<p>Been up since 4:30. Anyone here?</p>
<p>I read CC and Gardenweb in middle of night. Sometimes I cringe when I reread my posts.</p>
<p>Lol bookworm. And top o the morning to you.</p>
<p>I know what you mean bookworm! I probably shouldn’t post at this time of the night. When I read back later, I find that my late-night posts are somewhat lacking in tact and don’t always make sense!!</p>
<p>I already had horrible sleep patterns, but find they are even worse since having a knee replacement 3-1/2 weeks ago! I am no longer using pain killers and hoping things will improve, but so far no. At first, I’m sure the anesthesia lingered and threw my schedule off. Now, while I do very well during the day, my leg is uncomfortable at night and I wake up often. I usually have to get up and walk a little to stretch it out, and then I can’t go back to sleep. I go back to work this week and it’s going to be tough! Seems like I’m always tired!!!</p>
<p>^Looking at the screen would keep me awake also. Somehow TV has an opposite effect, I guess, boring TV is good for something - good substitute for a sleeping pill. Sometime I wake up at 2am with TV on, I just turn it off and usually go back to sleep easily.</p>
<p>I am up–got up just behore 6. Am still adjusting as was 5 time zones away in VA on Saturday.</p>
<p>According to this article on “segmented sleep,” it may be normal to be awake in the middle of the night:
[BBC</a> News - The myth of the eight-hour sleep](<a href=“http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16964783]BBC”>The myth of the eight-hour sleep - BBC News)</p>
<p>Unfortunately, it’s still a problem if you have to get up and go to work the next day.</p>
<p>You guys should really try the relaxation technique I posted upthread if you want to get back to sleep. Takes a little practice but it really does work.</p>
<p>“Just before 6” practically never happens to me any more. I am happy if I am awake at 4, that means a good night. I have started working at 5 am (in my highties, in my kitchen) today and will be done at 2pm (after moving into downtown office at about 6:30am). I am hoping for 2pm, if anything happens, then it may be much later and rarely means over 12 hours easily (only 8 are paid). But not everybody have this flexibility.</p>
<p>I haven’t posted on this thread because I generally don’t have a problem with sleeping and I didn’t want to gloat.</p>
<p>Then I realized there is a significant change I made to my sleep around 20 years ago: When I do wake up in the middle of the night – and I probably do that two out of three nights – I never never never look at the clock. I learned 20 years ago that if I looked at the clock when I woke up, I would then start doing the math in my head about how much sleep I had had and how much more I could get. I would start to fret that I wasn’t going to get enough. I’d start to fret that I wasn’t going to go back to sleep. I’d start to fret that I might sleep through the alarm. And so on and so on.</p>
<p>So I just decided that if I woke up, I’d tell myself it was only 1:00 AM and that I still had five hours until I needed to get up. That thought was very relaxing and I’d fall right back asleep.</p>
<p>To this day, I turn my alarm clock away from my face and, if I have to get up to use the bathroom, I purposely don’t look at DH’s clock either.</p>
<p>I do the same thing, VeryHappy. The other piece is that I think it also helps me to not know how little sleep I’ve gotten. If, for example, I knew I’d only gotten five hours I’d think to myself I’m going to feel like crap tomorrow and it became a self-fulfilling prophecy.</p>
<p>I cannot see my clock. I have to push on a bottom to light it up to see. I would not sleep with lit up clock even if it is turned around, too much light. No light in the bedroom. In fact my alarm ( I have it although I normally woke up way before alarm) does not have a snooz button, I would never find it in a dark. it just sound one time.</p>
<p>As mentioned at the beginning of this thread, I have been drinking tart cherry juice for about a week. It supposedly helps increase natural melatonin. </p>
<p>[Effect</a> of tart cherry juice (Prunus cerasus) on m… [Eur J Nutr. 2012] - PubMed - NCBI](<a href=“Effect of tart cherry juice (Prunus cerasus) on melatonin levels and enhanced sleep quality - PubMed”>Effect of tart cherry juice (Prunus cerasus) on melatonin levels and enhanced sleep quality - PubMed)</p>
<p>I purchased tart cherry juice concentrate at the health food store and put a couple of tablespoons in a glass of ice water or hot tea and drink it in the evening. It is definitely tart but has a nice fresh taste. I don’t like sweet drinks but I am sure you could add a bit of sugar to the drink if you don’t like tart things. </p>
<p>It apparently takes a few days for it to kick in and I think it has started to work. Last night our power went off about 12 and woke me up. I tossed and turned a bit but then slept until my alarm went off at 6:15, which is very unusual for me. I am definitely going to finish the bottle.</p>
<p>My alarm clock was too bright for me…but I am sort of a DIYer so I covered the face in three layers of wax paper…which is just right for peeking at the wee hours without getting blinded and woken totally up.</p>
<p>VeryHappy – you’re on to something – I remember a woman told me not to look at the clock. I ended up trading in my regular alarm clock with glowing LED display for this one:
[Self-Setting</a> Clocks at Brookstone?Buy Now!](<a href=“http://www.brookstone.com/TimeSmart-Self-Setting-Alarm-Clock?bkiid=SubCategory_Bedroom_Clocks___Alarm_Clocks_Alarm_Clocks|SubCategoryWidget|607952p&catId=]Self-Setting”>http://www.brookstone.com/TimeSmart-Self-Setting-Alarm-Clock?bkiid=SubCategory_Bedroom_Clocks___Alarm_Clocks_Alarm_Clocks|SubCategoryWidget|607952p&catId=)</p>
<p>It’s great – it stays dark (there are 5 backlight settings and one is so dark it’s like it’s off) but if I really want to know the time, I tap it and it lights up.</p>
<p>Think I’ll give the cherry juice a try Deega. I have been drinking a cup of Sleepytime tea before I go to bed. It may be all psychological, but I do feel as if it relaxes me a bit.</p>
<p>I used to have a cup of Sleepytime every night while I read in bed for a little while. I think the ritual was very calming. I gave it up when I felt it increased my need to get up and pee.</p>
<p>For me, 5-10 mg of Zyrtec works wonders.</p>
<p>I use 5 HTP with vitamin B It has tryptophin which is what we find in turkey …it usually helps</p>
<p>I’ll try the cherry juice. Up since 4 this morning. Have no idea why.</p>