Better sleep at night - over 60 - what to do? (pain, infection)

[Bette]

I used to sleep like a log. Never woke up. Went right to sleep as I hit the pillow.

Earlier this year, I had some type of bacterial infection and got 2 medications for it - the first one did not take but the 2nd (Cipro) did work.

With both, I slept like a log again.

During the week, I'm busy so I seem to sleep better but weekends not so much.
I usually (average) go to sleep around 1 AM or 2 AM, get up around 8 AM but I go into the sound sleep around 5:30 AM so I wake up tired.

The only medication I take is for my left eye and it's to keep down the pressure which is very high.
(Timinol).

I tried drinking red wine last night (3 ounces) and I have no taste for this. I don't really drink but I did fall asleep quickly and slept for 3 hours and then woke up about 6-7 times and finally got to sleep around 7 AM.

So, I have felt out of sorts today and need to work to resolve this.

This waking up during the night started around 5 years ago.

[BobTex]

I'll give my $.02 here. Your mileage may vary.

I'm now 68 and began having poor sleep problems in my early to mid 50's. Probably in part then to a high stress job charging in a trauma ICU unit. My very conservative PCP at the time prescribed Zolpidem (Ambien) 10mg nightly as needed . . . 1/2 tab (5mg). I actually got very good results on 1/3 tab with usually a solid 7 hours of sleep while waking up with no side effects. The one drawback was that early on in my sleep cycle, if awakened, my wife said I could be an arsehole. The next morning her comment would be that Ambien Bob had visited the previous night. As I'd be pretty well into starting my sleep I'd have very vague memories of this. Not an issue anymore though.


I had tried a few alternatives namely Melatonin which I developed a tolerance to rather quickly and Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) which left me feeling hungover the next morning. Both of these negatives were not what I wanted in a sleep aid.


I continue the Ambien to this day usually 4-5 nights a week. Some nights I can tell I'll sleep well and won't take it. I now take the originally prescribed 1/2 tab too. I'll warn also that Ambien is a hypnotic and incidents of sleep walking and such occur. I feel though that a lot of this is due to too large a dose based on my own experience. I've never taken a full 10mg tab. Proceed with caution if you ever take this medication. Tread lightly!!

Good luck !

[seethelight]

Originally Posted by BobTex

I'll give my $.02 here. Your mileage may vary.

I'm now 68 and began having poor sleep problems in my early to mid 50's. Probably in part then to a high stress job charging in a trauma ICU unit. My very conservative PCP at the time prescribed Zolpidem (Ambien) 10mg nightly as needed . . . 1/2 tab (5mg). I actually got very good results on 1/3 tab with usually a solid 7 hours of sleep while waking up with no side effects. The one drawback was that early on in my sleep cycle, if awakened, my wife said I could be an arsehole. The next morning her comment would be that Ambien Bob had visited the previous night. As I'd be pretty well into starting my sleep I'd have very vague memories of this. Not an issue anymore though.


I had tried a few alternatives namely Melatonin which I developed a tolerance to rather quickly and Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) which left me feeling hungover the next morning. Both of these negatives were not what I wanted in a sleep aid.


I continue the Ambien to this day usually 4-5 nights a week. Some nights I can tell I'll sleep well and won't take it. I now take the originally prescribed 1/2 tab too. I'll warn also that Ambien is a hypnotic and incidents of sleep walking and such occur. I feel though that a lot of this is due to too large a dose based on my own experience. I've never taken a full 10mg tab. Proceed with caution if you ever take this medication. Tread lightly!!

Good luck !

I've been taking Ambien for over 30 years, now 12.5 mg. I've never missed a night if I could help it. Am I addicted, yes I am, but I don't care and my primary care doctor doesn't care either.

[Ruth4Truth]

OP, why do you go to bed so late? Have you tried going to bed a little earlier: midnight or 11 p.m.? Staying up as late as you do can cause the body to put out stress hormones, that interfere with sleep. Also, wine/alcohol is actually a stimulant. It helps people get to sleep, but causes them to wake up in the middle of the night, as you experienced.

Waking up in the middle of the night can be due to waning estrogen. You could talk to your doctor about hormone replacement.

