Els Posted July 19, 2009 Posted July 19, 2009 My sleep cycle goes haywire, ALL THE TIME. Recently I've been sleeping at 8am and waking at 5pm just because on one fine day I fell asleep at 10pm, woke at 12 midnight and simply couldn't fall asleep again til 5am. From then on it's been getting progressively worse. I tried everything. I tried going to bed an hour earlier everyday but I just can't seem to stick to my guns about it. Either I'll be caught up reading/doing something or I'll go to bed.. and then realize that my stomach's uncomfortable (I suffer from immense bloating at night, for some weird reason)/I don't feel sleepy/etc. I also tried going the whole day without sleep to 'reset' my clock and sleep at 12 midnight the following day. That day is today. Tossed and turned for 2 hours before giving it up. Gah.
Thaddeus Posted July 19, 2009 Posted July 19, 2009 Oh, that's awful. I've had that as well and it really sucks. I tried doing the sleep reset thing myself - that is, going a full 24 hours without any shuteye - but that didn't work either. Eventually I settled back into a normal rhythm but it took over a week and it was a terrible, terrible week. Are you eating something before you go to bed that might be causing the stomach discomfort?
Author Els Posted July 19, 2009 Author Posted July 19, 2009 I take different stuff for supper all the time, but generally 'decent' stuff such as buns, noodles, granola bars, etc. Could be the irregular meals. That really isn't my biggest problem though. Because even if I solved that I don't think it'd help much. My sleeping cycle just gets thrown out of whack too easily and can't be put back easily. How did you do it? I've been trying the whole of the previous week. I'd managed to do that before with more success but for some reason this time my body's resisting. Maybe the time is just too drastic (I need to ideally sleep at 12 midnight instead of 8am).
Thaddeus Posted July 19, 2009 Posted July 19, 2009 I take different stuff for supper all the time, but generally 'decent' stuff such as buns, noodles, granola bars, etc.That's a LOT of carbs. Might be part of the problem. How about munching on some carrots instead?How did you do it?I didn't really do anything, the pattern just came back on its own.
Author Els Posted July 19, 2009 Author Posted July 19, 2009 Veggies tend to leave me still hungry, say, half an hour after eating them. Fruits leave me hungrier. The bloating problem only seems to come when I screw up my meal times as well, though.
norajane Posted July 19, 2009 Posted July 19, 2009 Do you exercise? Regular exercise helps with falling asleep and staying asleep. Eating too close to bedtime will definitely affect your sleep cycle. For me, it makes me have weird, vivid dreams, but I can see how it would wake you up and make you stay awake.
Author Els Posted July 19, 2009 Author Posted July 19, 2009 The problem is that I take a rather long time to sleep and have overactive gastric secretions, so eating too far from bedtime will also cause trouble. A delicate balance. I don't really have trouble sleeping if I could sleep anytime in the day that I want. It's just that my sleep cycle screws easily and it's really hard to adjust it back.
Enema Posted July 19, 2009 Posted July 19, 2009 Don't you have a job? I'd probably just get some sleeping pills from the pharmacy and pop a few at night, or get drunk.
Author Els Posted July 20, 2009 Author Posted July 20, 2009 I'm in university, on study break. No I'd much prefer not to use sleeping pills/alcohol. Bad sleep quality and bad side effects/tolerance/withdrawal. I did try valerian (herbal sleeping supplement) but my body seems miraculously able to resist if it doesn't want to sleep.
Enema Posted July 20, 2009 Posted July 20, 2009 Herbal supplements are poo. I used to have similar issues because I was a shift worker, pharmacy people tried to sell me on valerian - I tried it, and it failed miserably. I went back and told them, "do you have anything stronger?" and they gave me "real" sleeping pills. Worked perfectly and I had a great night sleep and no side effects. Only had to take it once, was back into regular cycle again after that one time. Are you one of those anti-medicine people? My wife won't even take paracetamol.
deux ex machina Posted August 1, 2009 Posted August 1, 2009 My sleep cycle goes haywire, ALL THE TIME. Recently I've been sleeping at 8am and waking at 5pm just because on one fine day I fell asleep at 10pm, woke at 12 midnight and simply couldn't fall asleep again til 5am. From then on it's been getting progressively worse. I tried everything. I tried going to bed an hour earlier everyday but I just can't seem to stick to my guns about it. Either I'll be caught up reading/doing something or I'll go to bed.. and then realize that my stomach's uncomfortable (I suffer from immense bloating at night, for some weird reason)/I don't feel sleepy/etc. I also tried going the whole day without sleep to 'reset' my clock and sleep at 12 midnight the following day. That day is today. Tossed and turned for 2 hours before giving it up. Gah. Have you kept trying the sleep restriction thing? I've had it work well for me in the past. It can be very frustrating at first and you will have times like you have just described. The key to it is riding it out. That is, if you absolutely do not want to go the prescription pill route.
WTRanger Posted August 1, 2009 Posted August 1, 2009 I did the sleep re-wire route and it took about a week or so to really get back into the groove. It takes a lot of self discipline to do it. I would normally toss and turn until 3-4am or as you have it, sleep early for a few hours only to wake up tossing and turning for the rest of the night. I had the wonderful restless mind, the thoughts just wouldn't stop. What I did was set my alarm for 8am everyday, and got up regardless of how much sleep I had the night before. There were many, many tired mornings. I laid off the coffee and caffeine as much as I could. If I had to drive a distance then I'd go with the smallest coffee I could buy, too risky to drive being half asleep. If I was at home working on projects, then I would drink decaf. Funny thing is, my tongue tasted coffee so my brain figured it must be getting a caffeine boost so I woke up. Of course, 4 seconds later my brain figured out the lame trick.... At night, if I couldn't sleep I didnt fight it. I had read somewhere that if you can't sleep it's pointless to fight it. So I got up, went to the living room and read a book, posted on LS late night, worked on things, etc until I was tired again then went back to sleep. It's for sure not a one or two day fix. The trick is that once to reset your clock, you really have to stick to it. Which I know can be hard for a person in college. But really try to say by X time, you're in bed.
Keoki Posted August 1, 2009 Posted August 1, 2009 Take a Benadryl about 2 hours before you want to go to sleep, and you'll sleep like a baby.
WTRanger Posted August 1, 2009 Posted August 1, 2009 Take a Benadryl about 2 hours before you want to go to sleep, and you'll sleep like a baby. The main key about resetting your body sleep cycle is to not use external forces or else you run the risk of getting hooked. That's great for that one night you just can't sleep, but not all of the time. Plus, it may not work for some people. In fact, Tylenol PM makes me hyper. I cannot sleep if I take it, even if I take 4 of them. It puts me into an incredibly tired, yet wide awake mode. It's sooooooo messed up.
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