Especially during the summer, I wake up too early, can't get back to sleep, and am underslept half the time. My sleep issue is not with getting to sleep, I fall asleep easily in the evenings. The problem is that I usually wake up after about 6-7 hours of sleep. Not enough for me, I feel dead in the mornings until I have done breathwork, gotten some sun, had a strong coffee, and a hit of nicotine USP solution. And then I really run out of gas in the late afternoon. During the colder, darker seasons, my sleep is a lot better.
This is frustrating as I am pretty good about sleep hygiene...
Wear blue blockers
Wear a sleep mask
No work after dinner
I don't eat or snack before bed
No bright screens within 2 hours of bed
Wifi gets turned off an hour before bed
Listen to soothing music before bed and while falling asleep
I'm not a voracious consumer of caffeine - one strong coffee in the morning
I've tried a couple of different things to address this...
I quit my glass or two of red wine with dinner habit, this hasn't helped much
I put thick drapes up over our windows - these help some I think
Doing meditation before bed
Red light therapy before bed
I tried the "ocean's breath" breathwork technique - did nothing for me
Melatonin 4-12 milligrams
Magnesium
Phenibut
Tried a few sleep stacks - they were all crap!
But still, my mind/body just insists on me being awake at the crack of dawn when I know I should be getting sleep. And I know what you're going to suggest: stop worrying about the coming day. Do meditation. Quite your mind and go back sleep.
This is the thing, I don't think it's anxiety and "thoughts running through my head" that's waking me up in the morning. I just lay there in bed reminiscing or thinking about totally boring things, free of worries, and I still cannot get back to sleep. Eventually, I get frustrated, lose hope in falling back to sleep, and drag my underslept ass out of bed to start the day.
To compensate for being underslept, I manage to stay somewhat productive doing Nootropics, I did Modafinil yesterday (75mg of Armodafinil - and had a pretty good day), taking cold showers, and I take hits of Nicotine throughout the day - although I don't wake up craving Nicotine. I'm using stimulants throughout the day, but I don't see why this would make me wake up early.
I'm 39 and otherwise in very good health. My wife and I are night people, we like to talk, read, or make love in the evenings and then go to bed around midnight. Making my bedtime 10AM would be logistically challenging in our household, what I'd really like is to go to bed at midnight and wake up at 9 AM like my wife!
I would REALLY appreciate any sleephacks you might suggest! Maybe there's another breathwork technique or sleep supplement that helps specifically with staying asleep...