Now for some pillow talk ... how I envy you if you’re able to sleep like a baby
It’s good to know you’re not alone.
Last week I discovered just how many other people lie awake in the wee small hours, tossing and turning, unable to sleep and becoming a worrywart about how exhausted they’ll feel the next day.
The latest research into insomnia recommends that, if you’re middle-aged and want a good night’s sleep, you shouldn’t drink coffee after lunch.
Now, as a fully paid-up member of the insomniacs club, I am always ready for top tips. And they came in thick and fast from listeners when I discussed the problem with Louise White on her Radio Scotland programme.
Some people lie in bed and read a book. Others get up and do the ironing or clean the house to pass the time. A few drink hot milk. Some rely on over-the-counter herbal remedies. Others do yoga stretches to relax or listen to soothing music.
Shift workers have a particularly difficult time sleeping because their bedtime patterns change on a weekly basis. Some get by on three hours’ kip a night – which is tough.
I can cope on five hours quite happily but any less and I get cranky. Especially when my husband’s advice is “just put your head on the pillow and relax...”
It’s a minor miracle that I haven’t yet put the pillow over his face as he sleeps blissfully for eight hours at a time.
The world is divided into those who sleep like babies and those of us who don’t.
It comes naturally to most people – but not members of insomniacs international.
We read all the advice in magazines about how to prepare for sleep – soak in a warm but not too hot bath, eat dinner at least three hours before bed, no alcohol or coffee in the evening, clear your mind of plans for the next day, wind down slowly.
And we listen to the advice from the lavender brigade.
They are gentle and wellmeaning people and if it works for them, great. But I have sprayed lavender on my pillow until the bedroom smells like a walk in the woods and yet I still can’t sleep.
The Sleep Council has found as many as four in five people aged 45 and over do not sleep well. I’ve come to accept it grudgingly.
On a holiday to France some years ago I discovered an over-the-counter remedy which helped. A gentle little herbal pill called Donormyl but you could only buy three packets at a time.
So like a pill junkie I visited every pharmacy in Antibes, stocked up on my ‘fix’ and it worked. But I’ve given up the habit and settle for using the sleepless hours for thinking or reading fat novels.
I’ve learned to accept the things I cannot change. I’m an insomniac. And there are lots of us out there.
Think of us as you effortlessly manage eight hours a night. Just how do you do it?
Turn the page to read our expert’s tips for getting a better night’s sleep.