[Stormgsd]

Does anybody else have this? My brother and mother seem to have this as well. Since I start working part time next week this is going to be hard. I normally go to bed between 1 and 4 and get up around 11. I love that schedule but it won't work for my job

[Across Sicily]

It's not formally diagnosed, but my brother and I have reason to believe that we both have this. Given the opportunity (and it inevitably does this for me) it will develop into non-24-hour sleep-wake syndrome, which, let me tell you, SUCKS if you want to have a life. My brother and I, again, both share this tendency. It really works poorly if you want to live on "normal person" time, unfortunately.

For a very long time I thought I was lazy, an insomniac, etc. but upon finding out about delayed sleep phase syndrome and the non-24 hour sleep-wake syndrome I was SHOCKED at how well it explained me. When I sleep, I generally sleep very well and quite deeply (unless the BF is busy sawing logs at top volume next to me... sigh). It's just not during normal people hours! For awhile, when I wasn't riding or having appointments during the day or whatever (I work from home and make my own hours, yippee), the non-24 hour thing totally took over, and I have never felt better.

[EponaRoan]

Yup! I do best working swing shifts.

[naturalequus]

Man, that completely makes sense!!! I'll have to pursue it further, I'd never even heard of DSPS until looking it up just now because of this thread...interesting!

[RiddleMeThis]

It's not formally diagnosed, but my brother and I have reason to believe that we both have this. Given the opportunity (and it inevitably does this for me) it will develop into non-24-hour sleep-wake syndrome, which, let me tell you, SUCKS if you want to have a life. My brother and I, again, both share this tendency. It really works poorly if you want to live on "normal person" time, unfortunately.

For a very long time I thought I was lazy, an insomniac, etc. but upon finding out about delayed sleep phase syndrome and the non-24 hour sleep-wake syndrome I was SHOCKED at how well it explained me. When I sleep, I generally sleep very well and quite deeply (unless the BF is busy sawing logs at top volume next to me... sigh). It's just not during normal people hours! For awhile, when I wasn't riding or having appointments during the day or whatever (I work from home and make my own hours, yippee), the non-24 hour thing totally took over, and I have never felt better.

Both of these sound like me completely. Along with potential sleep apnia....I may need to talk to my doctor about these.

[Kestrel]

I've always said that both my daughter and myself should have been born on a planet with 28 hour days, because 24 just doesn't work for us. Even if I'm very sleep deprived, it's still difficult to get to sleep at normal people bedtime.

[JinxyPoo]

Yes!!!! I like to go to sleep between 3 and 5 and wake up between 1 and 3 in the afternoon (I need to sleep wayy more than 8 hours too). Obviously this is not compatible with "normal" life. Thankfully once I graduate in May I'll be a nurse and can work overnight!

[mg]

Holy moly...I've been really frustrated with myself for the past couple of years, and it's really coming to a head within the past year since I need to wake up even earlier. I have extreme issues falling asleep at a normal time, and if I try to force myself to go to bed earlier, I just lay in bed awake and end up falling asleep even later than I would have normally The waking-up part is the worst though. I have at least two alarms set, and usually place once across the room so I need to physically get up and out of bed to shut it off. There have been times where I am awoken in a panic and realize I shut off all my alarms while still in a deep sleep and I am now late. Luckily, I am living at home until I find my own place, so I have my mother to help wake me up. I'm not sure I would make it to work on time most mornings if she didn't...

