Sleep

[O2Bfree]

My hormones started shutting down as I turned 50. Good sleep appears to be related. For the past 6 years, I struggle to get more than 3.5 hrs of sleep.

I fall asleep just fine. I just wake up for no good reason. Being retired, I have no stress at all. I exercise quite a bit and am otherwise very healthy.

Here's a few notes from my experience.
1. I solved the waking up to pee problem by exercising my bladder during the day. I just hold it until I am uncomfortable. This helps condition the muscles involved.

2. I believe I have early rising cortisol. My cortisol just starts its cycle at the wrong time. The causes of this vary, but I have settled on the idea that my brain blood sugar drops during sleep and this triggers a cortisol response to wake me up. I have had recent success by eating an apple and some granola within an hour of going to sleep.

3. I have also been eating more beans in my diet; black beans and baked beans. The idea is beans contain a resistant fiber that breaks down in the large intestine. This fiber feeds bacteria in the large intestine and this (somehow) restores a natural balance.

With these lifestyle changes, I can generally sleep atleast 5 hours and sometimes can get 6... Woo Hoo!

Also, when I must get good sleep (like motor-home driving days), I take 5mg extended release melatonin.

Me too, what a drag! I rarely had trouble with sleep when I was younger. Fell asleep quickly and slept solid 8+ hours, through a full bladder and various noises, such as the commercial ice machine that was on the other side of my bedroom wall in the apartment where I lived for in my 20s. But ebbing hormones have put an end to that. Since then I've tended to wake up around 2-3 a.m., often needing to make a bathroom run. (I shall try your bladder expansion exercise, U.S.!) Then I start tinkering with thoughts, and anxiety kicks in. Funny how the silliest little things can trigger anxiety at night, but the next morning they don't bother you. I've found a small dose of melatonin, around 1.25 mg, helpful for getting back to sleep if it's not too close to morning.

When we go on road trips and sleep in our van, I sleep great, 8 or 9 hours no problem. Maybe it's the combination of the daily adventure, the coziness of the van, and the fresh air blowing through. Possibly, these effects would wear off if we were retired and spent more time on the road.

Haven't noticed if beans help me sleep or not...they might help, but I think DH's sleep suffers.

 

[audreyh1]

Poor sleeper checking in!

My hormones started shutting down as I turned 50. Good sleep appears to be related. For the past 6 years, I struggle to get more than 3.5 hrs of sleep.

I fall asleep just fine. I just wake up for no good reason. Being retired, I have no stress at all. I exercise quite a bit and am otherwise very healthy.

Here's a few notes from my experience.
1. I solved the waking up to pee problem by exercising my bladder during the day. I just hold it until I am uncomfortable. This helps condition the muscles involved.

2. I believe I have early rising cortisol. My cortisol just starts its cycle at the wrong time. The causes of this vary, but I have settled on the idea that my brain blood sugar drops during sleep and this triggers a cortisol response to wake me up. I have had recent success by eating an apple and some granola within an hour of going to sleep.

3. I have also been eating more beans in my diet; black beans and baked beans. The idea is beans contain a resistant fiber that breaks down in the large intestine. This fiber feeds bacteria in the large intestine and this (somehow) restores a natural balance.

With these lifestyle changes, I can generally sleep atleast 5 hours and sometimes can get 6... Woo Hoo!

Also, when I must get good sleep (like motor-home driving days), I take 5mg extended release melatonin.

Waking up during the night and not going being able to go back to sleep for hours is a common symptom of perimenopause/menopause. Mine was mostly solved by progesterone which I was low in (compared to my estrogen level). I really didn't realize how bad my sleeping was until I started the progesterone. It also eliminated some chronic general feeling of anxiety I had been experiencing - low, but definitely there.

 

[UtahSkier]

Just to be clear.... I'm a guy.... aka Cis-Gender Male and the hormones that shutdown are Testosterone and Thyroid.

 

[haha]

I’d like to prolong that dirt nap as long as I can

No worries, dirt nap is eternal.

 

[UnrealizedPotential]

I sleep alright. I must say there are a lot of nights when I wake up after about 4 hours sleep and I will watch TV for an hour or so. I can go right back to sleep. I do fine on about 6.5 or 7 hours sleep every night.

 

[MarieIG]

Adding to prior post. With regard to sleep quality, I drink a huge amount of coffee, so I believe that has a negative impact. If I remember I take melatonin at night, which usually will help me drift off for a few hours.

 

[deserat]

When I was working full time, sometimes it was difficult to sleep as my mind would race with things I needed to do or think about. However, in general, I did not and do not have issues sleeping unless I let my mind dwell on what could be overly emotional or stressful issues. I've found that picking up a book to read for 15 minutes or so makes me drowsy and diverts my mind to something that is not emotionally involved. For example, I have "The Wisdom of Frugality" and a biography of George Marshall near the bed right now.

