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How can you tell when you’re ready for bed?

When my eyes start to close during reading/ watching/ playing/ doing something for more than 10 seconds then I know it's time to go to sleep ;). It can feel quite exhausting, but then you know you won't get any dreams. Routine is probably a more healthy idea. Lie down at one time, wake up at one time.
 
Why isn't that compatible with a 9-5 job? (what more could you wish for by the way =)) ..You get up at 7.30, go to work, and when you get home at 5.30 or 6 p.m. you do other stuff, like sports or video-gaming .. the you go to bed at 11.30 p.m.

Edit: oh I get it, maybe you meant my irregular sleep pattern...

Bingo! ;)

I work 9-5 (own) Mon-Friday and spend most of my spare time making videos, writing and engaging with autism issues. If I hadn't set myself a strict routine and bedtime I'd never manage! I don't always go to sleep immediately but I always aim to get to bed between 10.30 - 11.00pm on weeknights.
 
I for one, I hate routine. I need to tailor my day according to my moods, since with some bad ADD, depression and mood swings (also, I am really lazy) I can't manage much organized work... I tried for years, but routine work hours demand to function on the demand, and that I can't sadly. That's why I go to bed, when I feel I need to sleep - whenever that is. I did better, when I was younger - a kid and young adolescent, but it got worse with every year. Maybe this is because life's demands increased beyond my capacity =/
 
I've worked full time all my adult life. It's not ideal but I coped. The good thing is that after 30 years of hating it I finally have a job I quite like. I'd still rather be self-employed and have my preferred flexible schedule, but I'm not there yet.
Until then, routine is my friend :)
 
The use of electronics/ computer/ tv/ phone, etcetera can negatively impact one's ability to fall asleep, if used too close to one's bedtime.

This is major for me. I do not have much screen time in the evenings. Even with f.lux, I find that the things that I do online tend to stimulate my brain and wake me up.

I am very sensitive to light, though, so it goes further than just screen time. We live off-grid and have very dim lights in the evening, usually just a single Ryobi lantern hanging in the room and light from the TV if we watch a show with dinner.

Before we moved off-grid, I often stayed awake half the night, e.g., usually until 2-3 am. I would not be able to sleep for an hour or more after going to bed, so I would just stay up until I was exhausted--and sometimes, that did not help, either; I'd still have trouble sleeping.

Once we moved off-grid, and the lights were always dim in the evening, I stopped having trouble going to sleep--like, from the very first day, I started falling asleep almost immediately when I went to bed. I'd recommend anyone who's having trouble sleeping to at least give it a try. It's even cheaper than free, too, since it reduces electricity usage in the evenings. :)

I do have to limit my caffeine intake as well. I can only have a certain amount, and I have to have it no later than early afternoon, or it will affect my sleep. I often go completely caffeine free for long periods, though I'm in a caffeine cycle right now.

That said, even when I'm doing everything right, I have weird sleep patterns. I don't seem to need 8 hours sleep every night. I find that something more like 7.5 hours to be optimal, and I will often wake up on my own, without an alarm, after that amount of time has passed. Sometimes, I will go several days, or even a week, only getting 5-6 hours of sleep per night because I will wake very early and be unable to go back to sleep--sometimes melatonin helps, sometimes not. Other times, I will be able to go back to sleep, which will cause me to sleep late for a number of days.
 
So what got things to start working for me? I started taking stimulants! Sounds strange, but I have ADHD so I can't shut my mind off, even if I wanted to and tried really, really hard.

I read that recently, and I still consider it one of the weirder things I've read about ADHD. :) My ADHD son has trouble sleeping, as well as focusing during the day, so I'm talking to him about trying medication. He's 18, though, so he'll have to make his own decision about it.
 
I read that recently, and I still consider it one of the weirder things I've read about ADHD. :) My ADHD son has trouble sleeping, as well as focusing during the day, so I'm talking to him about trying medication. He's 18, though, so he'll have to make his own decision about it.

Yup, it is a mystery. Even to those experts of ADHD. That's why they call the therapeutic effects of ADHD "paradoxical" 'cause they work in ways you don't think they would.

I used to need to drink at the very least 32 ounces of coffee every day to be alert lol Obviously that was not healthy, so I needed stims so I could decrease the amount of coffee I drink.

I never understood anyone who said, "I can't have too much caffeine! It makes me too jittery!" I'm like, "Uh. I can drink 5 cups and then take a deep 3-hour nap after that." Now that I'm on a high dose of Vyvanse, my coffee intake went down to 2 cups a day.
 
I never understood anyone who said, "I can't have too much caffeine! It makes me too jittery!"

It does not make me jittery, but it will prevent me from sleeping, and my behavior on too much caffeine has been compared to that of a person on speed before. :D
 
I usually keep going and going, then all of a sudden I can't seem to keep my eyes open and I'll fall asleep at the keys. I try to avoid that because I fear I'll post a bunch of gibberish.

If I know I need to get to sleep because I have to be up the next morning, TV puts me to sleep. So does reading a book, eventually my arms will get too tired to hold the book up and it falls on me as I go to sleep.

That app sounds interesting but I don't have broadband internet or a smartphone. Super old school here.
 
Everything I've read has explained why stimulants help us with ADHD. :eek:

Here's one:

"Once a stimulant is administered, there is a resultant increase in dopamine. This leaves the person with ADHD not needing to do anything to increase their dopamine.

