Question
I'm a 46 y.o.male, who is in great health. Over the last few years, I've gone through stages of restless sleep, for a month at a time. I normally go to bed at 10:30 and get up at 7 am. When I first go to bed I have no problem falling asleep. An hour or so into it I'll wake up. Once up, I start to itch as if I'm dehydrated. My body feels tense and it's difficult to relax back to sleep. I'll toss and turn for approximately ten minutes. Once I go back to sleep, the process starts over again in about 1 1/2 hours. When I finally go back to sleep at about 5 am, I remain asleep until my alarm goes off. When it goes off, I'm in a state of total relaxation. During mornings when I get to sleep in, this state of total relaxation is experienced throughout my morning sleep. I don't drink coffee and I try to eat three hours prior to going to bed. I don't drink fluids as much as I should, and I can't drink at night based on reflux of the liquids when I lay down.
Why do I experience the itching combined with the tension where I toss and turn, yet experience a total relax state in the morning? And what can I do to get through the whole night with the relaxed sleep I get in the late morning hours?
Answer
Try these tips religiously for about 6-8 weeks but many have seen results
in as little as 2 weeks.lYou must go to bed and awaken the same time each day regardless
of how little or how much sleep you got the night before.
This starts to reset your sleep clock.
3 hours before bedtime stay away from
tea, coffee, caffeine, caramel colored soda like, coke,pepsi, ginger ale,
or root beer, chocolate and exercise .All these make for restless sleep.Do the following religiously for 4-6 weeks although some have seen changes in as little as 2 weeks.
Make sure room is quiet and dark. When you go to bed if you start to
twist and turn or if you wake up in the middle of the night and cant
go back to sleep, twist and turn for only 20 minutes, then get up, go
into a different room and read a book or magazine only! No computer!
When you start to doze immediately go back into the bedroom.This retrains
the brain into thinking that the bedroom is for restful sleep only. Do
this as many times as you awaken thru the night, it will lesson.
30 minutes before bedtime take a hot bath and immerse hands under the
water.Latest research states that the palms of the hand when immersed
in hot water send signals to the brain to relax. 15 minutes before bedtime\
drink a glass of warm milk. Milk when heated contains tryptophan, a natural
amino acid sleep inducer should do the trick. If this fails you should consider seeing a sleep center.
Your local hospital can refer you. Also go to sleepnet.com click on disorders insomnia
for more tips. Feel free to email again karel
