# Sleep issue...waking up too early



## highwood (Jan 12, 2012)

I often have problems waking earlier than I want...I have no problem going to sleep but often will wake up at 4 or 4:30 which is about an hour to an hour and a half earlier than I have to be up.

I am thinking I have to stay up later...right now I go to bed between 9 and 10. With this time change this weekend, it concerns me as now I will wake up even earlier. Most people like the extra sleep but this time change in November has never been good for me. 

Suggestions please

Someone told me to keep staying up later then eventually over time I will sleep longer. Right now I could go to bed at midnight and still wake up very early. But they said it takes time to adapt then eventually your body will really need the sleep and you will develop a better sleep habit.

I admit too that I never set the alarm as I always wake up early anyway, not sure if that adds to my waking up too early as maybe my subconscious wants me to wake up so I don't oversleep...I don't know. I am frustrated for sure.


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## FeministInPink (Sep 13, 2012)

I have the opposite problem... I'm a total night owl, and I am miserable waking up in the mornings. I'm almost always sleep later than I want.

Try what your friend suggested. Also, even though you have no problem falling asleep, you might want to try some OTC sleep aid, like ZZZquil or the generic equivalent. You don't need it to fall asleep, but it might help KEEP you asleep longer.


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## john117 (May 20, 2013)

Unfortunately I have the same issue. To top that off my idiot physician changed my medication and I drink water like a fish and guess what. Bathroom wake up. To top this off I slept with our cat for 5-6 months and his schedule was early wake up too.

Now the doc adjusted the dosage and I don't wake up early to go bathroom and the cat is in college. But I often wake up at 5 to 530 which is an hour or two early. 

I can usually fall asleep easily listening to books on tape. Try that.


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## FeministInPink (Sep 13, 2012)

@highwood, if you don't mind my asking, how old are you? Sometimes, waking up earlier is simply part of getting older.

When I was younger, my parents always slept in, as late as they possibly could. No one was ever awake to make me breakfast or help me get ready for school. But now--they're both 66--they both get up at the crack of dawn, even on the weekends. Been that way for about 10 years now, I would guess. Even though they still go to bed at the same time as they did when I was a kid, around 11 pm.


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## Rubix Cubed (Feb 21, 2016)

I just talked to a doctor, for a friend about this and for OTC he suggested benadryl.


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## FeministInPink (Sep 13, 2012)

Rubix Cubed said:


> I just talked to a doctor, for a friend about this and for OTC he suggested benadryl.


ZZZquil and Advil PM, etc... have the exact same stuff as benadryl. There are a lot of options, all of which have the same ingredient.


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## Rubix Cubed (Feb 21, 2016)

FeministInPink said:


> ZZZquil and Advil PM, etc... have the exact same stuff as benadryl. There are a lot of options, all of which have the same ingredient.


 I get medicine head the next day from the 2 you mentioned and haven't from benadryl, maybe that's just me. I take ambien for sleep myself.


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## FeministInPink (Sep 13, 2012)

Rubix Cubed said:


> I get medicine head the next day from the 2 you mentioned and haven't from benadryl, maybe that's just me. I take ambien for sleep myself.


ohhh. Yeah, a lot of people get that if they take a full dose. A half dose works just as well for me, but without the next day medicine head.

Do you get the weird ambien dreams people talk about?


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## Emerging Buddhist (Apr 7, 2016)

FeministInPink said:


> @highwood, if you don't mind my asking, how old are you? Sometimes, waking up earlier is simply part of getting older.
> 
> When I was younger, my parents always slept in, as late as they possibly could. No one was ever awake to make me breakfast or help me get ready for school. But now--they're both 66--they both get up at the crack of dawn, even on the weekends. Been that way for about 10 years now, I would guess. Even though they still go to bed at the same time as they did when I was a kid, around 11 pm.


Age does make a difference... as well as what you feed yourself through the day. Cut back or out the sugars and caffeine after 3 in the afternoon, keep the smoke or alcohol minimized after 8-ish through the week, save it for weekends/non-work days.

