Wednesday 25 November 2015
Q: Waking up in the middle of the night too often?
Hi guys, I have a question for you please on the topic of sleep. I find that I have a habit of waking up about one hour after I go to bed, it's not a precise time but yeah, I get maximum one to one and a half hours of sleep before I am awoken. Each time I wake, I will go to the toilet. Then I will usually wake up again at around 3:30 am or so then usually again around 5 am. That's a total of getting up three times a night on average. Once in a while, that falls down to just two times a night but it is a pain in the butt as it takes me some time to get back to sleep each time I wake up to go to the toilet. People have told me that waking up to go to the toilet in the middle of the night is pretty normal, but how many times is too many times? Is three times too many times? You know, I can't even recall when I last slept through the night without waking up at all. Is this because I am a light sleeper? Or is it because I tend to have my dinner quite late (because I tend to spend my evenings in the gym) and so the food is still digesting as I go to bed? How many times on average do you wake up a night? Does it really matter as long as you can get back to sleep? How can I sleep through the night without waking up till morning? Many thanks for reading - I look forward to reading all your replies.
Hi LIFT,
ReplyDeleteI would think that gym probably has a large part to play since after gym you probably have to drink a bunch of water to rehydrate, and dinner probably comes with some water content too. So it's not surprising that a full bladder complains to your brain and interrupts your sleep. I personally try to avoid taking water about 2 hours before I sleep since I have the same waking up problem. Also, I personally find running or doing yoga at night makes my sleep a bit lighter, if I do those activities before sleep, I often wake up (even from uninterrupted sleep) not really feeling like I lost consciousness entirely. So maybe doing something less stimulating before sleep and shifting gym to the morning might be a good idea?
Additionally, a decline in the quality of sleep is (sadly) a natural part of aging, so....
Hi XM, there are three days a week when my gym activities are done in the afternoon and/or mornings and actually it makes little difference, I still wake up as much in the middle of the night. Simply drinking less water probably is a simpler solution; I have tried it but again, it doesn't make that much difference? I wish there was some kinda herbal medicine or something to induce a much deeper sleep.
DeleteI occasionally get a bit of flak for saying this because I'm a scientist and am only supposed to believe in "hard science", but I think herbal medicine can do wonders. I saw a fantastic (now retired) Chinese physician who cured me of my recurrent bronchitis that used to plague me since I was a teenager. Some of his herbs also had the effect of making me sleep so well and deeply that I remember waking up feeling utter bliss. However it's extremely extremely extremely rare to find a good herbalist, other physicians I've tried have been mediocre at best. So if you have friends who have strong personal recommendations for Ayurvedic or Chinese herbal medicine, I would suggest keeping an open mind and trying it out. A truly good physician usually can prescribe medicine that works at the first or second dose.
DeleteOnce i get to bed i almost never wakeup at night unless i'm in an unfamiliar place then sometimes waking up suddenly at night is possible. If you are staying up late at night with exposure to too much blue light from LED lamps or electronic devices then a possibility could be declining T levels. There are studies done that show a lower testosterone level i men could result in sleep disruptions.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2453053/
Testing to check if comment is released immediately.
ReplyDeleteHi limpeh, I have actually drafted a long piece but it will not fall within the 4096 character constraint. Is it alright for me to email you? I don't really wanna spam your comment page and since there is no anonymity, I would go direct to you. Don't worry, am not trying to sell you something. I went through what you did and the feeling stinks. Would like to share with you some potential remedies. If email is fine, please drop me a message at delwyn.wee@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteHi and thanks for this - could you break it up into two comments so it will fall within the 4096 characters limit? Thanks.
Delete1. Sources that can be tinkered: Lighting, noise, temperature, bed comfort. Adjust them to your preference objectively to have longer sleep time.
ReplyDelete2. Triggering the sleep: The mind to be roaming free ( thoughts unrelated to the moments prior or what the next day might bring). 'Positive/Happy thoughts, sensual or simply unrealistic puts me to sleep.
3. Sleep patterns do trail the mental activity prior. A mind very active like yours (engaged in writing; critically thinking most of the time) would require several 'resets'. If you find waking up bothered then shift the thought back to triggering the sleep.
To clarify point 3.
