Keep Waking Up At 4:30am

[nforste]

For the past couple of weeks I've been waking up at 4:30-5 every morning and it's messing with my POTS like crazy. I miss sleep that feels like sleep!!!! I'm pretty sure it's an adrenaline surge doing it.

Does anyone have any tricks to deal with this type of thing?

[Birdlady]

The only suggestion I have is trying to eat a light protein snack just before bed to see if that helps. It could be low blood sugar waking you up or causing an adrenaline surge.

[potsgirl]

I do the exact same thing. I'm up between 5-5:30 almost every morning. If I'm awake before 5, I make myself stay in bed until at least 5:15 or so. What time do you go to bed at night? Any new meds?

[lieze]

I have difficulty with waking up too early also at times and it is hard to get back to sleep but I lay there for hours and eventually I do go back to sleep.

Is there anything that you could do to get yourself back to sleep?

Getting up and going to the bathroom and getting a drink sometimes does this for me.

Sometimes I check my emails and read a few and then I shut it off and lay quiet.

I figure either way it's rest and sometimes I feel myself going into a half asleep-half awake state that does feel nourishing to my body.

[nforste]

I do the exact same thing. I'm up between 5-5:30 almost every morning. If I'm awake before 5, I make myself stay in bed until at least 5:15 or so. What time do you go to bed at night? Any new meds?

I'm usually asleep by 11pm or so. I was doing really well until a couple of weeks ago - would wake up at 6 or 6:30 which was AWESOME. I'm not on any meds (but do take magnesium). My housemate just got back from o/s so I'm thinking it might be my body getting used to someone else being in the house again?? Either that or the cold weather....

[potsgirl]

Wow. You stay up late...I'm asleep by 7:30 or 8, sometimes even earlier. So I should be getting about 9 or so hours of sleep, but I do toss and turn a lot. A change in your household, especially if you were used to having the house to yourself may be the culprit. Sometimes I think it's just a phase some of us go through and in another week or so you may be back to your usual wake-up time. Good luck!

[ramakentesh]

yes - i do what i call cutting the cycle. Ignoring everything you are told about the illness and concentrating on what you personally experience.

For me I always wake at 5am. The key is to cut down the adrenal overstimulation for me. If i have a big day the next day and need to be at my best, I take a beta blocker, not during the day but just before sleep the night before, lye in bed feeling relaxed like im usually not with pots and then (just me maybe) a shot of port to make me sleep as betas effect my sleep. I wake up much better the next day when i do this. But do it too often and it stops working.

[Machair]

This is exactly what has been happening to me lately. I will sleep quite well until 4 and then I wake up suddenly with palpitations/sweating and generally feeling very adrenaline filled.I have to really try to calm down and get back to sleep, or I lose 3 hours of the night and the day is a trial then.I am trying a high protein diet with a protein shake just before bed to see if that helps.