its after 2 am again and i cant sleep....if i ever do get to sleep it isnt until the very early morning hours (after 5 am) and sometimes im up till 10 am! when i do fall asleep, it isnt for more than 3 hours usually.

*sigh*

what should i do? i dont wanna take Tylenol PM or any other meds just so i can sleep and going for a run in this neighborhood is out of the question...we get drive by shootings sometimes.

Lay off the caffinated products and sugary products after 7 PM.. That is stage one...

stop sleeping so late in the afternoon, force yourself up at 9 or 8 then force yourself into bed by 10 that night. you will regulate. Sounds like you can sleep, youre just adjusting to shitty sleep patterns. I used to do the same thing, would be up till 4 AM then sleep until 12. I forced myself into bed by 10 for a week then started getting up at 8 in the morning every day. Now I go to bed around 10 or 11 and I am up by 7am every day.

the thing is, i dont sleep very late...
psyko has to be up for work around 5 or 6 depending on the day and that alarm wakes me up. i dont ofthen nap during the day either...but when its bedtime, i just cant sleep!

Do what tiggs said and lay off the caffeine and sugar after 7. Infact lay off food altogether after 7 if at all possible.
You can get herbal sleep aids, or some people swear by camomile tea or warm milk, maybe a hot water bottle or a warm bath before bed.

Even if Psyko's alarm does wake you up, you could go back to sleep pretty easily if you don't open your eyes or get up or pay attention to it. If you like to get up with him and see him off to work then do that and then get yourself back to bed for a few more hours.

It might take a couple of months to get into a routine, but once you have it'll become a lot easier. Humans aren't nocturnal creatures and you just need your body to get back into a natural rhythm, which unless you have an incredibly busy and active life or have kids or are sick shouldn't include naps.

I really don't know how you can survive on so little sleep.
I can manage fine on 8 hours, but I've woken up after 10 and 11 hour sleeps and felt much better for it.

Do you do much physical exercise or activity? If you lead quite a sedentary lifestyle then often your body isn't exerted enough to become very tired.
It could be an idea to go for a walk before or after your dinner (but not less than 1.5-2 hours before you plan to go to bed). I know you say about the danger but maybe there's a park nearby or somewhere you could get to by bus or car which is safer to walk in. Fresh air and a brisk walk can often be the prequel to a great night's sleep.

oddly enough, if i do manage to sleep more than 5 hours, i wake up exhausted. if i do get 3-5 hours i wake up feeling rested. which is weird.


on the odd day sometimes im really busy and/or stressed, i grab a nap.

and when his alarm goes off, i usually have to nudge him to get him to turn it off, or else he keeps tht damn thing going for half an hour. bleh.

i may try some tea and a nice hot bath.

The thing about the sleep I imagine is like when you only get a short amount of time, your body is still full of the adrenaline it produces when you're over-tired, and it's unlikely you've had any sort of deep sleep.

You get a bit longer and it finally starts to unwind and relax and start the healing processes. The reason you feel exhausted when you get up then is because you've interrupted it in the middle of what it's doing, and it's shocked out of it and thinks "Shit, I have to switch power from healing to making and releasing energy". If you had 8 or 9 hours you'd feel better.

If you try tea and a hot bath, make sure it's herb tea or decaffeinated tea, and it might be beneficial to put in a few drops of an essential oil like lavendar, camomile marjoram or sandlewood as they all have calming, soothing and sedating qualities to them.

i've got the same problem, except once im asleep i can't get up when the alaram goes off. but i think mines is just stress induced.

lavander is suppose to be soothing, try reading a book, or anything that you find relaxing.

you're body is supposed to get about 8hours anymore and it can actualy cause problems (like still feeling tired after 10 hours sleep)..i just found that out lol

not everyone needs the eight hours and if you feel refreshed after 4/5 then i doubt you need to worry.

i just like sleeping because it stops me getting bored!

Something that might work pretty well is getting some Valerian/Valerian root (it's a chinese herb) for making tea. Valerian tea will put anyone with insomnia under -- I've never had a problem with it.

oddly enough i tried that a few times when i still lived at home. didnt work.

Valerian tea doesn't work on me either
I'm a troubles sleeper aswell ;-)

What I had to do was:
* Turn away the alarmclock so you can't see what time it is
* No naps during the day no matter how tired you get
* Pyjama is for bed only, not to keep on in the house
* Make a ritual; take a bath/walk, drink hotmilk with anise, pyjamas, read a few pages, close your eyes
* Don't stay in bed if you can't get to sleep after a while
* Get up (get dressed) and do something (ironing needs to be done ;-) )
* Get tired (change into pyjamas again) return to bed
* Get up at a regular time every day

To start it all I had to stay up untill I got tired, if it is 4 am, good, go to bed at 4 am, if it is 10 am, don't go to bed but stay up, 10am is daytime.
You will be tired later on ;-)
Get up at your regular time, even if you just got in bed at 4am and your regular getting up time is 8am. Stick to your regular getting up time! (sleep or no sleep)

Continue this and you will regain a normal day/night rhythme.
If you keep this going, eventually you will fall asleep easier and at normal times.
It takes time for the body to adjust so don't give up after just 2 weeks.

I got this skedule from a "sleeping clinic".
It worked for me! And no pills :-)


I also filled in a form everyday, to keep track of my rhythme and it was also good for the doctor to analyze where the problem is (if needed), might be handy for you too (if you need prof. help later on, you never know)
Fill in the date,
Took nap from .... to .... /Took no nap
Nap was planned/not planned (spontaneously fell asleep)
After nap was I tired? (scale 1-5)
Went to bed at ...
Fell asleep after about ....minutes/hours (make a guess, you can't see the clock because it is turned away)
Got up at ...
Woke by the alarm/Woke on my own
In the morning am I tired? (scale 1-5)
Activities of the previous day were: (scale 1 (nothing) - 5 (lots))

Hope it helps

If you decide to go with the pills, I recomend Ambien. There are no side effects, and it makes sleep fun. The most intense and realistic dreams I've ever had in my life came from Ambien.

i used to get some damn weird dreams from nicotine patches. scary shit.