how to extend sleep by just 1 hour to be happy

By trial and error I have figured that I need 8-9 hours of sleep, now that I am 40, to be fine during the day. And I cannot get it, missing out on not that much - I sleep between 6 to 7 hours. I take Melatonin, 2 pills, AND I take Klonopin, a whole 0.5 mg pill, more than I used to take, and I STILL wake up too early. Then I am falling asleep at work and that sends my anxiety level through the roof, and then, perhaps, anxiety does not help me stay asleep.

I have to drink large amounts of fluids to prevent dehydration-related migraines, so I also need to be up to pee a couple of times a night. But that in itself did not interfere in the past.

Oh, and I am divorced, so sex/cuddling/just being close to a warm fellow caveman is not an option, and I know that that has a ruinous effect on sleep on its own - for me. But that is just my station in life.

So what can I do to get that extra one to one-and-a-half hour that I so sorely need?

Thanks!

A couple of things came to my mind after reading your post:

First, is there something in particular waking you up in the morning? Traffic noise? Neighbors? Sunlight? (Not sure what time you would prefer to get up.) If you notice anything in particular that might be waking you up, that would be the first thing to try to remedy.

Second, you mentioned that you get up to go to the bathroom during the night and you take melatonin. Can you adjust when you take the melatonin, perhaps splitting the dose? With your pdoc's okay, of course, perhaps you could take one pill when you go to bed and then take the second one when you get up to use the bathroom. That would help extend the time that the melatonin would be effective and may give you that extra hour you need. If you have trouble falling asleep, you could try other techniques like aromatherapy or a white noise/sound machine to help make up for the loss of a melatonin pill early on.

The melatonin might be the culprit:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mel...ffects/AN01717

I would experiment, as dragonfly suggests (and with your pdoc's knowledge/okay) with when you take your meds, drinking most of your fluid earlier in the day and not taking any OTC stuff, just to see where you are overall.

Hugs and best wishes to you, Natalya!

From my own experience and talking with others, it seems to be pretty normal to have to get up to use the bathroom once we are past the age of 40.

Some things I've done to get more sleep -

Adjust your amount of fluid intake so you avoid drinking anything for a couple hours before bedtime.

Go to bed one hour earlier than usual. Even if you don't fall asleep right away, letting our bodies rest and relax can be helpful.

If your mind is racing with what might come at work the next day, keep paper and pen next to your bed and write things down. This allows us to put thoughts/worries away for the night. And then we can address them the next day.

I was also divorced. Before I met my current hub I would grab a big pillow and hug it for comfort. Add a heating pad if you crave extra warmth.

Good luck to you!

I've been wondering how on earth, for the last three nights, I have managed to get a decent amount of sleep-for the first time since early September. It was not the running program I just started up again because I was running religiously a month ago and sleeping more than 3-4 hours then was impossible. Usually up at 2-3 am then, even after a good solid day at work. The only new thing I am doing is sleeping with the fan on, due to the face that the woodstove is now running full-tilt (to dry sheetrock "mud"). Someone in an earlier thread mentioned having some background noise on (maybe Madisgram?) to help with sleeping and while I cannot say for sure that the fan has made the difference, it may very well be the case. I do know that I cannot sleep unless it's a bit on the chilly side. Maybe it's the fan, maybe not.