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I want to fix my messed up sleep pattern...

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Corky

Nine out of ten orphans can't tell the difference.
... by staying up all night. Someone convince me this is a great idea.

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For a bunch of reasons my sleep schedule has gone from a normal 00:00 to 08:00, eight hour sleep waking up rested to shit... lately it's been getting worse and worse to the point where I can't fall asleep before 03:00-04:00 and not be able to wake up before 11:00 regardless of what I do. I even put like 8 alarms in a row and I sleep through all of them, it's not that I won't wake up but rather that I wake up yet subconsciously turn off all the other alarms and go back to sleep and wake up 5 hours later.

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Those alarms keep scrolling for like another 10 instances.

I run daily and bike back and forth to the gym but other than that I live very sedentary but regardless of how much physical activity I do I can't seem to sleep. I've been trying for a month, but it's getting worse and worse so I'm at my wits end :I

It's 3 am here, and I thought " well fuck it, might as well stay up another 4 hours and go run at 07:00".


I've stayed up all night two times in my life. Once when I was waiting for some weird doom 3 beta/leak/whatever, and the other time after I saw The Exorcist 2 that movie was so bad I literally couldn't sleep. So I guess what I'm trying to ask is, am I going to die?
 
Take a bunch of melatonin around half an hour before you want to go to sleep.
 
People pull all-nighters all the time. You'll feel like shit next morning, but in my experience if you manage to stay awake the next day until the time you want to fall asleep, you can change your sleep schedule.
 
lol you too ? I blame Hitman & FC3 personally

staying up all night is easy ... you'll be tired around noon, it gets better afterwards, then sleep like a baby around 8 pm (at least the couple of times I did a ~36 hour LAN party when I was younger ... )
 
People pull all-nighters all the time. You'll feel like shit next morning, but in my experience if you manage to stay awake the next day until the time you want to fall asleep, you can change your sleep schedule.

What about working out? Somehow I envision myself lain on the bench passing out from exhaustion and getting the bar right in the face.
 
I'm gunna try the melatonin thing, I have the same problem OP. Except I am awake up until 4-5AM and have to get up for work at 9AM. This goes on for 4 days until I get my weekend and just crash hard until about 1-2PM on my first day off.
 
People pull all-nighters all the time. You'll feel like shit next morning, but in my experience if you manage to stay awake the next day until the time you want to fall asleep, you can change your sleep schedule.

Agree with this. It's hard but after a few days of staying awake at times you normally don't then you get used to it and becomes natural.
 
lol you too ? I blame Hitman & FC3 personally

If only I still had FC3 installed, that shit is prescription sleeping aid for me.

You are better off just sleeping for 2-3 hours and getting up you normally would.

I thought about this as well, I've tried it before but what happens is that I go to sleep 6am hoping to wake up 8am but I'm in such a deep state of sleep that not a fire would wake me up.
 
Man, those fucking alarms xD. I know that feel. 4:00am - 2:00pm here today. Luckily, I have to get up at 10:00 tomorrow, so maybe I will force myself to go to sleep early tomorrow.
 
I didnt see you mention it but.. are you tired in the day time? if not then I dont see the problem, sleep is just a waste of time. If humans didnt have to sleep we'd essentially be living 20 years longer.
 
What about working out? Somehow I envision myself lain on the bench passing out from exhaustion and getting the bar right in the face.

You might want to skip working out for a day... I know if I pull an all-nighter, usually by later the following night it takes all my willpower just to stay awake until I want to go to sleep. I don't think I could go to the gym in that condition :p
 

I'm too much of a baby to drink whiskey.

Man, those fucking alarms xD. I know that feel. 4:00am - 2:00pm here today. Luckily, I have to get up at 10:00 tomorrow, so maybe I will force myself to go to sleep early tomorrow.

Well I'm here all night so feel free to join me in my madness.

Alternatively...

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Oh god how I wish I had some.

I didnt see you mention it but.. are you tired in the day time? if not then I dont see the problem, sleep is just a waste of time. If humans didnt have to sleep we'd essentially be living 20 years longer.

It's somewhat of a long story but waking up midday ruins the rest of the day for me, I've had 0 productivity the last 30-40 days.
 
Yeah, I will join you. 3:30 here, 6,5 hours until wake up. I'm lurking gaf and watching a tv show where they use a lie detector to check, if a husband cheats on his wife.

phew, he doesn't
 
Starting a new job that kicks my ass for 8 hours a day has done wonders for my sleep pattern.

I used to be lucky to get to bed at 2-3AM.

