[moodiegirl]

Hey,
I'm wondering if any of you have this problem, or if you know how to get rid of it.

I go to sleep very early, around 9pm. I'm not too sleepy at that time, I just like to go to bed the same time my husband does - he has to wake up early to go to work.
In the mornings, I have a really hard time getting up. I often sleep until 9am, which is way too much sleep. Part of the problem is probably the fact that I'm home alone - I don't go to work, I'm working on my second thesis so it gets very lonely and boring. I don't know how to motivate myself to kickstart the day.

I've had lots of sleep issues in the past few years, I used to suffer from insomnia and during my manic episode I actually didn't want to sleep. Now it's the exact opposite, I could sleep all day long. How can I change this? I've tried the annoying alarm clock, but it's so easy to turn it off

[hamster-bamster]

So, several things.

1) Hypersomnia is a depression symptom. If you have other depression symptoms, e.g. low energy, not motivated, hopeless, feeling despair etc., that might just be it and you then need to treat depression.

2) Low iron (anemia) can easily give you that - you need to get a blood test first. If you do have low iron, there are things you can do to raise it but we will talk about them later as they become relevant.

3) You can try taking Nuvigil in the morning.

4) You can try getting up at the first sound of the alarm and drinking coffee and going outside immediately for a walk.

[moodiegirl]

Hi Hamster, thanks for taking the time and replying!

I don't think I am depressed - if this is depression then it's nothing like I experienced it before, and it must be very mild. I do have low energy at times and lack motivation, but not to a great extent.

I don't have anemia. I have to have a blood test every year due to my meds, but it's all been okay so far. Except I had a lack of vitamins B12 and folic acid, I don't know if that has any connection. I'm taking those vitamins as supplements now.

I'll ask my doc about Nuvigil, I don't know if we have it here in Europe. And thanks for the suggestion, I'm going to try doing that. Some fresh air in the morning might really help.

[hamster-bamster]

You are welcome. Sunlight in the morning also helps some people. Does not help me, but helps other people a lot. Fresh air helps me.

[Confusedinomicon]

If you make a reason to wake up, you will. I normally sleep 9-10 hrs but can wake up before if I have something to do the next day. Try changing up your scenery and go to the school library 2-3 times a week. (Or something like this) Getting out of the house will help during the day. I like looking for places to eat or volunteer. It isnt healthy to isolate. Even if your not talking to anyone it feels good being outside!

[hamster-bamster]

Anika said that orgasms wake women up (unlike men). Do not know if that is true, but you may want to try scheduling morning sex to see what happens.

I agree with all of the above suggestions! If you have no reason to get up? You're not going to want to. And making it something you'll enjoy will make it 1000x better!! And the thing about orgasms is totally true.

[moodiegirl]

I'm drinking coffee and it's 7.30am here, so that's progress. And I have a goal to read the next chapter of a book for my thesis, and later I want to do some exercise so going back to sleep is not an option. Thank you Hamster, Confused and Shayatanica. Oh, I wish sex in the mornings were an option, but hubby goes to work at 4.30am and that's a bit too early for me

[hamster-bamster]

Oh, 4:30AM would be brutal! Poor guy who has to do that.

[moodiegirl]

Yes, I admire him! We moved to my hometown a year ago, and he still goes to work where he used to, that means an hour drive by car. It's difficult to find a new steady job...

[Gaijin]

I envy anyone who can sleep a lot. I can't sleep when I'm up, can't sleep when I'm down.

The only difference is that I miss the sleep when I'm down.

[BlackPup]

I like to get out of the house first thing in the morning or I sleep in too much. When I was writing my thesis I used to go to the coffee shop and do some work there.