Lots of luck.

I have slept half awake for most of my life (62 yrs.), and all the changes I have tried, have been to no avail.

The best news I can give you, is that as you begin to get older, you like to sleep longer, which at least partly offsets the light sleeping.

(When I was a teenager, I would be awakened by the flick of a light switch, in my room.)

My sleeping patterns have been very strange since I was a young child. And when I get really stressed, I walk in my sleep which is very scary! I'll go to sleep in my bed and wake up in the living room with the TV blaring!

So I have found that reducing my stress level helps me get a better night's sleep. After talking to my doctor about it, he suggested that on those nights that I get stressed, like when my son was serving in Iraq, that I take a .25 Xanax. It really helps me relax without putting me to sleep and making me groggy!

My DH had the sleep study and was diagnosed with sleep apnea. I think this is much more common than I thought. He now sleeps in a c-pap machine and his sleeping quality has soared. Plus, there is no snoring. NO SNORING!!! How great for me. His tests showed that he woke up many times during the night; most of which he was unaware of. He has felt so much better!

I have problems sleeping too and it is probably because of changes in hormones in my body and my husband's snoring. Can you say freight train in the middle of the night? My doctor told me to take a Benadryl (or store brand of the same) every night to help me sleep. It does help me sleep through the night, but sometimes a little groggy in the morning if I don't take it early enough. I need to take it an hour or two before getting to bed and if I don't get to bed until later than 10 pm, then it is hard to get up in the morning. I have not gone in for any kind of sleep disorder tests, so I can't help you there, but the Benadryl does work. There isn't any problems with getting addicted to the Benadryl and it does keep the sinuses clear. ;-)

I second the Benadryl. It works. One cup of coffee and the groggy is gone. :)

Gee Rick, I'm already older (57) and still have sleeping problems! My husband shuts his eyes and 3 minutes later is sleeping. He can even sleep sitting up!

Ambien doesn't even work for me some nights!

I'm DEcafinated....My heart beats too fast, I take meds to slow it down. Caffine can make it worse. I have 2 cups decaf coffee in the morning. I miss real coffee.

I take 75mg effexor 2x a day for anti anxiety & also estrogen, so stress & hormone changes probably aren't why I can't sleep. I have restless legs, but neither requip or miraplex help much. I used to take quinine, but can't get it anymore. Once I fall asleep, I sleep like the dead, but wake up feeling like I was in a fight & beat up. My best sleep time is from 5-6 AM till 10-11AM. I think my internal clock (if there is such a thing) is backwards.

I'll go in for the sleep study about 8:30 PM, get hooked up to sensors, take my ambien, hopefully go to sleep. At 5AM they will wake me up and send me home. I don't know what they'll do if I don't go to sleep. I told her some nights I can't sleep at all, she didn't seemed concerned.

Bev, I've had the sleep test done. It was about 4 years ago. I know that at times when I'd be falling asleep I'd catch myself not taking in a breath. This was way before I'd ever heard of sleep apnea.

I would be up way late in the night many times and other nights when I did fall asleep early 10 pm I'd wake up within two or three hours of sleep. I still do this.
It is very exhausting.
I had a big change in my life that made sleeping difficult, not only was I going through the chance of life with night sweats, but met and married my husband who had a son at home still age 15 at the time.
When I went in for the test I ended up sleeping like a baby and they found nothing wrong.

I now take an over the counter sleep aid and it helps. I still wake up but fall back asleep easy, instead of staying awake for hours like before.

Good luck let us know how it went and how your doing.

Take care Barb

Well, maybe the test will indicate something that will help, but I haven't found anything short of pure exhaustion, that makes a difference.

My average period of good sleep is about 2 1/2 hrs. I mostly doze in and out after that. My wife has always slept well, but I never have, as far back as I can remember.

I have a friend who has to sleep with a machine of some kind, which is supposed to be kinda noisy. He says it works for him, though. Kinda troublesome to travel with, I suspect.

It takes awhile to get used to the CPAP machine. Often people aren't given adequate instruction on how to get used to it. Compliance with the machine is the main problem. Gettting people to feel comfortable with the machine is the job of the people who supply the machine. Make sure to ask lots of questions and persist until you are comfortable using the CPAP machine.

Boys had better be careful with Benadryl (a.k.a Diphenhydramine HCL - frequently an ingredient in over-the-counter sleeping pills, too.) Yes, it will help you get to sleep, and it will clear your sinuses, but taking it for several days in a row can start causing ED. Granted, when I experienced this problem and looked up some information, I found that I was taking not one, but FOUR drugs known to contribute to ED. When I stopped taking them, Mr Happy was back to normal in about 4 days. Just a warning ...

Gee, I guess I was a little slow at figure out what ED was until you mentioned "Mr. Happy." hee-hee! I'm still waking up - gotta go get some caffeine now. Glad things are all in working order.

DH has had that test twice already. He has severe sleep apnea to go with his severe PTSD. The guy that did the test told him to just follow his normal routine as much as possible. Medications and such. But he had to be hooked up and in bed by a certain time. He's using a C-PAP machine now, but it's not working very well for him. I'm told that it doesn't work for everyone. There is another machine that can be used for some patients. But we'll just have to wait and see.

Hello....I'm new and just caught your conversation on Sleep Apnea...I have it and I have slept with a c-pap machine for about four years now. I had some friends at the Medical supply place who made sure I got a good machine, quiet and make sure it has WATER!!!!....you will dry out without the water vapors..nothing you notice...unless you don't have it...nose, throat, mouth...everything will be like the desert without the water tank.....and ask if they can get you something called a "nasal air"...it is like an oxygen tube only a little larger for the air to go through at a steady pace.
The tube is soft, it fits just inside your nose (has a two nostril fitting...very soft) and the tube then goes on both sides of your face and connects at the top. I didn't want to wear the head gear so i took some velcro and connected the two tubes and slid the velcro down until there was a tight fit....not too tight or you will cut off the air to the tube....but just tight enough to let it ride on your head. I am closterphobic (sp?) and so I don't like a mask on my face.

I have never felt better after getting REM sleep. I went for years just being so tired and falling asleep every time I sat down....I snored like a freight train and my husband had a hard time sleeping. It wasnt' until I took a bus load of children to Houston and the teacher stayed up to watch the kids...she said I stopped breathing several times....nothing to play around with folks....oh and the person who is taking Effexor...for depression.....that IS what is keeping you from sleeping....I took mine at night but am having to get off of it because it is causing me to have insomnia.....
OH and by the way....nice to meet yall.....lawlady_2008