Hello 4am, my friend.

"Don't suppose you happen to know where Sleep went? I seem to have lost him again... I know, i know, it's very careless to lose a friend almost every night, i just don't know where he goes... Well, if you see him, tell him to come back to me. Thanks! "

Seriously now, i wake up around this time almost every night, sometimes i just fall back to sleep. Sometimes, like tonight, i wake up properly and my mind starts racing. At this point i find it best to get up and come downstairs, otherwise i disturb my partner with my tossing and turning. It's a good job i'm not working at the moment, otherwise i'd be finding it extremely difficult to go to work. (it's bad enough getting out of bed when i do get a full night's sleep!)

I've found that this gets worse around the full moon. Is it possible that the moon affects my mind in some way? I only just caught a glimpse of the moon through the window as i was getting out of bed, so i don't think it's a conscious thought that always seems to wake me around this time....

Hmm.....

Anyway, i should stop rambling, i'm not sure i'm making much sense anymore. I might just snooze here on the sofa again rather than going upstairs and disturbing my boyfriend again.

I'm right there with you - 4:00 a.m. seems to be the time my brain wants to wake up and be obsessive.

As to your full moon theory, I think it does have an impact. As a teacher, I've noticed that during a full moon, the kids are moodier, edgier and generally more hyper and distracted. Maybe it has something to do with the gravitational pull - after all a large percentage of our bodies are water - which would be effected by gravity, right? Or maybe not.

It definately sounds possible...

I've spoken to a few of my friends about it and got mixed opinions. Some believe that the moon does have an effect on us. Others think it's airy-fairy rubbish.

I'm going to google it and see if any research has been done on this matter.

I have insomnia too. It sux.

About the full moon - I'm a nurse and it is often said in the hospital that patients are crazier during a full moon, things get wilder in the emergency dept, et cetera. There was a research study done to see if there was any correlation between full moon and activity in the emergency department and the study found no correlation exists.

Hope you get some sleep soon.

Do you sleep right near a window with the blinds open? Perhaps simply the brighter the moon, the more likely you wake up and stay awake. Maybe you're just a very sensitive sleeper when it comes to light.

I have no trouble falling asleep, i just always seem to wake up after about 4 hours then my mind starts racing. After i've got it to calm down, i can usually sleep for a further 5 or 6 hours.

Roman: Our bedroom window faces east so we have a blackout blind to keep the early morning sun out. It doesn't seem like anything external is waking me up at this time.. Sometimes it's slightly earlier, sometimes later.

Do you snore? Do you have sleep apnea?

No snoring that i know about, i'm sure my boyfriend would have told me about it by now.

I've been thinking for some time that i might have sleep apnea, i often find myself waking up with a deep breath as if i'd been holding it. My doctor doesn't think anything of it, maybe i should just tell her that i think i have sleep apnea and see what her response is.

I have sleep apnea but had no idea. I was in the hospital in 2007 and the night nurse put me on oxygen saying my O2 saturation was low and that was the first clue. I still have problems with insomnia probably from my bipolar but since I have started using my CPAP machine I have a bit less fatigue most days even when I don't sleep for many hours.