My DH has not slept well in probably 6 months. I'm sure it's an age thing. He will wake up multiple times in the night, sometimes just long enough to look at the clock, and sometimes for 20-30 minutes. I've been reading about melatonin, and bought a small bottle of 1mg tablets. There is a lot of caution about taking too much, so I wondering what kind of experience you live, virtual people have had. Success? Dosage? Does it take time to build up? He took 1/2 a tablet the first night and slept 7.5 hours with only one look at the clock. But he hasn't had that kind of success since, so it might have been a fluke. Something I read from a presumably reputable source (Mayo Clinic?) said an adult male needs 150mcg, so half a table should be enough. It said too much can make you groggy, but he's always groggy!
Any input would be more than welcome!, Or any other remedies that have been successful. He needs sleep!
<---- sucks at sleeping
People will give you a million remedies. Exercise more/less at certain times, eat/don't eat certain things before bedtime, etc. Odds are none of them will work. Sorry. It may be an old thing, as mine has gotten progressively worse, although my 18yo DD sucks at it too. (She also inherited my severe nearsightedness. You're welcome, sweetie.)
I go through phases where my sleeping sucks, then for a while it's fine. I rarely take anything for it, but just deal with it. When it is sucking, I count on the fact that after a few consecutive nights of really sucky sleep, eventually my body has no choice but to catch up. Also the fact that I can generally function OK on very little sleep.
I have taken melatonin, although have never tried making a routine out of it. They do say you are supposed to give it time to build up, but I have only used it on as-needed basis. I keep it in my travel bag; often I have trouble sleeping in hotels, and once in a while I take it to help relax me enough to make falling asleep easier. My dosage is two 5mg tablets. (Is that too much? I don't think it's ever made me groggy.)
Has he been tested for sleep apnea? I would definitely check into that if you haven't already.
Good luck!
Dave
Thanks, Dave (DH is Dave, too.) No,he hasn't been tested, but he has taken up snoring as a hobby for about the last year. Not rafter-shaking, but enough to drive me to the spare bedroom.
10mg sounds like a ton, but whatever works for you. It can cause depression, amongst other things. Maybe I'll suggest he up the dosage a bit, and give it a chance to build up.
My DH has not slept well in probably 6 months. I'm sure it's an age thing. He will wake up multiple times in the night, sometimes just long enough to look at the clock, and sometimes for 20-30 minutes. I've been reading about melatonin, and bought a small bottle of 1mg tablets. There is a lot of caution about taking too much, so I wondering what kind of experience you live, virtual people have had. Success? Dosage? Does it take time to build up? He took 1/2 a tablet the first night and slept 7.5 hours with only one look at the clock. But he hasn't had that kind of success since, so it might have been a fluke. Something I read from a presumably reputable source (Mayo Clinic?) said an adult male needs 150mcg, so half a table should be enough. It said too much can make you groggy, but he's always groggy! Any input would be more than welcome!, Or any other remedies that have been successful. He needs sleep!
I always have a bottle. 3 mg was good enough, although now I have 5 mg. Actually bought 5 mg to try it out, but 3 did the job. My sleeping problems happen in cycles (every 2-3 months), and melatonin helps break the bad sleeping cycle and bring me back to the normal sleeping cycle. When my eyes are wide open at 11 PM, it's a bad sign. I will not get many hours of sleep that night. The second night, if it's like that still, I will take one melatonin one hour before going to sleep. It's not a miracle pill, but after 3-6 days, I can stop taking them as my normal cycle is pretty much back. Withou melatonin, it takes much longer than that, and when I'm depraved of sleep, my mood becomes horrible, and I can make very regrettable decisions.
So it helps me, I take one pill before sleep for 3-6 days and stop. I don't want my body to stop producing melatonin, which I'm afraid would happen if I kept taking pills.
MTA: When I first tryed them it was1 mg pills. Then I tried 3mg, and preferred them. That is why I tried 5. But the 5s make me groggy, and if I remember correctly the 3s didn't.
We gave it to DS for a long time to help him wind down at night and fall asleep, and it did help with that. But we didn't see any help in staying asleep or falling back to sleep after waking up to use the bathroom, etc. We have since quit giving it to him and he is doing better at falling at bedtime than when he was younger (it has more to do with managing anxiety and maturity than the melatonin now), but he still struggles if he happens to wake up at night.
20,000 miles behind me, the world still to see.
I work a rotating swing shift, and have been dealing with sleep issues for 30+ years. The biggest problem I have is trying to sleep during the day. When I work day shift, I rarely have trouble sleeping at night. I normally use Tylenol PM, or Advil PM. I'll take these for 4-5 days while working nights, then stop taking them when working days.
