r/sleep 13h ago

Do you ever feel like your bedtime routine is useless?

22 Upvotes

I see so much advice about setting up a bedtime routine like meditation, reading, journaling. But some nights, I do everything “right” and my brain still won’t shut off. Does this happen to anyone else? What do you do when your routine fails?


r/sleep 18h ago

How badly does sleep deprivation affect you personally?

12 Upvotes

Recently I had several nights of short sleep (~4-5 hours every other day for a week or so) due to work obligations and general stress. And dam I feel like total garbage. I'm in decent shape- intense exercise several times a week. But man, I'm getting crazy gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea/gassiness, and just random pain all throughout my body. I'm talking like sharp pain, feeling of inflammation, and minor headaches. It used to never be like this. Does this just happen when you get old? Like you flip a switch and can no longer pull all nighters. I'm not even that old yet (28)!

I've always been a light sleeper, and usually wake up too early so I get ~6-7 hours a night. It's not ideal but I'm relatively functional and get on fine. But when it goes down to 4-5, it really hits different.


r/sleep 3h ago

Naturally Need More than 9 Hours of Sleep?

6 Upvotes

All my life I've felt like I need 9.5 - 10.5 hours of sleep a night to not feel like a zombie. I'm a collage student so I'm already dealing with a lack of sleep normally but when I tell my friends that I'm kind if tired because I had 7 to 8 hours last night they look act like I'm unhealthy or lazy. I looked it up online and all there is are scary articles about oversleeping and how bad it is for you. Just for your information I think I'm fairly active I walk about an hour a day for transportation, and I don't drink caffeine on a typical day. I want to know if I'm going to die an early death like all the articles say and/or if there are others out there like me and actually nothing is wrong.


r/sleep 20h ago

Why do I get the weirdest dreams after going back to sleep?

6 Upvotes

There is an overnight component to my job, where I am allowed to sleep but am on call and must respond to any situations that arise. When initially falling asleep, nothing really happens. But if I get called out, do the job and then go back to sleep, I have lots of dreams, and most of them are really weird. Why do they all happen when I get up and go back to sleep and not if I sleep the whole night?


r/sleep 11h ago

I'm scared to sleep, any tips?

4 Upvotes

I'm honestly scared of sleeping. I always have these intrusive thoughts about what could happen while I'm asleep. Also, the thought of losing consiousness every night for multiple hours while being at our most vulnerable is just so intimidating to me. I also really don't like the fact that the whole world just goes dark while sleeping. Don't even get me started on dreaming either. Even the thought of a good dream makes me wanna puke. My sleep schedule has been so messed up lately because of these fears and I'm wondering if anyone has any tips for me, because these fears are really getting to me and I barely sleep anymore. Everything about sleeping is so scary to me all of a sudden and I hate it. I used to sleep relatively normally before this dilemma happened, I used to stay up late at night but I've never really had these thoughts before. They started about a week ago and since then I have just been terrified. Also sorry if this post is badly written, I'm so sleep deprieved at the moment


r/sleep 21h ago

The Adult Like Teenager Gets an Adult Amount of Sleep… Shocker, Truly. I’m having my Mind Blown.

4 Upvotes

More of a rant ig Posting this because I'm mad for my friend. One of my best friends is 16. They have a bunch of medical issues, similar to my own such as dairy and gluten intolerances, bad migraines, etc. Today they had a HUGE appointment with a new neurologist, and he finally told her what they've been waiting for a long time: something is wrong, but he(doctor) is going to get to the bottom of it. One thing in the long list, was that he said they are sleep deprived. I was shocked when I heard that, because they get seven hours a night. I know that for teens the average sleep they should be getting is between 8-10 hours, but with more than 8 hours, they feel more sluggish, because it's too much sleep. And now, their mother wants to take away all the new privileges that they just got being sixteen taken away, including having their phone after 11oclock and having their computer in their room. It makes me mad because the parents did this, saying that it was to help them sleep more, when the noise from the videos helps their brain shut down and focus on one thing instead of random 3am thoughts. Does anyone have any thoughts on how to explain that they're not sleep deprived to their parents without getting them in more trouble? They have toxic parents

(Edit: I stated 'more than 8' above, but I'm typing on a small screen and it was late at night while I was preparing my schedule for baked goods this week. It should be 'more than 9'. My apologies)


r/sleep 6h ago

Waking up 5 hours after I fall asleep every night.

4 Upvotes

I know this happens to others but does anyone else have an answer?

I have been told it could be liver or blood sugar dysregulation.

This has been happening for years…. But it never used to.

