Intermittent Sleep has Become a Problem: Suggestions?

Have you tried sleep hypnosis? Try googling sleep app. Paul McKenna does one, but there are others. You could try googling his name. I use one of his CDs on a personal CD player in bed sometimes, but I’m not sure they are available any more. Also a cool dark bedroom helps a lot, and a pillow between my knees.

Thank you for replying to my message. I appreciate your suggestions and will start experimenting with them tonight.

@ladybirder I use a pillow also. I started using one after my knee replacement in October but continue now, it really does help. I couldn't use it much in the summer, it made me feel hot, but now that we are back to cooler temperatures I am back with it.
JK

Hi, @ladybugmg - you'd mentioned a few weeks back that you were having challenges with intermittent sleep. Are you still experiencing this? Did you end up taking the tizanidine?

@ladybirder - how is the sleep hypnosis going?

I use to have the same issue but now have been taking Tizanidine for a year now and it does the trick for me. I hope it works for you!

@franle hmmm, maybe I should ask my PCP about this. He would probably say no though.
JK

@Lisa lucier, I still have the personal CD player in my bed but don’t use it so much any more. I still get up to go to the bathroom, usually twice, sometimes more or less. There have been some times I’ve slept right through the night . For a long time I’ve been getting enough sleep, usually 7 to 8 hours, even if it’s broken up a bit by bathroom visits. A couple of nights ago, I awoke feeling a bit hungry, so I got up for a snack. Occasionally lately, I’ve looked at my iPad with the brightness turned down in the dark, when I couldn’t get back to sleep. There have been a few times when I listened to the sleep hypnosis more than once or twice. I love lying there, looking at the total darkness in my room. I keep a small flashlight by my pillow for when I get up. I don't turn on the bathroom light during the night or to brush my teeth before going to bed. One way or another I drop off to sleep, even though it sometimes takes a while. It just so happened that last night after getting up and not sleeping, I put the earbud in my ear. Didn’t even listen to it (McKenna says you dont need to listen) and I was fast asleep almost immediately. I’m lucky in that I’m retired and don’t have to be up by a certain time. For some time, I’ve been in a cycle of waking around 5 am and going to bed around 9:30 pm, very tired and quickly fall asleep. But that’s Okay. It doesn’t bother me any more because, one way or another, I know I will get enough sleep. I have never taken Melatonin or other medication for sleep. The sleep hypnosis was very helpful in the beginning but I don’t use it so much lately. I hope my experience will help others.

@ladybirder and others with sleep problems. There is always talk about using electronic devices prior to going to bed will keep you awake (it rarely keeps me awake though). I was on Amazon to purchase some new reading glasses and came across some that block the blue light that is said to cause the problem! They were less than $10 so I ordered a pair along with a few other things. As I said, I generally do not find that being on the computer prevents me from falling asleep, but they are also supposed to help with eyestrain, and I know I do get that.
JK

I have solved the problem by eating a salt free rice cake smeared with cream cheese or cottage cheese about a hour before bedtime. I have been sleeping 6-8 hours a night and only get up once to go to the bathroom. When I am stressed out from something that happened during the day and wake up during the night I drink a cup of Tension Tamer Tea and usually get back to sleep in about half an hour. I hope this helps someone dealing with this problem.

My new laptop computer's display site allows me to change the lighting on the computer screen to nighttime vision that seems to make a difference. I have scarring on my left eye after having laser treatment which causes glare problems (from bright light) and found that the yellow lens glasses I use while driving helps with the bright light from the computer.