Years ago, I tried the Melatonin, I don't remember what MG they were though. I took an entire bottle over the course of a month or two. I remember having very vivid dreams while using the melatonin, I also felt like it was a restless sleep. I remember always feeling like I did t sleep at all, lots of tossing and turning with the dreams, yet when I woke up and got moving, I felt rested and refreshed. I didn't like the dreaming, nor the restless feeling during the sleeping time, so I haven't taken it since.
I always use ear plugs when sleeping during the day too. These are a must.
Thanks for the responses. I think he is going to try upping the dosage a bit, and taking it for a few days. He has no problem going to sleep, and he also naps easily during the day. I've always said he sleeps on command. He just can't stay asleep.
Connoisseur of Cookies
...but he has taken up snoring as a hobby for about the last year. Not rafter-shaking, but enough to drive me to the spare bedroom.
I'd be willing to bet this has something to do with it.
***************************************************************************************
"C" is for cookie. That's good enough for me.
Refurbished Hip
My DH has not slept well in probably 6 months. I'm sure it's an age thing. He will wake up multiple times in the night, sometimes just long enough to look at the clock, and sometimes for 20-30 minutes.
20-30 minutes? I wish. Sometimes I'll be up for hours in the middle of the night. I'm talking like 2am to 5am. I'm just not a good sleeper. I wake up very frequently. It's extremely rare if I sleep through an entire night without waking up.
I recently bought some melatonin (3mg tablets) and it might help a little. I don't take it very often. Tylenol PM + one melatonin will knock me out pretty well if I really need to catch up on some sleep. I don't like doing any of this on a regular basis though; I usually just suck it up and deal with waking in the middle of the night. What about seeing a doctor and finding out if the snoring is an issue, or possibly getting some Ambien?
Running is dumb.
He's still in a bit of denial about the snoring. "I didn't hear me, so I must not have been snoring." Admittedly, I am a very light sleeper, so the average person would probably not be bothered. But if it's interfering with his sleep, maybe that angle might work.
He won't take Ambien, I don't think. He doesn't even want to take Tylenol PM. Oddly, he's OK with the melatonin.
I went through a phase where I took melatonin about 10 years ago, working my way up to the full 3 grams a night at one point. I eventually learned that it was (and still is) my stupid brain and its inability to shut off, and no other reason.
It could be the simplest thing; "I need to get gas in the morning", but once I latch onto that thought, slowly but surely the floodgates open and eventually I am thinking about a million flipping things!
What has worked wonders for me is breathing exercises, that is breathing in the the nose and out the mouth. At first glance this may sound silly and it sort of kind of is, but it works.
Focusing on breathing in through your nose and out your mouth takes your mind off of everything else, which does not allow those life problems to gain traction and start buzzing through your brain.
Now, it is not 100% (is anything?) but more often than not, if you get yourself in a comfortable position (for me it is on my back) and really lock into it, it works.
As an aside, I have tried other sleep aids and they all work great at getting you to sleep, but that has never been my problem. My issue is getting back to sleep when I wake up during the middle of the night because as sure as rain is wet, I am going to.
He's still in a bit of denial about the snoring. "I didn't hear me, so I must not have been snoring."
But he is waking up so how does he know it's not the snoring waking him up?
Some light reading:
Sleep hygiene.
More sleep hygiene.
Even more sleep hygiene.
(Most of that info is pretty similar. Some more expansive than the others.)
If he's still in denial set up some type of recording device. Prove it to him.
There are a variety of issues that can contribute to sleep issues. Some are benign. Some are not. I have known and dealt with several people (patients) who had some pretty serious underlying cardiac issues that were only made evident because of sleep disturbances. Having no real further idea about you or your husband you wouldn't be wrong to pursue some additional evaluation to rule out any big or potentially life threatening stuff.
Thanks for those links, I'll check them out. He really doesn't firmly deny his snoring, because he knows that I wouldn't be sleeping in the spare room on a lark. He just doesn't think it's that big a deal. But if we can link it to the sleeping, we might be on to something. I'll pursue all the angles.
I had a lot of the issues you folks are mentioning for years except snoring. Sparing you my trial and error long story I take 10mg melatonin every other night if I can't sleep by a reasonable time. When I get up or 11pm whichever comes first I take Ambien which usually makes me sleep the rest of the night.
Years ago I took Ambien at bed time only to be awake from 4 am on. Doing it my way now it doesn't happen.
20-30 minutes? I wish. Sometimes I'll be up for hours in the middle of the night. I'm talking like 2am to 5am.
Yeah this is exactly what my sucky sleeping looks like. Then at 5am it's time to go for a run anyway. Sometimes it happens at the beginning of the night - go to bed at 10 or 11, but can't fall asleep till 3 or 4. With your DH, problem staying asleep but not falling asleep, does sound more like sleep apnea or something.