How well do you sleep?

[Suzette]

When I was a child my mother refused to let babysitter put me down for naps because I would be awake all night. In my teens I would sleep so hard I would hear my alarm clock. So I bought the loudest one I could and put in the next room and still could barely wake up.

As an adult my life was miserable and I smoked for many years. During this time I was insomniac much of the time. I slept for 3-5 hours a night. I did that for 30 years and I just assumed it was just my normal.

But this summer I quit smoking. Suddenly I am back to sleeping like I did as a teen. When I wake up it is like I am emerging through a deep hole fillled with molases. I feel so out of it and only semi conscious for quite some time after I get up. I don't like the feeling. I used to wonder if I should take sleeping pills. Now I wonder if I should take speed.

 

[watersprite]

Can you go for a little walk outside when you wake up & get out of bed?
There might be less drastic solutions to the problem than taking speed?

 

[Suzette]

Can you go for a little walk outside when you wake up & get out of bed?
There might be less drastic solutions to the problem than taking speed?

The speed comment was a joke. I don't intend to take speed!

But seriously, I would not be safe going for a walk right away. I am in too much of a fog. And I live on a boat in the middle of a bay so walking anywhere would be a little damp!

 

[Aspychata]

I know my normal. My normal is exactly little under 5 hours. If l sleep more then that, something is wrong. I can tell right away, something is off.

My former spouse slept exactly 3 hours for every nite because? He is bipolar. And he bragged about it. But the best real estate agents are bipolar, because they work 24/7 on getting your business.

Maybe you could drink some serious espresso? Two shots? Maybe watch what you eat? Lifetime channel has lots of stories about people doing all kinds of things to other people's food. I am sure that's not happening, but it's good to be cautious, of where you get your food.

 

[Hazel_1914]

What is this "sleep" of which you speak?

 

[Misery]

7-8 hours per day. As my father puts it, I could sleep through a zombie apocalypse.

The problem is WHEN I sleep, which is a bit different each day.

I seem to have this going on: Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Disorder - NORD (National Organization for Rare Disorders)

That first paragraph describes it nicely. And yes, it's as inconvenient as it sounds. Currently I am on the "day" side of my schedule, *almost* matched with everyone else in the house. Give me another 10 days though and I'll be fully on the "night" side. And so on...

 

[Unclewolverine]

Comes and goes for me, but in general, poorly. Weighted blanket helps sometimes.

 

[WildCat]

Depends. I can sum it up with "inconsistent", but I work a night job so make of that what you will. I have long adapted to being a day sleeper, but it's not for everyone and understandably so.

Occasionally, sleep is a foreign concept to me and there will be those times where I'll need to catch up and be out for about half the day or more. On average though, and not including the time it takes to get there, I try and shoot for about 6-7 hours of good sleep.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

Just did a query on YouTube "autism and sleep",...it's a popular topic. autism and sleep - YouTube

 

[Thinx]

It varies, but I do quite well with a pattern where I wake for a couple of hours or more around 3am then sleep a while longer. But also 11pm til 6am works OK often. I don't mind waking, I just read or Google stuff or come here.

 

[Rasputin]

When I was a child my mother refused to let babysitter put me down for naps because I would be awake all night. In my teens I would sleep so hard I would hear my alarm clock. So I bought the loudest one I could and put in the next room and still could barely wake up.

As an adult my life was miserable and I smoked for many years. During this time I was insomniac much of the time. I slept for 3-5 hours a night. I did that for 30 years and I just assumed it was just my normal.

But this summer I quit smoking. Suddenly I am back to sleeping like I did as a teen. When I wake up it is like I am emerging through a deep hole fillled with molases. I feel so out of it and only semi conscious for quite some time after I get up. I don't like the feeling. I used to wonder if I should take sleeping pills. Now I wonder if I should take speed.

It wasn’t until I went to a doctor for insomnia, and then saw a variety of specialists, that I was diagnosed with ASD and general anxiety disorder. Since then, I have analyzed the health histories of my closest family members, and discovered that most of my father’s family have histories of metabolic conditions such as diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer’s, Psoriasis, kidney stones, and yes ASD. I recently paid for 23and Me DNA ancestry and health analysis and then uploaded the raw data to a 3rd party for genetic health evaluation. As expected, I am genetically predisposed to the same conditions as family members. Of particular concern to me are homozygous genes, C677t and MTRR, and MTR which limit my ability to metabolize folic acid and b complex vitamins and limit my ability to convert homocysteine which is associated with sudden heart failure and heart attack. Additionally, I have a heterozygous gene APOE4 which makes me three times as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease as I get older.

The reason I am commenting on all these genetic issues is that doctors do not typically track genetic predispositions, nor do they typically test for these genes. Sleep is a complicated subject, and is impacted by hormones, natural chemical reactions to convert nutrients, and can be both metabolic and anxiety related. What you are describing sounds like a type of brain fog, which you should discuss with your doctor. If you have any of the health issues I mentioned which are pervasive in your family, I can share my experiences and some over the counter supplements that I take. However, I would suggest that you first discuss with your doctor.

