Is Insomnia part of old age?

[Mari333]

I take melatonin, doesnt do a thing. Im almost 60. every other night, no sleep at all.
this is getting old. as am I.

[pokerfan]

1. I was reading something about that last week

A Connection Between Sleep and Alzheimer's?

By Greg Miller
ScienceNOW Daily News
24 September 2009

You shouldn't stay up all night worrying about it, but a new study has found a connection between a lack of sleep and a biomolecule thought to be important in the development of Alzheimer's disease.

In both humans and mice, levels of a peptide called amyloid-β rise during waking hours and decline during sleep, researchers have found. They also report that sleep-deprived mice are more prone to developing deposits of amyloid-β, called plaques, like those found in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. Although far from proven, the finding suggests that sleep disorders could be a risk factor for Alzheimer's. On a brighter note, it also hints at new avenues of treatment.

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2009/924/3?rss=1

[Mari333]

2. thanks! now I will stay up worrying about alzheimers...: )

[Rhiannon12866]

3. Nope, I've had it since high school, probably earlier.

Unless I'm physically tired, I still can't sleep most nights. I also worked nights for many years, by choice, which makes it even tougher now. It helps if I'm on a schedule, but I currently have a prescription for sleeping pills. Those help most of the time. I read, years ago, that it's important not to clench your jaw, so I try to remember that... :shrug:

My grandmother also had insomnia, though it was when she got older. She had a fear of Alzheimer's, worried about it to the point that she joined a support group, the only one there without a "patient..." I told her that I read that if you didn't have it by age 90, you weren't going to get it. She lived to 98... ;)

I hear you... :hi:

[JonLP24]

4. I have it now

and I turn 23 in two months. :(

[donheld]

5. I took 2 tylenol PM's + .5 milligrams of Diazepam no effect, affect whatever

I need sleep. I've had this going on for two weeks

[elleng]

6. Drop the drugs, try early exercise and meals,

later warm milk, 'hot' bath.

Benadryl?

[donheld]

8. Exercise huh?

5 days a week I spend 50 minutes on a treadmill, plus lift weights for about an hour. Warm milk. Not as long as I'm lactose intolerant. Anymore Ideas.

[elleng]

12. Camomile tea.

'binaural beats to lower your brain frequencies in minutes to instil quick & healthy sleep patterns. Basically they are low delta frequencies; totally harmless, just relaxing and natural (your brain already produces them!) Your brain is directly responsible for sleep & it's when there's too much inner chatter and busyness going on that sleep seems unobtainable.'

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-To-Induce-Sleep---10-Ideas&id=1162165

[Mari333]

7. me too, every other night til I am exhausted

I walk the dog early in the afternoon, get lots of exercise, and dont drink caffeine after noon, but cannot sleep for the life of me.
melatonin doesnt work, neither does benadryl. I am just going to go with the flow I guess.

[donheld]

9. I get to sleep ok, but wake up far too early.

after maybe 3 hours sleep.

[Mari333]

10. I start to fall asleep, but than wake up with a start

and that is all she wrote. maybe its some sort of chemical imbalance. :)

[proteus_lives]

11. Not always.

I've been an insomniac since I was a child. Sometimes I just don't sleep.

[nuxvomica]

13. I sometimes get the "overtired" insomnia

If I don't get enough sleep because of work, I get overtired and have trouble falling to sleep. On the rare occasion that I simply can't get to sleep, I take a homeopathic remedy that usually works.
Generally, I don't have trouble sleeping even though I drink coffee all day right up until bedtime and I'm in my 50s.

[applegrove]

14. Insomnia was a cause of my depression when I was 24. I was so stressed out at work and didn't

have a work life balance. So watch out for that.

That being said my older relative certainly don't sleep 8 hours a night and they go for naps during the day so I think insomnia is age related too.

[lillypaddle]

15. It's true that you need less sleep as you get older

I for sure do (61 here). I find that it's a vicious circle - don't sleep well, so go to bed early because I'm tired, and then wake to hit the bathroom in the middle of the night, and then lay awake until about an hour before it's time to get up.

[Deep13]

16. No. Something is keeping you awake.

Check with the doc about it.