Sleep Tips- Not waking up at same time so early!

I'm losing sleep because my body seems to wake up at the same old time: 2:30 am. I did have some issues with my bed clock for a few days where I wore my watch to sleep until I got the table clock fixed.

But now my body doesn't easily get out of the habit of waking up at that freakin' hr.

I rarely use a clock alarm to wake me up. My body adjusts to waking up around particular times so that I have enough time to change, etc. and get to work.

So I've tried going to bed earlier..ie. even 9:30-10:00 pm. Forget about going to bed much later, I'm not a night person.

I can't imagine you'd just spontaneously wake up at the same time every night unless there was something extraneous waking you up. Maybe try earplugs or an eye mask - not an ideal way to sleep, but sometimes necessary.

I wake up at the same time at night, several nights in a row. I go back to sleep, though. My body goes through cycles. The time I wake up varies, but I always wake up at least once. And the time is "exact," like 2:17.
Shooting Star, you might have to force yourself to go to bed later for a few nights, to break the cycle.

Often I can go back to sleep if I wake up too early. So maybe I have to go to bed even earlier...:confused: Which will be quite early.

Oak: I can train my body to wake up at specific times ...to ie. catch an early train or start a super early bike ride..@4:30 am. I used to leave home for a previous workplace site...@5:15 am. I've been like this for most of my adult life. I rarely need an alarm clock. But do at least need a bed clock.

With some of these annoying too early wake-ups, I get a mild short hot flash for 2-3 min. Which has not been the norm for me but then going into menopause isn't totally smooth either.

It is rare for me to go to bed at ....midnight or so.

I struggle with sleep problems sometimes, usually caused by too much stress or too many things to think about. They don't have to be negative things, just my head being busy. I'm usually a light sleeper, but stress will cause me to sleep even lighter, wake up at any disturbance, or wake up at the end of every sleep cycle, if I've understood my sleep theory. It sounds like you may have a sleep cycle that ends about 2:30, and you're having trouble getting into the next one. I believe it's common for one's core temperature to rise a little at the end of a sleep cycle too, so the hot flashes may be "telling" your body to wake up.

Right now we're selling a house which means busy evenings meeting new people and having to remember lots of little details, and I have to sleep with an eye mask and ear plugs every night. Truth be told I'd love to sleep completely alone a night once in a while because I sleep a lot better then, but I haven't had the heart to suggest that to my dh yet :-)

Not having an alarm clock or using a different one can make me sleep worse as well, I can be incredibly sensitive to any subconscious idea that I need to "pay attention" rather than just relax and go to sleep.

That is my life..for the last 3 years. Go to bed, fall asleep well and quickly and then wake up at around the same time 0230--315, toss and turn until it's time to get up. It's totally peri-menopause's fault. I have what I consider pretty good "sleep hygiene" habits - no caffeine after noon, eat well, exercise a lot and try not to do it too late, go to bed at the same time, try to wake up at the same time, bedroom is cool and dark, cover my clock, have a fan going for white noise. I rarely watch tv. My only downfall would be computer use before bed, but I don't always do that. I'm planning on getting some Gunnar glasses for computer use in the evening. I do notice that when I get my period- that first night is toally bliss and I get the best sleep.

LPH, don't feel bad about sleeping by yourself either. I do it a lot. My sleep is so miserable -I wake up so easily and DH has myoclonic jerks, snores, rubs his whiskers in his sleep- all which makes my poor sleep even worse. DH totally gets it. Many girlfriends I have spoken to sleep alone (sometimes) as well. I think this is something that is more common than you think, people just don't want to admit it.

I was/am in the same boat. A year ago, I was getting up every morning at 4:25 AM. I would toss and turn until about 5:30 AM, only to have my alarm go off at 6:00. I had no problem going to sleep but I had an issue staying asleep. It really started affecting my life as I was constantly tired, had no energy and was always on edge. I went to the Dr and she actually gave me a 10 day supply of sleeping pills. She said that my natural body clock was off (due to stress as I was going through a stressful situation at the time) and I just needed to get it back on track. I ended up using 3 of the sleeping pills and it worked. I would not recommend sleeping pills for everyone as I know they are highly addictive, but they worked for me.

Recently, the same thing started happening again. I think it's because I've been exercising at night (9:15-10:00) and I have a very big presentation for work coming up that I'm nervous about. I'm hoping that after the presentation, I'll go back to normal.

I do find that when I wake up, I'm usually extremely hot so it could have something to do with that as well.

