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+--- Thread: Waking every 2 -3 hours (/Thread-Waking-every-2-3-hours)
Waking every 2 -3 hours - Judy1843 - 07-15-2017
I wake every 2-3 hours at night and can only sleep for maybe 6 hours total so I never feel rested. I have problems falling back to sleep each time however my AHI is always below 2.
RE: Waking every 2 -3 hours - ajack - 07-15-2017
It's normal to arouse after a rem cycle, normally we aren't aware of it. They run every 90-120 minutes for most people.The main thing is not to stress about it or it will become an issue, If you can, just roll over and go back to sleep, or read a magazine for a while, till you are sleepy again. no blue spectrum light/TV/phone etc. If you have problems, google sleep hygiene
RE: Waking every 2 -3 hours - DavePaulson - 07-15-2017
I see you use sleepyhead, could you post a couple of charts.
Dave
RE: Waking every 2 -3 hours - silversnore - 07-15-2017
I have similar problems with sleeping short periods. I usually have problems when I have not used good sleep techniques, some of them are:
1. Have been inactive during the day
2. Taking naps especially close to bed time
3. Leaving the TV on all night
4. When I wake up browsing on the computer instead of staying in bed and trying to go back to sleep
There are other sleep related bad habits that I sometime practice that ruins my sleep. There are lots of reasons why we have interrupted sleep, apneas are a huge reason for most of us on this forum, medical reasons, but some are just bad habits that we induce upon ourselves. Sometimes the easiest fix is to examine what we are doing that is counterproductive and change those habits. There are several articles on the internet concerning not sleeping well, look at some of those and try some of their options. I think that our bodies set up certain rhythms and sometimes we have to retrain our systems, sometimes immediate success does not happen, we just need to keep trying. Good Luck!!
RE: Waking every 2 -3 hours - Judy1843 - 07-15-2017
You are so right! I have been doing 2 out of the four. I do not have a computer just iPhone so cannot post any charts.
Thank for your help!
RE: Waking every 2 -3 hours - robysue - 07-15-2017
(07-15-2017, 04:19 AM)Judy1843 Wrote: I wake every 2-3 hours at night and can only sleep for maybe 6 hours total so I never feel rested. I have problems falling back to sleep each time however my AHI is always below 2.Waking up after REM cycles is pretty common and normal, and it sounds to me like waking up every 2 or 3 hours is most likely due to these normal post-REM wakes. They only become an issue when you do things in the night that prolong the wakes instead of just rolling over in bed and quickly going back to sleep.
Some questions:
What's the first thing you do when you find yourself awake in the middle of the night? Do you immediately look at the clock and start figuring out how long it's been since the last wake and focusing on how little time there is before morning?
How long does it take you to fall back asleep after one of these wakes? Five to ten minutes? Ten to twenty minutes? Twenty to thirty minutes? More than 30 minutes?
How often do you look at the clock when you are trying to get back to sleep?
You also say that you are having a tough time sleeping more than 6 hours. I'd like a bit of context since in my own case, if I get 6 hours of sleep in a 6.5 hour "time in bed" window, I can feel pretty good, but if I only manage to get 6 hours of sleep in an 8 hour "time in bed" window, I'll feel pretty lousy because of all the time in bed that I spent fighting for sleep.
So a few more questions:
What's your normal sleep schedule look like? Do you have both a regular bedtime AND a regular wake up time? If so, what are they? If you don't have a regular bedtime and/or a regular wake up time, how irregular is the sleep schedule? Is the irregularity caused by working odd hours at the job, for example?
How much caffeine do you consume each day? How much alcohol? And how late in the day do you consume them?
Do you get any form of exercise on a regular basis?
Do you get some natural, outdoors light on most days?
RE: Waking every 2 -3 hours - Judy1843 - 07-15-2017
Wow ok you really have me thinking now! I'm a big clock watcher, I'm a huge worrier/thinker at night! I do walk 2-3 miles 3x a week. I have a strange routine and usually eat something like kiwi, pineapple or Kefir when I wake hoping that will help me sleep or use a lavender epson salt. I also do deep breathing.
RE: Waking every 2 -3 hours - robysue - 07-16-2017
(07-15-2017, 02:48 PM)Judy1843 Wrote: Wow ok you really have me thinking now! I'm a big clock watcher, I'm a huge worrier/thinker at night! I do walk 2-3 miles 3x a week. I have a strange routine and usually eat something like kiwi, pineapple or Kefir when I wake hoping that will help me sleep or use a lavender epson salt. I also do deep breathing.Clock watching and worrying are two ways to really extend those normal post REM wakes to the point where they can interfere with the overall quality of your sleep.
You might want to pick up a book called Sound Sleep, Sound Mind by Dr. Barry Krakow. The first half of the book is an extremely good self-help book for dealing with insomnia problems, including sleep maintenance insomnia (i.e. "I can get to sleep at the beginning of the night, but then I seem to wake up and have trouble getting back to sleep" type of insomnia.)
RE: Waking every 2 -3 hours - Judy1843 - 07-16-2017
I will get the book! Thank you again !
RE: Waking every 2 -3 hours - chill - 07-16-2017
I've just finished reading Sound Sleep, Sound Mind by Dr. Barry Krakow and it is very comprehensive in deal with this issue.
First thing: turn the clock away from you or move it a place in the room where you can't see it. DO NOT look at the time if you wake up. I used to clock watch too and stopping that is the first step. I woke up once last night and zero times the night before (at least none that I remembered in the morning). You can do it too. It is simply a matter of training your mind.