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Edit: I am scheduling an appointment with a doctor for Thursday. I assume I will figure something out then. Thanks for the advise everybody.
It is now 8:13 AM, EST. I failed to sleep last night. This has been happening a lot lately.
I've had this issue ever since I was little and it seems to be getting worse with age. The sleep schedule most people keep just doesn't work for me. People have always told me it was insomnia and such, but that really isn't it. It is the timing of the schedule.
Most people sleep approx 8 hours a day, 16 hours awake. Some people need 9 hours of sleep, some people need 7, but in general it about 16 hours awake and 8 hours asleep. The problem is, my ideal schedule is 10 hours asleep, 20 awake, give or take an hour on either side. This causes issues since I prefer a 30 hour cycle and a day is 24 hours long.
In the past I always just kind of dealt with it. I 'stay up late' or 'go to bed early' by my schedule and just be tired in class some days. This isn't working so well anymore though, I'm starting to have a hard time on the days when I need to 'go to bed early', in that I can't do it and I just end up with almost no sleep. It is really starting to impact my health and I don't have the health insurance to afford getting a full blown illness right now.
I guess this blog is me hoping somebody will have an idea to help me out. I've tried most of the conventional methods such as warm milk, counting sheep, exercise to tire myself. I even tried some less conventional ones like meditation, and one I thought (and still think) quite silly in those subliminal message tapes. All of them are a no go.
Does anybody else have a similar situation/cycle and how do you deal with it?
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I suffer from the exact same thing, my ideal schedule is like 18 hours awake and 12 asleep, needless to say it don`t work well with school etc so all my life I have slept 3-5 hours a night for a few days until I get so tired I just collapse one day when I get home from school and sleep for 12 hours and wake up during the night or very early morning.
Unfortunately I have never found a solution to this, like I can go to bed around midnight and just lay there for 3-4 hours before I fall to sleep, so I really hope you get some good answers.
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get yourself checked out by a doctor.
also, if medication is okay for you, take melatonin before you sleep.
and then, if it turns out it's something you really can't deal with, then work with it - schedule your weeks so that you stay up later when you need/want to and you go to sleep when you can't. EDIT: I realize this might be difficult if you have a regular job, but you can still probably work around it if you're in uni
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it's not that uncommon - the same exact thing has been happening to me the past couple weeks... i have no idea why. i've been staying up like 22-24 hours with possibly a 1-2 hour nap somewhere in there, and then i'll sleep for 8-9 hours. mine has really been about 20:10. I have no idea why this has been happening, and I normally was VERY good about my sleeping scheduly my whole live. I would stay up 15 hours, and sleep 9. I would always sleep exactly 9 hours. It was like clockwork. Now, I feel tired all the time. I'm blaming the swine flu.
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This happens to me every time I don't have a routine or there's interesting stuff regularly on at night. If you avoid using the computer/ tv near bed time it tends to make it easy to sleep.
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I've considered medication D3, but I'm trying to use that as a last resort. As for a doctor, I am not insured right now and living more or less paycheck to paycheck. I will probably see if I can find a free clinic in a couple days though now that you mention it, when my schedule flips back to sleeping at night.
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I use to have alot of problems falling asleep as well, until I started working construction. I work 10-12hours a day, and I find that alone leaves me feeling really tired/exhausted. Now im off on medical leave (had emergency appendectomy) and im back to being unable to sleep. Its 7:20am and im still up from the night before.
Oh, im sure this wont apply to you, but if you are open to smoking marijuana, it has a tendency to burn you out after 2-3hours, and you are left feeling extremely sleepy. So, typically when i cannot sleep, I smoke a joint 2-3hours before bed, and by the time im ready to sleep, I feel dead to the world and crash out hard.
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Belgium9950 Posts
I used to have the same problem.
Like mentioned above, pot helps. It's less intrusive than sleeping pills too. Illegal though.
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FuDDx
United States5018 Posts
I sleep very little always have I usually get up around 630 am - 730 am depending and usually dont go to bed untill 3-4 am to many things going on. Ill catch up one day. on sleep I mean.
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1. Go to Dollar Store
2. Pick up bottle of generic "Diphenhydramine HCL 25mg" tablets
3. Every night when you want to sleep, take 2-4 of them
4. Your sleep schedule should level out in about a week or two. Don't keep taking them every night, as it's possible to become psychologically dependant. If it doesn't work, stop after two weeks.
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Question 1: Have you seen a doctor about this?
There are sleep specialist who can prescribe some pretty sweet sleeping pills (Lunesta)
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Your circadian rhythm is off.
Check for:Vitamin D, Calcium, Potassium, Phosphorus, Sodium, deficiencies. Melatonin, and serotonin levels. Consult a doctor, get tested, look up the symptoms and see if they fit, try supplements at recommended dosage and see if there's a difference.