Extended release melatonin. Take it from a night shifter :)

Melatonin has worked for several of my clients, both adult and children. The psychiatrist I work with recommends it a lot.
I could never exercise at 9 PM. In fact, if I exercise after 4-5 PM, it will keep me up.
I find it ironic that 4:30 AM is "waking up early," for most. I wake up at that time, regularly, especially in the summer, when I ride early. I get up at 4:50 2 days a week all year, to go to the gym at 5:30. I go out and ride at 5-5:30 at least one day a week, until the snow flies. Other days I sleep until 6 or so, but when I stopped teaching, it felt very indulgent to sleep to 7 AM as I started doing (and staying up later). I go to bed around 10-10:30 and have no trouble getting up early.

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Originally Posted by Crankin

Melatonin has worked for several of my clients, both adult and children. The psychiatrist I work with recommends it a lot.
I could never exercise at 9 PM. In fact, if I exercise after 4-5 PM, it will keep me up.
I find it ironic that 4:30 AM is "waking up early," for most. I wake up at that time, regularly, especially in the summer, when I ride early. I get up at 4:50 2 days a week all year, to go to the gym at 5:30. I go out and ride at 5-5:30 at least one day a week, until the snow flies. Other days I sleep until 6 or so, but when I stopped teaching, it felt very indulgent to sleep to 7 AM as I started doing (and staying up later). I go to bed around 10-10:30 and have no trouble getting up early.

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I normally rise at 4 am during the week, and settle down at night shortly before 10:00, earlier if I am tired. I've long had problems both going to sleep and staying asleep, so I've been experimenting recently with winding down an hour or so before bed. No electronic stimulation for at least a full hour - two hours is better, I lower my lights and I installed Flux on my computer that automatically dims/changes the tint on my monitor an hour before scheduled sunset. I've been told it works even better to move to candlelight that last hour as apparently the color of candlelight doesn't interfere the way that bright white light does, but I've not gone that far. The result is I am now sleeping until my alarm goes off, and going to sleep is much easier. I started all of this at the same time I started my Primal/Paleo experiment a month ago (which is no longer an experiment but permanent) so it is difficult to know if it is a combination of giving up all grains which certainly does change my insulin patterns or just my particular style of winding down. Low blood sugar can also wake us up at night. I also try to sleep in during the weekend without an alarm, but am generally up by 6:30. I cannot exercise any later than 7:00 or I can't get to sleep.

If I had a choice, I wouldn't exercise so late but it's the only option I have if I want to get any exercise in during the week. I work full time in NYC and with my commute, I end up leaving my house at 7 and coming home about 7:30.
I also have 2 kids at home and have to get them ready in the morning. My husband goes yo work at 5 and also commutes into NYC and usually works 12-14 hour days. Basically, in the morning, I'm trying to get the kids and myself ready. When I get home at night, I cook dinner, help with homework, tidy up, prepare for the next day and then puthetis to bed which is around 9. After they go to bed is when I have 'me' time. Since I'm trying to get fit, I've been trying to ride or do exercise during that time and them I will take a shower and go to bed. Totally not ideal but got to make do. I've tried exercising in the morning but found that I am more motivated at night.
When the kids get a bit older, I'm hoping that I can start exercising at a normal time but for now I have to sacrifice my sleep a little to get fit. I know that many of you probably go through a similar routine as we are all busy but I did find that yoga has been very helpful. On the nights that I pop in a yoga DVD, I tend to sleep better.

I have tried melatonin but didn't realize they make quick release! That is what I need as the issue for me is staying asleep.....

I think low blood sugar wakes me up about that time too. Actually I think what happens is one of the sleep cycles comes to an end about then, and if I've been eating sugar a lot, instead of going into the next one I wake up. And I feel absolutely insane. The world is so dark & angry. I know it's a chemical imbalance thing going on, and I know it's because of the sugar & insulin highs & lows getting out of hand.

I've been struggling to start a sugar detox. I really hope this weekend is the one that will be successful!

I will wake up at exactly the same time, and it's usually because I'm thirsty. I take a swig from my bedside water bottle and feel much better and usually fall back to sleep quickly. Lavender oil also helps. I put a dab on my temPles and I'm out.

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Originally Posted by Melalvai

I've been struggling to start a sugar detox. I really hope this weekend is the one that will be successful!

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It will take more than just a weekend. Sugar detox is a great thing. Not just refined sugars, but white carbs: pasta, potatoes, bread, rice...it took me 8 days of feeling pretty bad, but after that it's really great. Much more energy, sleep better, wake up happy, lost almost 10 lbs. give yourself 30 days and see how it makes you feel.

As Crankin suggests, Melatonin. Experiment taking it 60 to 90 minutes before you plan to go to bed.

I had a similar issue and my doc thought it could be low blood sugar. He recommended eating a small snack witha bit of fat and protein: like a hardboiled egg or a couple of almonds. It did help . . . Hope you find a solution!

