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The need to get up and urinate breaks my sleep into two parts on many nights, and sometimes it's hard to get back to sleep afterwards, leading to very little sl

by sixbrx 4y ago

The need to get up and urinate breaks my sleep into two parts on many nights, and sometimes it's hard to get back to sleep afterwards, leading to very little sleep for those days. I've tried not drinking liquids after noon, and it would still plague me pretty often. I guess it could be that I sleep too lightly between REM phases, maybe, so that minor disturbances wake me up?

pbnjeh 4y ago
For such cases, I've taken to starting the BBC World Service stream on my phone's speaker at low volume. Just loud enough to be a presence but at or below the threshold where I can easily make out the words. Without really paying attention to the news/program, it seems to "short circuit" my attention or whatever's going on in my mind, enough that I usually drift off within a few minutes. Anecdote, but with a success of 1 (person). P.S. I used to find the idea of sleeping with the TV or radio on counterproductive, and I still wouldn't do it at normal volume, but this hack has worked to let me doze off when that's not happening on its own. My normal and long-standing bedtime routine is usually to read for a few minutes until tiredness overtakes me. P.P.S. I should mention that I also have white noise playing in the bedroom, due to intermittent neighborhood noise issues. Perhaps the BBC stream would be too distracting without the white noise's presence.
- rednerrus 4y ago
  I do the same thing with the Great Courses, with limited success.
- bityard 4y ago
  I read Terry Pratchett at bedtime on my phone at the lowest brightness possible. It's interesting enough that I want to read it, but rarely edgy enough to spike my adrenaline.
schwartzworld 4y ago
https://www.sleepapnea.org/sleep-health/nighttime-urination-and-sleep-apnea/ https://www.sleepapnea.org/sleep-health/nighttime-urination-... have you had a sleep study?
- sixbrx 4y ago
  I have not. I'll look into this, thanks for the link!
room505 4y ago
Get your prostate checked.
sixtram 4y ago
Some possible causes from Peter Attia MD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llyQ_J4Ynf0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llyQ_J4Ynf0
robocat 4y ago
I usually know if I am not going to get back to sleep. In which case I take one anti-histamine and that just shifts me enough over the edge to push me back to sleep. It is a choice between two bad things: (1) not sleeping, or (2) taking a pill I don’t want to; however sleep matters more to me. I intend to find something else that “causes drowsiness” that isn’t so systemic, but I think having a solution that works is fantastic. I certainly want to avoid hypnotics - I would worry about the long term side-effects.
- gnat 4y ago
  When I want to be sure I will stay asleep after The Four AM Pee, I take two Benadryl before bed. I try not to do it too often, because apparently one quickly builds a tolerance for it. <https://journals.lww.com/psychopharmacology/pages/articleviewer.aspx?year=2002&issue=10000&article=00012&type=abstract https://journals.lww.com/psychopharmacology/pages/articlevie...>

by sixbrx 4y ago

pbnjeh 4y ago

For such cases, I've taken to starting the BBC World Service stream on my phone's speaker at low volume. Just loud enough to be a presence but at or below the threshold where I can easily make out the words. Without really paying attention to the news/program, it seems to "short circuit" my attention or whatever's going on in my mind, enough that I usually drift off within a few minutes. Anecdote, but with a success of 1 (person). P.S. I used to find the idea of sleeping with the TV or radio on counterproductive, and I still wouldn't do it at normal volume, but this hack has worked to let me doze off when that's not happening on its own. My normal and long-standing bedtime routine is usually to read for a few minutes until tiredness overtakes me. P.P.S. I should mention that I also have white noise playing in the bedroom, due to intermittent neighborhood noise issues. Perhaps the BBC stream would be too distracting without the white noise's presence.

rednerrus 4y ago
I do the same thing with the Great Courses, with limited success.
bityard 4y ago
I read Terry Pratchett at bedtime on my phone at the lowest brightness possible. It's interesting enough that I want to read it, but rarely edgy enough to spike my adrenaline.

schwartzworld 4y ago

https://www.sleepapnea.org/sleep-health/nighttime-urination-and-sleep-apnea/ https://www.sleepapnea.org/sleep-health/nighttime-urination-... have you had a sleep study?

sixbrx 4y ago
I have not. I'll look into this, thanks for the link!

room505 4y ago

Get your prostate checked.

sixtram 4y ago

Some possible causes from Peter Attia MD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llyQ_J4Ynf0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llyQ_J4Ynf0

robocat 4y ago

I usually know if I am not going to get back to sleep. In which case I take one anti-histamine and that just shifts me enough over the edge to push me back to sleep. It is a choice between two bad things: (1) not sleeping, or (2) taking a pill I don’t want to; however sleep matters more to me. I intend to find something else that “causes drowsiness” that isn’t so systemic, but I think having a solution that works is fantastic. I certainly want to avoid hypnotics - I would worry about the long term side-effects.

gnat 4y ago
When I want to be sure I will stay asleep after The Four AM Pee, I take two Benadryl before bed. I try not to do it too often, because apparently one quickly builds a tolerance for it. <https://journals.lww.com/psychopharmacology/pages/articleviewer.aspx?year=2002&issue=10000&article=00012&type=abstract https://journals.lww.com/psychopharmacology/pages/articlevie...>