The other think I've noticed if I have a particularly active day (hiking, working out, weights, skiing, etc), I have no problems getting to sleep. Sometimes, I take a nap in the middle of the day - I sleep when I am really drowsy, I don't try to stop it -but that then shifts my bedtime a few hours later. I do wake up at the same time in the morning between 0500 and 0630.

What I've noticed as I get older is jet lag affects me much more now. It takes my a lot longer to adapt on either side. I'm usually traveling to Europe and it's 9 hours difference from where I live. I don't bounce back as quickly.

I will echo what the ladies say about menopause. That was a much less sleep, hot flashes and heart pounding time for me. It was scary at times, however, it has really wound down now. Every now and then I'll get a hot flash along with a small rash on my arms. It's just the hormones getting out of whack, but it goes away quickly. It doesn't affect my sleep anymore.

 

[bloom2708]

Sleep is overrated. I will sleep when I die.

The sad thing is, if you don't get quality sleep you will likely meet death much sooner than you would have if you got 8 hours each night.

Some see sleep as a punishment. I go to bed about 9:30 to 10 and sleep until 6am most days. 8 to 8.5 hours.

If I do this I have no periods of drowsiness after lunch and do not need to nap. If I get less, then I notice I feel much worse.

Sleep is not punishment. I tell that to my 3 kids who refuse to go to sleep and are always walking around like zombies.

 

[O2Bfree]

There may be a gene mutation that allows some people to function normally on little sleep:

Gene mutation the real secret for successful short sleepers

"New scientific evidence suggests that a small percentage of people have a short sleep gene. It allows them to retain their ability to think clearly and make informed decisions while sleeping very little.

The research opposes the claims of some vocal short sleepers. These high-profile members of the so-called “sleepless elite” often brag about the competitive advantage of sleeping less than six hours per night. They preach that all of us can achieve more by sleeping less.

Donald Trump, for instance, boasts that he only needs 3 to 4 hours of nightly sleep. In one very Trump-like proclamation, he even claimed that sleep and success can’t co-exist. He once said in an interview, “How does somebody that’s sleeping 12 and 14 hours a day compete with someone that’s sleeping three or four?"

American icon Thomas Edison was an outspoken enemy of sleep. The father of the light bulb slept about 3 hours a day, dismissing sleep as a “heritage from our cave days.”

The new study identified a rare gene variant that provides a greater resistance to sleep deprivation. The gene mutation allows some people to get away with sleeping less than the rest of us.

Researchers compared 100 pairs of twins. They found that a twin with the p.Tyr362His variant of the BHLHE41 gene slept at least an hour less than his twin brother, who didn’t have the gene. This short-sleeping twin also had fewer mental errors during a 38-hour period without sleep. After sleep deprivation he required less recovery sleep than his twin brother.

The study is published in the August issue of the journal Sleep. It is only the second study of its kind to identify this type of short sleep gene."

I wonder what the world would be like if this gene were typical and "long sleepers" were rare?

 

[deserat]

I worked with an MD who was just like that - he only needed 4 hours of sleep. He used that time to have a business on the side....I need my 7-8 hours of sleep, but I work best early in the am, so I would be at work early and he and I would get our business done early around 0700 on the phone. I loved it as I got so much done so early.

But I did envy him his 4 hour requirement. I was amazed at all he did....and people consider me accomplished...he makes me a tyro, at best.

 

[mabuhay]

I was drinking a few beers at night, then having problems awakening early, at 3am, then not being able to get back to sleep. I guess it wore off, lol. After quitting alcohol 5 years ago, that problem completely went away.

 

[nash031]

I have complained to my wife for years about poor sleep. I always thought that I was just a super light sleeper, probably due to my time in the Navy conditioning me to be able to wake up and function at all hours. Indeed, it's come in handy when DD1 was a newborn/infant and kept my wife happy because I was OK functioning in the middle of the night.

Of course, as a competitive endurance athlete, chronic poor sleep is performance inhibitor, so it's something I work at trying to get better. I own a sleep mask; I've tried ear plugs to drown out any sounds which I think stir me in the middle of the night.

I've long known that I was a snorer when sleeping on my back, so I've generally opted to try to sleep on my stomach. To the detriment of my sleep, I cannot last long in that position, but it kept the wife asleep, so that was good... or so I thought. Sleeping on my back is most comfortable, probably the best for me and my hips, shoulders and neck all of which take more than enough abuse throughout my daily life. I'd prefer to be a back sleeper, but...

Finally, after years of frustration, I saw an ENT who was 50/50 as to whether I should perform a sleep study, but scheduled surgery to correct a crooked septum and enlarged tissue in my nasal passages which have made it harder for me to clear my sinuses and, get this, BREATHE for my entire life. Who knew?

