Waking every couple of hours

[ksheehan88]

I can't sleep for more than 2 or 3 hours at a time. I wake up for 10 or 15 minutes, then go back to sleep. Its really frustrating because I then end up knackered all day... any advice?

 

[Vinca]

Implementing good sleep hygiene practices could be a simple place to start.

Sleep Hygiene

 

[Mia]

Find that if I physically tire myself out to a certain extent, that my sleeping time is better. Doing things in a kind of ritualistic way before bedtime also helps. Not eating after nine in the evening, no caffeine late evening, just herbal tea. You might try St. John's Wort which is sometimes used for sleep disorders.

Avoiding bright light in the evening, I dim my monitor a bit, bright light messes with the bodies circadian rhythm. And the one thing I've had the most difficulty with is quieting my mind and thoughts. I have worked on that for years, cutting off the ruminations is difficult and it's what has kept me from sleeping properly.

Imagining a calm place, mine is floating in water, is somewhat helpful if you can sustain it before you go to sleep. Have a tendency to go into immediate rem sleep like a freight train hurtling through the night and then wake up in a panic. Slowing that down a little with a bath or tea or yoga has helped a little.

 

[Alcyon]

I can't sleep for more than 2 or 3 hours at a time. I wake up for 10 or 15 minutes, then go back to sleep. Its really frustrating because I then end up knackered all day... any advice?

I've been going through the same thing lately! I'll be watching this thread...

 

[OkRad]

I have extreme sleep issues. They put a mine behind our house. Now, even the NTs were having a hard time. 600 truck sa day 24/7. The beds shook.

It almost killed me with my autism. I went three months with no sleep at all or 2 hours in a 24 hour period. I ended up in the ER and then had to relocate to a tiny room in the home of a man that disliked me a lot. But he let me stay there, so he went over and about his own issues so I was so grateful.

I write that because when I say I have sleep issues, I mean it. It was not just prior insomnia which I already had, but being FORCED to stay awake.

At any rate, here are some things I found helped:

1. Agree about all lights off when sun goes down. No light. Campers have reset their circadian rhythym in 14 days! So it can work. I did that in my room. I even had a camping light if I had to pee.

2. The worse it got, the less meds worked. My brain was ON FIRE. A xanax sent me into a tailspin. I took about 30 pills (most were natural or Benedryl, but one was a Xanax.....not smart) and ended up with 2 hours of sleep and walking sideways when I woke up. Meds do not work on me in crisis insomnia.

3. "Snake Oil" helps at times. I use L-theanine. And also the sleep elixers and pill combinations you can buy at palces like Wholefoods. They only help once I am out of crisis mode.

4, In sever crsis insomnia all that helps is getting at least one night, no matter what. I have used Nyquil Sleep to knock me out with Snake Oil stuff THEN on the next day, start to tone it down like noon.......seriously. No simulation. Walking or running to exhaust, though, is good.

5.Brain foods. If you are in a spate of severe insomnia, your brain is taking a beating. Fish oil helps a lot. I got some good Carlsons and took it like prescribed. Also some 5-Http and also SAM-e.

It is hell. I cannot think of a more difficult torture than being awake for weeks at a time. These helped me a bit. In the end, it is always just time in a safe place. But where to find that if you have autism??

 

[tree]

I can't sleep for more than 2 or 3 hours at a time. I wake up for 10 or 15 minutes, then go back to sleep. Its really frustrating because I then end up knackered all day... any advice?

That's pretty normal for humans.
The waking up part.

Being tired, isn't.

I've been going through the same thing lately! I'll be watching this thread...

Is It Normal to Wake Up at Night? | The Huffington Post

 

[Katherine Rawstron]

Me too. In my case, it could be the menopause, or at least partly that. I do have a cup of herbal tea sometimes, but don't always fancy it.

 

[toothless]

i have severe insomnia [since toddler age] and have the same sort of sleeping pattern as you ksheenan.

ive been taught and taught and taught about sleep hygeine for years by the social services intellectual disability team,i am an absolute wreck it affects my mental health and my next days plans greatly.
the only thing thats ever worked for me was when a gp prescribed me circadin [melatonin to our american friends] and it worked perfectly,though it did stop working after a while so my pyschiatrist put the melatonin on a permenent script and said to come off it for a month every so often.
i was took off melatonin when i was sectioned and put on the godawful zopiclone which did not work for me and just gave me bad headaches.
however.....the government for some reason have now changed the UK licence of melatonin to say its only allowed for people under 18,i was absolutely gutted when i found this out as none of my specialists and doctors are willing to prescribe it off label.

so now,im looking at importing melatonin from america,
it annoys me though because creative support who 'support' me say one minute i can do that as long as i self medicate,the next minute theyre saying i cant and i have to wait to speak to my sleep specialist because i have sleep apnea and theyre treating melatonin like a sedative which slows your breathing.
really really annoys me,i could swear so much but i wont dirty your thread further.
i do recommend melatonin to any autist,and a weighted blanket over you in bed.

 

[OkRad]

i have severe insomnia [since toddler age] and have the same sort of sleeping pattern as you ksheenan.

ive been taught and taught and taught about sleep hygeine for years by the social services intellectual disability team,i am an absolute wreck it affects my mental health and my next days plans greatly.
the only thing thats ever worked for me was when a gp prescribed me circadin [melatonin to our american friends] and it worked perfectly,though it did stop working after a while so my pyschiatrist put the melatonin on a permenent script and said to come off it for a month every so often.
i was took off melatonin when i was sectioned and put on the godawful zopiclone which did not work for me and just gave me bad headaches.
however.....the government for some reason have now changed the UK licence of melatonin to say its only allowed for people under 18,i was absolutely gutted when i found this out as none of my specialists and doctors are willing to prescribe it off label.

so now,im looking at importing melatonin from america,
it annoys me though because creative support who 'support' me say one minute i can do that as long as i self medicate,the next minute theyre saying i cant and i have to wait to speak to my sleep specialist because i have sleep apnea and theyre treating melatonin like a sedative which slows your breathing.
really really annoys me,i could swear so much but i wont dirty your thread further.
i do recommend melatonin to any autist,and a weighted blanket over you in bed.

OHMYGosh! You can't get melatonin?? You can buy that at literally any store in the states and most in Canada. Can you buy any at all or just not presciption strength? Do you have stores like Wholefoods and Vitamin Shoppe? Can you order from Vitamin Shoppe to the UK? They have all sorts. Even ones you can spray which works really fast.

 

[xudo]

I'm the same, but so far as I know it's the meds I'm on for GAD

 

[Greg]

I can't sleep for more than 2 or 3 hours at a time. I wake up for 10 or 15 minutes, then go back to sleep. Its really frustrating because I then end up knackered all day... any advice?

I do the same thing and it makes me so bad the next day. The dr has me on some strong medicine which helps a lot. Without that I could not sleep. For me I need to have something that stops the rambling thoughts of the day.