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Constant waking during night...Sleep disorder?

Betty Blue

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Hello fellow insomniacs!

It is nothing new to me to have difficulty sleeping. I have been used to having long cycles of sleeping little followed by shorter cycles of sleeping at least a regular amount sometimes sleeping a great deal.
What is new to me, and has been happening for around two months is a state of constant waking throughout the little hours i do sleep.

I tend to go to sleep around 2-3am and get up at 7am. The problem is i wake up between every 15 minutes to every half an hour (My so believes it actually much more frequent than this that i sit up and try to get out of bed befor he tells me it's not time to get up).

I usually think i'm late and struggle (half asleep) to get out of bed. I then go downstairs to put the kettle on or go to the lavatory or get a drink of water or prepare the childrens breakfast...only to find it's half an hour since i last got up. My partner is being woken up by me doing this and often tells me it's not time to get up so i come back to bed.
I seem to have no awareness of time and for some reason i do not look at the BIG bedroom wall clock!

I just wondered if this is a common thing?
Does anyone else have this?
Is it some kind of sleep disorder?
And finally should i go to the quacks about it?

My SO thinks i really should go but he's a bit of a hypercondriac and i don't want to make a big fuss if theres nothing they can do. I also do not want to keep waking up my so, it seems pretty unfair.
 

Halla74

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Yeah, so go to the doctor.

Yep, I'm with Tiltyred on this one, you might want to check in with an M.D! :yes:

Here's a reality check. I've been an insomniac my entire life. :doh: My brain does not turn off, I am always scheming, planning, plotting, wishing, trying to figure out how that song on the radio sounded two weeks ago, etc.

I asked my doctor for a sleep medication Rx 12 years ago. He gave me Ambien. I took half an Ambien the first night and found out I was allergic to it. :horor: My uvual swelled up, I couldn't breathe, and I wound up in the ER. :dry:

Then I was given a Rx for Xanax. It works very well, but my tolerance has built up to it, so now I alternate between it and Benadryl (generic = diphenhydramine HCL).

Also, I wake up and eat at least once, and sometimes twice in the middle of the night, every night. :popc1: Such is the curse of weighing 235 pounds and having a huge metabolism.

:D

When I was about 32
 

Betty Blue

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I understand medication can be the only answer at times and certainly if it works for you personally then great.
but would really i would like to avoid it. To be honest i don't actually feel that tired most of the time i just think it must be unhealthy to sleep so little, plus the fact i keep waking my SO who is a light sleeper. I was thinking more along the lines of a sleep clinic or natural solution, i believe some of it may be down to anxiety/stress primarily the fear of waking up late.
 

ragashree

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I understand medication can be the only answer at times and certainly if it works for you personally then great.
but would really i would like to avoid it. To be honest i don't actually feel that tired most of the time i just think it must be unhealthy to sleep so little, plus the fact i keep waking my SO who is a light sleeper. I was thinking more along the lines of a sleep clinic or natural solution, i believe some of it may be down to anxiety/stress primarily the fear of waking up late.

I'm with you on the medication thing ;) Have you been checked out for sleep apnoea though? That seems like a possibility here, and can be a condition that requires treatment, even a potentially dangerous one.
 

prplchknz

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I'm with you on the medication thing ;) Have you been checked out for sleep apnoea though? That seems like a possibility here, and can be a condition that requires treatment, even a potentially dangerous one.

my dad has that and I think he had the same symptoms or at least very similar ones, he now uses a breathing machine while he sleeps.
 

Tiltyred

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Sometimes, and I mean, just throwing this out there but sometimes, doctors actually know more than random folks on forums. Sometimes they don't know, but they know who to refer you to that does. In any case, it's better than sitting around trying to guess what a doctor might advise, deciding you don't want that, and living with the problem, convinced you can't be helped.

Are you afraid of doctors?
 

Halla74

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Sometimes, and I mean, just throwing this out there but sometimes, doctors actually know more than random folks on forums. Sometimes they don't know, but they know who to refer you to that does. In any case, it's better than sitting around trying to guess what a doctor might advise, deciding you don't want that, and living with the problem, convinced you can't be helped.

Priceless advice. :worthy:

Are you afraid of doctors?

This is very interesting, because I must assume many people are based on what I have seen over the course of my life. Somehow I always end up going to doctors appointments with people, if they need a ride, if it's a loved one I volunteer to go and advocate, etc. I am always surprised at (1) how little most people tell their doctors, (2) how willingly most people accept the first thing that comes out of the doctor's mouth, and (3) how little research is done before or after the visit. :doh:

Remember, it's YOUR HEALTH, and YOUR BODY, and the doctor's job is to help YOU to MANAGE it all. You have the right to say "No." You have the right to ask questions.