 

[Bolletje]

I have sleep maintenance insomnia. I have no trouble falling asleep at all, but I rarely stay asleep through the night. I usually wake up way too early and can’t get back to sleep anymore. It’s frustrating and exhausting.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

I get to sleep easily. But regardless of the length of sleep, I am always up by 7 am. My greatest difficulty is when I am jet lagged and will come wide awake at odd hours.

 

[Judge]

A good sleep? Probably not as well as of November 7th, daylight savings time.

When I'll lose all that darkness before I wake up. Happens every year.

 

[cau_123]

When I was a child my mother refused to let babysitter put me down for naps because I would be awake all night. In my teens I would sleep so hard I would hear my alarm clock. So I bought the loudest one I could and put in the next room and still could barely wake up.

As an adult my life was miserable and I smoked for many years. During this time I was insomniac much of the time. I slept for 3-5 hours a night. I did that for 30 years and I just assumed it was just my normal.

But this summer I quit smoking. Suddenly I am back to sleeping like I did as a teen. When I wake up it is like I am emerging through a deep hole fillled with molases. I feel so out of it and only semi conscious for quite some time after I get up. I don't like the feeling. I used to wonder if I should take sleeping pills. Now I wonder if I should take speed.

I used to be an insomniac and my solution was melatonin prescribed to me by a doctor, idk where you are based but since im based in the UK I get it free of charge via the NHS. The other solutions i've found helpful were to do intense exercise late in the afternoon. The options above are both temporary although you can take melatonin forever if you would like, but the more long term solution is to get whatever it is keeping you awake at night off your mind, I did that through therapy which helped bring my mind at ease so that I can sleep. I don't know about the 2nd and 3rd option but getting something like melatonin is a solid choice.

 

[Au Naturel]

They say that waking up is hard to do
Now I know
I know that it's true

Nicotine is a stimulant. Stronger than coffee, weaker than typical street "speed." Smoking is self-medication using a drug with debilitating and eventually lethal side effects. Better to go with patches if you really must indulge. For some people, it produces a calming effect, just like Ritalin.

Your symptoms sound like nicotine withdrawal. It isn't exactly the same but try substituting coffee or energy drinks to wake you up.

My question is that why are you trying to walk around while you're semi-conscious? I love staying in bed with that half-asleep feeling, drifting in and out. It usually lasts an hour before I'm genuinely awake. It is when I have the most control over my dreams and everything is nice and warm and snuggly. If I don't do that, by mid-day I am falling asleep on my feet.

I have a bit of non-24 going on and I've learned to embrace that too. There's a whole "slow-down" routine I go thru at night prior to bedtime. Sometimes I need some melatonin (no prescription needed here) or a glass of wine to fall asleep. Not a fan of laying there, wide wake, and trying to go to sleep. It doesn't work.

Embrace the sleep. You'll live longer, happier, and healthier.

 

[Hazel_1914]

Fixing to sleep a lot better. I've just moved into a basement apartment underneath an old Victorian house. Down below the ground, like a hobbit-hole in the Shire, it is a lot quieter--just the old tin alarm-clock ticking and footsteps overhead now & then. Even the electric refrigerator is quieter.

Can I just say that I'm about to sleep in a bed for the first time since last November?

 

[RobZombiefan]

I haven't been sleeping too well lately. I'm lucky if I get two hours.

 

[Fino]

Lately, I've been having trouble sleeping for the first time in my life and I don't know why. I keep take an antihistamine but the tolerance skyrockets almost immediately. I took a bunch once and woke up feeling awful. Someone said good morning and I grunted, which is not normal for me.

 

[Au Naturel]

Lately, I've been having trouble sleeping for the first time in my life and I don't know why. I keep take an antihistamine but the tolerance skyrockets almost immediately. I took a bunch once and woke up feeling awful. Someone said good morning and I grunted, which is not normal for me.

Most sleeping aids are only intended for intermittent use. Regular use creates tolerance. I try to save them for when I simply must get sleep because of something special the next day. Melatonin is great but on a regular basis, it quickly loses effect. That's because it is something your body already produces and the mechanism for metabolizing it is already there. It just needs to spool up a little bit.

Antihistamines in particular can leave me feeling like the walking dead the next day. What I will often do is take them a couple of hours before scheduled bedtime if I know there will be a problem. (I try to schedule 8.5 hours of sleep a night but prefer 9.) It reduces the draggy effect. The trick to sleeping aids is not to wait to take them. If you are already up too late, antihistamines are a bad choice. It takes them a while to kick in and 6 hours later you're still in deep sleep when you have to wake up.

I find a glass of wine or a beer at bedtime helps. Getting drunk does not.

Setting a biological clock by limiting afternoon stimulants, disciplined pre-bedtime routines, and a fixed bedtime and wakeup time, are the best ways to manage your sleep cycle. And this will still be vulnerable to exciting or disturbing events in your life.