Please help with sleep problems

Posted by 0616 @0616, Jun 27, 2020

Please help with sleep problems.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Sleep Health Support Group.

@contentandwell

@lacy2 I have dreams a lot, and often they are about people way back. My father died when I was 15 but I had a dream about him the other night!
When I have disturbing dreams I have a lot of trouble getting back to sleep. I wake up with my heart pounding and it takes a while to settle back down, sometimes quite a while.
I used to always be running from something and I was running so fast that I took off into the air and flew! I read somewhere that means you are trying to escape something.
JK

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I just had a dream like that last night. I was wide awake for three hours before I could get back to sleep. Telling me something?

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@ess77

Oh, my goodness! Sundance, 10 colonoscopies?????? 10????!!!!!!
Nope. I'll take pulling the tooth, thank you very much!
Craziness is all around us!!!
Suppose I am hardy. Know I'm blessed. Appears so are you on both counts!
Don't you live in NM? I've never been there, to my sorrow. But, aren't you a truly hardy bunch?
Blessings.
Elizabeth

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Elizabeth, I have had that many from Stage IV colon cancer 21 years ago! But Luckily they were all under anesthesiology! Had the tooth pulled about 8 years ago! But you have to remember I'm the person that had to give gas to clean my teeth. Lucky I have been blessed with strong teeth!
Yes I live in The Land of Enchantment, New Mexico! And yes I feel I am blessed in many ways! It's important to see Beauty all around you all the time!
I'm going up to see my grandson on Wednesday, hopefully between storms! It's 160 miles across an interesting landscape that changes every time and every mile!
It is a Crazy Time! It takes all of your energy and spirit to make it through it!
Old friend used to say, "And this to shall Pass!"
Sundance(RB)

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@lacy2

... very brave of you to go through all that dental work Elizabeth.... and agree, need our teeth "fixed" so we can eat properly and as you say, even sleep... unfortunate that dental work isn't covered by our government medical plan as other body parts are...after all teeth are part of our bodies and the dental charges are going sky high: glad I have private insurance from when I worked.... take care, J.S.

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Lacy agree 100%on insurance! Total BS! I was talking to a friend today, and we were talking about growing old and admitting you need a hearing aid! Got mine 4 years ago! It is absurd what they cost! Mine were $4,000 orginally! They came out a while ago and said the Medicare is going to cover them! Then they said the price was going to drop to under $1,000! Guess what? They have not! Really hard for Seniors!
PERSONAL COMMENT! I get so tired of the media saying seniors are leaches on society! I've paid over$500,00 into SS and Medicare in my Lifetime!
Just makes me Mad!
Hope you are having a Good week! I get a Trager Massage tomorrow. Has really helped since last week!
Sundance(RB)

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@marjou

Ambien is a scary drug which caused me to walk around the house and ended the tub...totally unaware what I was doing and glad I didn't turn on water.

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marjou, It wasn't the Ambiem that made me do the same thing as you describe! It was the doctor who took me off Ambiem quickly and switched to another sleep medicine that I had the reaction to! I ended up falling down 20' of stairs and suffering a TBI!
We all have different reactions to different drugs! That's why they have warning labels! I seem to have that problem for some reason. That's why my PCP said not to get the vaccine!
Something in my chemical makeup!
Sundance(RB)

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@lacy2

@jk HI. I live in Northern Ontario, Canada. Yes minus celsius... we still use Fahrenheit and Celsius, as we still weigh in ounces and pounds, but also in kilograms.... many years ago government switched to decimal system (kilograms etc.) but challenged in Court and people were allowed to also sell items by the lb, pound. Very confusing especially since recipes often are in ounces, or kilograms, or cups !!
Yes even our dog didnt want to stay outside yesterday!
A few months ago Dr. at clinic, after agreeing to continue to give me Clonazepam for sleep, said that studies show that for Seniors, like me, six hours sleep is enough. I didn't say anything but thought, right, maybe on paper that could be true, we could "exist" on six hours, but what the heck are we who are older and ill (I have several physical issues and mental)....what are we going to do the remaining 18 hours in a day?? Go to bed at midnight and get up at 6am? and especially now asked to stay home re Covid and no visitors.... watch tv all day? I can no longer knit cos of neuropathy; standing for a long time to prepare a meal and we cannot eat many food items now with bowel issues; etc. etc. My Mum always used to say (before sleep aids were needed) that a person cannot "make themselves sleep"... some people just need more sleep than others, right? If I could sleep e.g. 11pm til 7 and have a one or two hour nap in afternoon, I would be happy..... how much sleep is needed depends on the person doesnt it? I wake up 2 or 3 times during night even with pill and put my ipad on youtube with or without headphones. I havent slept right through the night for many years......not many people I know, including my adult children, do either..... J.S.