BUT - you are also charged with having the perserverance needed to get through "gatekeeper processes" (physical therapy, x-rays before MRIs, Rx meds before treatment, etc.) in order to get the therapy YOU WANT instead of the therapy THEY OFFER. Insurance is about UTILIZATION MANAGEMENT. Each HMO gets paid UPFRONT for EVERY ENROLLED MEMEBR in EVERY MONTH of the YEAR. So, the less they can spend on you over any future period of time = MORE PROFIT. :yes:
 

Feops

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Do you snore?

It's quite possibly a breathing problem. If you snore loudly or get short of breath your sleep will be frequently interrupted.
 

Betty Blue

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Do you snore?

It's quite possibly a breathing problem. If you snore loudly or get short of breath your sleep will be frequently interrupted.

No i don't snore (much). I also do not wake up gasping at all. I have recently had a chest infection but the waking started befor that. I'm wondering if it is related to anxiety since i always wake up very worried that i am late.

@Tiltyred
Not afraid in the slightest but very aware of being overdiagnosed if that makes sense. I do not have complete faith in the NHS system but i do believe it is excellent in the case of emergencies. The problem with the NHS with general care is that there is no communication between departments and also doctors here (esp G.P's) find it much easier (and cheaper) to medicate than to investigate. I posted here becuase i always like to hear the opinions of real people and was hoping to find some people with similar experiences.
 

sculpting

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Sometimes, and I mean, just throwing this out there but sometimes, doctors actually know more than random folks on forums. Sometimes they don't know, but they know who to refer you to that does. In any case, it's better than sitting around trying to guess what a doctor might advise, deciding you don't want that, and living with the problem, convinced you can't be helped.

Are you afraid of doctors?

oddly enough I have found almost the opposite, especially if it is something a bit out of the norm. Our health care system is built for fast food style medicine, thus I would suggest go to a forum/website that discusses sleep related issues and reading a bit, especially if you are not keen on meds that will just knock you out. If you find other folks who are doing the same thing as you, it may help ease your anxiety over the issue a bit since you seem to actually feel okay.

Doctors mean well, but are overworked and have no time to "think".

I'd suggest finding an INTJ doc if you can as they will be more helpful than an NTP doc for you. You can yell at them, and they just assume you are being direct :)
 

Amethyst

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There's always Sominex or Unisom OTC, but you shouldn't take the latter if you have breathing problems, which you might have.
You could see a doctor, or a sleep therapist, or someone who is both, because that's going to be your best bet. Hell, I might see one soon. I wake up too frequently as well.
 

onemoretime

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You might just be a heavily segmented sleeper: i.e. you'd naturally be asleep for four hours, up for two hours, then asleep for two to four more hours. Years of being unable to do this wreaked havoc upon your somatic cycles, and as such, your biological clock's hopelessly out of whack.

Next time you have a bit of time available, see if you go to sleep for about four hours before waking up... and then don't try to go to sleep there after. If you naturally drift back after a couple of hours, then that's the culprit.

The upshot to this? It's not weird at all - it's how humans evolved to sleep. Something about having a pair of eyes always peeled for predators.
 

Betty Blue

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You might just be a heavily segmented sleeper: i.e. you'd naturally be asleep for four hours, up for two hours, then asleep for two to four more hours. Years of being unable to do this wreaked havoc upon your somatic cycles, and as such, your biological clock's hopelessly out of whack.

Next time you have a bit of time available, see if you go to sleep for about four hours before waking up... and then don't try to go to sleep there after. If you naturally drift back after a couple of hours, then that's the culprit.

The upshot to this? It's not weird at all - it's how humans evolved to sleep. Something about having a pair of eyes always peeled for predators.

Oh this is interesting, it reminds me a little of the Euro Siesta. I remember holidaying in Spain which we used to do every year for the month of August.
We did this (Fambily) From when i was around 11 to around 18.
I find it difficult to sleep during the day though...again it comes down to being afraid of not waking up...not death haha, just not waking for a looong period and missing pick up time.
I think it may stem from waking up really late a while ago, when my youngests bus beeped outside. It was sheer panick as it is very difficult to rush an Autistic child to get ready. The thing is, if i miss the school Bus for my youngest then both my kids miss school, which is a big deal because it puts the whole routine out esp when you have a child with autism.
Problem is, that if this is the problem, i don't know how to fix it, of course i have an alarm but i didn't hear it on that occaision.
I don't want to take sleeping pills because i would be too worried i'd sleep through as i don't sleep enough already. I have tried cammomile tea etc etc.
Guess it's the quacks for me.....
 
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