Also, diet could be a factor. Cutting back on carbs, especially at dinner, can help with sleep problems, if you've developed some insulin resistance without knowing it. That could be what prevents you from falling asleep earlier. A progesterone deficiency, which many women actually begin to have in late perimenopause, also prevents women from falling asleep at night.

Since I don't have more info about you, I'm just throwing possibilities out there. You could ask your doctor for hormonal panel blood test.

[Chas863]

Bette,

My suggestions:

1. Get regular exercise every day... morning AND afternoon, 7 days per week. Walking, swimming, whatever you're able to do.

2. Start going to bed no later than 11 PM whether you're sleepy or not.

3. Get up by 6:30 or 7 AM even if you have to set the alarm to do so.

4. Do NOT take any naps during the day... not even for 5 minutes. If you feel yourself starting to nod off, get up and walk around for 10 minutes or so.

5. Do not eat after dinner (about 6 pm).

6. Do not drink any alcohol after 7 pm.

It will take your body a few days to adjust to this new routine, but by the end of the 5th day, you'll be sleeping well and waking up refreshed. You MUST stick to this schedule. Even if you don't sleep well one night, get up at the regular time and tough it out through the day with no naps.

[Roselvr]

Originally Posted by Bette

I used to sleep like a log. Never woke up. Went right to sleep as I hit the pillow.

Earlier this year, I had some type of bacterial infection and got 2 medications for it - the first one did not take but the 2nd (Cipro) did work.

With both, I slept like a log again.

During the week, I'm busy so I seem to sleep better but weekends not so much.
I usually (average) go to sleep around 1 AM or 2 AM, get up around 8 AM but I go into the sound sleep around 5:30 AM so I wake up tired.

The only medication I take is for my left eye and it's to keep down the pressure which is very high.
(Timinol).

I tried drinking red wine last night (3 ounces) and I have no taste for this. I don't really drink but I did fall asleep quickly and slept for 3 hours and then woke up about 6-7 times and finally got to sleep around 7 AM.

So, I have felt out of sorts today and need to work to resolve this.

This waking up during the night started around 5 years ago.

There is a natural sleep aid called Midnite that Walmart sells for about $8, I suggest you try it. You put it on your tongue, let it dissolve, you should be asleep within the hour. If you wake up, take one then close your eyes. You should drift off again unless your internal clock says it's time to wake up. That's been my issue for the last year or so.

It's 2AM I've already been awake a few hours. No matter what time I go to sleep, I'm up around midnight to 1AM. I decided to let my body sleep when it needs sleep, so most days I'm dead by 4 or 5 PM. Some times I'll wake up a few hours later, stay awake a bit, then take a sleeping pill (generic lunesta) to go back to sleep. Other times I'll fall asleep 30 minutes to an hour, then will take the pill to go to sleep.

When my internal clock says it's time to get up, midnite won't work for me. I still keep it on hand for those times when it will work. It's all natural. My daughter also has sleep issues, she does the same as me with generic lunesta and midnite.

There are a few generic lunesta's, we've found CVS has the best working one, I think it was by Dr Reddy.

I've tried Ambien, doesn't work for me. My daughter took it for a while but changed to lunesta years ago. It works better.

[Sand&Salt]

We have a marijuana brownie around 8 pm. It takes a couple hours to kick in so it's perfect for sleep. I used to wake up after a few hours and not get back to sleep until dawn, but not anymore. Really deep, satisfying sleep for us. No "hangovers" or after-effects.

We often go to bed late and it doesn't matter. We don't get up early either...more like 9:00 a.m.

I exercise an hour a day, but he doesn't and that doesn't seem to matter either.

ETA: I used to think it didn't work for pain (for me), but when I didn't have one the other night, I lay awake with my arthritic arms aching all night. So I guess it does work!

[Bette]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

OP, why do you go to bed so late? Have you tried going to bed a little earlier: midnight or 11 p.m.? Staying up as late as you do can cause the body to put out stress hormones, that interfere with sleep. Also, wine/alcohol is actually a stimulant. It helps people get to sleep, but causes them to wake up in the middle of the night, as you experienced.

Waking up in the middle of the night can be due to waning estrogen. You could talk to your doctor about hormone replacement.

