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• Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 65-74 >> Anne - Interview 14 >> Anne remembers there was a bedtime and wake up routine in her home and has fond memories of her father saying prayers with her and her sister when she

Anne is a retired Education Adviser, but is still working part-time writing a book. Anne likes to play golf at least once a week, but has recently had some injuries which have prevented this. She also likes to keep active by walking. Anne finds she now wakes up early in the morning and would very much like to be able to sleep in for longer.

• Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 65-74 >> Anne - Interview 14 >> Anne’s memories of the war include sleeping in an air raid shelter and of her mother rushing out to check whether a bomb had landed on their family ho

Anne is a retired Education Adviser, but is still working part-time writing a book. Anne likes to play golf at least once a week, but has recently had some injuries which have prevented this. She also likes to keep active by walking. Anne finds she now wakes up early in the morning and would very much like to be able to sleep in for longer.

• Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 75+ >> William - Interview 38 >> William recalls having to get out of bed and go down to their cellar during air raids, and remembers his mother being very frightened.

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 >> Women aged 65-74 >> Carol - Interview 18 >> Carol remembers not being allowed to stay in bed in the mornings when she was a teenager, unlike young people today.

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.

• Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 75+ >> Robert - Interview 06 >> Robert can’t remember having a problem sleeping when he was a small boy, but he does remember wanting to stay in bed in the morning when he was a teen

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 >> Women aged 65-74 >> Dessie - Interview 17 >> Dessie thinks the strict routine surrounding bed and wake times her mother imposed on her as a child has followed her into adulthood.

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 >> Juliet - Interview 07 >> Juliet remembers that her children slept well after the first few weeks, and believes they were good sleepers.

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 >> Women aged 75+ >> Joyce - Interview 09 >> Joyce not only remembers being very tired when her children were young, but also being woken up in the night to fetch her teenage daughter from a danc

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 >> Men aged 65-74 >> Mike - Interview 12 >> Mike believes he hasn’t slept well since his children were small because he was always listening out for them.

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 >> Anne - Interview 14 >> When Anne’s son was a teenager she used to not be able to sleep until she heard him come home safely.

Anne is a retired Education Adviser, but is still working part-time writing a book. Anne likes to play golf at least once a week, but has recently had some injuries which have prevented this. She also likes to keep active by walking. Anne finds she now wakes up early in the morning and would very much like to be able to sleep in for longer.

• Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 65-74 >> Margaret - Interview 32 >> Margaret spent several years in hospital and still remembers the rules and disciplines surrounding sleep and bedtimes.

Margaret is a retired Day Centre Manager and formerly a social worker. She spent long periods of her childhood in hospital where part of the routine was to put children outside in the fresh air. Margaret believes this still influences her now as she likes to wake up to daylight in her room. Margaret noticed her sleep started to worsen about 10-15 years ago, and used to worry about not having enough sleep, but has now found a way to cope and feels content with the amount of sleep she gets.

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• Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Sleep problems in later life

Publication date:  9th November 2009          Review date: under review

 

Sleep is important for health and well-being but it is increasingly recognised that sleep quality declines with age, and many older people experience trouble getting to sleep, staying asleep, and waking early. We interviewed 33 people about their experiences of poor sleep. Select from the six key topics below, choose from the 'Full list of topics', or explore all the interviews.

• Topic
• Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Sleeping elsewhere >> Sleeping elsewhere

Sleeping elsewhere

• Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Sleeping elsewhere >> Sleeping elsewhere

Sleeping elsewhere

• Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Sleep medication, other medication and over the counter remedies >> Sleep medication, other medication and over the counter remedies

Sleep medication, other medication and over the counter remedies

• Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 65-74 >> Mike - Interview 12 >> Mike would rather not take sleeping tablets as he feels his sleep would not be natural.

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 >> Dessie - Interview 17 >> Dessie has found that a herbal remedy works for her, but she only takes if after she has had a series of bad nights.

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 >> Men aged 75+ >> Stanley - Interview 21 >> Stanley’s doctor prescribed him sleeping tablets at a time when he was recovering from surgery, but they didn’t really help him with his sleep.

Stanley has been retired for nearly 30 years. Since his retirement he has had a major illness and an accident, both which disturbed his sleep, but he is now feeling a lot better and believes his sleep is improving slowly. He keeps himself very active, doing his own shopping, cooking and cleaning most of the time and believes it is important to keep busy during the day.

• Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 75+ >> Daniel - Interview 28 >> Daniel and his wife always sleep badly when they go away, and now take a sleeping tablet on the first night to help them.

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 65-74 >> Ronald - Interview 01 >> Ronald was prescribed sleeping tablets to help him sleep during an illness, but didn’t like to take them as they made him feel unwell during the day,

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 75+ >> Daniel - Interview 28 >> Daniel has been prescribed sleeping tablets, but will only rarely take them in case he becomes addicted to them.

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 >> Women aged 65-74 >> Anne - Interview 33 >> Anne strongly believes in a link between eating well, getting enough exercise and sleeping well, but is disappointed with her sleep at the moment.

Anne is married and has three children, and six grandchildren. Anne retired from teaching some years ago and now works hard at keeping active, particularly enjoying spending lots of time in her garden. Anne feels that sleep is a waste of time and would much rather have more time to do the things she enjoys doing, such as writing and doing research.

• Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 65-74 >> Jacqui - Interview 35 >> Eating well, exercising and sleeping well are all important to Jacqui for being able to do the things she needs and wants to 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 >> Health, illness and pain >> Health, illness and pain

Health, illness and pain