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Trouble sleeping. Part of autism?

Deleted user
11 months ago

My sleep pattern is all over the place. It always has been, since I was a child. I feel tired so I go to bed and I either can't fall asleep or I fall asleep but wake up within an hour and then the rest of the night is a write off! When I'm awake after the first hour I try to sleep but I look at the clock and it's only been ten minutes and the rest of the night goes like that.

I used to lay there and try to sleep, I read online about how doing things keeps you awake but not doing things makes no difference so I stay up now and listen to music. I'm as active at night now as I am during the daytime, I feel tired, but not overly tired.

I feel like I should be more tired than I am. The biggest downside is that I feel worse mentally than I used to but other than that I don't get any adverse effects. Except for constant yawning and digestive problems, like chronic belching.

Ok maybe I do get some adverse effects No mouth 

I don't know what to do about this though. I've always had trouble with my sleep since being a child and it's worse now I'm an adult.

My constant anxiety doesn't exactly help either. I looked it up online and read about fatal insomnia and now I've got that running through my mind. Curse me for going to Dr Google! Sweat smile 

I've tried everything with my room and bed, new pillows, new bed, blackout curtains and my sleep hasn't improved so I'm not sure what to do from here.

I'm open to any advice you may have and thank you in advance.

Parents
  • 11 months ago

    Sorry about your sleep problems.

    I've been in a constant state of burnout since my mum died and that's affected my sleeping. I'm exhausted all the time but I don't sleep well, constantly wake up throughout the night and when I do sleep I don't feel refreshed after.

    So it could be you're suffering from burnout but then it could be one of those autistic things as sleep disturbance is a common occurrence for people like us.

    Sometimes though things can affect you without realising it. I always make sure of these now.

    My room isn't too hot White check mark 

    My room isn't too noisy from say the computer or a piece of paper rustling White check mark 

    My pyjamas are a good material that won't upset me White check mark 

    Outside isn't too bright for me from street lights White check mark 

    No caffeine during the evening White check mark

    I have a glass of water in case I need a drink White check mark 

    My phone is fully charged in case of emergencies White check mark 

    Any one of these things can affect me so you might like to make your own list and see if anything resonates with you. It might help to at least giving you a better nights sleep.

Reply
  • 11 months ago

    Sorry about your sleep problems.

    I've been in a constant state of burnout since my mum died and that's affected my sleeping. I'm exhausted all the time but I don't sleep well, constantly wake up throughout the night and when I do sleep I don't feel refreshed after.

    So it could be you're suffering from burnout but then it could be one of those autistic things as sleep disturbance is a common occurrence for people like us.

    Sometimes though things can affect you without realising it. I always make sure of these now.

    My room isn't too hot White check mark 

    My room isn't too noisy from say the computer or a piece of paper rustling White check mark 

    My pyjamas are a good material that won't upset me White check mark 

    Outside isn't too bright for me from street lights White check mark 

    No caffeine during the evening White check mark

    I have a glass of water in case I need a drink White check mark 

    My phone is fully charged in case of emergencies White check mark 

    Any one of these things can affect me so you might like to make your own list and see if anything resonates with you. It might help to at least giving you a better nights sleep.

Children
  • 11 months ago in reply to Profiler

    I'm in the middle of trying a 6 week sleep programme to fix my sleep.  I'm fortunate in that work is paying for it as it's normally expensive or you have to be referred by a GP.  Jury is out at the minute, some things are helping though.

    In addition to above tips from Profiler and Amerantin, I am currently trying the following:

    • Get up at the same time every day.  This is said to be the most important - for me this is 07:00.
    • Not go to bed until 00:30, I'm struggling with this as I feel I'm not getting enough sleep.  I think the idea is to get used to your bed/bedroom just being for sleep.  I am finding that I'm going to sleep much quicker and waking up less in the night.
    • No TV/screens/phone 1-2 hrs before bed.
    • No clock/TV in the bedroom.  The idea with the clock is that if you wake in the night you might start clock watching and stress yourself out with how long you are awake and that you are running out of sleep time.
    • Try not to drink/smoke within a few hrs of bedtime.  I'm struggling with this one and I'm still drinking water to stay hydrated but trying not to have too much so I don't need the loo.
    • Earlier in the evening going over what I've done that day, what is outstanding, how I felt (if I can determine that) and what I'm doing the next day.  The idea is that you put things to one side several hours before going to bed so then you aren't worrying/thinking about it when you go to bed.  I'm an overthinker so I struggle a bit with this too.

    All sounds a bit restrictive I know, there is a part of me rejecting stuff because of that but I'm trying to ignore that and give it a go to see if it helps.  It does sound like it may be worth a trip to the GP, particularly around the digestive issues.  I used to have Night Terrors and about 20 years ago they figured out this was partially caused by acid reflux so keeping that under control is also important for me.