Does anyone wake up daily at 3am?

I have problems falling sleep. I haven’t able to have good night sleep as fatas I can remember. Went I finally fell sleep I have broken sleep pattern, and I wake up every night at 3am, I do not know why and I cannot fall sleep again, sometimes I go back to sleep at 6am. I do not feel refreshed in the morning. I have black circle under my eyes from the lack of sleep. Also feel irritated, sad, and brain fog/forgetful from lack of sleep. This is terrible. Any one have similar issues. Any suggestions or help would be appreciated.

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Profile picture for seniormed @seniormed

Melatonin is the best remedy for falling asleep. Take it an hour before getting
in bed. Safe but if you are concerned about rare drug interactions such as blood thinners consult your physician.
Large doses are used in critical care. It is anti inflammatory so I take 5 mg
every PM to help arthritis and sleep. It does not stay long in your circulation
so it doesn’t help our 3 AM awakenings.

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There is time release melatonin.

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I totally relate! What is it with 3 AM? I’ve been taking NUMO Deep Sleep gummies (1 to 2 per night). I’m averaging at least 6 hours. I have no trouble getting to sleep, as my psychiatrist has me taking Trazodone, Mirtazapine, and Seroquel to get me to sleep. My problem is staying asleep. Even with all the meds and gummies, I still have occasional nights when sleeping is impossible.

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So many people wake up at 3 am. My husband is one of them. He sleeps 4 hours and then wakes up. I wish I could say the same. Ever since being in Septic Shck in 2017 I have had severe trouble falling asleep. I tried melatonin , Benadryl, cough medicine. Nothing worked. I now have either a large glass of wine or a Margarita. And then I fall asleep and sleep anywhere from 12 to 20 hours. Pure, sound sleep. Nothing can wake me up. I WISH I COULD WAKE UP AFTER FOUR HOURS.

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I had exactly this problem at one point. I'm now on a combination of ramelteon and low-dose doxepin, and even if I need to get up to go to the bathroom, I have no difficulty falling back to sleep. It also got me entirely off zolpidem, which I honestly am shocked by.

If you are not familiar with ramelteon, it's a prescription melatonin receptor agonist. Do not mix it with melatonin -- in fact, you can think of it as turbo-charged melatonin with a lot better QA/QC than anything you might get over the counter, so unlike OTC melatonin, the risk that what's in the pill is not what's on the label is negligible.

If you decide to give this a try: (1) Both of these drugs were too benign to work individually, but the combination has been amazing. Your mileage may vary, of course. (2) No one has run a clinical trial of this combination, so it's a bit buyer beware. Nonetheless, these are both exceptionally safe solutions, and in fact, are safer than most OTC options if you want something to take every day long term. (3) When they say to take it 30 min before turning off the light in bed, they aren't kidding -- you need to be very careful not to override the effects by just stubbornly staying awake until the effects wear off. (4) It helps to use good sleep hygiene -- go to bed at the same time every day, start winding down a couple of hours before going to sleep, dark/quiet/cool room, avoid screens, etc, etc. (5) You can snack before bed, but ramelteon doesn't work as well if taken soon after a full meal. (6) If you are taking another drug with insomnia as a side effect, either take that drug early in the morning or the very last thing, after the ramelteon/doxepin have taken effect and you are ready to turn out the light (I do that with verapamil). (7) I transitioned to this regime after washing out my old one, meaning that I ramped down to zero on everything before kicking this in, which was not fun. You are going to need to think through a transition plan that works for you if you are already taking other products to help you sleep.

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Profile picture for tntwo99 @tntwo99

So many people wake up at 3 am. My husband is one of them. He sleeps 4 hours and then wakes up. I wish I could say the same. Ever since being in Septic Shck in 2017 I have had severe trouble falling asleep. I tried melatonin , Benadryl, cough medicine. Nothing worked. I now have either a large glass of wine or a Margarita. And then I fall asleep and sleep anywhere from 12 to 20 hours. Pure, sound sleep. Nothing can wake me up. I WISH I COULD WAKE UP AFTER FOUR HOURS.

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What many have learned to do, often just by accident (but it's a method gaining popularity and traction) is to try to fall asleep 'naturally'. Many/most of us can at least do that much. If we awaken, whether due to mental activity or bladder activity, THAT is when they take their soporific. Since we all are meant to have close to 7 hours, but awaken at roughly 3-4 hours, we presumably have another 3 hours left due to us, and our body clocks 'should' know this. By slipping a gummy of melatonin, about 2.5 mg into our gullet, and trying to drift off, we might just get that 'nuther 3 hours. It seems to work for a lot of people.
Of course, if you have some appointments or meetings, or trades coming to the house, and you would normally have to be up, say, at 0700 hrs, then don't do that...not on that occasion. Maybe the following night if your next day is looking clear.

