[Secretum]

Lately, I've been going to bed really late and then waking up really late to compensate for it. At night, I don't feel tired. When I finally get to bed, I can't stop thinking about things, usually philosophical questions that I have no hope of solving. It usually takes me at least an hour to get to sleep after I've turned off the light.

But once I get to sleep, I stay asleep. Even when I need to wake up. I slept through my first class the past two days. (and one of these classes was at 1:30!) Once I'm asleep, I don't fully wake up until 10-12 hrs later.

I've tried setting alarms; I just hit "snooze" and go back to bed. The alarm on my phone is really crappy and stops going off after about an hour of "snoozing".

Has anyone ever experienced this? I know that both insomnia and hypersomnia are really common in bipolar disorder, but this isn't quite either of them. I'm not sure what this is.

I just need to make it stop. I need to take control of my life.

Thanks.

[OutlawedSpirit]

Have you tried going to sleep earlier? Sometimes that is all it takes. I know you said you don't feel tired at night, but if you lay down early and just turn off the light and try to go to sleep, it might help.

Also, there are some OTC sleep aids you could try. Melatonin works for some people, although it can make you have some weird dreams, it did for me. Also, just regular sleeping pills can help, at least until you get on a more regular sleep cycle.

For me, it helps that I take 200mg of Seroquel at night, about an hour before bed. You could talk to your pdoc about it and they might be able to prescribe something.

Overall, though, I think it comes down to retraining your body to sleep on a more regular schedule.

[ArthurDent]

Sounds silly, but try putting your alarm clock across the room where you MUST get up and out of bed to hit snooze. I've used this trick before. It might help. By the 2nd time you've gotten up and out of bed to shut it off, you are mostly awake anyway. lol.

[cocoabeans]

I can't get a sleep pattern either. I try but sometimes I cannot get myself to go to sleep or even relax enough to sit still for a few minutes. I do not believe a 24 hr day is long enough. I never slept through classes or was late for work when I'd be up so late, well without choosing it, instead I give sleep and deal with it. Sometimes I luck out and have a few days of feeling really good and productive ... Oh wait apparently that's bad and has this scary name, "hypomania". Usually though nothing interesting happens when I'm sleep deprived and life goes on.

Lack of sleep is so much easier to deal with when you don't care so, next time you stay up late, get up on time!

[purpledaisy]

I go through spells where I have the same problem you are describing.

It got to the point where I wasn't waking up to be at work by 8:00 a.m. Then I would wake up late, skip showering, put my dirty hair in a ponytail, forget makeup, throw on some clothes, and race to work.

Then I was reprimanded and told that if I was late one more time, I would be fired.

I ended up getting fired anyway.

What I've learned (and it might help you) is that it is really important to stick to a schedule.

Decide on a time to go to bed every night, no matter what. Even if it's the weekend. Even if you don't have to be at class until later in the day.

Go to bed at that time. Even if you aren't tired. Make sure your room is totally dark.

If you don't have a prescription sleeping pill, try Tylenol PM. I can only take 1 Tylenol PM (instead of a dose of 2) or I won't hear alarms in the morning.

I've got Ambien, but I don't use it every night because I don't want to develop a problem with it.

Wake up when your alarm goes off WITHOUT HITTING SNOOZE. Now, of course, if you aren't hearing the alarm you aren't going to wake up. Set several alarms. I ended up setting an alarm clock setting my cell phone with an alarm and a backup alarm both set to vibrate, and I had my computer next to my bed with an alarm clock website up and set to go off really loud. (Yes, I know you're supposed to have the room totally dark, but I left my computer on with the lid almost closed and turned it the other direction so the light would be less bright toward me because I knew I needed the extra alarm.)

It may take several days (or longer) to get your body used to this. It may be rough. You might be kind of groggy during the day and find yourself wide awake when it's time to go to bed. But once your body adjusts, stick with that schedule so you don't have to go through all that again.

[Secretum]

Thanks for the suggestions. I've tried placing my alarm across the room; I still end up going right back to sleep... :/

I'll try to stick to a schedule. It's just hard. I'm staying up all night tonight because I'm meeting someone at 9:30 and I don't want to accidentally sleep through it.

[Anika.]

I downloaded an alarm app for my phone, yeah going across the room and back to bed doesn't help. This alarm forces you to solve math equations before it will turn off, you can select the amount of problems to solve and the difficulty of the equations. There is no snooze option, just loud obnoxious alarm. Fun..no! Works... Yes if you make them hard enough that you really need to think and a few or more so you actually wake up.. Ahh too bad . Of course you could still go back to bed by choice, as far as I know there is no robots around yet to help us out here. However this solves the faltiness of the snooze cell phone issue. There are a lot of alarm apps like this around.

Like PD I also use several alarms set to varying times. Yes it is annoyong but I have a problem hearing my alarm and the sound just becomes part of my dream. So far this has worked, have not been late yet.

As far as resetting sleep routine, always good to try. Some people naturally have a different sleep/wake cycle. There is a lot of info on rhis out there. If that is the case, most people will default back to their own rythm and have to keep trying to reset their internal clock. Hopefully that is not the case and resetting your sleep schedual would stick.

You might have to give yourself some bounderies about what your mind gets up to at bedtime. Like a "no philosophy" rule. Sounds silly but I did the same for science, philosophy.. Watching Dr.Who or Ted Talks or anything like that at bedtime.. Nope or I will never go to sleep.

[purpledaisy]

Or give in to you body's sleep patterns and adjust your life so it works.

Don't schedule classes until later in the afternoon, to make sure you'll be up and able to go.

Don't make appointments early in the day.

Don't get a job that requires you to be there first thing in the morning.

I'm more creative late at night. At least I am when I'm blessed with some hypo, which hasn't happened for a while because of these stupid anti-depressants. But when I have a bit of hypo, my world is better when I can give in to the creativity late at night, ride it through the wee hours of the morning, go to sleep around 4:00 a.m., and then get a good 8 or 9 hours of sleep.

There's nothing wrong with adjusting your world to do what works best for you.

Who says everyone has to live their life on the 8-to-5ers' schedules?

[Big Mama]

I sleep the same way. It is 12:10 am. I am not tired. I will go to bed in an hour and get up at 8:30. I'd sleep till 10:00 if everyone would leave me lone. Any way I get up around 8:30 and nap from 1:00- 3:00. So I get an average of 8 -10 hours of sleep. I'll got to bed at at 1:30 and read for 30 min then go to sleep.

My H and I argue about my sleep patterns. He says I shouldn't nap or sleep late. But I just can't sleep if I go to bed early. I asked the T was that ok. She said as ling as I got no more than 10 hours of sleep. When I sleep is up to me. H can't control my sleep. My family dr said weird but safe. 8 - 10 hours of sleep as long as you get it how doesn't really matter.

[hamster-bamster]

You can try low dose Elavil as a muscle relaxant. It is not addictive or habit forming or anything like that. Relaxed muscles promote sleep. At any rate, it is cheap and would not hurt. You will need a prescription though.