Getting Off To Sleep

[smurfchops]

I have had difficulty in staying asleep through the night, for many years. Although I usually go to sleep quite easily, I wake up a lot in the night, every couple of hours, for no reason, and then usually go back to sleep again. I am consequently always tired during the day. Also I have caught a lot of viruses over the last few years. My thyroid has 'borderline' underactive for a long time. Anyway doctor put me on 25mg Levothyroxine around four months ago. I find I am not getting as many sore throats/viruses as I was (although I do take zinc as well). But I have found that over the past two or three weeks, I just cannot get off to sleep and end up taking a sleeping tablet at around 1.30am. I wonder of I should stop taking the Levothyroxine? If I try it and see if I get off to sleep better, do I just stop taking the tablets straightaway, or do it gradually (i.e. half a tablet for a couple of days and then stop, or maybe one every other day?). Is it safe to just stop taking them? If it doesnt make any difference with my getting off to sleep ( how long will it take to get it out of my system?), should I then just start taking them again? Thanks in advance for all your advice, as usual.

[elliemay1]

I honestly think that you should discuss this with your doctor as he is the only one who can safely advise.

[smurfchops]

Perhaps sqad is around? I might ask doctor to give me a ring, I dont want to use up an appointment to ask a question ...

[Old_Geezer]

Are you limited re appointments then ?

Hmm ... I 'd be interested on how to stay asleep for the full 8 hours myself. I'm sure that is the cause of half of my problems.

[jno]

apparently we all used to wake in the middle of the night.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segmented_sleep

We'd read the Bible, make love, visit the neighbours or whatever until we felt tired again, then go back to bed.

I suppose it depends on what exactly you want to do with your night. If I can't sleep I just get up and read, play patience etc; but I don't work and don't have a lot of morning appointments I have to get to in time.

[woofgang]

Like Jno, I suit myself when it comes to sleep unless I need to be up at a specific time for something. Many days I take my dogs out at 4am for a good run when its quiet, then I come home and we all go back to bed. When it was so hot, we would stay up late at night and the dogs would hunt the garden then sleep from about 2 am in the cool of the morning. Its one of the advantages of being retired.
I seriously don't think you should mess around with your meds without talking to the doctor first.

[ladyalex]

I really do not think you should stop the levothyroxine.
The dose has been calculated to make up for the lack of thyroxine caused by your underactive thyroid gland.
You should be having your blood checked periodically for this.
Speak to your GP either by telephone or in person.

[Buenchico]

You might find something worth reading here, Smurfchops:
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/sleep/Pages/sleep-home.aspx

I can't recall ever getting more than an hour or two of continuous sleep at a time, all the way from childhood. (I'll discount the time that I slept for 46 hours continuously, because that was after taking valium when I'd not slept at all for a fortnight). I find the the best thing to do when I can't get to sleep is simply to do something else instead for a while. Reading a book seems to help.

[lynbrown]

I too have a similar sleep pattern. I take levothyroxine as well. Do you take statins? I take mine in the morning instead of the evening and that has helped my sleep rhythms.