At the time of his interview Robert had recently lost his wife and was still trying to cope with the aftermath of her illness and his subsequent bereavement. Robert has found that he wakes up quite a lot in the night and hopes that, with time, his sleep pattern will settle back into the routine he had before his wife was ill. Robert likes to keep very active and enjoys engineering problems and making things. He has recently started to cycle again.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 75+ >> Robert - Interview 06 >> Robert, who has recently been bereaved, finds that thinking about interesting problems, such as how to build a boat trailer, helps him get to sleep.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 65-74 >> Dessie - Interview 17 >> After Dessie’s husband died, she had frequent dreams which contained flashbacks to what had happened.

Dessie feels her sleep has got a lot worse, especially since she lost her husband. She finds she sometimes wakes up in the very early hours of the morning and can’t get back to sleep at all. Dessie is very active and likes to keep herself very busy, working in the garden, visiting friends and helping her family.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 65-74 >> Mary - Interview 02 >> Mary doesn’t see poor sleep as an illness so she would only see her doctor for problems sleeping during difficult times, such as bereavement.

Mary often finds it very difficult to get to sleep, sometimes taking up to an hour to fall asleep. Mary finds that relaxation and meditation exercises help her to fall asleep, and help her get back to sleep if she wakes up in the night. Even if she has not had a good night Mary finds it impossible to take a nap during the day, although she may put her feet up in bed to have a rest instead. Mary hasn’t been to the doctor about her sleep, but has tried some over the counter remedies.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 75+ >> Joyce - Interview 09 >> Joyce finds that since her husband died, 5 years ago, her sleep has been quite fragmented, and she often watches television in the night.

Joyce is a retired Tailoress, although she still does quite a lot of dressmaking and sewing. She has been widowed for about 7 years and has two children and many grandchildren and great grandchildren, who mostly live quite nearby. Joyce’s sleep first changed when her husband died, and now she finds she wakes up quite a lot in the night. She does believe sleep is important and would like to be able to sleep right the way through, even if only for six hours.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 65-74 >> Dessie - Interview 17 >> Even though her sleep had improved a bit since her husband had died, Dessie still found herself waking up remembering what she had been through.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 75+ >> Robert - Interview 06 >> Robert describes how the ‘stop and start’ sleep pattern he had when he was caring for his terminally ill wife has continued after she died.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 65-74 >> Dessie - Interview 17 >> Her husband’s illness and subsequent death led Dessie to have many sleepless nights as she lay awake worrying about the future.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 65-74 >> Dessie - Interview 17 >> Dessie used to get up with her husband, who was ill with cancer, for a cup of tea in the middle of the night when he couldn’t sleep.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 75+ >> Robert - Interview 06 >> Robert compared his constant watching and caring for his wife at night during the latter stages of her illness to being a sentry on guard.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 75+ >> Joyce - Interview 09 >> Joyce sleeps less and wakes up a lot more in the night since her husband died several years ago.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 75+ >> Robert - Interview 06 >> Robert believes the stress from his recent bereavement has caused him to have dreams about the past where he is searching for things and people.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 65-74 >> Judy - Interview 22 >> Judy felt guilty about moving her brother to a home when she could no longer cope, and she continued to wake up in the night worrying about him.

Judy had a period of sleeping very badly, whilst looking after her brother who had dementia, she is now sleeping much better. She generally sleeps about 4-5 hours a night, but has always done this so feels it is the right amount of sleep for her.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 75+ >> Audrey - Interview 39 >> Audrey tells how her mother, who lived in a flat on her own, would phone in the middle of the night to ask what the time was.

