Hi all,
On that poll I wrote this, but figured it should be by itself so maybe I can get some ideas from you nice folks.

I said I have cognitive decline in the afternoon. I have a hard problem to solve so maybe someone can help me.

I go to bed at night and wake up exactly two hours later for the bathroom. I go back to bed, and I am fully awake. It doesn't matter what time I try to got to bed this same thing happens. My body thinks I had my two hour nap...at night.

Then I lay there for awhile hoping to fall back to sleep, no go! So after an hour or so I get up and find something to do to make me go back to sleep, like paper work or reading.

I end up getting tired at around 6 am or 7am and go back to sleep until 2 pm or 3 pm. to get a perfect 8 hours, but the wrong 8 hours. It used to be bed at 1 pm, 2 am or 3 am and be okay, now it is later and later.

What happened? This could be without a nap in the day too. I just feel the day is for sleeping and at night is for being wide awake, alert and feeling fine.

When I get up at 2 pm or 3 pm I have cobwebs to clear, because my body wants to go back to sleep even more. So I put cognitive decline in the afternoon on this poll.

This totally ruins my day, my family plans, etc. Then with shopping at night I am getting very little daylight now on me. I don't know how to turn myself around.

Any and all suggestions would be helpful. Please..

Do you drink any caffeinated drinks in the afternoon, or take any stimulating meds? Also, do you exercise before you go to bed at night? Are you drinking lots of water and/or liquids near bedtime? Or eating high protein foods or snacks late at night?

My bladder tends to wake me if I do any of these... but I take a low dose of Trazodone that keeps me sleeping through the night with few interruptions of waking up. I split 50 mg pills in half. The 25 mg dose seems to just relax me enough to help me get a better night's sleep. It's a cheap and safe drug for people with MS for sleep issues.

Hi Wiz,
Yes, I think I can say yes to almost all of those you mentioned. I don't take a stimulating med though. I'm wired enough. I have to try that med you mentioned is it OTC or a script?

I shower at night and exercise while my body muscles are warmer. I will change a few things around. Most I never thought about. Hmm Thanks..

yay ewi. I had no idea how to help. I knew some of the things you mentioned but not enough to help Lady.

Wiz, I can't take any serotonin modulators (SSRI's) not even any combo like
those with norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) and serotonin.

On a low dose of 10 mg my eyes get fixed and dilated. Looks pretty to have big eyes but I was told never to use them in any form. I look like a drug addict.

Some work well for pain, so I tried a few for the burning feet and burning leg pain, NADA. Different doctors and different times. No help!

I know they make people a bit sleepy. I'll have to figure something out.

When I exercise at night I don't get Charley horse cramps in my calves, toes, arches, or feet. I can't win something is going to wake me up.

Lady
I have some thoughts. I would try listening to a meditation/guided visualization tape as you are going to bed at first. Your bladder will still likely wake you (mine does every morning at 3 am) My thought is the tape will have set you into a deeper relaxation and your body will be more inclined to return to that place after peeing! And start the tape again as you go back to sleep. I have two tapes that have really helped me in the past.

The second thought is that it will likely take time to turn this around, like it took time to establish it. So be patient with it.

good luck

(((((Lady)))))

I find that reading a good book that I have already read many times makes me get sleepy very quickly. If I just pick it up and start reading anywhere in the book, I get droopy eyed within a couple of pages. It doesn't work the same with a new book...but with one I have read over and over it works like a charm.

I had that thought as well. You may not get back to sleep but it is a form a relaxation that might work and get your body clock back to "normal." There are times when I am convinced I did not get back to sleep and yet in retrospect, I did.

A calming tape. Maybe something you can download from the internet into an Ipod?

Hello Txbatman. I've missed you.