I am awake yet again at near 2 AM... I went to bed at 10:00pm, slept for a little over 3 hours, will sign off here in a few and sleep for another 3-4 then up and at 'em for the day.

Much better than the 2-on, 2 off I slept for more than 3 decades! 

Oh... tried the OTC stuff mentioned about 7-10 years ago in my mid 40's, did not like it a bit, just not for me.

Meditation was better... but you knew I would say that. :grin2:


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## highwood (Jan 12, 2012)

FeministInPink said:


> @highwood, if you don't mind my asking, how old are you? Sometimes, waking up earlier is simply part of getting older.
> 
> When I was younger, my parents always slept in, as late as they possibly could. No one was ever awake to make me breakfast or help me get ready for school. But now--they're both 66--they both get up at the crack of dawn, even on the weekends. Been that way for about 10 years now, I would guess. Even though they still go to bed at the same time as they did when I was a kid, around 11 pm.



Hi, I am 49. Last night I slept not bad...woke up at about 5:30, went to bed about 10:00 but I started to think if this was past time change, I would have been up at 4:30

I am okay with 5:30 or 6:00 any earlier and I hate that...boo to time change!!


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## highwood (Jan 12, 2012)

Oddly enough waking up say at 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning and then tossing and turning for two hours then falling back to sleep is usually the only way I can sleep a little later. I would rather do that then wake up at 4:00 and not be able to get back to sleep. 

I think I will have to start staying up until 10:00 after time change then push it to 10:30. Hopefully over time my body will adjust and then we will be switching ahead 

Enough with this time change BS.


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## Masodipstick (Aug 6, 2017)

Have you ever tried melatonin? 

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-...t-answers/melatonin-side-effects/faq-20057874


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## FeministInPink (Sep 13, 2012)

highwood said:


> Hi, I am 49. Last night I slept not bad...woke up at about 5:30, went to bed about 10:00 but I started to think if this was past time change, I would have been up at 4:30
> 
> I am okay with 5:30 or 6:00 any earlier and I hate that...boo to time change!!


I'm going to guess it's not age-related, then


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## highwood (Jan 12, 2012)

Masodipstick said:


> Have you ever tried melatonin?
> 
> https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-...t-answers/melatonin-side-effects/faq-20057874


I have in the past, the only thing is I found it left me feeling drowsy the next day.


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## Masodipstick (Aug 6, 2017)

highwood said:


> I have in the past, the only thing is I found it left me feeling drowsy the next day.


Maybe cut it in half?


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## toblerone (Oct 18, 2016)

With the active ingredient in Benadryl, its drowsy effects last for a long time- so it will likely make you feel tired well into the morning after waking up. You can try to mitigate this by lowering the dosage (cutting pills in half). It'll be fine if you're the type that just needs extra help falling asleep.

From what I hear these days, melatonin should be taken well before bedtime to simulate the effects of natural melatonin building up in your system. If you take it too late (and don't stay asleep long enough), the melatonin is still technically telling your system it is sleepy time- which is why you may feel drowsy during the day.

The reason you wake up so early may be due to the same reasons others have trouble falling asleep: your clock is out of whack. There's CBT for adjusting your sleep schedule you can try but I'm not familiar with the methods.


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## Rubix Cubed (Feb 21, 2016)

FeministInPink said:


> ohhh. Yeah, a lot of people get that if they take a full dose. A half dose works just as well for me, but without the next day medicine head.
> 
> Do you get the weird ambien dreams people talk about?


 I actually have fairly good/cool dreams when I take it, but I do have occasional memory loss from between when I take it and when I go to sleep (30 mins. or so).You know what your doing at the time but don't remember it occasionally the next day, like a date rape drug I'd guess. I also feel it gives me short-term memory loss (names mostly) for a few days after I take it. I'm trialing Lunesta now which is supposed to be a little less psychotropic in its effect.

I had tried melatonin in the past to help with 'jetlag' type sleep issues because that was it's doctor advised purpose, not long-term sleep cycle repair, and it gave me a restless sleep with some really whack dreams.


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## growing_weary (Jul 23, 2017)

If you take the right amount (trial and error) of melatonin it should help with the early morning awakening. cbd oil is supposed to help as well but that's if you're ok with taking it.