I tried Tylenol PM for about a week. I would take it around 8:30pm and it didn't make me sleepy at all. I found it made waking up in the morning even more difficult, which was scary. I'm not sure if I actually fit the specs of DSPS, but it does describe my difficulties very well. At least it's good to know I'm not alone with my struggles. It becomes embarrassing because people think I'm just really lazy

[naturalequus]

mg I feel your pain! I've been SO frustrated with myself (plus it's so disheartening) over the years as well, to experience some of the above. I only found out about this condition today, on this thread, but man, it would sure explain some things (eta: and a person has to be careful, everything nowadays has a label and it's easy to be quick to self-diagnose, but still, having the info out there really helps because it can enable one to look in the right direction and maybe unlock the right answers)! I am definitely looking into it first thing when I return home from work. I FEEL lazy sometimes (but I certainly don't want to!!), mainly because it's been drilled into me as such (parents, when I lived under their roof), but I really am FAR from the laziest person - I work HARD and am incredibly active and busy when I'm awake...I'm just always tired and feel like I'm on a different schedule than everyone else!! I've tried melatonin, but all it seems to do is make me feel incredibly tired...yet still unable to sleep (and yes, I've done the 24-hour thing too). It IS scary to wake up in the morning sometimes and still be in that heavy heavy fog from the melatonin - I can't even think straight. I have to have a million alarms set (yes, across the room too and with absurdly annoying rings) and even the other day I STILL somehow managed to turn them all off in my sleep and miss the morning meeting. I have a sneaking suspicion I also suffer from sleep apnea, given the occasional time I gasp awake because I have literally stopped breathing (I do not snore though). Scary at the time. I could sleep all day (I am a VERY severe night owl) and require MUCH more than the standard 8 hours when I DO sleep...I always feel sleep-deprived and often under some sort of fog. Yet I can lie awake for HOURS if I try to go to bed early. It IS somewhat better at home at least (versus away at work). I just always assumed the problem was somehow ME (ie, just need to be more self-disciplined about it, particularly mentally) but maybe there's more to it... I'm very grateful for this thread, I will have to look into this and any other similar conditions that might be applicable instead. Who knows, maybe I'm just somehow very sleep deprived for some other reason, but maybe there is something further exacerbating or even causing the situation. Anyways, thanks guys again for bringing this important subject up.

ETA: EponaRoan, lmao looking at it that way actually makes me feel a bit better about it, hahaha

[EponaRoan]

I don't think most of us are lazy - we're just a few hours behind (or ahead!) of other people.

Think of it this way - if humans hadn't had some people who were predisposed to staying up late, who would have kept fires going and warned about predators while the majority slept?

[Equilibrium]

So I'm not the only one who needs three alarm clocks that I physically have to get up and turn off? And another one who can't go to sleep early. I think that I have been very lucky in my working life because I usually do things very early in the morning and am home by afternoon so I can usually nap. Going off to check this out as it is interesting.

Terri

[MunchkinsMom]

I never knew this was a sydrome, going to Google it now, because if this is a new medical term for "night owl" that would be me! And always has been.

[Coffee]

I am the poster child/person for this syndrome, which is why I'm typing this at 1:52 am eastern time. When I was in college I could get to sleep between 12 and 1 and wake up at 7:30 to 8:30, but the time has crept later the older I get. Not only that, I find that my body really wants to divide the sleep up instead of sleeping one long session. I am often very sleepy between 7-10pm and wake up again at 11 pm.

[Go Fish]

I never knew this was a sydrome, going to Google it now, because if this is a new medical term for "night owl" that would be me! And always has been.

Right...night owl...I've always been one and now evidently science has put a fancy schmancy name on it.

My mother claims I came out of the womb this way. My father's a night owl, as well.

[furlong47]

WOW... this sounds like the sleep problems I have been having for about the past year. I'm usually most alert in the evenings, at night, and into the early morning. Often don't go to bed until 2,3,4 AM and struggle to get out of bed and in to work at 9. Feel like a zombie all day, but then come alive again about 8 or 9 PM...

On a weekend when I don't have to be up for something, I'll often sleep for most of the day... 18 hours even... catching up.

When left to my own devices for an extended period of time, I tend to sleep approx. 3-11 AM

[kookicat]

Ooh, this describes me quite a bit. I do best when I can go to bed at around 1, then get up at 10-11... I can keep normal hours, but I usually makes me feel sluggish.

