A topic I've read a lot about here. Man when things really get bad on the insomnia front I'm not ashamed to admit when I've had enough three or four drinks usually takes care of it. But, I've observed something I wonder if others have and what can I do about it. I've noticed if I lie on my back I'll lie there all night long and never get to sleep. If I lie on my side I'll drift off after a time. When I wake up during the night which is often I'll rotate 180 degrees to my other side. If I only go 90 degree on to my back I'll lie there and not go back to sleep. What the hell is that, and is there anything I can do about it?

quote:

Originally posted by goose5:
A topic I've read a lot about here. Man when things really get bad on the insomnia front I'm not ashamed to admit when I've had enough three or four drinks usually takes care of it. But, I've observed something I wonder if others have and what can I do about it. I've noticed if I lie on my back I'll lie there all night long and never get to sleep. If I lie on my side I'll drift off after a time. When I wake up during the night which is often I'll rotate 180 degrees to my other side. If I only go 90 degree on to my back I'll lie there and not go back to sleep. What the hell is that, and is there anything I can do about it?

I have to sleep on one side or the other. Drinks can actually raise your heart rate so you might fall asleep quicker but you probably won’t get as restful sleep. Plus you probably have to get up and pee more often.

Try some Melatonin it helps a lot of people get to sleep quicker and sleep better overall. It can be bought just about anywhere.

I discovered a number of years ago that I was always falling asleep in my lounge chair while watching TV. I decided to just stop going upstairs, undressing, and getting into bed after a while. I now sleep every night in my lounge chair, half reclined, at least partly dressed. The semi-reclined position keeps my throat open enough that I don't need a CPAP device, and I sleep very well. My house is kept at 70°F all the time, and I have a very light blanket I can use if I get a little chilled.

I typically have some of my 6 indoor cats sleeping somewhere on my body on and off during the night, too.

flashguy

Yup, just turned 50- but I’ve had the same experience since I was 40....

I take melatonin to get to sleep(turns off my brain) and on my side. Roll over I’m good, but if I only get to my back I’m awake.

And I don’t have more than two drinks anymore. Any more than that and I either have to get up to pee or I get a headache.

My professional drinking days are behind me!

I have to agree with 1s1k... I find alcohol tends to really mess up my sleep quality.

I have found melatonin very helpful on those nights when I just can't wind down and fall asleep. I was skeptical but have found it very effective. It seems pretty benign compared to pretty much anything else you can take to help with sleep.

In mid 50s. The main problem I have with sleep is getting comfortable around joint pain, mainly from a rotation cuff impingement.

That's where I've been for the last few years. Sleeping hurts. Pain wakes me up every hour or two, so I roll over to the other side and start all over.

The most pain free sleep I've had was the year I slept in a hammock. Joints felt great, but sleeping on my back was a snoring apnea type os sleep, and not very restful. I felt great, but was tired all the time.

quote:

Originally posted by goose5:
A topic I've read a lot about here. Man when things really get bad on the insomnia front I'm not ashamed to admit when I've had enough three or four drinks usually takes care of it. But, I've observed something I wonder if others have and what can I do about it. I've noticed if I lie on my back I'll lie there all night long and never get to sleep. If I lie on my side I'll drift off after a time. When I wake up during the night which is often I'll rotate 180 degrees to my other side. If I only go 90 degree on to my back I'll lie there and not go back to sleep. What the hell is that, and is there anything I can do about it?

This is me all over, except for the spin cycle. I pretty much sleep only on my right side. And yes, I need a flask or two of sake to sleep that night. Not sure how long I've been this way. 61 now.

Melatonin doesn't work for me.

I began side sleeping in the military. The GI beds were too short for me, so I learned to curl up. If I end up on my back I wake up too.
Melatonin and a cat makes a good nights sleep for me.

