Sleep!!!

[Glover Fan]

Hi peeps,

Slightly unrelated to cycling, but i'm sure it affects it one way or another!

I think I have what could be called the opposite of Insominia, i.e I keep waking up really early!

Basically I wake up at 6AM every morning Monday to Friday for work and I always feel like I need much more sleep! I always go to bed around 10PM and never have much trouble getting to sleep, we have an excellent bed with a fantastic mattress, so I always have good quality sleep, although the hayfever and heat has made the past couple of months more uncomfortable.

However the issue I have, is that I look forward to a lie in every Saturday morning and then what happens? Well I woke up at 6.30 this morning! Not just a stir, but full on woke up, my body was raring to go for the day! I feel fine, not tired right now, but I am up early tomorrow for an Audax and now I just know that come Monday morning I am going to be absolutely shattered and pining for Saturday again!

I understand it is going to be my bodyclock or circadium rhythm that is producing this symptom, however my wife wakes up the same time as me during the week and she has no problem sleeping in til 10am in the morning!!! To be honest, I wouldn't want to wake up that late as I would feel like i've lost a quarter of the day, but would appreciate maybe a couple of hours extra rest.

Just wondered if anybody else has this issue?

 

[Lien Sdrawde]

I'm nearly 50 now, and for the last 15 years ive been awake before 6am wether I want to or not. I guess that I need to be up for work at a certain time and my body has dialled that in. Early mornings are great for enjoying a bit of peace and quiet.

 

[JamesMorgan]

I am also approaching 50 and find as I get older I awake earlier and earlier. If I manage to stay asleep until 6 am I feel I have done really well. However, I also find the opposite true that I struggle to stay awake in the evenings. Most nights I am in bed by 10 pm - sometimes it is 9 pm or even earlier. This is especially true in the winter when my body clock seems to try to tie in as close as it can to daylight hours. I think I may be suffering from a mild case of Advanced Sleep Phase Syndrome (ASPS). The best solution I have found is to have a cup of coffee around 8 pm which keeps me awake for a couple of hours and usually means I can sleep 'in' until at least 6 am.

 

[smokeysmoo]

It seems age is the overriding factor here. I'm not even 40 yet but lie in's are definately a thing of the past for me, and even with a 6 year old the reason is not child related

 

[funnymummy]

Doesn't matter what time I go to bed, for the last 10 years I have always woke between 5 & 5.30 am, up until last year I would take my dog for a walk along the beach (if my teenager was at home to listen out for his brothers waking) now I go for a quick 5 mile wake up ride 2 or 3 mornings a wee, the others I use to get my hoovering/laundry done, or just sit on the patio & enjoy a coffee in peace
Prior to that I could stay in bed all day & often did!!!
I don't know what caused my body clock to change to this routine & on weekends when i could really have a lie in it's rather annoying, but I do love my early weekday mornings

 

[Nebulous]

6 o' clock would be an exceptionally long lie!

I grew heavier and heavier over about 25 years until early last year I topped 18 stone. My wife was pretty concerned about my snoring as I had what was almost certainly sleep apnoea. I was often sleepy during the day, to the point of struggling to stay awake in the afternoon in particular.

I decided to do something about it and lost 5 stone over about 13 months. I did it slowly and steadily at a pound a week. Somewhere along the way I took up cycling and that has become much more important than weight loss.

So now, just shy of 50, I'm fitter possibly than I have ever been, am down to 13 stone 2, and am slowly getting faster on the bike. I also appear to have stopped snoring altogether.

The downside though is that I just don't need sleep. I get by on 5 hours - and 5.5 is pretty good. So if I go to bed at 10 I will be awake by 3.30. I go to the gym 2 mornings a week at 6.30. Despite that I never seem that tired. I keep expecting my body to become used to all the extra oxygen its getting, and for my sleep to settle down a bit, but it isn't showing any inclination.

 

[numbnuts]

I wake up at 4am every morning get up have a cup of tea read the news on ceefax and then go back to bed until 8am

 

[Fiona N]

Oops - sounds like the OP's problem is less about sleep and more about going to work. Certainly, if you really are getting 8 hours good quality sleep and still feeling tired every weekday morning, but waking full of the joys of Spring at weekends, it doesn't sound like the sleep is the problem.

 

[citybabe]

I've always been like that since I was a kid and it runs through out my family. No matter what time I go to bed at the weekends I will always be awake by 6.30am. weekdays I get up for work at 3.30 or 4.30 so really it's a 2 hour lay-in but it certainly doesn't feel like it. It annoys the hell out of me to be honest.


At the moment I am sleeping for a couple of hours then I'm wide awake so I lay and read for an hour or so before I manage to go back to sleep but then I am so knackered when the alarm goes off.

 

[david1701]

Oops - sounds like the OP's problem is less about sleep and more about going to work. Certainly, if you really are getting 8 hours good quality sleep and still feeling tired every weekday morning, but waking full of the joys of Spring at weekends, it doesn't sound like the sleep is the problem.

hmmm maybe the solution is to not go to work

 

[MossCommuter]

For the last 5 years I have woken @ 5:30am every morning, earlier in winter, for no apparent reason.


A couple of weeks ago friends stayed over - one on the zed-bed in the front room.

At 5:30am he was woken by an alarm clock that was hidden away on a shelf, forgotten about, since the day I moved in.

 

[lulubel]

I wish I could naturally wake up at 6am. I go to bed at about 10pm in hope, but I still struggle to drag myself out of bed before 7.30. I work from home, so I don't have to get up early for work, but it's so hot here now that I really like to get my ride out of the way before the heat becomes unbearable.

Between 6am and 8am seems to be the time I naturally get my best quality sleep.

 

[fossyant]

I wish I did sleep well.

Since my accident two and a half years ago I haven't slept well. I'm usually awake by 6am, but I've had a disturbed nights sleep - it's getting very bad at the moment - pain killers are back to pre-op levels, so I'm off to the docs for some advice. Pre 'operation' I was on pain killers, but the pain is back so it's back on the tablets !

The problem doubles up as I can't get comfortable, so my 'shuffling' disturbs my wife too. If I'm particularly uncomfortable, I'll head off to the sofa (usually at least once a week) and a worse nights sleep - but at least my wife gets some rest ! I was so 'monged' Monday morning, I phoned in work and explained !

Shoulder Consultant isn't for another two months !

Anyone been on sleeping tablets for any amount of time ? Other option might be a mild anti-depressant as this may relax me, and I believe it helps with nerve pain ?

Any other tips for a good sleep - I've tried herbal remedies, don't drink tea etc in evening, eat early, etc etc.

 

[tyred]

I also tend to wake and get up at around 6am, even if I'm not working. I like early mornings. Everything seems so much more peaceful.

Unfortunately, I'm also something of a night owl and tend to stay up late. It's the middle of the day when I struggle. I feel fine early in the morning or late at night.

 

[fossyant]

The only problem with being up early is I want to get on with jobs outside. I usually wait till 10am so not to wake the neighbours