Sleep Help

Hi

There’s no forum about sleep itself, but I thought it would be appropriate here.

I’m 23, male. My problem is that I wake up at least once everynight. I don’t have problem falling asleep or re-falling asleep, but I beleive those awakening decrease the overall quality of my night. Or as Charles Poliquin would say: “As soon as you’re awake for more than three seconds you disturb melatonin production, and melatonin is part of the hormonal cascade that builds muscle.”

I think I wake up at night out of habit now, and I would like to find a way to reset my sleep pattern. Do anyone know how I could acheive this? Do you have other idea for how I could improve my sleep?

Also, I already sleep with ear plugs and band on the eyes, so I think external stresses re minimized.

I don’t think it’s a big deal. I wake up once every night and that hasn’t affected me negatively whatsoever.

First of all, don’t sweat it. You can still get plenty of good sleep even if you wake up during the night. I have recently been using a device to monitor sleep and found that there are nights I wake up a lot without realizing it, yet still feel rested the next day, and make progress in training. shrug

Second, if you have not tried Z12 sold in the store here, get some. It’s amazing. I have a history of severe insomnia, and a sleep disorder that accompanied a chronic illness I had, so I have tried MANY things. With Z12 it is now hard instead of easy to wake me during the night, and I get far more REM sleep.

For example, last night we had a thunderstorm (which are rare here in CA), and one of our dogs was so scared he climbed up into our bed (not EVER allowed), yet my spouse had a hard time waking me to tell me about it, and I couldn’t rouse myself enough to see what was going on. (Good thing the dog wasn’t vomiting/needing to go out!) Without Z12, I wake up if the dog so much as licks his paw or shakes.

I have the same problem as the OP except I wake 3-4 times a night. I cant remember the last time I slept more than 4 hours uninterrupted, I do fall back asleep pretty quickly (5-10 mins) but have no idea what is causing me to wake.

It genuinely happens every night, I finish work at 5:30pm, go and train and I’m home around 8-8:30. By 10:30 I’m exhausted but it doesn’t matter how tired I am going to bed I will keep waking up.

waking up once isn’t gonna kill you. relax. stop thinking so much.

you can try one of these or a combo:

zma
Z-12
melatonin (1mg)
l-tyrtophan
whiskey :slight_smile:

I think it’s almost impossible to not wake up at least once for 2-4 seconds. Especially if you sleep next to someone…slightest movement from them and it could wake you up slightly.

I have mixed results with ZMA. Dreams are crazy, but they also cause me to wake up sometimes from the more intense ones.

Try sleeping on your side. Put a small pillow in the small of your back to keep you from rolling onto your back. Keep the room totally dark and as silent as possible. Stop drinking water two hours prior so you don’t get up to pee.

Two questions…

What are the consequences of no water 2 hours before you sleep?

If you take Z-12 (or any sleep aid for that matter), and you normally wake up to pee, will you piss your bed? Last time I pissed my bed was in the fourth grade… and I’m NOT trying to do it again.

thanks.

Waking up, even for five minutes, IS a big deal. I imagine the “it’s never affected me types” mean “it has always affected me so I couldn’t tell you what it’s would be like if I didn’t”.

Do the following things–

  1. Reduce light you are exposed to prior to sleep.
  2. Do not exercise near sleeping.
  3. Have a relaxing bedroom decor.
  4. Invest in a new mattress/sheets/pillow–higher quality.
  5. Reduce general stress in your life.

Check out Power Sleep by James Maas (I have the book on ebook if you’re interested). Best book on sleeping I’ve ever read.

[quote]Fiction wrote:
Waking up, even for five minutes, IS a big deal. I imagine the “it’s never affected me types” mean “it has always affected me so I couldn’t tell you what it’s would be like if I didn’t”.

Do the following things–

  1. Reduce light you are exposed to prior to sleep.
  2. Do not exercise near sleeping.
  3. Have a relaxing bedroom decor.
  4. Invest in a new mattress/sheets/pillow–higher quality.
  5. Reduce general stress in your life.

Check out Power Sleep by James Maas (I have the book on ebook if you’re interested). Best book on sleeping I’ve ever read.[/quote]

I do ALL those things and then some for good sleep, but the device still shows I wake up several times whether I realize it or not.

By the objective data of the device AND subjective perception of sleep quality, the Z12 is amazing.

[quote]Dymdez wrote:
Two questions…

What are the consequences of no water 2 hours before you sleep?

If you take Z-12 (or any sleep aid for that matter), and you normally wake up to pee, will you piss your bed? Last time I pissed my bed was in the fourth grade… and I’m NOT trying to do it again.

thanks.[/quote]

What grade are you in now?

I’ve been exploring this issue lately, as well.

Up until a few years ago, when I was in my mid-20s, I could sleep like a damn rock. Anywhere. Anytime.

Over the course of the last 3-4 years, I find that I’ve been sleeping less and sleep a lot lighter.

Now, at 31, I can tell the lack of sleep is taking it’s toll on me.

I take melatonin, benadryl and/or ZMA on a regular basis (usually between 7-9pm) and still can’t get to sleep til midnight or so.

Stress has been an issue for most of life, but again, I was still able to get decent sleep up until the last few years.

Hell, on the days that I lift the hardest…and I would imagine need sleep the most…those are the days I find even harder to actually get to sleep.

Tylenol PM works pretty well. Wouldn’t take it more than a couple times a week though.

Meditation helps a lot. It’s important to wind down and clear your mind of the day’s garbage. Nothing worse than trying to go to sleep thinking about everything.

Oh, get up and go to sleep at the same time every day, including weekends. I notice on weekends if I even sleep in for an hour or two more Sunday night I have issues falling asleep.

I never liked benadryl (diphenhydramine) for sleep because results were variable for me, and when it did work, it was too much of a sedative. A couple weeks ago I took a dose at night because I was had a sinus infection, and I discovered that I didn’t get ANY of the deeper stages of sleep all night.

ZMA seems to have mixed results with different people; for me it seems stimulating more than anything. I take only magnesium at night now.

I have used melatonin a handful of times, but I hesitate to use it regularly because of possible side effects like depression. I use it only if my circadian rhythm gets messed up from jet lag or having to stay up late.

If I couldn’t get Z12 now, the next best thing would be L-tryptophan, maybe stacked with theanine and glycine.

MrB, you might want to look at CT’s recommendations for glycine and phosphatadylserine after training. And DEFINITELY try Z12.