Sleeping issues

[Ilovehills]

I`ve never been the best sleeper, certainly not in the last few years anyway.

Anyhow during the last couple of years I`ve found it hard to sleep without some sort of noise, and some sort of light going on. As a background I`m single with my own house and live in a semi rural position on the edge of Dartmoor.

I`ve tried, and tried to sleep with nothing going on, but I can`t - if it`s too quiet and/or too dark (which it would be if I didn`t intervene) then I just feel "vulnerable" and I can`t get to sleep. What I`ve got to do is have sound effects running on youtube, such as falling rain etc, and leave the landing or bathroom light on, then I can sleep like a baby. But otherwise, no way...............

Any ideas? Or is this a common thing?

 

[Salty seadog]

I`ve never been the best sleeper, certainly not in the last few years anyway.

Anyhow during the last couple of years I`ve found it hard to sleep without some sort of noise, and some sort of light going on. As a background I`m single with my own house and live in a semi rural position on the edge of Dartmoor.

I`ve tried, and tried to sleep with nothing going on, but I can`t - if it`s too quiet and/or too dark (which it would be if I didn`t intervene) then I just feel "vulnerable" and I can`t get to sleep. What I`ve got to do is have sound effects running on youtube, such as falling rain etc, and leave the landing or bathroom light on, then I can sleep like a baby. But otherwise, no way...............

Any ideas? Or is this a common thing?

You sound like me apart from the feeling of vulnerability. I'm single with my own house. I've had bouts of insomnia most of my 44 years. I like to put classic fm or the world service on at night. In the summer just the noise of a fan can help. The noise (low level) just gives the brain something to hang it's hat on and is a common aid for people who struggle with sleep.

 

[alicat]

Go see your GP.

 

[irw]

 

[PK99]

I`ve never been the best sleeper, certainly not in the last few years anyway.

Anyhow during the last couple of years I`ve found it hard to sleep without some sort of noise, and some sort of light going on. As a background I`m single with my own house and live in a semi rural position on the edge of Dartmoor.

I`ve tried, and tried to sleep with nothing going on, but I can`t - if it`s too quiet and/or too dark (which it would be if I didn`t intervene) then I just feel "vulnerable" and I can`t get to sleep. What I`ve got to do is have sound effects running on youtube, such as falling rain etc, and leave the landing or bathroom light on, then I can sleep like a baby. But otherwise, no way...............

Any ideas? Or is this a common thing?

As we get older it seems to be a pretty common thing. Plus there is now lots of well substantiated research suggesting that solid sleep through the night is not in fact the natural pattern but two or more blocks of sleep is.

we have the radio on most nights - world service - sometimes all night sometimes on 30/45 minutes snooze.

There are a number of Apps available with Forest/wind/sea/stream/bird sounds that I tried for a while, but world service is better - the interesting bits I try to listen too and most often fail, the boring bits send me to sleep pretty quickly...zzzz

 

[Salty seadog]

As we get older it seems to be a pretty common thing. Plus there is now lots of well substantiated research suggesting that solid sleep through the night is not in fact the natural pattern but two or more blocks of sleep is.

we have the radio on most nights - world service - sometimes all night sometimes on 30/45 minutes snooze.

There are a number of Apps available with Forest/wind/sea/stream/bird sounds that I tried for a while, but world service is better - the interesting bits I try to listen too and most often fail, the boring bits send me to sleep pretty quickly...zzzz

I heard about this earlier in the year, I think it was something the Victorians may have done. Sometime around the turn of the last century anyway.

 

[PK99]

I heard about this earlier in the year, I think it was something the Victorians may have done. Sometime around the turn of the last century anyway.

Pepys talks about it in his diaries.

good article here>>> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16964783 The myth of the eight-hour sleep

 

[Salty seadog]

Pepys talks about it in his diaries.

good article here>>> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16964783 The myth of the eight-hour sleep

Earlier than I thought then. 15-17 hundreds.

 

[Blue Hills]

I`ve never been the best sleeper, certainly not in the last few years anyway.

Anyhow during the last couple of years I`ve found it hard to sleep without some sort of noise, and some sort of light going on. As a background I`m single with my own house and live in a semi rural position on the edge of Dartmoor.

I`ve tried, and tried to sleep with nothing going on, but I can`t - if it`s too quiet and/or too dark (which it would be if I didn`t intervene) then I just feel "vulnerable" and I can`t get to sleep. What I`ve got to do is have sound effects running on youtube, such as falling rain etc, and leave the landing or bathroom light on, then I can sleep like a baby. But otherwise, no way...............

Any ideas? Or is this a common thing?

Well it's certainly curious.

At the risk of being somewhat cliched, some sort of thing in your childhood?

But to be honest you seem to have sorted it at no great cost so I'd just relax and see it as one of those curious kinks of nature.

Good sleep is very important, but if you "sleep like a baby" as you say, just be thankful.

 

[Salty seadog]

[QUOTE 5463775, member: 9609"]I'm another one who sleeps with WS on all night. I sleep like a log though so no other reason than I fall asleep when its on.

I think the radio helps dreaming - i like dreams (the good ones that is) don't like the thing in the garden that won't go away.[/QUOTE]

Cat poo?
I hate the bad dreams and get some weird ones at times. The ones I really don't like are the ones you wake from with a bit of fear only to get back into it when you get back to sleep.

What's in the garden? You may not want to say but that's cool.

 

[Cycleops]

Go see your GP.

I definitely wouldn't do this, they are very fond of moving you on with a packet of pills and that's the last thing you need.

 

[alicat]

The OP refers to not being able to go to sleep because they feel 'vulnerable' and we aren't by and large medically trained so yes I do think it is worth a trip to the GP. I have the impression that they don't prescribe sleeping pills except for a short term crisis, which is not the case here.

 

[Salty seadog]

I definitely wouldn't do this, they are very fond of moving you on with a packet of pills and that's the last thing you need.

They can do better than than that with a decent consultation. It's becoming recognised as an important condition. There is a a big move towards sleep hygiene which doesn't need drugs and has better long term effects.

 

[stalagmike]

I get that you are worried about this because you didn't feel vulnerable in this way before. On the other hand, if you live alone, is having lights or sounds on at night time a problem? Just do whatever you need to feel comfortable. Cricket bat under the bed might help.

 

[Globalti]

Get a dog or some geese? Fit an alarm system?

The Tiv people in Africa don't have a single word for sleep, they have two words for first sleep and second sleep. People who have travelled to parts of Asia where an entire community sleeps in one big house describe waking in the middle of the night to find their housemates up and about, having a smoke and a pee then going back to bed.