I feel tired all day but wide awake at night

I’m just wondering if this is actually normal and something anyone else experiences. I could literally fall asleep so easily with how tired I am during the day but when night comes around I am wide awake. I have been taking ambien for a few weeks now and I do not feel tired after taking it but I still fall asleep and usually sleep for 3 to 5 hours straight per night and then sporadically sleep for an hour or two and get a combined 5 to 7 hours of sleep. The initial onset of this was pretty sudden. I used to fall asleep just fine previously and go back to sleep almost instantly.

Do you try any specific habits to help you go to sleep in the night?

Blake said:
Do you try any specific habits to help you go to sleep in the night?

I usually take ambien and lay down in bed 30 minutes prior to start trying to relax and get to a point I can sleep. My usual schedule for sleeping is 11PM to 7:30AM but I don’t have any particular habits otherwise that I can think of.

@Micah
Yeah, so relaxing is the key to getting good sleep.

Some things to help with that:

  • Mediation and taking deep breaths
  • Reading an inspiration book before sleeping
  • Listen to calm music

I would also recommend exercising during the day and getting a proper diet established

@Blake
I don’t know if it counts but I do walk/speed walk all day for work, around 15,000 to 25,000 steps daily. My diet can definitely improve but I don’t think it’s the worst it could be. I will definitely try the relaxation methods to see if anything helps.

@Micah
Walking and speed walking is good, but I would try a bit more intensive exercise so whether its something like HIIT or Strength training.
This will also help with other aspects of your health, as these intensive exercises have a lot of benefits.
For diet, also make sure that you are not eating 3 hours prior to bedtime and avoid caffeine at least 6 hours before bedtime. This should be a given, but reduce your intake of processed sugars as much as possible.
Apart from this, yeah try those relaxation techniques and lmk how it goes!

@Blake
I actually do not consume caffeine at all anymore (Ive been off of it a month or so) and my sugar intake is very small. I don’t add it to any foods and opt for sugar free/low sugar stuff when possible. My main issue is over eating with diet but Ive been working on it over time. Also I will look into HIIT and strength training. Before I started having sleep issues I bought a bike to be more active on my weekends, would this be a good form of exercise as well? Thank you very much for responding by the way

@Micah
Yes, biking can be HIIT

HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training

The general idea is that you push yourself at maximum intensity for a short period time, take a short break, then repeat for some amount of times
So in your case for biking, you would bike at maximum speed for 20-30 seconds, then bike at low intensity (or completely stop) for another 20-30 seconds
Then you can repeat this for about 9 more times

lmk if you have questions about this

For over eating, what are some things you have done to reduce it?

@Blake
I used to be really bad about eating before bed and snacking frequently but I’ve cut out eating before bed entirely and only snack on anything VERY rarely. I’m currently working on reducing how much I eat for individual meals as well.

@Micah
If you are going to start strength training, you will need to eat more proteins

Blake said:
@Micah
If you are going to start strength training, you will need to eat more proteins

I eat quite a bit of meat already should I consider a supplement as well? I’d say on average half my dinner is meat.