# Insomnia Help... what to do about waking up at the exact same time every night?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insomnia-help-what-to-do-about-waking-up-at-the-exact-same-time-every-night/493172>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [April 15, 2009, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insomnia-help-what-to-do-about-waking-up-at-the-exact-same-time-every-night/493172 "2009-04-15T13:28:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Winnie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e480ec/32.png) [@Winnie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winnie)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insomnia-help-what-to-do-about-waking-up-at-the-exact-same-time-every-night/493172/1 "2009-04-15T13:28:45Z")

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So for the past week I’ve gone to sleep around 10:00ish (my usual time) easily. I then wake up at 1:45 or 2:00 a.m. ON THE DOT and lay there awake until everyone gets up around 6ish. However I’m not WIDE awake… I’m thoroughly exhausted for those 4 or so hours, so tired it actually makes me feel nauseous, yet unable to find sleep after 2:00 a.m. Then of course I get anxious because I’m not sleeping, then just listen to my heart pound while laying in my bed. I run my own dog walking/pet sitting business and have a 4-year old son so taking long naps during the day to catch up is just not possible, and I’m honestly not a “napper” anyway, never have been.

I don’t want to go the route of Tylenol PM, last time I took one of those not only did I STILL not sleep but I spent the next day in a Tylenol PM hangover. I exercise nearly every day (usually mid-morning), eat very healthy, rarely have caffeine after 1 PM.

Anyone have any suggestions for getting over this weird body-clock-induced wakeup time? I know you’re supposed to get up and do something else if you wake up a lot at night but that seems to only REALLY wake me up, then I’m awake, it’s 4 a.m. and I don’t know whether to lay in bed or read the paper or what. Any suggestions would be good before I’m fully committed to an insane aslyum.

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**Author:** ![tarragon918](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@tarragon918](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tarragon918)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insomnia-help-what-to-do-about-waking-up-at-the-exact-same-time-every-night/493172/2 "2009-04-15T13:37:36Z")

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Try taking some melatonin at bedtime, or drink a bit of warm milk, if you can tolerate it. Melatonin you can get OTC just about anywhere. I wake up in the middle of the night at times as well; unfortunately it’s because I’ve got night sweats … I just have to try to cool down and go back to sleep. LOL

Good luck, **Winnie** , I hope you find something that works for you!

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**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insomnia-help-what-to-do-about-waking-up-at-the-exact-same-time-every-night/493172/3 "2009-04-15T14:34:17Z")

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**Jolly Roger** posted [a similar thread a few weeks ago](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=488234&highlight=alarm), that might have some good advice in it.