Once the need to elevate dopamine levels is removed, the person with ADHD can focus and concentrate without having to engage in hyperactive, adventurous, or risk taking behavior."

ADHD: The Stimulant Paradox | AllPsych

I forgot to mention how much Adderall helped my sleep because I've been on it so long. :eek: And because it helps with everything, so singling one thing out is hard sometimes. :D

I don't really understand the concept of a person with ADHD not on meds. Maybe there are different severities and some don't need it? I became myself on it.
 
Everything I've read has explained why stimulants help us with ADHD. :eek:

Here's one:

"Once a stimulant is administered, there is a resultant increase in dopamine. This leaves the person with ADHD not needing to do anything to increase their dopamine.

Once the need to elevate dopamine levels is removed, the person with ADHD can focus and concentrate without having to engage in hyperactive, adventurous, or risk taking behavior."

ADHD: The Stimulant Paradox | AllPsych

I forgot to mention how much Adderall helped my sleep because I've been on it so long. :eek: And because it helps with everything, so singling one thing out is hard sometimes. :D

I don't really understand the concept of a person with ADHD not on meds. Maybe there are different severities and some don't need it? I became myself on it.

Makes sense. One of the last people I dated had a son with ADHD. He always said that pop calmed him down. His mom said that can't be and always tried to keep it away from him.
 
I understand her insistence on what she sees as fact because I have that problem, so I only judged her for like two seconds. :)
 
Everything I've read has explained why stimulants help us with ADHD. :eek:

Here's one:

"Once a stimulant is administered, there is a resultant increase in dopamine. This leaves the person with ADHD not needing to do anything to increase their dopamine.

Once the need to elevate dopamine levels is removed, the person with ADHD can focus and concentrate without having to engage in hyperactive, adventurous, or risk taking behavior."

ADHD: The Stimulant Paradox | AllPsych

I forgot to mention how much Adderall helped my sleep because I've been on it so long. :eek: And because it helps with everything, so singling one thing out is hard sometimes. :D

I don't really understand the concept of a person with ADHD not on meds. Maybe there are different severities and some don't need it? I became myself on it.

Yeah I read that somewhere too. But I think there's a lot more going on there that experts don't quite fully understand. Surely, dopamine plays quite a big role though.

I think there's still a stigma attached to stimulants, but that's not our fault, of course. A lot of people use it to perform better at school and at work. Then they get hooked. What's so silly though is that those who abuse it think they do so much better on it when they take large doses, but really all that happens is they get amped up, lose sleep, have way too much energy. Their performance doesn't even improve!

I also think that some people can live without meds because they have coping techniques for their symptoms that happen to work really well for them. I feel that that's a minority, though. One of my husband's good friends has ADHD, and he said he gave up meds a few years ago because he found that he could cope (for the most part) without it.

I think that those of us with serious mood issues, anxiety, and sleep problems absolutely need the meds. I became a much better person on these meds. Seems kind of sad, but I can't help that this is how my brain is *shrug* No use being ashamed admitting that I need them very much.
 
39 years old. Still don't know. I try to mimic my NT parent's advice from back when. I'd ideally like to be asleep at 830 pm and sleep 12 hours. But I usually go to bed after midnight and wake up around 5am
 
Are meds so bad that people want to "cope"?

I don't know. I don't understand it either! Maybe their symptoms aren't so bad.

I am part of an ADHD group on FB, and some of them think it's a "gift." o_O

I like maybe a few of my quirky ADHD qualities, but I certainly would not call this a gift :eek:
 
im well known for having sleeping issues. still, i know im ready for a sleeping attempt when i feel tired, or, somewhat more rarely, unable to move effortlessly. it is not reliable, and i usually fail to sleep first time.
 
I for one, I hate routine. I need to tailor my day according to my moods, since with some bad ADD, depression and mood swings (also, I am really lazy) I can't manage much organized work... I tried for years, but routine work hours demand to function on the demand, and that I can't sadly. That's why I go to bed, when I feel I need to sleep - whenever that is. I did better, when I was younger - a kid and young adolescent, but it got worse with every year. Maybe this is because life's demands increased beyond my capacity =/

Ooh, yeah, it's sorta the same for me. I'm not good about doing things on a schedule. The only thing that's "routine" about my day is the amount of time between meals (dont want to have one too close to another one), but even that shifts back and forth at random.

And while I dont work anymore, back when I used to, I ALWAYS had problems. It was a major struggle to get there on time. Didnt help that I always hated wherever it was... it's hard enough to get to things I LIKE on time, let alone places I cant stand. And then of course once actually at a given job, there was the during-work schedule too, which I could never quite manage. This might explain why the one job I was able to hold onto the longest (still wasnt all that long) was also the most chaotic; that one COULDNT have a set schedule during each shift. But for the ones that were calm and easy to chop into scheduled bits, I"d screw those up even more.


The worst thing for me right now though is the airport. I have alot of trouble dealing with that. If you gotta take a flight, it's as strict as it gets in terms of schedule. You are either perfectly on time for every aspect of it, or tough freaking luck, you're missing your flight and screwing up your trip. I always get all stressed out and generally messed up when having to deal with that. Wheras I can handle car-based travel easy... nobody cares when exactly I leave or when exactly I get there, and I can randomly choose to stop at some store or something on the way and get out and walk around a bit... on a plane there's zero control, you're at the mercy of their schedule. I hate it.
 

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