I do I dont sleep unless I take tylenol pm, the kidney dr told me to ,he said they are not habit forming.I sit on edge of bed awhile then lay down ,then Ill fall asleep.

I am 60, female and had insomnia for years, UNTIL I started taking 2 baby aspirin before bed - now sleep through the night. Occasionally, if I have something weighing on my mind, I have to take an Advil PM, but for the most part, I do ok on the aspirin. Getting up to go to the bathroom during the night is a habit - you will need to re-train your brain and bladder by ignoring the urge to get up. The urge should go away after a couple of weeks.

I haven't slept good in years. I quit sleeping good many years ago when my doc took my off hormones. Now I toss and turn for at least two hours or more each night. I take tylenol p.m. also, and it helps somewhat. It is awful, tho, to live with this, as it colors everything u do. Don't like to travel, as BARELY sleep then. Don't like to stay at someones house for the same reason. Don't like to be out at night and get out of my routine. yikes!!!!!!!!!!!

I occasionally have a night where I simply cannot seem to get to sleep. I will go without sleep rather than take unnecessary pain med or a sleeping pill. BUT I have found a natural, harmless solution. I keep some dried lavender by my bed (best to keep it in plastic until needed to preserve the fragrance). A few whiffs of lavender puts me right out. Few people are allergic to lavender, and the aroma has a relaxing effect on the body. Give it a try. I sometimes tie a bit of it in a small square of fabric, and tie a ribbon loop on so I can slip it over my wrist. That way, I can lie quietly in bed, occasionally pinching the sachet to release the fragrance, and it almost always gets me back to sleep.

Otherwise, have you discussed your bladder situation with your dr? Perhaps there is something you can do about that, and once resolved, perhaps a night of uninterrupted rest will come easier.

A few months ago I normally slept like a baby with one wake up to go to the bathroom. Now I fall asleep within a half hour but wake up almost every hour to use the restroom and get a drink of water (3 times at least) and I am hot... then cold. I am 50 and just started on some female hormones, so for me I know it has something to do with that.

I just don't worry if i'm awake later than usual. I pull out a book and read...it usually puts me to sleep eventually.

I prefer resting my mind naturally, with a book by the bed, instead of pills.

Valerian root works also. It smells like old socks, but works pretty well. Since my hysterectomy and loss of hormones I don't sleep well usually. Finally got a sleeping pill from the doctor. Can't remember the name but it starts with a "T" and doesn't have the side effects of the current sleeping pills. I hate to take them, but need the sleep to work efficiently.

Vickey

I've had insomnia my whole life. At this point in time, all I take is one benedryl. My dr. told me to take it without tylenol. It seems to work better. I take it at ten and fall asleep at two till nine. That's the best I've ever done. Even then I have to count backwards from 300 to distract my mind. The mind gets so bored by the repetition that it goes to sleep. As for the bathroom issues, some of you may need a simple bladder suspension. Day surgery, no pain and no getting up at night.

If I am having a hard time getting to sleep because of an over active brain. I do mental alphabetical lists. Cities, flowers, food, boys names, girls names, ect. It seems to help. My late, best friend Gracie, told me about this. She said she mentally names Minnesota counties, alphabetically. That doesn't work for me because I hardly know what county I live in, much less know the names of the others. LOL

Benadryl is in Tylenol PM. Many people don't know that and it could be dangerous if you have allergies and take 2 Benadryl, then take a Tylenol PM.

I'm in my mid 50s and a year and a half ago I was going to the bathroom several times a night. At my regular checkup they tested me for diabetes, and yep, that's what I had! Now that I'm on meds, I don't get up during the night anymore.

Have you been checked for diabetes? My blood sugar numbers were very high and I had no idea!

I get very mild anxiety attacks so I take one low dose Xanax before bedtime and it knocks me out. I don't take them during the day, or if I have too I'll only take a half of a pill.

Also, if you have restless leg syndrome which I had badly for years and years, there is a med to take for that too! I take it several times a week when I'm on a roll with RLS. lol

A few observations:

Tylenol may not be habit forming, but I'd be concerned about the effect on the liver of someone who takes it every night. Acetaminophen can be very damaging to the liver.

Some meds/supplements can cause various kinds of wakefulness. A few years ago people on a fibromyalgia message board were raving about a supplement whose name escapes me now. (It wasn't actually a word; it was a few letters and a number, I think. Started with H.) I took it, and found that it made me wake up after three hours. Did it every time, so I gave it up. I had no sleep problems without it at the time.

Anyone with restless leg syndrome (it's no fun, I know from experience) should try magnesium.

Those with insomnia should consider the possibility that they're missing the window of opportunity to fall asleep. My window often arrives at 8:30 or 9:00, and if I'm busy or otherwise unwilling to go to bed, by the time I get there I can no longer fall asleep. This is more common than you might think.

