I don't know why you are waking up at 3 AM so often. I read somewhere that this can be caused by having repeated bad dreams, even though you don't remember the dreams.
Funny you should mention that, though. I've been getting severe leg cramps in the middle of the night lately. Two nights ago, I got one at 3 AM, and it was so painful I couldn't go back to sleep. I took a muscle relaxant and a couple Xanax in order to get back to sleep. Unfortunately, I slept right through the alarm and woke up at 12 PM and lost a half day of work.
By the way, I don't take Xanax for anxiety, which is normally what it's for. I take it because I have extremely severe tinnitus in my left ear, and the only thing that reduces it at all are benzodiazepenes like Xanax or Klonopin. Vinpocetine (an over-the-counter vitamin) helps, too, but not enough. The ringing is so loud it makes it very difficult to fall asleep. The Xanax or Klonopin takes the edge off just enough so that I can get to sleep. My doc just switched me to Klonopin because it has a longer half-life. Xanax only works for about 4 hours at a time, which doesn't always get me through the night. Xanax works better at reducing the ringing, but it's not good enough if I sometimes have to wake up at 3 AM to take another.
I think it was Franz Schubert who killed himself because he couldn't tolerate his tinnitus. I'm not even close to being suicidal (never have been), but I can sympathize. Constant loud ringing in your ear is like living with constant pain. It's not fun.
(06-09-2016, 03:03 PM)The Rogue Tomato Wrote: [ -> ]I don't know why you are waking up at 3 AM so often. I read somewhere that this can be caused by having repeated bad dreams, even though you don't remember the dreams.
Funny you should mention that, though. I've been getting severe leg cramps in the middle of the night lately. Two nights ago, I got one at 3 AM, and it was so painful I couldn't go back to sleep. I took a muscle relaxant and a couple Xanax in order to get back to sleep. Unfortunately, I slept right through the alarm and woke up at 12 PM and lost a half day of work.
By the way, I don't take Xanax for anxiety, which is normally what it's for. I take it because I have extremely severe tinnitus in my left ear, and the only thing that reduces it at all are benzodiazepenes like Xanax or Klonopin. Vinpocetine (an over-the-counter vitamin) helps, too, but not enough. The ringing is so loud it makes it very difficult to fall asleep. The Xanax or Klonopin takes the edge off just enough so that I can get to sleep. My doc just switched me to Klonopin because it has a longer half-life. Xanax only works for about 4 hours at a time, which doesn't always get me through the night. Xanax works better at reducing the ringing, but it's not good enough if I sometimes have to wake up at 3 AM to take another.
I think it was Franz Schubert who killed himself because he couldn't tolerate his tinnitus. I'm not even close to being suicidal (never have been), but I can sympathize. Constant loud ringing in your ear is like living with constant pain. It's not fun.
I had a friend give me a Klonopin one time.... man... I wanted another one but I was afraid the Dr. would think I was crazy. I'd had a couple panic attacks and they certainly help with that....
Have you tired a white noise maker? I have a slight issue with ringing. I don't notice it unless there is complete silence. I LOVE my Marpac...
http://www.amazon.com/Marpac-DOHM-DS-Whi...=8-1-spons
I have one in every bedroom of the house.
(06-09-2016, 01:54 PM)aleshanee Wrote: [ -> ]happens all the time..... i wake up suddenly at 3 am sharp.... for no reason at all.... then can;t go back to sleep..... 
........... the last few times it happened i sat up and watched russian dash cam - road rage and car crash videos on you tube.. ....
. ...... the makers of them say they are posted for educational purposes.... but i can;t say they do much for my driving skills since i no longer have a drivers license and don;t even drive anymore.... ..it does kinda make me nervous about riding in a car with certain drivers though ..... plus i am learning a lot of russian cuss words....
....... i wasn;t sure if that was the kind of education they intended or not..... or whether to list that as a bright side of the whole thing or not.. 
When I have sleeping problem, that is usually when I wake up. In fact, I done it night after night.... after night before. I've researched it to some degree and you find all kind of explanations.....
3am is usually considered the "witching hour". The time when evil spirits are most active. Not that I believe that........ I happened to believe this explaination is probabily the best I've ever found....
The body shuts down certain motor signals during REM sleep to prevent us from acting out our dreams. However, occasionally as our brain moves through the stages of sleep and comes back to the lightest phase of sleep, there is a brief moment when the mind gets to an awareness stage before the body does.
Depending on sleeping habits, this would be around 3 am.
Melatonin helps me but I haven't taken any in several months.
I have binge watched most of the videos you mentioned..... there are some crazy people in this world....
I turn on a fan for white noise. You have no idea how loud my tinnitus is. I went to a specialist in CA long ago, and she made a masking device for me that I put in my ear. But even with the masking device cranked up to maximum, the ringing was still louder. The end result was that I was basically just deaf in one ear with two horrible sounds at once. So I never used it.
What I actually do that helps is listen to talk radio or an audio book while trying to fall asleep. It doesn't cover the ringing, but it distracts me from it.
I had a nature sounds maker, but here's the crazy problem I had with that. It's not continuous or random. It's on a loop. So after about 3 loops, I start recognizing the pattern, and start focusing on it and expecting the changes -- and that keeps me awake!! "Okay, next will come that bird tweeting a certain way. And then the water sound will come next. And then it will loop back to the beginning..."
(06-09-2016, 04:37 PM)The Rogue Tomato Wrote: [ -> ]I turn on a fan for white noise. You have no idea how loud my tinnitus is. I went to a specialist in CA long ago, and she made a masking device for me that I put in my ear. But even with the masking device cranked up to maximum, the ringing was still louder. The end result was that I was basically just deaf in one ear with two horrible sounds at once. So I never used it.
