I'm the same CC..I have to get up as soon as I wake up.. I can't lie in bed... I could when I was young. On my day off from work, I'd wake up, and then read a book, and then go back to sleep! I just asked google what time it is in fresno...you're on early, it's only 5.15am... she told me... It's 1.15pm here ...anyway it's nice to have company in these modern times at whatever time you wake isn't it?
My best dreams come after I have woke up in the morning, but decide to just lie there and go back to sleep repeatedly.
If it's after 4:00 am, I'm up. Before that I'll try and stay in bed and I do fall asleep. I dream a lot during the night. I wake up after each one also...some are longer than others judging by the clock.
The hormone that helps us sleep well when we are younger is melatonin, and it is naturally produced by the brain in humans and animals (except nocturnal ones) when it starts to get dark outside. Our body just naturally makes a lot of it when we are little and need to sleep a lot, but as we grow, it makes less and less, and by the time we are senior adults, we do not produce very much natural melatonin at all. Another factor is lighting, because melatonin is produced when it starts to get dark outside, and now, we live in homes with artificial light, so our body is not keyed in that it is time toproduce the sleep hormone. I have taken melatonin for over 20 years, and I really like it. It helps me sleep (like a baby) and it also has restorative and anti-aging benefits, as well as sleeping benefits. I started out originally with 3 mg about a half hour before I want to go to sleep, and over the years have gradually increased that dosage as needed. Each person may need a different amount. My youngest son needed 10 mg before he could even feel a difference, and that was when he was still in his early 40’s, and other people never need more that 3 mg; so you just have to start small, try it for a while , and then see when you hit that spot that works best for you. Since it is a natural hormone, there are no side affects like there can be with sleeping pills, another thing that I really like about melatonin.
I think you have to start seriously mixing things up. Try to stay up all night a couple of nights. At normal bedtime start watching tapes of the greatest Huskers games. I think it will only take a couple of nights of that.
Perhaps whilst sitting, a turn at the hokey-pokey might be appropriate. put your right foot in, put your right foot out, put your right foot in then you shake it all about.....etc...………..
Sleep tends to become more fragmented as we get older. I also find that if I know I have an early appointment, I'll begin waking up hours ahead of need, without any alarm necessary...
I realize I might get a few nay sayers, but a lot of physical and mental anxiety which hampers one’s sleep patterns can come from one’s diet. Many key hormones just aren’t produced in the quantity we need as we grow older hence the need to supplement them or enhance their production through a repairative diet. That said, a good sleep therapist might be the answer to a lot of sleep related problems. I’ve never been to one but my understanding is that they can do some pretty good work.
Back in the fall of 2009, I went to my doctor because I couldn't fall asleep. Wife said I'd been up for 48 plus hours and still not able to fall asleep. I was getting a little 'goofy'. At that time I had just completed 15 years working the same 12 hour on/off shift. First 2 weeks of the month I'd work 12 hour days, 8 am to 8 pm. Last 2 weeks of the month I'd switch to 12 hour days, 8 pm to 8 am. Repeat... Doctor sat me down and told me my body could no longer 'make the switch' and recover at my age. Told me it would cause serious harm if I didn't change my work schdule. There was no other shifts at the Ethanol Plant, so we decided to move to Nashville and I'd get a 'normal' job. While working at the plant, I had set up a spare bedroom with black out curtains, fans, and a firm bed. This was for the 'day' part of the shift change, to mask it being daytime. So thinking about setting up the back bedroom with this same arrangement, plus adding a white/pink noise generator. I'll give anything a try.
I haven't had normal working hours since the 1970s, at least not for any significant length of time. I mostly worked the graveyard shift at Hoerner-Waldorf, Champion, and Duro, although I would switch to the day shift or swing shift every now and then. I worked swing shift for a couple of semesters when I was taking morning classes and would transfer to day shift during contract negotiations at Champion. While I was working EMS, I was potentially on-duty all the time. Even when I was off, I would be needed whenever things got busy, so I carried a radio and couldn't go far. Although I also worked as a health and building inspector at Los Fresnos, I was also on call for EMS throughout the night and weekends. When I taught for TSTC, I had classes in Harlingen from 8 am to 12 pm, and in McAllen from 1 pm to 5 pm, Monday through Friday, plus night classes in Harlingen from 6 pm to 10 pm, and a Saturday skills class at one campus or another from 8 am to 5 pm. Plus, I worked as a skills examiner for the Texas Department of Health EMS Division and had to check on students doing hospital rotations. While with Los Fresnos, I also taught for Texas Southmost College. While in North Carolina, I worked a regular day job but I also worked a Blue Buffalo job at night and on weekends. Now, I only put in 30 hours a week online, and I can do that whenever I feel like it, so I am sometimes up until after the sun comes up, but if I want to sleep in, I can sleep in as long as I want.
I found I retained my working schedule for about six months. Most of us need to be accumulated to retirement life, I suspect. I decided to enjoy the experience, let things happen as they would.