E.g someone who naps often and not involved in problem solving/rationalising/cognitive thinking much would find it easier to fall into sleep then someone who does.
4. Sleep Ambience apps : Check them out in the appstore and give them a try! Another way to trigger yourself into sleeping. You could also attune your ears to train hard on the sounds around you as you have your eyes closed. If the sounds are like music keep listening to them and slumber into dreaming. If they irritate you, back to 1. remove that distraction.
These are my advice to the best of my knowledge. Perhaps some of them would prove useful for you Alex! May your sleep patterns improve for a better start to your days.
Wow, that's one of the most comprehensive replies I've received yet - many thanks! I shall try to implement your advice.
DeleteBut I have a few questions:
1. So what is your take on napping? Cos I do take short naps in the day time (10 - 20 mins).
2. I currently use white noise to mask out external disturbances but what kind of noises/sounds are these and how do they work?
Many thanks.
In my view napping is a great way to make up for the lack of sleep one unfortunately is not able to clock. I do know plenty that recommend naps and they generally work odd shifts. This shows their understanding in fatigue management. Rest is as essential as food intake/metaphysical state/
DeleteMy issue with naps would be setting the right time for the activity soon after and method to wake up to prevent it to falling into deep sleep!
For 2. I need to do some reading and broaden my knowledge my own on what white noise is and how it works. Do excuse me from answering at this moment.
I actually play meditation audio files on my laptop before sleep, and turn the laptop to one side so that the light is turned towards the wall instead of my bed. The thing with playing such audio files, whether you really do believe in their efficacy for priming your mind's subconscious or not(I do use them for personal reasons) is that they actually lull you to sleep very easily compared to playing the normal kind of music which are often tuned to a certain disruptive frequency (including ballads).
ReplyDeleteI currently use white noise Kev, I should look into meditation audio files - any recommendations please? Thanks!
DeleteThe ones which I used are normally hypnotic audio files, oops.....sounds like kind of out of the purvey of faith, and LOL, I am so going to "go to hell" for doing something totally against the background I grew up in......otherwise, what I recommend is Sofeggio. Try searching it on youtube. You will realize that the music files are pitched in a way such that they are really slow, and can in fact tune you down to fall asleep literally, without as much as dreaming anything traumatizing.
DeleteHello! If I drink a cup of water or tea after 8pm, I do need to go to the toilet in the middle of the night too. Processed food or dine in food have high salt content or atdditives that will make our kidney work harder to purge out fm our system.
ReplyDeleteToo much sodium causes the body to produce anti-diuretic hormones which causes the kidney to reabsorb water so as to balance out the sodium concentration in the blood. If anything high salt intake causes you to go to the toilet less, not more.
DeleteFirstly I would like to compliment you on your fantastic blog. I had the same experience as you, waking up one hour after falling asleep and having to go to the loo 3 times a night. I went for a sleep test and was diagnosed as sleep apnea. Ever since I started wearing the Cpap mask to sleep, the problem stopped. Hope this helps
ReplyDeleteHumans are not designed to sleep 8hr straight, in fact we are designed to sleep in segments of 2-4hrs. It's due to invention of light bulbs and industrialization that's making us adapting to this 8hr mandatory sleep patterns. I don't sleep throughout the night for decades and I don't find this a very serious problem. Busting the 8hr sleep myth: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16964783
ReplyDeleteWell Katie, I am absolutely exhausted after a very long and busy Saturday, going to bed v soon. I am testing my theory that if I keep myself very busy and avoid naps in the middle of the day, by the time I get to bedtime, I will just fall into a deep, deep sleep ... Let's see if this theory works?
DeleteHey man. First of all, I only started reading your blog a few weeks ago, missed this post. But I am quite a fan. Making an attempt to read more often. So my answer may be a bit late, but I hope it helps. Anyway, to answer your question, waking 3 times to pee is actually too much. It shouldn't be more than once. Unless of course you're drinking too much water. Question is, are you waking up because you need to pee, or peeing because you woke up? Oh, I just scrolled back up to read what you wrote and noticed that you mentioned going to the toilet, and not peeing specifically. So if you wake up because you need to poop, I'm not really sure, I'll look into it. Also like some of the other commenters mentioned, you could try certain techniques to aid with sleep and work on your sleep hygiene - there should be many guides available on the Internet for this. Another option is supplementation with melatonin. It is a natural hormone in the body that aids and regulates sleep, and if people have trouble sleeping, supplementation can help. I'm only a medical student so naturally my advice should be taken with a pinch of salt, and a visit to your GP may be useful as they may be better able to advise you regarding waking up to pee (if that is indeed the case) and supplementation with melatonin or another alternatives.
