Sleep patterns

Homebird said:

How can they do it?

There is a technique that is taught in mediation and oddly enough for army recruits that lets you focus and relax in around 2 minutes. Details are talked about here: https://metro.co.uk/2018/09/03/armys-sleeping-technique-that-will-get-you-to-sleep-in-120-seconds-7907475/

I use it a lot and rarely have problems in staying awake, even when a bit stressed,

It requires some mental discipline which can be taught through repeated practice for most people, but if you lack the discipline then you will probably just get frustrated by it.

I think that might be traditional sleeping arrangements*, I don't know how anyone could sleep like that either, though if you've been doing it since you were little, maybe it's easier? 

*(I didn't see the clip but it sounds like what you see on things like My Neighbour Totoro!)

I thought of this thread this morning when I saw an event in Japan, I think, on Breakfast TV where people slept on mats on the floor and their sleep was monitored. It was not dark and a room full of people asleep. How can they do it?

That's what I thought, but I don't see how you can keep a diary if you don't know how much sleep you have.

My husband uses a watch that records the type of sleep, but that wouldn't work for me as they are hard and bulky. 

I thought the advice is to not look at the time if you wake up? That is confusing.

I have been given some information from NHS including on sleep. I don't understand sleep diaries. I find checking the time can make it worse, so if I were to keep a sleep diary I would disturb myself to note when I was not sleeping. 

I have to have coffee near the start of my working day when I am very tired. 

I struggle to sleep and have been on the NHS sleep Station programme but did not complete it as I felt they were too focused on sleep diary's. I agree, fighting it just makes it worse so I deal with being tired as best as I can. I fall asleep fine but staying asleep is the problem. I wake around 4am and struggle to doze back off so give up. Black coffee helps me wake up.  

Most days I bike to work. The trail I take passes a couple of parks, a botanical garden, and a community garden. That helps some. When the weather is "nice" the trail gets a lot of use. The combination of pedestrians and bicyclists, and now e-bikes as well, can make for a frustrating experience when it's crowded. Rain, cold, and snow reduce traffic quite a bit. That's when I find the ride most relaxing and restorative. When I get home, I usually take my dog to one of the local off-leash dog parks. Some of them are quite large and very nice. That can be helpful.

Alexa said:

I love your username, by the way! 

Thank you. I got it from a friend who was a soil scientist and always attached TNS to his name in lieu of PhD. I always liked that. After he passed, I decided to keep using the expression both as a way of remembering and honoring him, and because I just like it. He was an amazing person, and I feel lucky to have known him. Now he is returning to the soil, as he wanted.

TemporarilyNotSoil said:

By the end of the work day (or before) my head feels like mush and I desperately need time all alone, with no one around.

I'm with you. I tended to have long commuting journeys and usually driving. I valued that as time alone, especially in my last job, where I had 40 minutes in beautiful countryside. When really pushed, in my 40s, I spent 15-30 minutes in an old, deserted aerodrome with the windows down. I can still conjure the sound of bees and a lark singing.

The need for alone downtime is essential to decompress after sensory overload. Is there anywhere you can go after work where you can do that? I would take walks through woods or alongside water. 

I love your username, by the way! 

Cinnabar_wing said:

So of course last night was the one night in years that my son shouted out for me in the middle of the night

I was so tired yesterday, I decided I would take the last two sleeping tabs I had been saving from last july so I could get some proper sleep.

So of course last night was the one night in years that my son shouted out for me in the middle of the night -his legs were sore. I was up, sleeping pills or not, having heard him, gave him painkillers, and rubbed in some muscle rub cream and put on support bandages. At half 3-4 am. 

At least I was weary enough to get back to sleep again did get up late at 8.30, but the quarry of a full night sleep remains elusive. (Even with pills, it appears I'm a lighter sleeper than my husband who could sleep through a stream train arriving).

