The Student Room Group

Sleep problems...

I know I should go and speak to a doctor but I'm not gonna get in to see them for a while and as I can't sleep I thought I'd ask.

I've been having sleep trouble for weeks. I don't know if these things are related or if it's individual issues but:

1. I get uncomfortably hot at night. I mean with the duvet off, windows open, heating off and fan on IN DECEMBER. I don't sweat excessively with it, I just get hotter and hotter until I can't bear it and I go and splash cold water all over myself. My toes also swell to the point where it's painful.

2. It's taking me over 3 hours to get to sleep every night. I went to bed at 10:30 because I was utterly shattered....it's now 2 am and I got up twenty minutes ago because I couldn't sleep. When I do get to sleep, I only sleep for an hour or so before I wake up and repeat the process all over again

3. I feel like I can't get a full breath when I'm lying down. It eases when I sit up but when I'm trying to get to sleep I feel like I can't breathe and when I DO finally start drifting off, I wake myself up with a big breath and jump (like when your body does that weird twitch at night).

I'm exhausted. I haven't slept properly in weeks, and I just can't sleep. Any ideas what the hell is wrong with me?
I don't know if it will help you or not but try taking a nice long bath before going to bed and / or try listening to some podcasts like sleep with me etc it usually helps me so I thought it was worth sharing
Me too I can’t sleep, since June. I stay awake all night. I do feel sleepy during the day but I went to visit the doctors and they said I shouldn’t associate tiredness to my bed or some shxt.
As well as trying the obvious (warm drink, long bath, soft music etc) you should also try avoiding using your phone for an hour before you try to sleep and also, don't use it in the night when you're finding it difficult to sleep.

Other than all of that though, I suggest you book a doctors appointment soon, the sooner you book it the sooner it will come around.
Restful sleep is not a right. It's a privilege.
Original post by PollyParrot23
I know I should go and speak to a doctor but I'm not gonna get in to see them for a while and as I can't sleep I thought I'd ask.

I've been having sleep trouble for weeks. I don't know if these things are related or if it's individual issues but:

1. I get uncomfortably hot at night. I mean with the duvet off, windows open, heating off and fan on IN DECEMBER. I don't sweat excessively with it, I just get hotter and hotter until I can't bear it and I go and splash cold water all over myself. My toes also swell to the point where it's painful.

2. It's taking me over 3 hours to get to sleep every night. I went to bed at 10:30 because I was utterly shattered....it's now 2 am and I got up twenty minutes ago because I couldn't sleep. When I do get to sleep, I only sleep for an hour or so before I wake up and repeat the process all over again

3. I feel like I can't get a full breath when I'm lying down. It eases when I sit up but when I'm trying to get to sleep I feel like I can't breathe and when I DO finally start drifting off, I wake myself up with a big breath and jump (like when your body does that weird twitch at night).

I'm exhausted. I haven't slept properly in weeks, and I just can't sleep. Any ideas what the hell is wrong with me?


At a first appointment, your GP is likely to give you the standard advice on "sleep hygiene" (ridiculous term). It's basically the same as you will find on the NHS Choices website.

It is possible that you have a medical condition that underlies the problem, but sleep problems are notoriously difficult to solve in any case.
One tip that might help with the sudden waking that you mention is to try and avoid falling asleep on your back - that's been shown to correlate with sleep paralysis and similar sleep disturbances.
Try melatonin or 5HTP, both pretty much have the same action and this is the chemical that is released for you to fall asleep...

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