Shut up, brain!

[Thandimanillon]

Alternative title: F*** sleeping, I'm going to daydream instead.

I am currently on a 5am-1pm sleep cycle, desperately trying to break out of it, but to no avail. For the past few weeks, I have been trying to go to sleep earlier, but I end up daydreaming until dawn instead.

To aid me in my quest for sleep, I have tried chamomile tea before bed, warm milk, a snack so I'm not hungry, cooling my room, changing the sheets, changing my pyjamas, setting regular hour for attempting sleep, getting up at the same time and having a warm bath before bed. I have also tried using the Music For Sleep CDs by Dr Jeffrey Thompson, with no effect other than to relieve some of the boredom of being awake in the wee hours of the morning.

On the chemicals front, I have tried non-prescription sleeping tablets valerian and Restavit. The valerian made no difference whatsoever. The Restavit helped for one night and then kept me awake the following night. I am considering attempting to procure some melatonin tablets, because a lot of people on the net have apparently had a lot of success with them. I have a pillow spray that can help if I'm on the cusp of getting tired, which I use whenever I feel like I could be tired with a little bit of a nudge in the right direction.

I suck at meditation. I get sucked into my daydreams after a few minutes of attempting to still my mind, which only makes getting to sleep that much harder. My boys are compelling, and very funny, but not conducive to sleep, unless they are sleeping, too. Doesn't happen often, they sleep when I'm in RL.

If anyone has any experience of such a stupid sleep cycle or would like to comment on the efficacy of melatonin tablets or would just like to put their two bobs worth on my current predicament out there, please feel free to leave a comment. I'm a bit of a comment-whore, I love getting feedback from people who are experiencing similar things to me and I get a warm, fuzzy feeling when people respond :)

[KwanKwan]

5am to 1pm?  at least you're sleeping 8hrs!!!

[Thandimanillon]

@Floris - lol! Ouch, the whole night! Those days/times are evil. I think I know what's keeping me occupied, but its a good kind of occupied, so I'm struggling to break away from it.

@Syndy - thank you for tha advice :) I get chest/throat cramps when I run, but I will definitely try the cleaning. My room is a mess, so I'll start there :)

@Alpha Sowe - Tough, ain't it? I hope things are better for you now, I'm still stuck...

[Syndy]

that's how i use to be until i discovered running. try this a couple of hours before you go to sleep try tiring yourself out, fore example: cleaning, running (works for me best) so far i just have those two, but you can give them a try. Physical exhaustion is the best medicine for sleep. that's my diagnosis

[Floris]

It's unfortunately only something that helps men sleep I'm afraid...masturbating to an orgasm. But if my mind is superbusy nothing helps. It is then processing something I like too much thinking about and somehow want to see solved, frantically looking for an answer.

The worst occasion of this for me was when I was looking for (and failing) to find a working strategy against a super-strong deck to beat in a card game I still play. I had to call in sick because of the headache, no sleep the whole night.

It would probably be good to find the source of your obsession? What keeps your mind awake? What do you entertain your bored mind with? Must be really powerful stuff :-)

[Alpha Sowe]

I hear you, I'm up right now dealing with the same problem. I sometimes put on a boring television show but it usually takes a few episodes (plus the daydreaming doesn't help). Hope the sleep schedule gets better!

[Thandimanillon]

Thanks everyone :)

@Michael Rease, reading hasn't helped me... It just gives more fuel to my daydreams. Thanks for the idea though :)
@Wish Upon A Wish, that tea sounds nice, I might see about getting some, depending on how much it costs.
@Jennifer, I'm glad it gave you a giggle, I needed one, too, so I wrote it to make myself laugh :) hopefully we can both sort ourselves out before we do too much damage to ourselves.
@EludeMyFantasies, I think I need to regiment my daydreams, you're probably right. I need to have a set time for them that isn't bedtime, but this is so very difficult to accomplish.

[Jennifer]

By the way...You totally had me laughing at 'Comment Whore.' Good one. :P

[Jennifer]

OH MY GOSH, i'm not alone!! Thank you, thank you, thank youuu!!!! I'm so glad you posted this! Every night, I'm up until 5:00-6:00 in the morning just daydreaming the hours away. When I finally fall asleep waaaaayyyy later than what I intended, I'm always in bed until 12:30-1:30 PM. My parents get SO angry with me for this. They yell at me to get up multiple times in the afternoon, but I can never get up because I'm so mentally drained.
I have been trying to break my abnormal and u healthy sleep schedule as well, but it just seems impossible at this point. I've tried everything I could think of/everything Google told me. (LOL.) I am stuck, and don't know what to do anymore. I spend the rest of the day absolutely exhausted from the lack of sleep. I have GOT to stop staying up all night long the way I do. It's so unhealthy.
Thought I was the only one, but SO relieved to see that I'm not. Best of luck to you with this problem, and I hope both of us can eventually get through this!

[Wish Upon A Wish]

Set an alarm and force yourself to get up a few hours earlier, (so you'll be tired all day) and then go to bed a little earlier, and keep doing that. If you don't mind spending a little money, I do recommend Artemis brand 'Deep Sleep Tea' and, though it's not like a prescription sleeping pill that'll knock you out, it does make a difference to sleep (well, for me it does).

Also, apparently it takes three weeks to change your sleeping pattern to get to sleep an hour earlier, so remember.. It'll take a long time to get back to normal.

I don't know all that much about melatonin tablets, but it seems to me that if you take them, you're body won't produce it's own melatonin (or will reduce how much it makes) and you may be unable (after some time) to sleep without them. They may also be completely non-addictive, and fine to take, so I can't really help you there.

(ps I'm currently in a stupid sleep cycle like that too, because on the last week of holidays... well, I was in bed before 3am, so on my off days I still sleep in quite late.)

Oh, and also, you may have heard something about not being on the computer, watching telly or have anything to do with screens for an hour before going to bed? Well, that does help, but I personally think 3 hours is best, and more than that doesn't seem to make a difference.

(ps This is just my experiences and talking with a doc, my whole life I had trouble getting to sleep so yeah.)

[Michael Rease]

Well try some reading for example when i cant sleep I pick up my Tolkien books and usualy it takes 30min to fall a sleep. Or tire your body with some work there is no way you couldnt sleep after that..