Now I'm dead by 10PM. :(
 
Yeah, I will join you. 3:30 here, 6,5 hours until wake up. I'm lurking gaf and watching a tv show where they use a lie detector to check, if a husband cheats on his wife.

phew, he doesn't

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Sounds scandalous. I might get some goat cheese to tide me over... wonder if mango chutney works well with it.

Starting a new job that kicks my ass for 8 hours a day has done wonders for my sleep pattern.

I used to be lucky to get to bed at 2-3AM.

Now I'm dead by 10PM. :(

I'd kill for this.
 
Don't go to sleep tonight. Wait until a time tomorrow that you want to begin regularly going to sleep and then go to sleep. Even though you will probably be exhausted when you finally go to bed at 9, 10, or 11 PM tomorrow, you probably won't sleep for more than 4 - 5 hours. The following day is going to be the hardest, but you will need to force yourself to once again stay awake until your desired bedtime. This time, you will probably stay asleep a little bit longer. Keep this up over the course of 4 - 5 days and you will have effectively changed your internal clock.

Another trick: be sure to eat breakfast during the time you want to wake up normally and force yourself to go outside and get some sunlight.

I have to do this somewhat regularly due to huge time zone fluctuations while traveling or shift work and this is what works for me.
 
f.lux.

Also, you really need to limit exposure to LCD and other forms of artificial lighting. They wreck havoc on your brain at night. Turn off your computer and TV an hour before bed and read a book.
 
If only I still had FC3 installed, that shit is prescription sleeping aid for me.

" There is a drunk pirate shouting inappropriate things at our women. Honor Rakyat tradition and cut his guts out with a knife. " x 1,000,000
 
I employ this regularly, every few weeks. It's a good idea if you're stuck in a 4-11Am asleep late-night-on-the-computer existence. Pulling an all nighter by just drinking coffee, doing shame-you-don't-have-any, and reading shit on the internet really works for me. When daylight breaks I make breakfast with more coffee, take a shower, and go out into the world. Attend a lecture, play some sports, work, and then that evening you'll get tired. Here's the most important thing: avoid the temptation to go to sleep before about 10 PM/22:00 If you fall asleep then you'll most likely wake up around 8 feeling refreshed and ready to go.
 
Don't go to sleep tonight. *snip*

Another trick: be sure to eat breakfast during the time you want to wake up normally and force yourself to go outside and get some sunlight.

Thanks man. Oh we don't have sunlight here now, total darkness for 20hours a day.


You just need to keep at it. Sometimes a glass of whiskey on the rocks is all I need to relax. Once you do love it no other drink surpasses it. Except Scotch.

I'd love to have it in me to enjoy myself a glass but past experiences with drinking bottles of cheap whiskey have ruined a lot for me.

Get some?

To quote famous Greek philosopher Dave Chappelle, I'm broke n*gga I'm broke.
 
Yeah, I will join you. 3:30 here, 6,5 hours until wake up. I'm lurking gaf and watching a tv show where they use a lie detector to check, if a husband cheats on his wife.

phew, he doesn't

We are in the same time zone and need to get up the same time, I feel like we are connected somehow.

Wanna spoon?
 
We're timezone buddies as well. 03:44 representing.

Wish I was in another right now, or that I just had a decent answer to your question. Can't help but constantly mess up my sleeping pattern either and I'm terrible at pulling all nighters. Sleeping sucks.
 
Shit man. I'm in almost exactly the same position, but my iPhone alarms are only an hour apart each. Maybe I should add more at half-hour intervals...

Most nights I can't sleep until 4am, and when I finally do get to sleep I end up waking up around 11am or noon. My problem though is that due to being unemployed, I basically have nothing to do all day, and thus very little reason to wake up early, even though I want to.

I find that whenever I have an actual appointment to make relatively early in the day, I can wake up on time without much trouble. That's the only solution I personally have found, but it doesn't solve the problem of not being able to get to sleep early enough.

Staying awake for basically two days technically works... if you can do it. The hardest part is staying conscious between around 10am and noon. When staying up all night I end up feeling like collapsing around that time. If you start to feel that way, just give yourself something to do.
 
Late night GAF assemble!

It's 02:48 here and I'm getting ready to head off for what feels like a relatively early night. My sleep patterns have improved immensely in recent months because I'm busier, but recently I've been staying up later and later for absolutely no reason at all.

Set an alarm and place it further away from you - if you get up to turn it off then force yourself to go and grab a drink or open curtains/turn TV on.

I like staying up at these times but ironically I then struggle to sleep because I'm so focused on how late/early it is. Much worse in summer though when it starts getting light around 3am and then you end up feeling like there's no point in sleeping because the day has begun without you.
 
Shit man. I'm in almost exactly the same position, but my iPhone alarms are only an hour apart each. Maybe I should add more at half-hour intervals...