What I actually do that helps is listen to talk radio or an audio book while trying to fall asleep. It doesn't cover the ringing, but it distracts me from it.
I had a nature sounds maker, but here's the crazy problem I had with that. It's not continuous or random. It's on a loop. So after about 3 loops, I start recognizing the pattern, and start focusing on it and expecting the changes -- and that keeps me awake!! "Okay, next will come that bird tweeting a certain way. And then the water sound will come next. And then it will loop back to the beginning..."
Its definitely not that loud...
I know what you mean about the nature sound random machines...... been there. Same issue with me.
(06-09-2016, 08:22 PM)praise_yeshua Wrote: [ -> ] (06-09-2016, 04:37 PM)The Rogue Tomato Wrote: [ -> ]I turn on a fan for white noise. You have no idea how loud my tinnitus is. I went to a specialist in CA long ago, and she made a masking device for me that I put in my ear. But even with the masking device cranked up to maximum, the ringing was still louder. The end result was that I was basically just deaf in one ear with two horrible sounds at once. So I never used it.
What I actually do that helps is listen to talk radio or an audio book while trying to fall asleep. It doesn't cover the ringing, but it distracts me from it.
I had a nature sounds maker, but here's the crazy problem I had with that. It's not continuous or random. It's on a loop. So after about 3 loops, I start recognizing the pattern, and start focusing on it and expecting the changes -- and that keeps me awake!! "Okay, next will come that bird tweeting a certain way. And then the water sound will come next. And then it will loop back to the beginning..."
Its definitely not that loud...
I know what you mean about the nature sound random machines...... been there. Same issue with me.
Yeah, it's almost impossible to describe just how loud the ringing is. This rarely happens anymore, but sometimes it would get so bad it would actually feel like I was getting electric shocks to my brain. I think the common term for this phenomenon is "brain zaps", but they're usually associated with withdrawal when stopping SSRI antidepressants. In my case, it's just that my tinnitus would get so severe that it felt like my ear was zapping my brain, and I'd almost lose consciousness for a split second. I'm pretty sure it was related to spikes in blood pressure due to high stress times. Since I've been on my current 5 blood pressure meds, I haven't experienced them. I'm no doctor, though, so I'm just guessing.
(06-09-2016, 01:54 PM)aleshanee Wrote: [ -> ]happens all the time..... (well...not all the time... but all the time when worse stuff is not happening at night...) ........ i wake up suddenly at 3 am sharp.... for no reason at all.... then can;t go back to sleep..... ........... the last few times it happened i sat up and watched russian dash cam - road rage and car crash videos on you tube.. ..... ...... the makers of them say they are posted for educational purposes.... but i can;t say they do much for my driving skills since i no longer have a drivers license and don;t even drive anymore.... ..it does kinda make me nervous about riding in a car with certain drivers though ..... plus i am learning a lot of russian cuss words.... ....... i wasn;t sure if that was the kind of education they intended or not..... or whether to list that as a bright side of the whole thing or not..
I have much experience with Insomnia (sleeping less than 3 hours in a night). Been through it 3 times in my life where it lasted more than 1 year. Once from illness, once from our wonderful Western Medicine, and once two years ago from high stress. The waking up at 3 am for me happened quite regularly due to stress.
A simple try, and it is what I do now, is to keep the stuff below by my bed. It is the enzyme from Milk. I take 1 or 2 and my mind relaxes and I go back to sleep. This was recommended by my Homeopathic Chiropractor who stocks it in her office. I sleep great now, and if you are interested in how I overcame Insomina I can share what I have done, as I worked with the Chiropractor, and saw results in just over 2 weeks, but for the 3am issue
DeStress is the go to.
https://www.amazon.com/Biotics-Research-...s=destress
(06-17-2016, 12:20 PM)Banjoplucker Wrote: [ -> ] (06-09-2016, 01:54 PM)aleshanee Wrote: [ -> ]happens all the time..... (well...not all the time... but all the time when worse stuff is not happening at night...) ........ i wake up suddenly at 3 am sharp.... for no reason at all.... then can;t go back to sleep..... ........... the last few times it happened i sat up and watched russian dash cam - road rage and car crash videos on you tube.. ..... ...... the makers of them say they are posted for educational purposes.... but i can;t say they do much for my driving skills since i no longer have a drivers license and don;t even drive anymore.... ..it does kinda make me nervous about riding in a car with certain drivers though ..... plus i am learning a lot of russian cuss words.... ....... i wasn;t sure if that was the kind of education they intended or not..... or whether to list that as a bright side of the whole thing or not..
I have much experience with Insomnia (sleeping less than 3 hours in a night). Been through it 3 times in my life where it lasted more than 1 year. Once from illness, once from our wonderful Western Medicine, and once two years ago from high stress. The waking up at 3 am for me happened quite regularly due to stress.
A simple try, and it is what I do now, is to keep the stuff below by my bed. It is the enzyme from Milk. I take 1 or 2 and my mind relaxes and I go back to sleep. This was recommended by my Homeopathic Chiropractor who stocks it in her office. I sleep great now, and if you are interested in how I overcame Insomina I can share what I have done, as I worked with the Chiropractor, and saw results in just over 2 weeks, but for the 3am issue
DeStress is the go to.
https://www.amazon.com/Biotics-Research-...s=destress
Thanks. I'll check this out!!
.... but the witching hour theory is apparently based on the fact that Jesus was crucified at 3 pm in the afternoon.... .. therefor the opposite hour of 3 am is when the forces of evil are most active.. ...... .. i don;t really buy that one either...... .......... .... but i do believe it could be related to dreams i am not aware of or my brain waking me up to prevent sleep walking.....my counselor thinks it's related to that too... ......... 