ReplyDeleteIronically, I found that I slept exceptionally well when I was in Slovakia recently - ie. 11 pm to 6 or 7 am without interruption, no waking up to go to the loo. Why? Because I was so v exhausted whilst traveling - the AirBNB place was very comfortable as well, so that probably has something to do with it. But I reckon exhausting myself with exercise is probably going to help a lot.
DeleteAh yes, exercise is definitely good for sleep. Perhaps a little too good as I found out last year when I started a really intense 12 week gym program. And after coming home I found myself falling asleep in the living room while eating dinner. I just didn't have the energy to finish. Haha. Glad to hear your sleep has improved though. Btw, on a side note, I read in one of your other posts that you're going to Ireland. I actually study in Dublin. But I'm in KL at the moment to visit my family for the holidays. Unfortunately the weather there hasn't been great recently due to the storms arising on the West coast. Hope it's not too bad for you and you enjoy your trip!
DeleteHi there, yeah I was in Dublin yesterday and now I am in deepest darkest Ireland (country Leitrim) and there is flooding here, good grief. The lake near my mother in law's house is a lot higher than normal and some of the local roads are flooded. I am taking it easy today and traveling to Belfast tmrw. i must admit I find Ireland kinda bland and boring.
DeleteAh yes. Unfortunately Ireland isn't a very happening place. Is this your first time there? There are a few things to see and do in Dublin (most of which I still haven't done in my 4 and a half years in the city). Exploring the countryside and enjoying the natural beauty of the land is just about the only other thing one can do (as far as I'm aware at least), but with the shitty weather at the moment, that's impossible. I'm afraid you're just shit out of luck my friend. I've only been to Belfast once and it's even smaller than Dublin. But I did find that it is much more pleasant to walk around Belfast as it's a bit cleaner, less crowded and the pavements are a bit wider. Also Queen's university there looked a lot nicer than Trinity College in Dublin. A trip to giant's causeway is generally nice, but once again, it's the weather that determines whether or not you'll enjoy it. Anyway, whatever you do, I hope you have fun!
DeleteOh i first came to Ireland in the 1990s and have been back a couple of times over the years because of family (my mother in law lives in Co. Leitrim) and rural Ireland is especially boring and sleepy. Even Dublin is a far cry from any major city in Europe. I have done the Giant's Causeway back in the 1990s. I am off to Belfast today but the weather is going to determine what we do as it has been pouring with rain. Yikes.
DeleteHey man. First of all, I only started reading your blog a few weeks ago, missed this post. But I am quite a fan. Making an attempt to read more often. So my answer may be a bit late, but I hope it helps. Anyway, to answer your question, waking 3 times to pee is actually too much. It shouldn't be more than once. Unless of course you're drinking too much water. Question is, are you waking up because you need to pee, or peeing because you woke up? Oh, I just scrolled back up to read what you wrote and noticed that you mentioned going to the toilet, and not peeing specifically. So if you wake up because you need to poop, I'm not really sure, I'll look into it. Also like some of the other commenters mentioned, you could try certain techniques to aid with sleep and work on your sleep hygiene - there should be many guides available on the Internet for this. Another option is supplementation with melatonin. It is a natural hormone in the body that aids and regulates sleep, and if people have trouble sleeping, supplementation can help. I'm only a medical student so naturally my advice should be taken with a pinch of salt, and a visit to your GP may be useful as they may be better able to advise you regarding waking up to pee (if that is indeed the case) and supplementation with melatonin or another alternatives.
ReplyDeleteHaha sorry, I read in your earlier comment about your mother in law but for some reason my brain wasn't working and I didn't put two and two together and realise that you obviously must have been there before. Silly me. Yeah there really isn't much there tbh. As a part of our medical training we have to spend some time in a rural GP practice and I found the experience dreadful. Anyway, hope you manage to enjoy whatever the weather permits you to do!
ReplyDelete