Audrey feels her sleep has deteriorated a lot in the last ten years. She rarely gets more than a few hours a night, and a really good night would be when Audrey sleeps for 4-5 hours. She would really like to sleep longer.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 65-74 >> Judy - Interview 22 >> Judy cared for her brother, who had dementia, until her sleep was so disturbed the doctor suggested he be moved into a home.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Impact of bereavement and caring on sleep >> Impact of bereavement and caring on sleep

Impact of bereavement and caring on sleep

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Earlier times of poor sleep and their impact on sleep now >> Earlier times of poor sleep and their impact on sleep now

Earlier times of poor sleep and their impact on sleep now

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Impact of bereavement and caring on sleep >> Impact of bereavement and caring on sleep

Impact of bereavement and caring on sleep

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Dreams >> Dreams

Dreams

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 65-74 >> Valerie - Interview 11 >> Val’s sleeping problems started when she was running a care company for older people. She worried so much about her client’s wellbeing that she was of

Valerie often wakes up in the night and can’t get back to sleep. This means she will be very tired by the early evening, but will try not to go to bed too early because she doesn’t want to waste the evening.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 75+ >> Daniel - Interview 28 >> Daniel remembers having very bad nightmares at a time when he was under a lot of stress during his employment as a social worker.

Daniel is a retired social worker, having spent a large part of his working life with children and teenagers. He was diagnosed with sleep apnoea when his snoring at night was making him feel very drowsy during the day. His sleep is quite broken at night, and he often finds he dozes off during the day.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 75+ >> Les - Interview 27 >> Les divided his bedroom into two, one area just for sleeping, and the other with his computer and music equipment for entertainment.

Les has had several very interesting and different jobs in his lifetime, ranging from being in the army, to being a theatre manager, working in the Sudan, and being a driver. He only retired finally when he was 80. Les has several health problems which contribute to making his sleep very disturbed, but he won’t let his poor sleep affect what he does during the day.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Bedroom and environment for sleep >> Bedroom and environment for sleep

Bedroom and environment for sleep

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Partners, companions and pets >> Partners, companions and pets

Partners, companions and pets

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 65-74 >> Jacqui - Interview 35 >> Jacqui hates the fact that she snores because she believes it is something only men do.

Jacqui lives with her partner and works part-time as a care worker. She slept well as a child, but noticed a dramatic change in her sleep when she became a stewardess, and when she got married. She believes the different shifts she worked and jet lag caused a change in her sleeping pattern. Eventually she went to the doctor for some mild sleeping tablets, which she took occasionally over the years. Currently Jacqui is sleeping much better and has not taken any sleeping tablets for a few years.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Partners, companions and pets >> Partners, companions and pets

Partners, companions and pets

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Earlier times of poor sleep and their impact on sleep now >> Earlier times of poor sleep and their impact on sleep now

Earlier times of poor sleep and their impact on sleep now

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 65-74 >> Mary - Interview 02 >> Mary and her husband sleep better when they don’t share a bedroom, although they still do occasionally share the bed when their dog isn’t in the room.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 65-74 >> Mary - Interview 02 >> Mary also wasn’t sure whether it was the menopause that was the start of her sleeping problems, or having to be alert listening for her children.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 65-74 >> Juliet - Interview 07 >> Although Juliet did have her sleep disturbed at night by pain, she also felt that hot flushes made her toss and turn at night.

In addition to her formal career, Juliet has had a range of voluntary jobs such as Chairman of the Preschool Playgroup Association. Juliet was also employed as an Ofsted Lay School Inspector. Juliet is an avid silver surfer and thoroughly enjoys online shopping and writing emails. She has had rheumatoid arthritis for about 15 years and has also been diagnosed with diabetes, both of which interfere with her sleep.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Dreams >> Dreams

Dreams

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 75+ >> William - Interview 38 >> If William has been mentally active, such as reading a challenging book, he will dream a lot more.

William lives with his partner and has been retired for about 14 years. He likes to keep active by swimming four days a week and going to a gym class one day a week. He also attends art classes and is a member of a local literature club. William has noticed a change in his sleep over the last couple of years in that he finds he is having very vivid and sometimes difficult dreams. He notices he also has to get up now in the night because of cramp or to go to the toilet, which he never used to do.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 65-74 >> Ronald - Interview 01 >> Ronald retired early because of health problems, and noticed a change in his sleep then because of a change in his daily routine.

