Sleep ghosted me as soon as I hit 45. When I was younger, I could sleep anywhere, anytime. To add insult to injury, I also needed less sleep back then. It was an embarrassment of riches.
My biggest sleep issue is my struggle to sleep all night. I can fall asleep fine, but inevitably, I am wide awake at 3 am, then exhausted and ready to fall back asleep at 6 am.
The worst part about the 3 am wakeup is that my sleep anxiety immediately kicks in. I start to worry about how awful I am going to feel all day and how there is no way that I am getting back to sleep. Then, a host of non-sleep-related anxious thoughts shows up.
Everyone is different; this is what works for me:
Caffeine:
I have one cup of coffee before 9 am. That is it. It pains me, but I have noticed that even pushing that coffee until noon impacts my sleep. So, I enjoy that morning ritual as much as possible by reminding myself how much I want it as I rush around and prepare for work. Still, it helps to be somewhat present rather than see an empty coffee cup and not even remember that I just drank it.
Bloat:
Going to bed bloated never works for me. I usually wake up before 3 am if I eat too much salt or other bloat-inducing foods, such as beans, for dinner. Bloat, like disrupted sleep, is another little gem of midlife that I never experienced as a younger person.
Magnesium:
I don’t believe in miracle cures, but if I had to pick one thing to pack on a middle-aged desert island, it would be magnesium. It helps me with night sweats and disrupted sleep.
Exercise:
Exercise always improves my sleep. But it takes work to fit in every day. I do a 20-minute YouTube fitness video on days when that is all the time I have.
10 pm Bedtime – No earlier, no later. If I fall asleep too early, I wake up too early. It is hard; as often as I’ve been awake since 3 am, I am desperate to sleep at 9 pm.
Blue Light:
This is tough; there are no screens after 9 pm. Blue light glasses will help a little, but avoiding screens is also a part of my winding down process, which I should skimp on – but I sometimes do.
I hope these tips are helpful. If you have any other suggestions, please share them in the comments below. Good night!
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