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## toblerone (Oct 18, 2016)

I could write a novel of a post about being on Ambien. But those days are long gone.


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## highwood (Jan 12, 2012)

Hmmm...might be worth trying melatonin maybe for the first week after the time change. I will research it and see what time of day it is best to take it.


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## wilson (Nov 5, 2012)

I have this exact same problem. I call it my 4:30 wake up call. I think the official name is "middle of the night insomnia". I've had it for years. The difficulty with waking up at that time is that it doesn't leave enough time for a remedy. If you take drugs at that time, they take a while to kick in and you'll still be feeling the effects when you need to wake up. If you get up and read, it may take a while to feel sleepy enough to go back to bed. 

My recommendation is to just lie there and relax until it's time to wake up. Sleep is not just an on/off kind of state. Your conscious may be aware, but other parts of your body may still be in a restful state. And you can be dozing in and out and not even realize it. Your conscious just pauses while you doze and then picks up where it left off. You may think you've been awake for hours, but really you may have been dozing in and out during that time. I often wake up at 4:30 and rest quietly in bed until 7 or 7:30 and I feel fine during the day. Sometimes I'll slip back into sleep, but not always.

It also helps to unplug well before bedtime. TV is okay, but no computer or internet. And certainly stay off your phone if you wake up early. If that's an issue for you, it might be a good idea to leave your phone in the car or something so you're not tempted to check it. Getting on your phone will completely wake you up and you'll likely feel tired during the day.


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## David Darling (Oct 22, 2016)

Drugs, even OTC and alcohol, mess with your natural sleep rhythms, so actually worsen your sleep in the long-run.

Many people (including me in the past) have unhealthy thoughts about insomnia - "I'll be a wreck at work tomorrow", "What's wrong with me? It's not normal to be awake at 4", " I NEED 8 hours to function" etc etc.

I found CBTI (CBT for Insomnia) slowly sorted me out. There are some high quality yet affordable courses online.


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## knightRider (Dec 31, 2014)

A good strenuous workout at the gym often helps me to sleep like a baby. When I have rest days I often wake up in the middle of the night.


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## Barth (Aug 9, 2017)

AVOID MEDICATIONS - they all have side effects.


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## highwood (Jan 12, 2012)

Update:

So sunday morning woke up at 4:30, Monday morning at 4:45 and this morning at 3:30. This time change is brutal for me but trying not to get stressed about it,I figure eventually my body will get used to it andstart sleeping later.

I have been tired the last couple of evenings starting at about 5:30 I want to go and work out in the evenings but all I feel like doing is laying on the couch and dozing off. Last night I wanted to go to kickboxing but was too lazy and tired to go.

I think I will make a to do list for myself today and everything I have on it I will make sure I do, I hate having unproductive evenings. I don't want to give into my tiredness.


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## wilson (Nov 5, 2012)

Have you checked into if you have sleep apnea? It's not a cause of insomnia, but it may be what's waking you up and then the insomnia kicks in. Typically you test for apnea by doing a sleep study, but that can be expensive. Another way is to get a pulse oximeter which can record overnight. This is an inexpensive device that you put on your finger to test your blood oxygen level. If you have apnea, you will typically see the oxygen levels dipping down while you sleep.

One thing I do if my mind is racing too much to relax is to listen to some yoga videos on YouTube (listen, not watch). They are calm in tone and don't have any sort of plot continuity in case I doze on and off. For videos where there's a story, if I doze in and out I realize I missed some of the plot. But with yoga instruction, there are often pauses and such so that it still seems seamless even if I miss chunks and my conscious is able to keep listening.


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## UnicornCupcake (Dec 8, 2016)

I'm the same way.
I just feel like I have so much to do and so little time that sleep is a privilege I'm not allowed to enjoy until that mile has been ran, the laundry folded, etc.
I'd suggest keeping busier, but it sounds like you are. I am too so Id on't get why sleep is such a short lived experience for me.

I've been working on my mental game. Learning to zone out and genuinely relax more. Have you done anything like this? Have you changed up your diet?


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