Also, diet could be a factor. Cutting back on carbs, especially at dinner, can help with sleep problems, if you've developed some insulin resistance without knowing it. That could be what prevents you from falling asleep earlier. A progesterone deficiency, which many women actually begin to have in late perimenopause, also prevents women from falling asleep at night.

Since I don't have more info about you, I'm just throwing possibilities out there. You could ask your doctor for hormonal panel blood test.

We both work a lot but I'm usually stuck in the office more waiting for my husband to do his work as well.
We work about 80 hours a week so my husband likes to come back to the office around 9 PM and work until 1 AM or so. Quiet time for him so he gets a lot done (he's a CPA).

I have been working since age 15. In those days, I went to HS and worked 2 jobs and then had to stay up and do homework so got to bed around 2 AM. That always continued and after I was self employed, I worked around my family, always home for dinner, brought work home and worked just as late.

If I go to bed earlier like I did Friday night, I just laid there for close to 3 1/2 hours. I tried moving up the going to bed time by 15 minutes (in the past) each night to see if that helped but it didn't seem to.

Good to know about the wine. I felt lousy the next day after drinking it anyway. Not for me.

I'm working on the diet. I need to get serious. When I had the infection, I was really good for 62 days.
Then, I had to go to something (family thing) and it was an insult if I didn't have a bite of their food type thing. The cravings came back so fast.

I have not driven since 2015 so I'm stuck waiting on my husband who likes a certain routine. I cannot do anything about this. I know him and he likes his alone time so he goes home around 7 PM to 9 PM, takes the dogs out and probably catches another episode of NCIS or something like that.

I'm not a huge TV watcher but I know he likes this quiet time to himself. He was an only child and lots of activity all the time gets to him. We have that during the day so I feel this suits him. Very easy to live with.

I do need to lose weight and part of that is working out. We were doing that in 2019 (going to a gym) but then COVID hit - it then closed. I need to get back into that. I don't look heavy - I look about 145 but I'm about 165. I got down to 149 in 2018 and then I was around 150-155 in 2019. I really want to be around 130. I'm 5'4 1/2.

I do need to see a doctor, I guess. It's been a long time. I went to a gastro doc back in December 2021 but no much on that - I needed to get 2 tests done but the hospital closed for COVID - I have to find another doctor for that. (The whole department is now closed permanently).

Thanks for your response.

[Bette]

Originally Posted by Chas863

Bette,

My suggestions:

1. Get regular exercise every day... morning AND afternoon, 7 days per week. Walking, swimming, whatever you're able to do.

2. Start going to bed no later than 11 PM whether you're sleepy or not.

3. Get up by 6:30 or 7 AM even if you have to set the alarm to do so.

4. Do NOT take any naps during the day... not even for 5 minutes. If you feel yourself starting to nod off, get up and walk around for 10 minutes or so.

5. Do not eat after dinner (about 6 pm).

6. Do not drink any alcohol after 7 pm.

It will take your body a few days to adjust to this new routine, but by the end of the 5th day, you'll be sleeping well and waking up refreshed. You MUST stick to this schedule. Even if you don't sleep well one night, get up at the regular time and tough it out through the day with no naps.

Chas:
I will show this to my husband as he is struggling a bit also. We go to bed together.

The 11 PM will be tough but I'll shoot for midnight.

#4 is easy for me. I do not take naps. My husband does though (sometimes, I'll see his office light off for 20 minutes).

#5 - I'm working on this.

#6 - Easy. I do not drink.

Thanks for these suggestions.

[Bette]

Originally Posted by Sand&Salt

We have a marijuana brownie around 8 pm. It takes a couple hours to kick in so it's perfect for sleep. I used to wake up after a few hours and not get back to sleep until dawn, but not anymore. Really deep, satisfying sleep for us. No "hangovers" or after-effects.

We often go to bed late and it doesn't matter. We don't get up early either...more like 9:00 a.m.

I exercise an hour a day, but he doesn't and that doesn't seem to matter either.

ETA: I used to think it didn't work for pain (for me), but when I didn't have one the other night, I lay awake with my arthritic arms aching all night. So I guess it does work!

We have never tried. I've never even smoked!