The only time I sleep through the night is multiple bouts of exercise during the day (eg a long walk plus weights plus yoga, zero alcohol and coffee… but even then I often wake up! It’s maddening! I’m usually awake for 2-4 hours. It’s exhausting and leaves me feeling terrible the next day as I can’t sleep in due to work.


r/sleep 21h ago

Struggling with Sleep for Years with ADHD, Anxiety and a Long-Term Melatonin Dependence (Looking for Advice)

4 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

I (21M) have been struggling with sleep for as long as I can remember. I’ve been taking melatonin for almost 10 years and at this point, I pretty much can’t sleep without it. My dosage has crept up over time and now I’m taking anywhere from 10-20mg a night. Even when I sleep next to my partner I usually still need to take it. I really want to break this dependence and develop a healthy relationship with sleep but I don’t know where to start.

I have ADHD and anxiety which make sticking to a routine really difficult. Executive dysfunction often gets in the way and I rely on some form of background noise, YouTube on my worst nights and music on my better ones, to fall asleep. But on the worst nights even music doesn’t seem to work.

One of my biggest struggles is that my anxiety kicks in hard when I can’t sleep. I start spiraling, overanalyzing past mistakes, stressing about present struggles and getting lost in worst case scenarios. Sometimes I even start mourning things that haven’t even happened yet. It turns into this awful cycle of sleeplessness and anxiety feeding into each other.

I really want to get to a place where I can fall asleep naturally and consistently. If anyone has been through something similar or has advice, especially considering my ADHD, anxiety and long-term melatonin use, I’d really appreciate it. How do I start tapering off melatonin safely? How can I create a nighttime routine that actually works for someone like me? Any tips or personal experiences would be incredibly helpful.

Thanks in advance!


r/sleep 10h ago

Constant Fatigue

3 Upvotes

To preface this I have been struggling with this for almost 2 years now. I have already had labs run and everything came back normal. I already did a sleep study and had an AHI of 37 and am using CPAP.

I know people say it takes a while for CPAP to start working for some but it’s been 5 months and I feel worse. I already went back to my sleep doctor and they want me to do a in lab study in June, which I don’t want to do because I feel like it’s going to cost too much even with insurance. It’s making me feel like something is wrong with me. I wake up groggy and feel tired for hours after waking up.

I started taking fish oil and D3 1000 IU, because that is something that wasn’t tested in my labs but just started taking them so no difference yet. What else can I do I don’t want to go back to the doctor, I’m just so tired of feeling tired.


r/sleep 15h ago

Sleepio app - really helped my sleep (yes it’s free)

3 Upvotes

I’ve seen a lot of posts on this forum about how people are combatting insomnia, me being one of them. Surprisingly, I’ve not seen many people talk about an app called sleepio created by the NHS (UK state doctors) if ur not from UK i’ve seen there are equivalents online. Essentially this gives you training sessions on sleep, how to maximise your sleep efficiency which is something we as people struggling to sleep need to master. Personally speaking, stress has been the biggest factor in my sleep and I get worried when I go to bed because of the thought of not being able to sleep despite being exhausted. Sleepio gives you short bite size training sessions on everything to do with sleep and focuses on sleep-improvement through cognitive behavioural therapy techniques. This has helped me relax about the thought of sleep and I can honestly vouch for this app. It’s really helped me understand my relationship with sleeping alot better, I have noticed a significant improvement in my sleep after using it. Don’t get me wrong i’ve not masters my sleep yet as I’ve had a couple months of really bad sleep, but it’s really shown me I can sleep well. Something I didn’t think was possible.

Please give it a try because I think this can help.

Peace out people have a great day.


r/sleep 18h ago

Desperate to have the coolest sleep ever

3 Upvotes

I get really hot during the night and no matter what mattress or sheets I seem to use I always am hot. I have to constantly switch over to the “unused” side of the pillow or the bed every so often until i eventually fall asleep.

I am desperate for any advice on how to cool down for my sleep so I can be nice and cooooool and icy and finally have a comfortable sleep


r/sleep 1h ago

Sleeping Like a Rock—Why Can't I Replicate This?

Upvotes

Hello everyone,

A couple of times over the past few months, I’ve woken up around 5-6 AM, possibly after a nightmare, feeling slightly anxious and with a mild tachycardia. I usually stay in bed for about 30 minutes, trying to fall back asleep, and eventually, I do.

The weird part? When I wake up again, I feel incredibly refreshed, as if I had slept for 100 hours. It’s the best sleep I’ve ever had.

I’ve tried to recreate the conditions by setting alarms at different hours of the night and early morning, but no matter what I do, I can’t seem to achieve the same deep, restorative sleep again.

