I'm becoming an insomniac

[billyjex]

and it's pissing me off.

Seriously, even when I have school, I go to bed at 3 am the earliest and if I don't have class I wake up at 2 pm.

It's 3:30am right now and all I want to do is go to bed but I'm not tired.

Are there any sleeping pills I can take? I seriously want to get my body clock on a somewhat better schedule. I feel like a loser.

And please no "go to a testicular cancer meeting" responses thank you.

[nicky g]

Go to bed anyway. I often feel like that but usually go to sleep fairly quickly once the lights are out. Get up early and try to maintain a regular sleeping schedule. It's really easy to go on a wild loop where you end up watching crap on TV (or the internet) tioll 5 in the morning, and then sleeping till 2 in the afternoon; I did it plenty at college. It didn't bother me but if it bothers you, the only way out of it is to force yourself to get up in the morning. Sleeping pills are not a good solution.

[thatpfunk]

Join the club. Valerian root works ok, but nothing great. Ambium (sp) works extremely well if you can get a hold of it. Drinking a night cap and reading helps sometimes.

[Popinjay]

There's like a new Time or Newsweek or something out that's all about sleep.

[Lazymeatball]

So you're getting a full 11 hours of sleep a night/morning. That's hardly insomnia. Anyway, as to your problem, my highly uneducated opinion is that you aren't doing enough in the day to tire yourself out. Get up early and go to all your classes, or go jogging or something, when you accomplish stuff during the day, you sleep at night. I know it personally, it's very easy to stay up all night watching tv, playing video games, or reading crap on the internet. These activites stimulate the brain enough, but don't exhaust any energy. I had the same problem as you until I got a full time job working 11pm to 7am.

[nicky g]

Yeah doing exercise definitely helps. If you find jogging, gyming etc boring, try a martial art. As does having a job (though that's the sort of help I could do without).

[wonderwes]

Sleep is always important. I have the sleeping schedule of a meth abuser. Few keys to make yourself sleepy. First, I highly agree on the tiring out post. You must physically be tired for your mind to want to go to sleep. 2nd, if you drink any caffiene, try to make a cut of time for those drinks per day. 3rd, go buy some melatonin in the store. It should be where all the vitamins are. Melatonin is a different kind of sleep aid.
In yo' brain, melatonin is naturally produced in your head. When you eat a melatonin pill, its like giving your body an extra shot of what it was naturally gets to put you out. When you wake up, you feel someone what sleepy, but actual sunlight absorbed by your skin helps melatonin fade out of your system. Neat.

It also never hurts if you are getting sex each night by some hot female. Not me though. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[billyjex]

Yeah, i'm sure a GF would regulate me pretty well with some sweet lovin, but that ain't happening these days.

Anyways, yeah, my hardest part for me is getting up in the morning. I set my alarm, for say noon, and turn it off and just go back to sleep. I don't know, I'm working on it.

I use to exercise nearly everyday, and yeah, that helps. I need to get back into the game.

[AncientPC]

Put the alarm clock in another room and turn it up really really loud.

It's the only way I can wake up. Even if I set my alarm clock to go off on the other side of the room I sleep walk to turn it off and fall back asleep.

[bugstud]

drink until you pass out

[Tablerat]

[ QUOTE ]
I seriously want to get my body clock on a somewhat better schedule.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is the key. Most remedies will be temporary fixes, but in order to really change your internal clock, you have to make some serious efforts.

To change your internal clock, stay up all night, and do not fall asleep even if you start feeling drowsy at 5am or later. Have a cup of coffee, or distract yourself some other way. Then stay up all day, and do not nap at all, and you'll be dead tired the following night. Go to sleep before 11pm and still set your alarm for around 9-10 am. This is the quicket and safest way to reset your body clock. Make sure the following nights, you do not regress - it's all about discipline at that point. Long naps often hurt my clock. Try to avoid them. Hope it works for you.

If this doesn't work, try sleeping by sitting upright in a comfortable chair with a blanket or comforter.

Howard Stern sings the praises of Ambien weekly, but he is an extreme case - waking up around 5am every day, and dealing with his crazy schedule.

[Reef]

spank the monkey about 5 minutes before you wanna hit the sack

[Peca277]

Oh that's just bliss /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[CCx]

any combo of the following:

1. eat a fat ass turkey sandwich....or just a turkey..nitenite!
2. smoke an L and have a few beers
3. exercise....or better yet, jazzercise - it wont take much
4. sex....or just rub one out if not an option
5. lay down, close your eyes, take deep, deep breaths in and out through your nose and block all thoughts out of your head - work hard to concentrate all focus on the exact spot the breath enters and exits your nose, and only that - if your focus is genuine and uninterrupted, you'll be relaxed and sleeping in no time (i used to do this as part of my meditation, but often wound up sleeping instead /images/graemlins/grin.gif) - i use this as my last resort when ive tried all of the above, and when i wake up in the morning its the last thing i remember doing, so it must have worked /images/graemlins/grin.gif

on another note i also agree with the alarm clock in another room comment someone made, i keep my alarm clock in my master bathroom - by the time i get in there to shut it off, i'm ready to brush my teeth and hop in the shower - never fails

best of luck to you

[billyjex]

I actually like that bathroom idea - I find that once I get in the shower I'm awake enough not to want to go back to sleep.

