Can't stay asleep for more than 2 hours!!!

[JamesAA]

Hi.  I have had a major problem with sleep lately.  I go to bed at 10am (normal for me, having been doing this for years and haven't had any problems til recently).  I sleep with a blindfold and earplugs, as I have for years.  This week I am falling asleep rather easily but I only stay asleep for 2 hours.  I then lay there in bed for 2-3 hours before I'm able to get very superficial, non-restful sleep for another couple hours before I have to wake up.  

I do have anxieties/phobias.  And here's the vicious cycle.  When I get poor sleep but phobias are worse, leading me to want to take Klonopin (which I don't take all that often).  But the Klonopin makes me even more tired during the day and prevents me from taking any sleep meds like Tylenol PM, as it's not a good idea to mix the 2.  

Any suggestions to help sleep 6-7 hours straight.  Hell I'll buy 5 hours straight right now.  

Thanks

[jfig123]

Try this short PDF  from Dr Orma.  It worked for me.  stop Worrying go to sleep.

https://www.drorma.com/overcome-insomnia/

[buster7724]

ill buy three hours man!

[huntergreen0390]

I unfortunately suffer from the same thing. I have always only slept for 2-3 hours a night and then there are some nights that I don't sleep at all and I can function just fine, think straight, help my kids with their homework without any problems. I have just gotten tired of nothing working to help me sleep more than 2 hours a night. If I get 3 hours of sleep I consider myself lucky that night. I use a Fitbit to track the two hours that I do get and found out that in those 2 hours I get more rem sleep than most people do in a night of full 8-hour sleep. I have been like this since I was a child so I don't know if this would help, but I am a coffee drinker. I found out that if I am having a hard time sleeping I have a cup of cold coffee and have no problem going to sleep and I do tend to get three hours of sleep when I do that, but if it is hot coffee it doesn't work the same way. I have tried leaving the coffee alone during the day but that doesn't help either. I have just figured out that if I keep going my body will finally give in to sleep and then I can sleep for a whole day. Then I run into the problem that my body has had more sleep and I wake up more tired than when I went to sleep, so I will take the 2-3 hours a night that I get. For some of us there just isn't anything that we can do about it.

[AnxiousNoMore]

Read some books about sleep and you might get a useful tip or 2 about how to go back to sleep. My problem after waking up is making plans or even anticipating future happy events tend to charge me up, so I have a few methods to try to refocus on mundane things instead in order to bore myself back to sleep instead.
One is to shut my eyes and try to meditate which often leads to sleep instead. Focus on the shiny light you see when you close your eyes for a while and try to relax while doing so. Another tool is consider only the 8 hours you are supposed to be sleeping and tell yourself there is no other time in the day. Then say "I did nothing yesterday, I am doing nothing and will not do anything today either" (just forget about the other 16 hours when you wake up and actually sb doing something.)

[Daisies87]

From what I am recently learning, the Klonopin may have sensitized your central nervous system in such a way that you are losing your ability to sleep. If you are not addicted to it and only take it occasionally, I would stop taking it completely and see if your body will begin to heal and regain its ability to sleep. SSRIs and other antidepressants can cause this problem too, even for a very long time after you get off these drugs.

[Seriouslyrestless]

Hi, I dont have an answer but suffer from a similar problem. I sleep no more than two hours a night for the past 6 months. I have tried everything from over the counter meds to alcohol. with no results. Im at my wits end. I have like 6 hour energy boosts a day then im completely worn out. I force myself to stay up until 9 or 10 but always only sleep 2 freaking hours. I need help! Cant afford a doctor so what should I do? Any help would be greatly appreciated..

[Scottyboy75]

I also have the same problem and I used to be the person that had to sleep at least 10-12 hours a night but now I literally get almost nothing but I actually feel relatively good throughout the day but I know it's not healthy for me. I've taken every kind of sleeping pill there is and they either don't work or made sloppy sleepy all day and one even had me rushed to the ER because I thought I was going to die. I think now it's time to try CBD oil and if that doesn't work then I'm going to straight to some forms of THC. I don't smoke sit it would be in some kind of edible forms.

[koop88]

Hi, I am suffering from the same sleep problems. Have your symptoms changed or gotten better? My body thinks its sleeping a full night in 2hrs and then I'm awake.

[amy_ladary]

me too, it feels like its morning after 1hour

[ann2hours]

Hi James,

I, too, go to bed by 10:00, then wake up after 1-2 hours, and each time it will take me between 2-4 hours before I can go back to sleep. I'm patching together scraps of sleep!
I found what is most helpful, more than any herbal supplement (I refuse to take sleeping pills), is to get out of bed as soon as I wake up. The longer I remain in bed, the more anxious I become.  
  It's important to find a relaxing activity, with low lights. I do yoga on a matt in the livingroom. Lately, I find that washing dishes or folding clothes is relaxing. So, I'll be washing dishes in the middle of the night! While I'm washing, I'll drink a sleepy-time tea, (though I don't know if the tea actually helps.)
  The good news is that as soon as I'm done with my activity, and return to bed, I usually can fall right back to sleep. By the way, I usually allow myself an hour for my activity.
  I gain an extra hour or two of sleep.
Hope this helps.
  Ann

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

Understand your predicament. But the first step would be to stop becoming anxious. Variations in pattern of sleep can occur. But this will regularize with time. So, try to relax. And to most of the sedatives (sleeping tablets), people develop tolerance, that is they stop working very effectively with time. So, try to develop good sleep hygiene. Sleep and get up at the same time every day, avoid smoking, alcoholic and caffeinated beverages and exercise regularly.  

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.

[Trotnixon]

Hi, I have almost the exact same problem and just posted about it but I don't know what causes it either. I've started using the sleep tracker and it isn't giving me any answers, just helping me keep track of how bad it is. I sleep for 2 hrs regardless of what or how many meds I take then I'll be up for an hr or so usually then sleep another 2 hrs. Occasionally I won't be able to go back to sleep at all either. I wish I had answers for you but all I can tell you is that you're not alone, hopefully someone will respond to our posts with some advice soon!