle ride, but have, for as long as I can remember, suffered from interrupted sleep and/or early waking. Even as a kid, sharing a bedroom with my 2 brothers, I can remember listening to the radio on headphones while they slept, in the early hours of the morning. That habit has stayed with me, and I always have a radio handy by the bedside, with headphones ready to go. There is some fantastic radio on in the dead of night, my current fave being Dotun Adebayo, who has a 1-5am show on Radio5Live (I think he does Thurs to Sun, other presenters the other nights). He's an interesting bloke, and really is a terrific broadcaster, who deserves a much wider audience.
The moral of this story is, if you can't sleep, listen to the radio.

 

[Archie_tect]

Fnaar, your nightly habit is bit of a surprise...

 

[sheddy]

My fix is to have a nibble in the night. Cereal does it

 

[Globalti]

I'd have thought Fnaar's wood-buffing habit would help him get back to sleep.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

I never slept very well at all until I became a parent, now if I'm not cycling, piloting an automobile, at work or being wholly responsible for the wee one my body just kinda shuts down.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

But on a more serious note, I often get up at least two or three times for a slash in the middle of the night and have done for as long as I can remember. I think I'm just one of life's pissers, I've been tested for diabetes but got the all clear.

I like to think the fact that a river runs through me as a sort of super hero strength that I haven't yet learned how to harness for the power of good.

 

[Gromit]

My Auntie had the same problem, she thought it was normal to wake up two or three times in a night to go and have a wee. She got diagnosed with bladder cancer, it was too late to do anything for her, unfortunately she died a few weeks back. Better to get it checked out.

If the sleep program is still on the BBC, I think it was called Goodnight Britain? They recommended moving everything but the bed out of your bedroom that causes a distraction, banning yourself from the bedroom until a certain time at night, then going to bed when you feel really sleepy. If you then didn't sleep, you get up after 5-10 mins and leave the room. That way the bedroom is just used for sleeping.

 

[Fnaar]

...actually one thing that made a big difference to me was wearing some kind of eye covering (obviously won't do anything for bladder issues ). I have a Virgin Atlantic eye mask I got on a flight many years ago, or if that's gone awol, I just use a buff over my eyes. It's probably not a good look, but I find it useful to block out the light, especially in summer, when to slightest chink of light through the curtains is enough to wake me up.
And good luck postie, sorry, wasn't meaning to turn this into a general 'insomnia' thread.