Do you exercise? Do you get out often? Do you get enough sunlight? How is your cardio? Do you have any pre-existing health conditions that may affect your sleep? Genetic history of sleep disorders?
edit: corporate censorship! :D
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Pretty sure I read somewhere that an average teenager has a much different sleep/wake-pattern than an average adult due to the general changes teenagers go through at that age. Instead of the 24-hour "standard" clock the day's set in to, teenagers work with something between 28 and 34 hour "days". So having problems sleeping to fit the regular 24-hour schedule is of course a problem, but it's a common problem you'll just have to work with.
It's essential that you get those 8 hours of sleep per night, so I had a couple tricks during my teenage years. The first one is physical exhaustion - either working out or going for a long walk about an hour before bed, then crashing after showering. The other one is going to bed an hour or so early with a book, then just read untill you get drowsy.
Another option is sleeping fewer hours a night during weekdays and more during weekends, but this'll generally make you feel sapped for energy, so I wouldn't advise it for extended periods of time.
Edit: The overarching point I'm trying to make with my two suggestions, is cut your screentime before bed. Don't watch a tvshow or play "that last game of SC" before bed, instead do something away from the screen for a couple hours.
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I've had insomnia and marijuana definitely helps me. I too recommend it. You can get medical marijuana for insomnia depending on which state you're in. Check it out!
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don't eat anything for 2.5h at least before sleeping
understand that your cycle is not natural and that you have probably caused it through various habits and tendencies. which also means that you can fix it
don't try to sleep when you can't sleep. if you can't sleep, get up after 30 minutes and do something, then try again.
don't worry about whether or not you are able to sleep.
when you wake up, don't go back to sleep unless you are tired.
don't get up out of bed if you are very tired.
what are your eating habits. do you take any drugs/medication?
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Your cycle's only like that because of urban civilization, electricity, lights, busy with work, etc.
If you lived more like an animal you'd sleep like a baby. That means sleep when it gets dark and wake up when the sun rises. Obviously this is impractical so at least try to sleep before 11 pm or midnight.
Your body has its own internal clock, but it's longer than 24 hrs. It readjusts itself when you're exposed to sunlight, do get enough sunlight.
Second thing is the sleep before midnight routine. If you can get into it, your body will release chemicals to make you sleepy and mentally compel you to go to sleep. All you have to do is close your eyes. Sleep at 4am, no chemicals, don't feel sleepy, just more and more tired until you crash.
Try it.
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In my bio book there is a short paragraph on 30 hour circadian rhythm cycles in mice that is based in genetics. I don't know whether there is a similar gene mutation in humans, but it might be something you can look into.
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Watch Terran vs Terran or WarCraft III games in bed an hour before you need to be asleep.
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No medication. I really don't like the risk of becoming addicted to sleeping pills. Weed is a maybe though...
On December 02 2009 01:49 Not_Computer wrote:
Do you exercise? Do you get out often? Do you get enough sunlight? How is your cardio? Do you have any pre-existing health conditions that may affect your sleep? Genetic history of sleep disorders?
edit: corporate censorship! :D
I do exercise, I go hiking 3-4 days a week. My hiking is in the day, so I assume so on the sunlight. I don't think any of my conditions would mess up my sleep, but I'm asthmatic and have allergies to almost everything (nothing deadly, just minor ones to everything outdoors). And idk about the genetic history, I guess I'll ask around.
On December 02 2009 03:52 travis wrote:
what are your eating habits. do you take any drugs/medication?
My eating habits are pretty standard except I add a 4th, smaller meal each day. I eat it at least 3 hours before sleep though, so I am not too worried. And yeah, I take medication for allergies and asthma, though I checked both of them and sleep issues are not listed as side effects.
On December 02 2009 05:12 vnlegend wrote:Second thing is the sleep before midnight routine. If you can get into it, your body will release chemicals to make you sleepy and mentally compel you to go to sleep. All you have to do is close your eyes. Sleep at 4am, no chemicals, don't feel sleepy, just more and more tired until you crash.
I'll give that a try starting tomorrow I think. Tonight, falling asleep at midnight would be a bit silly as I just woke up, but sounds like a good idea.
On December 02 2009 05:27 XinRan wrote:
In my bio book there is a short paragraph on 30 hour circadian rhythm cycles in mice that is based in genetics. I don't know whether there is a similar gene mutation in humans, but it might be something you can look into.
So I am like the worst X-Man ever. I could live with that.
On December 02 2009 05:32 Chef wrote:
Watch Terran vs Terran or WarCraft III games in bed an hour before you need to be asleep.
I find TvT interesting  .
Thanks for the tips everybody. I am going to find a free clinic and schedule an appointment ASAP. I really appreciate everybody who posted/PMed me on this. I guess I'll figure more out when I see a doctor though, maybe I'll make another blog telling of my free clinic adventures. Thanks again.
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EPT
