Sleep

Do you have trouble sleeping?

It's a problem for some of us boomers on the crest of the first wave.  There are many factors which affect a good night's sleep, bur here's what works for me.  I try not to eat a large supper, or at least not past 7:30 or 8:00.  If I do that, I'm up most of the night, or at least a couple of times. No, or very little liquid intake after 7:00.  My bladder is not the elastic balloon it used to be.  I exercise every day (actually 5-6 days/week).  Make your body tired; give it a reason to want to sleep.  Finally, a calcium/magnesium supplement at dinner, and GABA  750 mg at bedtime.  It's essentially a brain/mood relaxant. 

Generally, this gives me a good night's sleep more often than not; I mean 6-7 hours, which is good for me, who has a newly minted Medicare card.

Having said all this, I'm convinced there's a gene factor involved.  Let me explain.

My mother struggles for a good night's sleep, my father sleeps like a log.

My wife's mother also struggled, while her father...like a baby.  Her mother used to tell the story how she would find him on the bed, asleep, with his arm stretched just short of the light switch, and the light still on.  I used to ask him how he slept,

"With my eyes closed."

I would ask him again for his secret,

"I just say, George (his name), go to sleep."

There are no proved formulas, and some people on sleep medications at times wake up, do crazy things (like  go to the refrigerator, or drive a car, really!).

Find an alternative doctor, ask him about what works for me, then try it.