Ciara read you email from a listener, who was having major sleeping problems, Sleep expert Deirdre McSwiney and the listeners gave their thoughts on how to have a better nights sleep.

Hi Ciara,

Just wanted to contact you about a problem I have had for many years and see if your listeners have the same problem.  I have always been a poor sleeper and find it very difficult to get to sleep at night.  This started when I was around 10 or 11 and hasn’t improved over the years.  It first manifested itself with me missing many school days as a child as I could not sleep at all at night.  It also affected me during college where I missed quite a lot of time also.  Once I do sleep, I used to sleep soundly and well, however lately this has changed and I am having restlessness nights and waking up several times during the night, sometimes dozing off for 10 or 15 minutes before waking up again.  I am in my mid 40’s and this has been a change I have associated with getting older.  I can get by on 2 to 4 hours sleep and still function for work, but I am finding it harder in recent years, in my 20’s I could function quite well on just a few hours sleep.

I don’t drink tea or coffee in the evening and have tried everything I can to address my sleep issues, I don’t want to take sleeping tablets and I do find if I have a few drinks it makes it easier for me to sleep, however, I know this is not a viable solution either.  I sleep with the TV or radio on as I can’t get to sleep at all in silence, I don’t go near my phone whilst trying to sleep and I find when I’m trying to sleep that all my thoughts and worries consume me, making it very difficult to sleep or relax.  I would appreciate any advice from your listeners who may have experienced such difficulties sleeping.  I just find lately it is all starting to catch up on me and that I have very little energy and seem to pick up colds and fluey symptoms on a regular basis, I don’t know if this is due to a lack of sleep, but I am lethargic and tired all the time.

Many Thanks,

Joseph