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JS, so true on the sleep! Most nights I get exactly 8 hours and a nap is a must in the afternoon because of Lyme Disease! If I don't get those hours I pay in many ways!
I am so lucky because I am able to go out and get out of the house if I want! Plus I still run my business, so there is always something to do! My business has changed so much! About 90% of it is all done on the computer!
Hope you warm up soon!
Sundance(RB)

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@jocelynk

I just had a dream like that last night. I was wide awake for three hours before I could get back to sleep. Telling me something?

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jocelynk, good question about your dream! I was going to try and search my library today, but I stayed busy all day. I did look online for a book on dreams but nothing excited me! Furthermore, I can picture the most recent book I read, 10 years ago! But can't see it on the wall in front of me.
Will try and look again in the morning! Time for my 8 hours of sleep and dreams>
From The Land of Enchantment!
Sundance(RB)

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@sundance6

Lacy agree 100%on insurance! Total BS! I was talking to a friend today, and we were talking about growing old and admitting you need a hearing aid! Got mine 4 years ago! It is absurd what they cost! Mine were $4,000 orginally! They came out a while ago and said the Medicare is going to cover them! Then they said the price was going to drop to under $1,000! Guess what? They have not! Really hard for Seniors!
PERSONAL COMMENT! I get so tired of the media saying seniors are leaches on society! I've paid over$500,00 into SS and Medicare in my Lifetime!
Just makes me Mad!
Hope you are having a Good week! I get a Trager Massage tomorrow. Has really helped since last week!
Sundance(RB)

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@sundance . well wait til "the media" become Seniors and especially Seniors with health and financial problems, then wonder what they will say!!! Insurance all started, I believe, when people pooled their money so that if one of the group had an urgent need, house or barn burned down etc., that pool of money was to be used to help out: now if someone used that "insurance" they seem to be critiized! Do people think we "want" or "like" to have to use the medical system, hospitals, etc. etc. Grrrrr

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For Sure! I get so tired of them blaming our "Boomer Generation"! They have no concept of all we did! Integration, women's rights! I can go on forever! We were the ones to pay all the money into the system for everyone else!
We got an inch of snow last night! Clearing off now but still 32 F.
Stay warm and safe today!
RB

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@sundance6

For Sure! I get so tired of them blaming our "Boomer Generation"! They have no concept of all we did! Integration, women's rights! I can go on forever! We were the ones to pay all the money into the system for everyone else!
We got an inch of snow last night! Clearing off now but still 32 F.
Stay warm and safe today!
RB

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@sundance6 I actually haven't heard that bashing in the media. I know that there are some people who feel that social security and Medicare are handouts but I have not heard the media indicating that they agree with that.

You are right, we paid into it mightily. If they take it away they have basically stolen money from us.
JK

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Hi all,
I just want to say thank you. I appreciate that you bring the conversation back to sleep problems even after brief tangents about dental care, the weather, etc.
I might even suggest that dental care could be a topic of its own in the Aging Well group if anyone would care to start it: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/aging-well/

Well, back to the regular programming as they say. Sleep health.

I'm a terrible sleeper. I always have been. Like many of you here, I get up several times in the night, typically 3 times. I've done this since I was a child and I have no underlying health condition that would contribute to this behavior. I understand the need to go in the early morning hours, but I really don't understand a new development - lately I need to go after being asleep for only an hour or two. Anyone else?

Lately, I started tracking my sleep and changing some habits to promote better sleep, like
- setting a regular bedtime of 10 pm
- winddown starting at 9 or so
- no eating after 8 pm
- no screen time after 9:30 pm (this is by far the hardest habit to change)
- aerobic exercise during the day
- better eating
- mindfulness exercise (5-15 minutes daily)

I'm still waking up 2-3 times a night, but my sleep quality and length is getting better. I find the screen time habit the hardest one to adhere to, but when I do, it really makes a difference. What habits might you change to improve sleep?

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