I currently have two alarms but they're both in my room and I will manage to turn both of them off. I got fired from one job for waking up late (turning off my alarms in my deep sleep) and another job, i just called in and quit after waking up late for like the third time.

At least poker provides me with a job where i make more money than those crap parttime college jobs ($10-15 an hour as opposed to $7.)

[Riskwise]

[ QUOTE ]
To change your internal clock, stay up all night, and do not fall asleep even if you start feeling drowsy at 5am or later. Have a cup of coffee, or distract yourself some other way. Then stay up all day, and do not nap at all, and you'll be dead tired the following night. Go to sleep before 11pm and still set your alarm for around 9-10 am. This is the quicket and safest way to reset your body clock. Make sure the following nights, you do not regress - it's all about discipline at that point. Long naps often hurt my clock. Try to avoid them. Hope it works for you.

If this doesn't work, try sleeping by sitting upright in a comfortable chair with a blanket or comforter.

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually i am fairly sure that that is a really bad idea. To put it simple, when sleeping you have REM and non-REM stages. Your body needs REM sleep to stay alive. It is called the "repair sleep". Non-REM is the stage where you rest so your not tired in the morning. If you stay up all night you will be deprived of REM. Then the next night you will have REM-rebound, where you have a ton of REM sleep (plus dream like mad). You will be deprived of non-REM sleep and you will be tired in the morning, which will allow you to go to bed earlier but why not just get up early in the first place. Skip the all nighter man and just get up early on day after going to bed late. Its alot harder to go to sleep when you dont have to, than to get up early when you need sleep.

[Popinjay]

Question: What is the optimal amount of sleep per night for an 18 year old man?

[Tablerat]

You make a convincing argument, but billyjex's main issue is with his sleeping habits, or in other words, his internal clock is not in sync with his ideal school/work/daily schedule. If he is comfortable with maintaining his current routine, then that's fine, but to change it takes some effort, and the method I proposed I initially read in a natural/alternative medicine book (I believe it was by Deepak Chopra, well respected in that field) and confirmed by several reputable online sites. It's an accelerated version of chronotherapy which tries to relieve a condition called Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome. Chronotherapy spreads the clock readjustment over a week or two, and should be done under the guidance of a sleep specialist, but many can revert in one night. It's largely determined by the individual's willingness and commitment to the program.

The OP expressed common symptoms of DSPS, which isn't just another label, but a physiological imbalance of the internal clock and "sleep timing". Other treatments include light therapy (i.e. bright lights or sunlight every morning), which is most effective, melatonin, and chronotherapy - of which you and some others disagree. However, whatever the treatment plan, if he wants to change, he must choose something and stick to it, or see a sleep specialist. Changing alarm set-up, or exercising and eating schedules only supplement the larger treatment. It's too easy to revert back, without a strong program, but there are exceptions. Try the common methods first, and then go from there to the ones I just stated.

Hopefully, billyjex will update us at some point.

[plaster8]

[ QUOTE ]
Put the alarm clock in another room and turn it up really really loud.
It's the only way I can wake up. Even if I set my alarm clock to go off on the other side of the room I sleep walk to turn it off and fall back asleep.

[/ QUOTE ]

I used to set my computer to start up at 8 a.m. and immediately start playing a CD at full volume. It's hard to go back to sleep after you've been jolted awake by Eddie Van Halen playing "Eruption."

[billyjex]

[ QUOTE ]
You make a convincing argument, but billyjex's main issue is with his sleeping habits, or in other words, his internal clock is not in sync with his ideal school/work/daily schedule. If he is comfortable with maintaining his current routine, then that's fine, but to change it takes some effort, and the method I proposed I initially read in a natural/alternative medicine book (I believe it was by Deepak Chopra, well respected in that field) and confirmed by several reputable online sites. It's an accelerated version of chronotherapy which tries to relieve a condition called Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome. Chronotherapy spreads the clock readjustment over a week or two, and should be done under the guidance of a sleep specialist, but many can revert in one night. It's largely determined by the individual's willingness and commitment to the program.

The OP expressed common symptoms of DSPS, which isn't just another label, but a physiological imbalance of the internal clock and "sleep timing". Other treatments include light therapy (i.e. bright lights or sunlight every morning), which is most effective, melatonin, and chronotherapy - of which you and some others disagree. However, whatever the treatment plan, if he wants to change, he must choose something and stick to it, or see a sleep specialist. Changing alarm set-up, or exercising and eating schedules only supplement the larger treatment. It's too easy to revert back, without a strong program, but there are exceptions. Try the common methods first, and then go from there to the ones I just stated.

Hopefully, billyjex will update us at some point.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not quite sure if I'll try that method, but I'll definetely have time to work out my sleep schedule as my winter break runs until late January, and I'll be completely free.

I'm basically going to be playing poker, and I want to be able to wake up at ~10, exercise, run errands, etc. and play the prime time hours instead of these 3am sessions i'm having.

[Tablerat]

Awesome - best of luck to you. Thanks for the update.