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Profile picture for gloaming @gloaming

What many have learned to do, often just by accident (but it's a method gaining popularity and traction) is to try to fall asleep 'naturally'. Many/most of us can at least do that much. If we awaken, whether due to mental activity or bladder activity, THAT is when they take their soporific. Since we all are meant to have close to 7 hours, but awaken at roughly 3-4 hours, we presumably have another 3 hours left due to us, and our body clocks 'should' know this. By slipping a gummy of melatonin, about 2.5 mg into our gullet, and trying to drift off, we might just get that 'nuther 3 hours. It seems to work for a lot of people.
Of course, if you have some appointments or meetings, or trades coming to the house, and you would normally have to be up, say, at 0700 hrs, then don't do that...not on that occasion. Maybe the following night if your next day is looking clear.

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I was having a difficult time falling asleep. When I finally did I woke up at 3 am. Read for an hour then fell back asleep. Woke up anywhere from 5-6 am. By 8 I took my morning 2 hour nap. I was getting very frustrated. My primary prescribed Trazadone. Couldn't take out. Was a zombie the next day. I've decided to take Melatonin, 10 mg, but think I should try a lower dose. Will buy 5 mg bottle tomorrow. Will keep my fingers crossed.

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Profile picture for bon64 @bon64

I was having a difficult time falling asleep. When I finally did I woke up at 3 am. Read for an hour then fell back asleep. Woke up anywhere from 5-6 am. By 8 I took my morning 2 hour nap. I was getting very frustrated. My primary prescribed Trazadone. Couldn't take out. Was a zombie the next day. I've decided to take Melatonin, 10 mg, but think I should try a lower dose. Will buy 5 mg bottle tomorrow. Will keep my fingers crossed.

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Yes, please don't take more than 5 mg. Try two 2.5 mg gummies if they are available readily. They work for me. I only take them about twice a week, tops, and tough it out the rest of the time. This is so they keep their potent effect and so I don't get used to it. The studies I have read say much more than 5 mg is potentially going to be worse, or that less is more. So, I normally take only one 2.5 mg gummy, but it's hit and miss. Some days, works like a dream, other nights not much effect.

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Profile picture for gloaming @gloaming

What many have learned to do, often just by accident (but it's a method gaining popularity and traction) is to try to fall asleep 'naturally'. Many/most of us can at least do that much. If we awaken, whether due to mental activity or bladder activity, THAT is when they take their soporific. Since we all are meant to have close to 7 hours, but awaken at roughly 3-4 hours, we presumably have another 3 hours left due to us, and our body clocks 'should' know this. By slipping a gummy of melatonin, about 2.5 mg into our gullet, and trying to drift off, we might just get that 'nuther 3 hours. It seems to work for a lot of people.
Of course, if you have some appointments or meetings, or trades coming to the house, and you would normally have to be up, say, at 0700 hrs, then don't do that...not on that occasion. Maybe the following night if your next day is looking clear.

Jump to this post

I was recommended to take melatonin, but only 3mg. After much research, I found out that Melatonin is a hormone that your brain produces in response to darkness. It helps with the timing of your circadian rhythms (24-hour internal clock) and with sleep. Being exposed to light at night can block melatonin production.
https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/melatonin-what-you-need-to-know

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Profile picture for gloaming @gloaming

Yes, please don't take more than 5 mg. Try two 2.5 mg gummies if they are available readily. They work for me. I only take them about twice a week, tops, and tough it out the rest of the time. This is so they keep their potent effect and so I don't get used to it. The studies I have read say much more than 5 mg is potentially going to be worse, or that less is more. So, I normally take only one 2.5 mg gummy, but it's hit and miss. Some days, works like a dream, other nights not much effect.

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I didn't take the 10 mg Melatonin tonight. Tried to cut in half without any luck. It's 4:49 a.m. now. I've been up since 3:30. This is crazy. Granted, for a few years I would take a hit just to fall asleep and it worked great. Slept through the night. I stopped that a few months ago but I think I'll be going back to it. It's 5 now and I'm wide awake. Think I'll read a bit. That usually makes my eyes close. 🙂 Thanks for your suggestion.

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Profile picture for tntwo99 @tntwo99

I was recommended to take melatonin, but only 3mg. After much research, I found out that Melatonin is a hormone that your brain produces in response to darkness. It helps with the timing of your circadian rhythms (24-hour internal clock) and with sleep. Being exposed to light at night can block melatonin production.
https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/melatonin-what-you-need-to-know

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I have come to the same conclusion. These companies that market 10 mg gummies or pills are doing nobody any favours. It's well above a therapeutic dose for the majority of typical users. Also, the blue light from our electronic screens is bad for sleep. You can go into settings, in case this is news to anyone reading, and set up a daily time when your screen automatically adjusts its light spectrum output, and you'll notice that the screen looks more yellow at that time...less blue is allowed through by the software. This helps a lot. I have used it for quite a few years now. I use 2100 hrs as my switch time.

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