I have had sleep issues for as long as I can remember. I have an extremely difficult time getting myself to go to bed. Once I'm in bed, I usually fall asleep quickly and sleep deeply until I need to get up. The problem is, I can't seem to get to bed before 3:00 A.M. or later. On work days I need to be up at 7:30. I set four alarms and I find it very difficult to wake up. I think the root cause is that the only time I have quiet and can really let go of my state of high alert is after my wife goes to bed. As long as anyone is around, my brain is on alert and part of my attention is directed toward the other person, no matter what they are doing. At work I have literally hundreds of interruptions a day. Phone calls, vistors coming in, and staff needing something from me, often right away. By the end of the work day (or before) my head feels like mush and I desperately need time all alone, with no one around. People ask me "Is it a want or a need." I can't state it emphatically enough: It is a need. Even without work, I would need time with no external input, but work makes it worse. I have not been able to come up with a workable solution. I've tried all the things. All my life, I've wondered why. I thought it was due to a lack of discipline, or willpower, or something. It wasn't until I started suspecting that I am autistic and started reading everything I could about it that I discovered that this appears to be a pretty common issue for many autistic people. At least I know that it's not just me, and it's not some sort of character flaw. It hasn't helped me come up with a solution, but I don't beat myself up about it as much as I once did.

NotLikeThemButICanPretend said:

It sucks because I feel that it halts my gym progress because I'm not getting that essential recovery sleep. 

That's a shame. 

My sleep is really inconsistent and I wake frequently throughout the night. No matter how much sleep I get, I never feel exhausted and have spent days awake at times.

Been through the NHS ringer to no avail. Even Zopiclone did nothing for me. I don't take anything for it now. I just get on with it. Fighting only makes it worse. It sucks because I feel that it halts my gym progress because I'm not getting that essential recovery sleep. 

Marcd94 said:

I’m always tired but can’t shut off. 

Hugs.

I’ve had sleep troubles most of my life. I take sleeping tablets off the doctor, but they don’t even work that well to be honest, and I’m never full of energy. I’m always tired but can’t shut off. 

Last night I had a really good nights sleep, for once it was actually cold enough, I can't sleep when the night time temperature is above 10.C, or rather I sleep really lightly and not very restfully.

It dosen't help that I wak up to turn over and then Fearn and Boris also have to turn over or change sides of the bed, depending on which way I'm facing.

I've always been an owl rather than a lark, naturally going o sleep about 1 or 2 am and not getting up until about 11am, often later when I've slept badly. I get stress insomnia if I have to get up early.

I've done my share of getting up early, 6 or 7am to be glad not to have to do it anymore and I refuse to do it unless I really have too.

I think a lot of this sleep hygene stuff is a load of wallop, if I had to sleep in a room with no pictures on the wall, no books, I'd wake up and think I was in a funeral home! It might be alright if you have the space to be able to put everything away and not have a chairdrobe, and stuff, but really how many of us do and I like my picture of a bull, I feel like he's watching over me and keeping me safe.

I suffer from what I call the 4 O clock syndrome.

Around 4pm I can't stay awake and have been subject to a disciplinary meeting leading to dismissal for sleeping on duty. (Although there were a dozen other reasons for sacking me).

Around 4am I wake up and can't fall back asleep.

Cinnabar_wing said:

Last year I got so stressed and burntout I started only getting 4 hours or so before just waking up, and I'm still struggling with this, getting between 4-6 hours and then waking up and not getting back to sleep. I would love to not be getting up in the morning tired.

During my last relationship, my partner's snoring would wake me up and it would take me a couple of hours to get back to sleep. As I was getting up before 5, it often meant there was no chance of catching up on sleep.

I really sympathise. 

Expecto_Patronum said:

I think I have a naturally late bed time but due to work, I tend to be tired enough to fall asleep at a normal time.

That's what happened to me when I worked. I had flexible working hours and forced myself to start as early as I could in order to be able to leave early. I just couldn't cope with working until six, which I would have had to do if I slept in.