If I can't sleep, melatonin works for me more than half the time. I take a tiny lozenge that dissolves in the mouth. Works faster than a pill that's swallowed. Melatonin also comes in a timed-release version, for people who become wakeful in the middle of the night.

Exercise during the day may help. Sometimes my sedentary Senior body just isn't tired out by ten p.m.

Sometimes we have aches and pains we are so used to that we don't realize they will wake us or keep sleep at bay. If I could tolerate aspirin I'd take one with a cracker. I can't take aspirin, but can take one or two Tylenol 500 mg -- without benedryl. One can safely take 2000 mg of Tylenol in 24 hours.

I have asthma. If I forget to take Advair at bedtime, my breathing will begin to flag. (I can't take melatonin due to the asthma.)

If I cannot get to sleep within an hour I will take Ambien 5 mg. If I wake and can't get back to sleep, and it is earlier than 3 a.m., I take Ambien 5 mg. (Never more than ONE pill per night, and I won't take one EVERY night.)

Oakleyok, does your doctor know you are taking a benzo (Xanax) at night, long term? Is there an alternative?

I don't have insomnia. Sleep good until I wake up for a potty break and then it's the dickens to go back to sleep, soooooo I bought milk/honey pillow mist from Bath and Body Works.

spray it on the pillows before I go to bed and it works all nite and sure helps when I go back to bed from my 5:00 am potty break

Chisue, I don't know if he knows I take it at night. But it's a low dose pill. I don't take them every night, probably half the time.

I tried Ambien (is that the one that has weird side effects on some people?), and I woke up during the night chewing on a pencil next to the bed! I knew what I was chewing on but kept doing it. Went back to sleep and the next morning I remembered doing it and I looked at the pencil and it had bite marks all over it! lol

Also, I have a neck that gets out of whack at times and I took a muscle relaxer every night, told by my doctor to take it before bedtime when I don't plan on moving.

My pharmacist told me that Xanax is also a muscle relaxer so I just use those instead. Trust me, I don't take enough to get addicted.

In fact I can't see how people get addicted to those things because they knock me out! That's why if I have a mild anxiety attack I can only take half a pill in the daytime, and even then I fall asleep.

I have trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep, and menopause made it worse. I have asthma that can start to develop when I recline flat, so I take one Benedryl at bedtime. That helps prevent asthma problems and makes me sleepy too. I also take 1000 mgs of calcium with magnesium and one 500 mg vitamin C and one asperin.

Being low on calcium or potassium can cause sleep problems, and for me it's the calcium. I ran through a whole bottle before I really could see that it helped. It is quite subtile. But after the bottle ran out, I quit taking the calcium. Then over the next week, I noticed how I was not sleeping as well. Bought more calcium with magnesium to take, and the sleep improved immediately.

oakleyok -- Hee-hee. So far I haven't fallen into 'beaver mode'. Perhaps because I use Ambien 5 mg -- the lowest dose they make. I would ask your MD about continuing to take the Xanax though. If it was prescribed for panic there may be something less powerful you could use as a sleep aid. (Panic attacks are NO FUN. I know people who have had them.)

sheilajoyce -- I'll have to ask my MD about the calcium and the potasium. I already feel like I'm a walking pill repository: Fish oil, slow release iron, Vitamin D-3 1000 mg., multivitimin.

benedryl can also raise your blood pressure! ! !

through peri menopause, I was up in the tv room
at least 5 nights a week with the door open
and the fan on and trying to sleep. lasted years.

I just started Fish Oil per the doctor for heart stuff. And a multiple vitamin, C, B6 and B12.

The only reason I take those is because I read they all give you energy over time.

I no longer wake up to my first cup of coffee, or even the second one. Even with no xanax in the system. ;)

Chi, I don't think I have panic attacks per se, just mild anxiety attacks where my breathing becomes shallower and my hands shake a bit.

All sorts of weird things happen to us as we age, don't they? lol. Today both my thumb and shoulder were hurting at the same time. I'm falling apart. :)

At least I didn't have any symptoms of menopause!

I find I can now trick myself into going to sleep by breathing as if I am...it kind of puts me into a trance, makes me relax, and then I'm out like a light.

It took me a long time to figure this out....60 years. LOL

I love moving air, so I have a bed fan blowing in my face. Have portable fans that I take with me when traveling.

load a couple of good solataire games on the computer. Check the forums play a few games and when sleep hits you try not o fall off the chair lol

a lot of famous people don't get a lot of sleep I think it i best to try not to worry about how much and when you get it.

oldgardner, that's funny. I do the same thing!

Think about how someone breathes when they are sleeping. Usually, very slowly, and with the same rhythm. That alone helps to relax your body, and if you concentrate on the breathing, it gives your mind something to focus on. I used to tell the kids when they were having trouble falling asleep, to do that. (pretend someone is nearby, and you are pretending to be asleep so you won't have to talk to them.) LOL ... It works for me.

