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Disturbed and bad quality sleep
I’ve been having disturbed sleep for the past one year - waking up every 3/4 hours. Most times I wake in the morning feeling as though I had horrible sleep. I have tried methods to wind down and also drink less water at night to avoid the washroom. Some things I’ve noticed 1) if I eat a massive meal before bed time - these sleep problems are sometimes alleviated, 2) when I started taking vitamin B my sleep became much better for a month, now it has reverted back to normal. Any idea what is triggering this? Is there anything I can do?
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Unfortunately poor sleep can have a wide variety of causes though most cases are physiological/environmental compared to organic causes (i.e medical related illness). After eating massive meals the body does tend to become more "relaxed" or what we refer to as a "post-prandial state" which could explain why you are able to sleep better. Though this may be the case, I would not recommend having large meals and then immediately lying down/sleeping as this can potentially lead to troubling gastric related problems. If you do this, do remember to lie down after at least 1-2 hours to prevent gastric complications.
Further, there have been multiple studies on Vitamin B itself (as a supplement) and unfortunately there isn't any conclusive data to say that it can help with insomnia. Though, low levels of vitamin B can lead to significant weakness/tiredness instead. So I can't really comment on why your sleep was better when you first started taking vitamin B. Perhaps there were other factors during this time that went unnoticed ?
In general, it is important to rule out organic causes for poor sleep. The most common would be sleep apnea. Do you frequently wake up choking? Does your husband notice you snoring a lot and occasionally catching your breath at night? These are some questions that a doctor may ask to ascertain a potential medical cause. Other common causes include stress/anxiety/depression which can come with other unnoticed symptoms. It is also frequent in people who tend to work shifts.
As this seems to be bothering you for a long period of time, I would recommend you consult your doctor as soon as you are able. Most medication available are merely temporizing and I would not recommend long term use for sleep unless prescribed by a psychiatrist. You could try some simple medication such as melatonin (can be bought over counter) as it has shown some benefits for sleep and has no addictive potential.