MrPants (Interesting screen name BTW ),

I had the exact same problem for years, and sometimes still do, before myself my T, and my Psych all put our heads together and came up with the answer. During the week, regardless of how tired I was, I was waking up between 11:30 and midnight, my brain would start to run 90 mph, slip in and out of sleep with a jerking motion. I also had a somewhat similar daytime routine to yours.

What we came up with was a symptom called Anticiptory Anxiety. Basically, it's whenever you have something, a task, a dr's appt, etc., that you have to do, your mind can sub-consciensely (sp?) interfere with your sleep patterns while anticipating you doing those things. When I was doing this, I would clock watch too. No sleep med, or increase in doseage of them would help the problem. How we broke me of this (for the most part) was to make sure I maintained absolute regular bedtimes (which sucks in the summer, because I get up at 2am), and I put my alarm clock on the floor where I could still hear the alarm, but not see the time. Your daytime experience could just be a result of not getting enough sleep. There is a big difference between staying awake on purpose, and having your body force you to stay awake.

Sometimes our problems really are all in our head.

I could be be totally off-base here, but your post had a real familiar ring to me. Anyway, I hope things get better for you and congrats on the new job. Oh, and BTW, welcome to the forums. I'm very glad to have you as a member of the family!

Be well,
Greg