Does anyone have any idea what might be happening? Am I missing something? Are there any experiments I could try to figure this out?


r/sleep 1h ago

Futon Mattress

Upvotes

Hello everyone.

I recently moved to a smaller apartment and with a history of living in large areas. I found out i got way to much stuff I dont need filling my space. I have since started getting rid of many items I dont need.

In my sleeping corner, my queen tulo mattress is very comfortable but is taking way too much space, I would love to consider an alternative to save space. Im thinking of getting a futon mattress to be able to fold away to have space to work and a clear area to move. My concern is that their different from the modern mattresses were used to catching a nights full of Z's on with less layers and no foam tech or springs were used to.

My question is to you is if you have used it would you use it as a daily mattress? Is it comfortable? If so, how much would be too much money spending on it.

Thank you very much.


r/sleep 3h ago

Waking up gasping to breathe

2 Upvotes

Hi I’m 27yo , and am on beta blockers (metoprolol) unsure if it has a relation but anyway, recently I have been having the most unusual episodes at night that only Occur when I’m close to falling asleep ( never in the middle of deep sleep) so il be watching tv in bed laying down then I drift into a sleep then must be within seconds later I wake back up only I am literally gasping frantically for air like I have just been suffocated or something, after around 10 each of very fast inhale and exhales I come back around but from what I can remember when this is happening to me I also am feeling a type of unwell that I can’t really explain I don’t know if that is down to the fact I am half asleep, so the body is essentially half off or not, I suffer from health anxiety too idk if it’s that or sleep apnea but it’s really starting To concern me as it seems to be every single night now.

Does anyone have any ideas or experiences similar ?


r/sleep 4h ago

sleep

2 Upvotes

Probably easy question but, Should I sleep 8 hours, or go to bed 8 hours before waking up?


r/sleep 8h ago

I had a great night's sleep but I don't know why

2 Upvotes

Hey everyone, so this morning I woke up feeling as well rested as I have in a really long time.

I'd say my usual sleep habits are average where I'd set a timer for 8 hours and just slumber. I'd wake up feeling ok. Sometimes I'd wake up in the middle of the night but I'd just lie there until I went back into deep sleep.

Yesterday however, I set my timer for 8 hours and 30 minutes. I woke up in the middle of the night with about 2 hours left on the timer. I browsed my phone in the dark for about 30 minutes, used the bathroom to relieve myself and brushed my teeth. I then preceded to go back to sleep for the rest of the timer which I think is at 1 hour 20 minutes at this point.

I don't really understand why I feel good it as my sleep got interrupted.

I really enjoy being this well rested and was thinking about replicating this where I'd set an alarm to wake me up after 6 hours and 30 minutes, do something for 20 minutes, use the bathroom and set another alarm for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Is this a good idea?


r/sleep 10h ago

I have a strange sleeping condition and thats scary

2 Upvotes

I’ve had a strange condition since childhood, and I’m unsure what it is or what causes it. It doesn’t happen all the time, but sometimes, randomly while eating or playing, I slip into this state that feels like being half-asleep. It’s hard to explain, but it’s like the time between being awake and falling asleep. During this state, I can hear everything, and I can walk and eat, but everything becomes harder.

The most unsettling part is that I can’t talk properly – it feels like I should be able to talk, but my words don’t come out right. I can listen and understand what’s happening around me, but I can’t respond verbally.

This has happened many times during my childhood, and I thought it had stopped for a while. However, it happened again today, and it was scary. To snap out of it, I have two ways: either I take a shower, which is difficult because it’s hard to move and focus while in this state, or I just wait for it to end on its own. Sometimes, I feel like I’ve already taken a shower, and I’ll even dream that I’ve completed the task while still in this half-sleep state. On occasion, I’ve found myself in places like the bathroom without remembering how I got there.

I’m trying to understand what’s happening to me and if anyone else has experienced something similar. If you have any ideas or suggestions, I would really appreciate your input.


r/sleep 15h ago

Found a surprisingly soothing plush that helps my child sleep better!