I have a have had a hard time staying asleep for many years....close to 7. I have tried all of the OTC including Melatonin without success. My Dr. had me try Ambien and that did not work either. I can't tell you how many times I will fall asleep around 930/10 pm and wake up around midnight and stay awake for the remainder of the night. It is pretty frustrating. I think some of it is hormonal ( I am in my early 40s). So in short I feel for you Shootingstar. If you find something that works let me know!! :)

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Originally Posted by tulip

It will take more than just a weekend. Sugar detox is a great thing. Not just refined sugars, but white carbs: pasta, potatoes, bread, rice...it took me 8 days of feeling pretty bad, but after that it's really great. Much more energy, sleep better, wake up happy, lost almost 10 lbs. give yourself 30 days and see how it makes you feel.

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Sorry, I didn't mean it would happen in a weekend, I meant I hoped I would be more successful quitting sugar this time (which started this weekend). So far I'm doing better at staying away from it. It 'helped' that I had a horrible panic attack in the middle of Sunday night. Not 100% sure of the cause of the panic attack but a strong suspicion that all the crap I've been eating the last few months contributed, so I have a strong motivation to do whatever is necessary not to repeat that horrible experience.

In the past, I haven't paid attention to how quitting sugar affects my sleep. Everything else that improves does so dramatically over 2-3 months.

My daughter wanted to make me a mug-cake last night. I didn't want the sugar but she really wanted to do something for me and she had already made me a fruit smoothie. (My panic attack scared her as well as me & her dad; taking care of me is how she copes.) My 'rule' is no sugar or HFCS, unless someone makes something for me, because she loves to bake desserts, and she gets a lot of enjoyment out of baking them for us. However, I decided I would only try her desserts, not use them as an excuse to eat 3/4 of the pan of brownies. I told her she could make the mug cake but she would have to eat most of it herself. She was ok with that. Interestingly, I was pretty tired (from not having gotten much sleep due to the panic attack), and the sugar crash of the small bit that I ate put me to sleep at 8:30 pm, and I didn't wake up until 5 am. So that actually worked out pretty well.

Panic attacks are not caused by food.

No, but I think what she meant is that bad food contributed. I know that what I eat most definitely affects my mood. I've never had panic attacks, but if I'm going into a stressful situation I try to eat food that I know keeps me "mellow and stable".

Some foods may be calming, some may upset your GI system, and others (caffeine) will keep you up. A panic attack is a sudden surge of physiological arousal that occurs unexpectedly. Think heart palps, shortness of breath, dizziness, sweating, tingling in extremities. This is accompanied by psychological symptoms like feeling unreal, feeling trapped and wanting to escape, thinking you're dying or going nuts.
We don't know why this happens, except to say that some people are predisposed to them and it is more common in those who experience other types of anxiety. It also runs in families.

I have been having horrible issues with sleep and have found that Valerian root tea(I do have to drink 2 servings) + melatonin(I also take more then the recommended dose) + sleep related herbal capsules(multiple natural herbs to help with sleep aid).

Otherwise I wake up at about 2:30 and am up for a few hours and am worthless the next day......

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Originally Posted by limewave

I had a similar issue and my doc thought it could be low blood sugar. He recommended eating a small snack witha bit of fat and protein: like a hardboiled egg or a couple of almonds. It did help . . . Hope you find a solution!

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This may sound like an incredibly stupid question, but do you eat the snack before bedtime or when you wake up in the middle if the night and can't fall back asleep?

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Originally Posted by indysteel

This may sound like an incredibly stupid question, but do you eat the snack before bedtime or when you wake up in the middle if the night and can't fall back asleep?

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Before bedtime, I've had to deal with this as well. Not since dropping all grains from my diet though - most of my sleep problems disappeared when I did that.

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Originally Posted by shootingstar

I'm losing sleep because my body seems to wake up at the same old time: 2:30 am. I did have some issues with my bed clock for a few days where I wore my watch to sleep until I got the table clock fixed...

So I've tried going to bed earlier..ie. even 9:30-10:00 pm. Forget about going to bed much later, I'm not a night person.

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Delicate question - how old are you? I never had a problem sleeping until my mid-40s when I hit perimenopause. I still wake up in the middle of the night if I'm stressed about something.
Going to bed one hour later actually does seem to reset my body clock somehow when I'm struggling with a long bout of insomnia.
Try valerian as well. I find I can only take it for 3 or 4 nights at a time, because then it starts working a little too well, and I have trouble getting up.

Am 53. Interesting reading all the things that people try. Will look into this.

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Originally Posted by indysteel

This may sound like an incredibly stupid question, but do you eat the snack before bedtime or when you wake up in the middle if the night and can't fall back asleep?

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Before bedtime. Usually an hour or so before bed.

Try white noise. You don't have to go out and buy a fancy machine. I bring my laptop into the room and go to www.simplynoise.com, which is free. The brown noise is my favorite. Has been working well for me.

I think this is the food problem that we eat. Sometimes we eat lot of food before sleeping so that this problem happens. I think you should reduce the amount of food from your meal so that you can sleep well.