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Waking up too early while still tired .

young codgeryoung codger Posts: 543
in The potting shed
I got a few Zopilone took one at 10pm, had last meal of the day 10.30pm When to sleep straight away. Woke up 6am while still tired  !!

This must be one of the most  common complaints the world over.

The remedies  of good intentioned people come thick and fast but the tiredness continues.  Grrrr
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Posts

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Do you have a set bedtime routine?  A calm, relaxing bedroom with no TV/PC/portable?  Do you get any exercise in the day?

    Try eating two or three hours before bedtime - much better for digestion and health and probably sleep too.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • NormandyLizNormandyLiz Posts: 788
    What have you done so far to address your insomnia without the Zopilone (which is possibly the cause of your next day tiredness)? And have you any other symptoms or illnesses that have or haven't been properly diagnosed?

    There are many causes of insomnia and fatigue - I have Lupus which causes both - and for me the answer is always to try and pinpoint the myriad factors that affect your personal sleep and fatigue when possible and only resort to medication as a last resort. It sounds like you've already tried a lot of different things but keep trying. 

    For what it's worth (and that might be not much!) the factors that affect my sleep include alcohol of any quantity at any time, so I am teetotal; certain foods after lunch (the common caffine/cheese/chocolate, also wheat, tomatoes, citrus, some spices) so we have our main meal at lunch and I have a very small and early supper; any screen time within 2 hours of bed; and the big one for me is temperature, too warm is hideous. These are my triggers, yours will be completely different but that's just to say how precise and how varied they can be. If you haven't already, keep a diary of everything - food, activities, exercise, weather, stress levels, etc.,  for a couple of weeks at least and see if a pattern emerges.

    And I would keep fire on the Zopilone, especially if it makes you feel worse.
  • steveTusteveTu Posts: 3,219
    I have a similar thing. I tend to wake up naturally between 5:00 and 6:00 no matter what time I go to bed - and rarely can get back to sleep. I think mine is just a legacy of 'work' when I had to get up at that time for the drive into work.
    UK - South Coast Retirement Campus (East)
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    I was prescribed Phenergan, ( available over the counter ) and it's changed my life. 
    Devon.
  • steveTusteveTu Posts: 3,219
    What was your sleep pattern before the drugs?

    UK - South Coast Retirement Campus (East)
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    I don’t think it is a good idea to advise people not to take medicines they have been prescribed by a dr., particularly when you have no idea why it was prescribed.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • NormandyLizNormandyLiz Posts: 788
    Fair point, @punkdoc. I'll rephrase that, I would be at least discussing the side effect with the doctor and looking for another way. It's undoubtedly personal experience (which I know is not necessarily representative of anything other than me), but GPs seem to be poor at advising on sleep other than very standard advice or sleeping pills. The latter may provide short term relief but doesn't address the long term problem.

    Apologies for any advice felt to be inappropriate.
  • EmerionEmerion Posts: 599
    Also, doctors often prescribe drugs hoping that they will be temporary, and then people end up on them long term, sometimes because they need to be,  but sometimes not, for perfectly understandable reasons. It’s always worthwhile going back and asking as @NormandyLiz said. 

    I have suffered with insomnia for years, and can’t offer anything more than the experts routinely say, except to say that any amount of alcohol definitely makes it worse. I found that if my sleep wasn’t too bad anyway, the expert advice helped a bit. But if I was going through intractable insomnia, absolutely nothing changed it at all. 

    The most helpful thing I have found is to try to stop caring about it so much. Not easy, I know. I either get up, and potter about quietly, or I listen to a quiet audiobook, snug in bed, having accepted that I won’t sleep. Sometimes, I’m pleasantly surprised to find that I dozed off eventually, usually not. But at least I’m not lying there fuming anymore. 
    Carmarthenshire (mild, wet, windy). Loam over shale, very slightly sloping, so free draining. Mildly acidic or neutral.


  • februarysgirlfebruarysgirl Posts: 835
    I don't sleep particularly well and although I have tried a few prescription sleeping pills, none really work. Unfortunately, one of the many, many problems with epilepsy medication is that it makes it difficult for anything else to break through and be effective (same problem with painkillers). I have an mp3 player with lots of podcasts/audiobooks and some Bluetooth sleep headphones which have definitely been the most effective solution for me.
  • young codgeryoung codger Posts: 543
    NormandyLiz said:
    What have you done so far to address your insomnia without the Zopilone (which is possibly the cause of your next day tiredness)? And have you any other symptoms or illnesses that have or haven't been properly diagnosed?

    There are many causes of insomnia and fatigue - I have Lupus which causes both - and for me the answer is always to try and pinpoint the myriad factors that affect your personal sleep and fatigue when possible and only resort to medication as a last resort. It sounds like you've already tried a lot of different things but keep trying. 

    For what it's worth (and that might be not much!) the factors that affect my sleep include alcohol of any quantity at any time, so I am teetotal; certain foods after lunch (the common caffine/cheese/chocolate, also wheat, tomatoes, citrus, some spices) so we have our main meal at lunch and I have a very small and early supper; any screen time within 2 hours of bed; and the big one for me is temperature, too warm is hideous. These are my triggers, yours will be completely different but that's just to say how precise and how varied they can be. If you haven't already, keep a diary of everything - food, activities, exercise, weather, stress levels, etc.,  for a couple of weeks at least and see if a pattern emerges.

    And I would keep fire on the Zopilone, especially if it makes you feel worse.
    I have had depression since  aged 15 on and off and easily stressed. In my 60s now and find the endorphins from cycling are good and help- I do a minimum of  100 miles per month. I still bang the weights about,  dig garden, and swing a big pick when needed. I walk a little bit. 

    I only take a zopie  occasionally. Don't want to get hooked.NEVER take with alcohol.  Tried a 500ml can of Stella last night and had a good sleep. 'Horses for courses'. 

    Sleep,  or lack of can be  unpredictable. Even if you do the same thing that has worked before. It is not a guarantee of  the same result. ❤


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