He went ahead and ordered a sleep study since that was the reason I went to him in the first place. I went into the study assuming all would be well and I was just a light sleeper impacted by my environment; maybe we needed a new mattress or to have the dogs sleep elsewhere.

I did the sleep study... turns out, at 5'10" 149lbs and 41 years old, I have sleep apnea. I experience roughly 15 breathing interruptions per hour, all of which generally wake me up or keep me from having a deep sleep. Well, no wonder I hear my 12 lb dog walking on the carpet in the middle of the night - I'm already awake. No wonder I can function at 3am without much issue - I'm already awake. No wonder, as I've long put it, I wake up to a butterfly farting in China.

Perhaps the issue is I've rarely slept like I'm supposed to... and it just took me 41 years to figure it out. I have my appointment tomorrow with the sleep specialist to learn what it is that I'll need to do to improve my quality of sleep and help with my mild/moderate sleep apnea. After all these years of being tired, but functioning through it anyway, will I finally know what it's like to be well-rested on a regular basis?

 

[Skoach]

I have complained to my wife for years about poor sleep. I always thought that I was just a super light sleeper, probably due to my time in the Navy conditioning me to be able to wake up and function at all hours. Indeed, it's come in handy when DD1 was a newborn/infant and kept my wife happy because I was OK functioning in the middle of the night.

Of course, as a competitive endurance athlete, chronic poor sleep is performance inhibitor, so it's something I work at trying to get better. I own a sleep mask; I've tried ear plugs to drown out any sounds which I think stir me in the middle of the night.

I've long known that I was a snorer when sleeping on my back, so I've generally opted to try to sleep on my stomach. To the detriment of my sleep, I cannot last long in that position, but it kept the wife asleep, so that was good... or so I thought. Sleeping on my back is most comfortable, probably the best for me and my hips, shoulders and neck all of which take more than enough abuse throughout my daily life. I'd prefer to be a back sleeper, but...

Finally, after years of frustration, I saw an ENT who was 50/50 as to whether I should perform a sleep study, but scheduled surgery to correct a crooked septum and enlarged tissue in my nasal passages which have made it harder for me to clear my sinuses and, get this, BREATHE for my entire life. Who knew?

He went ahead and ordered a sleep study since that was the reason I went to him in the first place. I went into the study assuming all would be well and I was just a light sleeper impacted by my environment; maybe we needed a new mattress or to have the dogs sleep elsewhere.

I did the sleep study... turns out, at 5'10" 149lbs and 41 years old, I have sleep apnea. I experience roughly 15 breathing interruptions per hour, all of which generally wake me up or keep me from having a deep sleep. Well, no wonder I hear my 12 lb dog walking on the carpet in the middle of the night - I'm already awake. No wonder I can function at 3am without much issue - I'm already awake. No wonder, as I've long put it, I wake up to a butterfly farting in China.

Perhaps the issue is I've rarely slept like I'm supposed to... and it just took me 41 years to figure it out. I have my appointment tomorrow with the sleep specialist to learn what it is that I'll need to do to improve my quality of sleep and help with my mild/moderate sleep apnea. After all these years of being tired, but functioning through it anyway, will I finally know what it's like to be well-rested on a regular basis?

I was also trained to be alert at a moment's notice as a IT pro at megacorp for 30 years. By the end, it was 5-10 nightime events per month. Thank goodness for a RIF package at 50. Anyway....

I was diagnosed with sleep apnea at 48. Started CPAP, took about three days to get used to the mask. Spent the last 5 years sleeping like a baby! Wish the same for you!

 

[meleana]

I am thinking once I stop working I am eventually going to sleep much better and even if I wake up in the middle of the night like I do now at least I can fall back to sleep at some point knowing I don't need to get up at 3:30 am any longer.

 

[sengsational]

While working, I never woke up in the middle of the night and laid there for hours, but that's sometimes a problem now. The good news is that after about 20 minutes or so, I realize sleep ain't happenin' and I'll listen to a podcast. Like clockwork, after being awake for about 90 minutes, I'll go back to sleep. I used to believe that once I was awake in the morning at my usual get-up time, that was it....no more sleep. But now I've trained myself to go back to sleep in the morning to catch that lost hour and a half.

 

[Fedup]

I don’t have any problem. I guess it helps that I love to eat Jujube fruit, natural sleep inducer and it also lowers high blood pressure. Kill two birds in one stone that kind of thing. I have 4 jujube trees in my back yard.

 

[EastWest Gal]

Many here describe early morning awakening. That is my experience for the past 16 years. Before that I worked nights for 3 years.

I think I’ve turned into a biphasic sleeper. This article describes it well:

http://slumberwise.com/science/your-ancestors-didnt-sleep-like-you/

It’s an interesting read.