I have had sleep maintenance insomnia the past few years and I'd really like it to go away.
I used to sleep normally but I've had sleep maintenance insomnia the past 3-4 years and I don't know how to fix it or whether fixing it is even possible.
40, female. This started around age 36-37.
I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow, almost always. I wake up again sometime between 3am-5am and stay awake for a couple of hours. During that time, there is NOTHING I can do to get myself to fall back asleep until my body is ready. During that time, it feels like I've had enough sleep, not tired at all, etc. It feels like my body sleeps the bare minimum then says, "ok! you've had just enough, that's all you get!"
I eventually do fall back asleep, and the early-morning hours feel like some of my most important sleep, but alas, work is a thing so this early-morning sleep gets interrupted and I feel like crap.
This pattern is definitely worse when I'm very stressed but it happens even when I'm not.
The internets tell me that this is a common thing women experience in their 30s as they're listening for babies to wake but I don't have kids.
I've tried cutting out caffeine entirely, exercising, limiting screens, all the usual sleep suggestions, but honestly this feels a lot bigger than most everyday sleep problems. And again, falling asleep at the beginning of the night is not an issue for me whatsoever.
I tried taking 400-500mg of magnesium before bed, and for a while I felt it was working; I could tell that I was sleeping much more deeply (I'm normally a very light sleeper) and I still woke up in the middle of the night but I fell back asleep much more quickly. But the magnesium stopped working for me at some point. I still take it now but it doesn't seem to do anything.
If you had this problem, how did you make it go away? |
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