"Payback" after a good night

Widely shared, but I'm beginning to accept that it's not really a problem. It's only a problem if we let others convince us it's a problem. When I need to sleep.......reeaaaaaaaaalllly need to sleep...I sleep. I'm guessing you're in the same pod. Enjoy all them waking hours. Personally, I'm having a blast. Might lose three-six years off my life, but it's all rented anyway.

The sleep neurologist I see for restless leg syndrome told me that I should not aim for "good" nights. A steady course of "mediocre" nights should be my goal.

He shared this great story of a patient who finally had effective treatment for restless leg (after suffering sleeplessness for 20 years) and had a spectacular night's sleep. Then, this patient complained he couldn't repeat the experience of sleeping so well and feeling so rested--so he asked the doctor how he could have such wonderful sleep, again. The doctor told the only way to get such great sleep was to go another 20 years with sleep deprivation first...

I probably don't tell the story as well as he did--but it really made me see the point. I'm not, ever, going back to how I slept in youth, but consistency makes my average night acceptable. Not top-of-the-line great, but rarely miserable now.

He stressed the importance of getting up at the same time every day. (I do--often begrudgingly).

I swear I was always a "morning person"--always--until I was retired and someone invented the internet...

Now, try as I have, I just do better going along with staying up late and sleeping in (asking only for afternoon appointments). I gave up fighting turning into a night owl and that helped.

My average is about 6 to 6 1/2 hours a night, but I've had many 5 hour nights (and less). Occasionally I am blessed with 7 hours.

I've been to 2 sleep psychologists (cognitive behavioral therapy) but getting my restless leg problem under control has helped the most.

Also, contrary to the sleep hygiene experts, I've found that reading a while in bed calms me. I try to make getting into bed as comfortable and appealing as I can. I use an electric blanket to warm the bed before I get in and then turn it off. I didn't feel consciously that bedtime made me anxious, but subconsciously I guess it did.

For me the answer has been a multiple prone approach: Medication and a device I wear for the restless legs as well as addressing underlying psychological factors. Evidently, anyone with sleep difficulties (even me!) develops some anxiety about going to bed.

I hope you can improve your nights, judybradford, and wish you the best of luck doing so.

Yep! Seems to be hit or miss since I started down this road to "adjusting" to PAPing. I was always a good sleeper and consistent before. However I do feel the benefits of the the therapy. I just wish it didn't make such a mess of my sleep pattern.

@dalebout123 What is PAPing?

This isn’t really “payback,” it’s more your sleep system getting out of sync. After a good night, your sleep pressure resets, so you don’t feel as naturally sleepy the next night, but your circadian rhythm may still be stuck in the old pattern. That mismatch can leave you feeling oddly alert at bedtime even though you slept well before. It often shows up in people with irregular sleep or insomnia cycles, where one better night temporarily shifts timing but doesn’t fully stabilise it. The result is a good night followed by a “wired” one. The most helpful fix is usually consistency rather than reacting night to night especially keeping a fixed wake time so your rhythm doesn’t swing back and forth.

@dhyun I have had my sleep cycle "messed with" from a year and a half attempt to adjust to a CPAP/BIPAP machine. For 80 years I was a champion sleeper. Now it is hit and miss. After a year and a half of interrupted sleep, I had a great night last night - very rare. So how long will it take for this new pattern to set in?

@dalebout123 Sorry to be confusing. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea and put on a CPAP machine. For Medicare to pay for it, one has to use it for at least four hours per night. So I would use it and experience what I consider, twilight sleep. ..not fully awake, but aware. Then I would remover the CPAP mask and get some "real" sleep. It went from bad to worse and inconsistency in my sleep pattern. It's been a year and a half. Miss my good sleep time.
I read the info on this web site and have had some good advice, but whatever I do, it doesn't solve my problem.