Ronald finds he usually gets about 6 ½ to 7 hours sleep a night, but this is disturbed by having to get up and go to the toilet. Although he usually drops off to sleep straight away, occasionally he finds he can’t get to sleep, or wakes up in the night and can’t get back to sleep, so on these occasions he tries counting sheep, but this doesn’t always work. Ronald noticed a change in his sleep pattern when he took early retirement because of health problems, and the change in his daily routine.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 65-74 >> Ronald - Interview 01 >> Ronald thinks his sleep has changed since retirement for several reasons, including changes in his routines and poorer health.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 65-74 >> Fred - Interview 20 >> Fred doesn’t have strong feelings about how important sleep is because he feels he has got used to not sleeping well, and can always have a nap in the

Fred often finds it difficult to get to sleep. He also finds that if he wakes up in the night he finds it takes a long time to get back to sleep. Sometimes he comes downstairs and has a cigarette in the back garden before trying to go back up and get to sleep. Fred noticed his sleep changed after he retired and feels this may be because he isn’t quite as active.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 65-74 >> Ron - Interview 24 >> Ron doesn’t feel sleep is quite so important now he is retired, and in fact sees it as a way of passing the time.

Ron is a retired Chairman/Managing Director. Ron has a number of health problems, some of which interfere with his sleep, but he tries to keep fit and goes to the local sports centre on a regular basis. He recently visited his doctor about his sleep because he was often waking at 3 am in the morning and was unable to get back to sleep after that.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 65-74 >> Fred - Interview 20 >> Fred believes he sleeps less well now because he is much less active since he retired.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 65-74 >> Mike - Interview 12 >> Mike goes to bed earlier when he is working the next day because now he is older he finds he really needs to get enough sleep the day before.

Mike works part-time as a test centre administrator. He has noticed a change in his sleep as he has got older, noticeably that he has periods of deeper sleep, but he doesn’t believe he sleeps any longer than he used to. Mike noticed his sleep changed when he first had children, and finds that pattern has continued.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 65-74 >> Sue B - Interview 03 >> Sue B. enjoys the fact that she doesn’t have to set the alarm to get up for work and can now wake up naturally.

Sue B. lives on her own in a small, friendly village. She has 4 children and 7 grandchildren. She recently gave up her job as a provider of supplies to pre-school groups, but still works part-time making scarves which she sells through Craft Fairs. Sue B. is very active, often taking several walks a day, sometimes swimming and bicycling. She is also a retired Church Warden. Sleep is very important to Sue B., and she loves waking up after a very good night’s sleep.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 65-74 >> Fred - Interview 20 >> Fred enjoyed not having to get up straight away and rush around getting ready for work.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 65-74 >> Fred - Interview 20 >> Fred doesn’t worry about being awake for some time in the night because he doesn’t have to get up to go to work the next day.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 65-74 >> Jacqui - Interview 35 >> Jacqui finds that she gets more tired when she works now than she used to when she was younger.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 75+ >> Roy - Interview 13 >> Roy has noticed a gradual decline in his sleep since he retired and puts it down to having more worries now he is not working.

Roy has been retired for some time, but is an active member of the local U3A group (University of the Third Age) and likes to take long walks. He frequently visits his older brother who lives nearby. Roy has had trouble sleeping for many years, but has now found a routine for getting to sleep that he feels works well for him.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 65-74 >> Christopher - Interview 34 >> Christopher occasionally used to worry about his work in the night, but is more relaxed now he is retired, and tends not to worry about things.

Christopher is married with three children, and is a retired airline consultant. Christopher did retire at one point, but then was asked to return to work for a while, although he is now completely retired. He is now a volunteer at the local hospital. Christopher was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease a few years previously and also has severe back problems, but he still likes to keep fit and active and regularly visits the gym.

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 65-74 >> Valerie - Interview 11 >> Val slept very badly when she was running a care company because of the worry and concerns for the people under her care, and this pattern of sleep co

Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 65-74 >> Carol - Interview 18 >> Carol has noticed she wakes up more in the night now she is older, and sometimes gets up to have tea and toast.

Carol has noticed her sleep has changed as she has got older. In particular she now finds she has to get up to go to the toilet in the night, sometimes as often as six times, which she finds very disturbing. Now Carol is retired, she finds her days vary from being very full and busy to having little planned, and she wonders whether she doesn’t sleep so well on the days when she has been less active.