I'm gonna google!

[jump4me]

Funny, I do/did really well when I could sleep in two "shifts" per day- about midnight/1/2am to 4/5/6am, then similar hours in pm, totaling less than 8hrs sleep/day (had to keep those hours due to job, but I felt much better/lots of energy when I kept that type of schedule.)
Now, I keep "normal people hours" and sleep 10+ hrs/night, but still need a nap during the day. And when I was doing the two-sleep-shifts, I could skip one without a problem. Now, if I go to bed an hour or two late.... zzzzzz during the day. I do much better taking night classes than day, too.

[AliCat518]

Wow this sounds like me too! Especially in the past year or so.
Even when im extremely tired or sleep deprived, I cant fall asleep at a "normal" time. Which SUCKS because I sleep at my SO's house...and he goes to bed at 9or 10 and wakes up at 530. I generally cant fall asleep til 12 at the earliest. I get my best sleep between 4:30 and 930am. Unfortunately, my drivers license was revoked due to medical issues, so I have to ride with him into town(my house) at 7am. And by then, I generally cant fall back asleep!
I've found that Trazodone (a "failed" antidepressant, which makes you tired) has helped me to fall asleep earlier. It definitely doesnt make it easier to get up early though!

[nlk]

Wow this is so me!!! Having kids doesn't make it easy either!

When I was in school I literally would wake- up 5 mins before I had to leave for school!

I often don't go to bed until 1am at the earliest. Then my kids are up around 7:30 (one to go to 1st grade and the other is under 2 years old) I work afternoons, always have and it's perfect for me. Luckily my husband does also so we switch mornings to sleep in. If I am left I can sleep until 11am easily.

There are however times where I have classic insomnia as well. Can't fall asleep (sometimes 5am), can't stay asleep or I have that light sleep where you're up every hour checking the clock, then on top of it I'm up in the AM early to....It's horrible.

My parents always classified me as "lazy" too. Even though I bust my butt working and caring for my children...I just don't function before noon, sometimes it's 3pm before I have energy to do anything.

I ended up going to a neurologist. I was having extreme disorientation and confusion...Getting lost in my home town, texting words I have no idea I texted/ or thought it said something else. When I had a EEG done it came back that I was sleep deprived. He gave me xanax. I take .25-.5 mg. I take it no more then 4 days a week 1/2 hour before I want to go to be. I'm usually out in 1/2 hour. I wake up groggy, which I hate, but I found it worth it because it "trains" my body to sleep normally. If I take it when I need it I find that when I stop taking it I can go months with out needing anything and falling asleep by midnight at the latest. I feel so much better and more able to function inn the AM with my children.

[lovemyoldguy]

So I'm not the only one who needs three alarm clocks that I physically have to get up and turn off? And another one who can't go to sleep early. I think that I have been very lucky in my working life because I usually do things very early in the morning and am home by afternoon so I can usually nap. Going off to check this out as it is interesting.

Terri

THIS. IS. ME.

People laugh when I tell them about my alarm clock - it's downstairs in my family room. (And I *still* make the trek to hit the snooze button at least three times - usually more like four or five - before I finally force myself to get up for the day.) This is, of course, in addition to the multiple alarms I've set on my cell phone and BlackBerry. And even with all that, I usually get up too late in the morning and wind up rushing around like a madwoman to get out of the house. I'll do everything I can the night before because I just can't function in the morning.

I'm at my least productive in the first part of the day, but I can happily work until 8 or 9 pm because my "focus" doesn't really kick in until at least 4. That means a 12 or 13 hour day, only half of which was really productive. 11pm, though? Wide awake.

On weekends, I usually have at least one day where I do nothing but nap. I hate myself for feeling horribly lazy, and yet I'm so tired I can't fight off the sleep. Now I know it's not just me, though. Wow.

Seriously. This is why I love COTH. I thought that I was lazy and unproductive, when it's really just the way I'm wired.