I’m a side sleeper also. I’d never fall asleep on my back.

quote:

Originally posted by kkina:

quote:

Originally posted by goose5:
A topic I've read a lot about here. Man when things really get bad on the insomnia front I'm not ashamed to admit when I've had enough three or four drinks usually takes care of it. But, I've observed something I wonder if others have and what can I do about it. I've noticed if I lie on my back I'll lie there all night long and never get to sleep. If I lie on my side I'll drift off after a time. When I wake up during the night which is often I'll rotate 180 degrees to my other side. If I only go 90 degree on to my back I'll lie there and not go back to sleep. What the hell is that, and is there anything I can do about it?

This is me all over, except for the spin cycle. I pretty much sleep only on my right side. And yes, I need a flask or two of sake to sleep that night. Not sure how long I've been this way. 61 now.

Melatonin doesn't work for me.

I just turned 59. Nice to know I'm not the only one out there who is going through the same thing.

Yup, getting older sucks. Melatonin does help. Super Beta for the prostate helps too. Don't have to get up n pee.

I can’t sleep on my back without my CPAP. My apnea constantly jolts me awake. With The CPAP, I sleep like a baby. I’m 50.

Cannot sleep on my back at all even reclined on a flight overseas. I'll be wide awake. If I can get to one side or the other I'll sleep but I sleep best on my stomach.

On a similar subject, 6 hours is the most sleep I tend to get, a lot of night just 5 and I wish it could be more. My problem is I get up at 3 or 4 am and I am wide awake. Getting to sleep has never been an issue for me, I'm lights out in seconds once my head hits the pillow.

It also helps me to have some kind of light music or white noise happening. Some times I'll start a short playlist on my laptop or there are 2 - 10 hour videos on youtube of rain falling that seem to help.

Rain sounds for sleeping

For as long as I knew my dad, he had what he called insomnia. Even after he retired, he would be awake late into the night, grumbling and ashamed he couldn't fall asleep, even though he had no job to report to in the morning. I have to wonder after all that time, he was just a night owl.

I've been a night owl all my life. I could never fall asleep quickly at night, and would toss and turn, and I had a difficult time waking up in the morning for all my school and college years. Now I'm over 50, and I have managed to keep jobs that have night or swing shifts. Right now I work a retail job that has shifts from 3:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. It seems to work out fine for me. I fall asleep somewhere around 2 or 3 a.m. and sleep like the dead until I wake up without an alarm at around 9 or 10 a.m.

I wonder if I inherited my night owl circadian rhythm from Dad, and he just called it insomnia because he thought "regular people" were supposed to fall asleep earlier in the evening.

I'm not quite middle age...not quite 40 even...but add me in.

I got a CPAP when I was 65 pounds heavier but continue to use it. I need a new study done, I'm sure. I'm a side sleeper, though I do sometimes find myself on my back.

I work 3rd shift. Usually get home around 5-5:30. Some weeks I'm asleep by 6:30, some weeks I can't go to sleep until 9 or 10. Makes zero sense. Hot shower. Melatonin. Occasional muscle relaxer for my back. Even a beer sometimes.

Then I flip my schedule a lot of weeks to teach. This is one of those weeks. Slept 5 hours yesterday morning. Last night I went to bed at 11. Planned to sleep until 7.

Woke up at 04:30, wide-ass awake.

But some nights/days I sleep a solid 8-9 hours and feel like a million bucks.

Try Unisom. Had a doc tell me you could take it every day for the rest of your life with no ill affects.

Old agedom and sleep.

Now that is something to talk about.

The last couple of years working for the Medical Examiners office really screwed up my sleep cycles. With our crap schedule of 2100 to 0700, plus working six out of seven days one week, then 5 on 3 off just killed me.

I thought accepting the position with Uncle Sam and working from home would help but at 0230 I am awake every day then 0430ish.

I loved working the overnight shift for the action, along with having the mornings off to fish, sit by the pool etc.. My only problem is that I cannot sleep.

I think it is because I can never shut my brain off.

I am always dwelling on something. This time around it is packing the house up and relocating to North Dakota for Law Enforcement.

I think I need a winter hobby. Maybe that would help.