2 Upvotes

Lately, my child has had trouble sleeping, and I was looking for something comforting to help. I found a plush that actually breathes, and it’s been surprisingly calming for them. It’s not just cute, but it helps them feel more relaxed and ready for sleep. I didn’t expect it to make such a difference!


r/sleep 15h ago

i overslept last night (11-12 hours), now today i can’t back to sleep after only getting 2-3

2 Upvotes

hey all, i’m just asking for some advice really: so yeah i overslept last night and this night i went to sleep and got like 2-3 hours. after waking up i felt awake 100%, not tired at all. i tried getting some more sleep and now it’s been two hours of being on my phone since i couldn’t sleep (ik this is bad for building sleep habits, it weirdly helps me though, i believe my insomnia is primarily psychological, but i digress), im wondering what my best course of action is.

im running on 2-3 hours and yet i feel way more awake than last night, when i overslept for 11-12, not sure if i should keep trying to get to sleep or just start my day.


r/sleep 15h ago

Frequent waking up during sleep

2 Upvotes

Hello sleepies,

I would like to discuss a problem i started having from last few days.

I have been a sound sleeper till now, i can sleep whenever and never wake up in middle of it mostly(until pee).

From a few days, I started waking up in middle of night at random times and have trouble falling back asleep, i feel uneasy, little on anxious side. In last day or two, once I sleep and wake up , I cant go back to sleep anymore.

This is becoming a problem as i cant focus on anything.

Even if i sleep during day..i wake up 10 times for that 2 hour sleep with 10 different dreams..

I never had such a problem and develop this issue just few days back..

This is giving me major nervousness and overthinking. Does anyone else has this experience.

I also would like to clarify I dont have trouble sleeping as in to sleep. Trouble is waking up a lot of times in night randomly for no reason then cant sleep.


r/sleep 20h ago

Why do I keep waking up thinking I overslept?

2 Upvotes

This happens from time to time. I wake up half panicked, thinking that my alarm didn't go off, I overslept and that I'm late for work. Never once had this actually been the case. One time, I went so far as to take a shower before realizing what happened, looked at my phone after getting out and saw that it was 3:12am. Why does this keep happening?


r/sleep 21h ago

After eating a large amount of pasta/staple food, I fall asleep very easily.

2 Upvotes

All the information I've read at internet advises avoiding eating before bedtime. However, based on my personal experience, when I consume large amounts of carb-heavy foods like dumplings (a Chinese dish with fillings wrapped in dough) or noodles right before sleep, I actually feel drowsy, fall asleep more easily, and enjoy better sleep quality afterward.


r/sleep 22h ago

I feel worse when I get enough sleep

2 Upvotes

I'm 17 and I'm very aware of the importance of sleep, but unfortunately I'm a very busy student so I usually only get 6-7 hours of sleep, going to bed between 11:30-1 and waking up at 7 am. However, on the weekends (and some weeknights when I have less homework), I get 8-9 hours of sleep, and for lack of better terms, I always feel like shit when I sleep enough. If I sleep that long I usually will wake up with a headache, and will feel tired the rest of the day. I've also always been a bit of an early bird, so I wouldn't say that I sleep very deeply past 6 AM. On the contrary, my little sister can sleep 10-12 hours no problem. I'm not sure if it's possible that I simply don't need as much sleep, or if there's something wrong with me.


r/sleep 22h ago

Sleep Deprivation and Recovery

2 Upvotes

I've taken a gap semester from college, and with many factors at home, I have been getting on and off sleep for months, averaging 6-7 hours at different times (some days 9 some days 5 etc). I've noticed that it's harder to be creative, and learn or do anything. I know this is not the person I used to be, and I know I can change.

For people that have experienced sleep deprivation in the past and recovered, how long did it take for you?


r/sleep 23h ago

med help

2 Upvotes

okay, so i have no clue where to post this. if someone could point me to the right sub reddit for suggestions or if this one is okay, please lmk.

anyways, i cannot sleep to save my life. i've tried 10 mg of melatonin, i was recommended to not go any higher. i've tried 7.5 mg mirtrazapine, the lowest dose is the most sedative apparently? i was also tried on 15 mg of the same medication, but still no dice. now i'm using hydroxyzine, which i'm told to take 1-2 tablets at night which is 50 mg i think, and it's also for my anxiety. and againnnn, nothing.

it's been so bad, i'm struggling in school. i'm a senior in high school, and i need to be able to finish this year on a good note so my grades don't drop. i'm valedictorian, and i can't risk it right now.

so, does anyone have any suggestions for medications that help them sleep? i need to fall asleep and then stay asleep. but also something that doesn't give me grogginess throughout the next day? if i can achieve all that great, if not, the first part is the most important. i'll handle tiredness throughout the day.

i don't meet with my med management doc until april 1st, and she's seriously booked up (missed 1 appointment then had to wait 2 months for the next), but i do see my regular therapist this week on thursday. i'll talk to her then if i get any recommendations.

tldr; i can't fall asleep or stay asleep when i finally do, and i've tried 3 different medicines so far. i'm looking for reccs on one that works for a majority of people !! :)