Also, (this is going to sound weird, I know, but it works)... talk to your internal organs. Close your eyes to sleep, and tell them slowly, one by one, that you are letting them rest now. They've been working all day, and now it's time to rest. Your eyes, your lungs, your stomach, etc.
I know, it sounds wacko, but try it. You'll drift right off to sleep, relaxed.

foggyj, that's so funny that you "talk" to your organs.

Whenever I get the hiccups, I breathe slowly in a very controlled way and at the same time, I "tell" my diaphragm, where the hiccups are, to "be calm" and it works every time. It took some practice though.

Wacko works for me. LOL

lower your bedroom temps all year

I have a bedroom ac, turn off the central, and lower it to 60

winter, I crack my bedroom door that leads to my deck (i am safe, cause I am on an upper level) YES even when it is freezing and sleep under my down blanket

GOOD SLEEPING

I have it, too. I go to sleep easily, but after 4 hours I wake up. Some nights I listen to MSNBC and it puts me back to sleep but other nights, like tonight, it doesn't work so I get up and work crossword puzzles or read until I feel like going back to bed. I don't worry about it. I'll sleep when I get sleepy enough, I guess. Usually after a few nights of being up and down I sleep soundly the next night or so.

I was taking a Tylenol PM occasionally and then it got more and more frequent. So I quit. I don't like taking pills of any kind. Who knows what's in meds these days. Seems to me the FDA doesn't give a d@mn.

lydia not a fan of hrt...and glad i didn't start it after a full hyst...could have had a worse case of hormone related breast cancer...

i'm on anti-hormone as part of therapy/research, and having a hard time sleeping, and being tired all the time...oh and having hot flases i'd never had before...so it seems you can't live with or without, lol...

bulldinkie good to know i could try tyn-pm...i hadn't asked my kidney dr..

Wow, there are a lot of us and I appreciate the comments and suggestions.
Thanks-Lois

I've also had a sleeping problem all my life, I was diagnosed through a sleep clinic. I choose not to use artificial means to go to sleep- I worry about my liver and other organs. I use relaxation techniques, and remind myself that my body will sleep when it needs to. This isn't always easy, because I work in an office all day, and it's really hard to function sometimes when I've been on a long stretch of poor sleep. But those times are usually the times I don't bother getting enough exercise and using relaxation techniques. And it seems like it's when I tell myself I'm too tired to exercise that I really have trouble sleeping (I too go to sleep just fine and then I wake up and can't go back to sleep). You need to rid your body of excess physical tension to get a restful sleep- that's why relaxation techniques work so well. It's a very healthy solution.

I take hops about an hour before bed...no more waking up for me.

Lisa

Also try the several CD's for sleep inducing. Target, Wallymart, etc. has them. A CD player by the bed, may do the trick.

I haven't slept well since I had a hysterectomy in 1994. I can only sleep if I read in bed first, and everything you read tells you not to read in bed, that's it for sex and sleep. HELLO!!!!! I was taking Tylenol PM and my doc said it wasn't habit forming, but he wanted me to take Xanax--.5 mg. I take one at 10:30, read and turn the light off at 11:00 Sometimes it takes a while. I get up twice to go to the BR but usually go back to sleep fairly soon. I'm up around 5:30 or 6:00. DH sleeps in a c-pap so there is not snoring from him or we'd have seperate BRs.

I can't sleep unless I read in bed.......but if know if I exercise early in the day and eat a light dinner I sleep better.
If my asthma is not in good control, my first hint is waking up during the night.
I have to have warm feet and a cool bedroom, too.

I started taking a brief class about insomnia. We will have two more classes.

The teacher says different strategies may work better for different people. Some things I remember from this week:

Eat something with protein at regular intervals during the day. Keeping even blood sugar levels will help us feel calmer.
No caffeine after 12 noon.
No alcohol or sugar overload at bedtime.
No clutter, TV or computer in your bedroom -- make it a tranquil, peaceful place designated for sleeping.
Try briefly writing down your thoughts or next day's to-do list before bedtime, to keep your worries to a minimum.
As you start to fall asleep, think of three good things that happened today, then imagine yourself in a happy place you enjoy.

If I remember more later I will post it.

Just a comment on the post on Vitamin D. I don't have insomnia, but I am D defficient (as it seems most Minnesotans are. . .). I'm now on vitamin D supplements, and my doctor did specify it must be D3 which can be found over the counter. The difference between D and D3 was new to me.

Marita, half the population is Vitamin D deficient. My doc blames it on sunscreen use. He says spend 5 minutes a day in the sun with your face and hands exposed is all you need. Or take 1000 IU supplements. I don't know about D vs D2 vs D3.