Most nights I can't sleep until 4am, and when I finally do get to sleep I end up waking up around 11am or noon. My problem though is that due to being unemployed, I basically have nothing to do all day, and thus very little reason to wake up early, even though I want to.

I find that whenever I have an actual appointment to make relatively early in the day, I can wake up on time without much trouble. That's the only solution I personally have found, but it doesn't solve the problem of not being able to get to sleep early enough.

Staying awake for basically two days technically works... if you can do it. The hardest part is staying conscious between around 10am and noon. When staying up all night I end up feeling like collapsing around that time. If you start to feel that way, just give yourself something to do.

That's basically my problem, well I'm supposed to be writing my thesis but my procrastination has more or less ruined that and my life at the moment and my sleep problems are directly correlated to that :/
 
That's basically my problem, well I'm supposed to be writing my thesis but my procrastination has more or less ruined that and my life at the moment and my sleep problems are directly correlated to that :/

I had this during my summer break from uni - felt awful, especially when my friends would be unavailable because of their existing commitments.

Try and give yourself a goal, whether it's going to the shops or meeting up with a friend at an early part of the day.

I know the feeling though because even if I have nothing to do in a day, I'd much prefer to be awake and about the house early - and it's depressing (especially at this time of year with the dark afternoons) to wake up with most of the day gone.
 
It's all about the environment. During my freshman year of college, I couldn't go to sleep until 8 AM and I'd wake up around 3. Couldn't fix that even though I tried just about everything to get back to a normal sleep schedule. Things didn't change until I moved into my own apartment.
 
Go to sleep at 4 AM, wake up at 7 AM, stay awake the entire day and do some exercise, go to sleep at your desired time that night, problem solved.
 
5 am, maybe I should watch a movie pass the time. Hungry as shit.
 
I too have some major sleep issues. I can force myself up for school and work but if left alone I can easily sleep till 1 pm sometimes even 3 pm. It's a real crisis
 
10mg Melatonin along with a 50mg dose of Diphenhydramine. One is a significant dose of a natural compound made in the body throughout the day (stored) and executed at night to enduce sleep. It's more complicated then that but I digress. The other is an antihistamine often used to lower the excitatory response in relation to allergies and/or to enduce sleep. The two work in wonders.

I'm an RN that works night shift, I used this combo about twice a week to get me to sleep well and put me back on a regular schedule when need to be. Thank me later lol

It should be noted most night-time sleep aids that are OTCs are 50mg Diphenhydramine pills (Ex: ZZZQuill). You can alternatively use a 25mg dose if you feel you don't need as strong of a response to get you to sleep. Average Melatonin pills are about 3mg but there are quick release capsules that can go as high 10mgs (And sometimes have other herbal related medicines in conjunction with it)

Needless to say you don't want to use sleep aids over a long period of time (if avoidable). Although the two things are not habit-forming, their effectiveness can be reduce over time as the body acclimates to it. Melatonin especially, if taken in the long term, runs the risk of your body not producing sufficient amounts of it throughout the day.

All in all, occassional uses are just fine and should help you put your circadian rhythm back in place. While I'm not in a position to give you expert advice (That's what your physician is for) I be happy to answer any questions that I can via PM within reason. :)
 
Yeah my sleeping is pretty fucked up too. I usually get it back to normal by just staying up as long as possible. Usually takes a few days though.
 
Usually no matter what I do I always end up reverting back to my nocturnal sleeping pattern. It's 4am now and I need to be in a seminar for 9am.

For some reason I always work best and get the urge to do work late at night so I might go full nocturnal for the next week to meet all my deadlines.

Edit: And now I am on NeoGaf instead of doing that work. It always ends up at the same place :/
 
Try going to bed even though you don't feel sleepy. Try to substitute internet-information craving with some light reading. Works for me +/- 30 minutes from my planned bedtime.
 
Stay up all night and dont go to sleep until a normal time the next night and only sleep for 8-9 hours. You will still feel like shit when you wake up but you need to tough it out and eventually if you stay on this path your hard reset of your sleep cycle will have worked.
 
Stay up all night and dont go to sleep until a normal time the next night and only sleep for 8-9 hours. You will still feel like shit when you wake up but you need to tough it out and eventually if you stay on this path your hard reset of your sleep cycle will have worked.

So far so good. Almost 6 am. Sun rises ~8:45 and stays up for like 2 hours. Contemplating drinking coffee for the first time in my life then and take a nice walk in the sunlight.
 
Fuck, fuck, shit, balls, cunt....

Passed out in front of the pc at 8 am, woke up with my face on the keyboard now... 14:00....

Fml. I've failed you gaf.
 
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