I suck at sleeping and waking up, anyone else?

[[UEAK]Clowd]

was talking to a friend of mine today about this, telling him how I feel like absolute shit when I wake up and it feels impossible to get out of bed most of the time. I thought this was normal but he seems to think it's not so it got me thinking about it.

every day when I wake up, no matter if I got 6 hours of sleep or 12, or anywhere in between, I pretty much feel like I slept for maybe 45 minutes. I'm usually disoriented/confused for at least a few minutes, and unless I'm recording that day or have somewhere to be, it's very very easy to fall back asleep until 4, 5, sometimes 6pm. I tried putting my alarm across the room but I have like zero self control in the morning and I just end up crawling right back into bed. I almost want to create a device that puts a big iron wall up around my bed after I get out of it, but I would honestly probably end up sleeping on the floor or something... the feeling when I first wake up is THAT bad.

If I am recording that day or have something important to do, it's still not easy to get out of bed(I feel like SHIT for an hour or so) but I can obviously will myself to do it cause I don't wanna be late to the studio or anything like that. Once I have some coffee I'm good to go for the day.

I have had this problem for a long time now but for whatever reason I never really thought anything of it. It just seems especially bad right now because it gets dark at like 4pm and I have gone multiple days multiple times in the past month without seeing the sun once, save for a few minutes before I fall asleep.

Also, I find it easier to wake up if I only sleep for like 3-4 hours, but then I feel like shit the whole rest of the day even with coffee/caffeine.

anyone else suffer from anything like this?

 

[Chris_P_Critter]

I feel this way all the time as well, but I realized that it's probably due to the fact that I don't eat right at all, I don't keep normal sleep schedules, and I am a smoker.

Problem is... I am a horrible procrastinator. I always say I will change my habits but never do, so... I don't have anyone to blame but myself.

 

[Put]

How do suck both? ¯\(°_o)/¯ ofc.


* im gonna read your post now

 

[Put]

Perhaps something in your diet?
I mean .... smoking pot would be too obvious but you know ... all the aspartame and whatnot.....stuff to dumb people down/make em passive.
Try not watching tv and stay as close to water only and as less prefab food as possible.

Im no expert on whatever but I've tasted the benefit of it.
Other then that...I feel sorry for you man

 

[Notuern]

Im like that as well.. tried pretty much everything to get rid of it, but nothing has helped.

 

[JeffTD]

Make sure you're eating well and getting regular intervals of sleep; sleeping from 4am until 12pm is nowhere near as effective as sleeping from 10pm to 6am, as shitty as it is to have to go to bed that early. Our brains are linked to the sun; you don't get the most out of sleep when it's out.

 

[phatfil]

yes, i don't sleep well. i've even done a sleep study. sensors all over me while i slept. i didn't think i would be able to sleep at all with all the shit attached to me, but i did.

found out my problem was sleep apnea. my breathing would be blocked for long enough that my body would give a shot of adrenaline to get me breathing, and that would keep me from going through the whole sleep cycle. if you snore pretty heavy, this might be your problem.

 

[guitarguru777]

Its EXACTLY what Jeff said. There have been billion of sleep studies done and its been proven that our sleep cycles are linked to the sun. Get yourself on a regular sleep schedule and take a look at your diet. Get intoa regular eating schedule, watch the carbs and the sugars, stay away from coffe, soda, and energy drinks.

I have the same issue in that I go to bed at 1am and get up at 7 or 8am ... not good for you at all!

Seriously I am trying to get myself right as well.

 

[Plankis]

The problem might be that you're not timing your sleeping cycles. There are five stages your body goes through during sleeping and summed together they equal one cycle. One cycle takes about 90 min, but it varies from person to person. So it's not completely strange that you have easier to wake up after 3 hours, than compared to 8 hours.
Here's a good read: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=126977823

 

[Harry Hughes]

Yeah, there's a name for it, it's called insomnia dude
STOP relying on the caffeine to get you through the day. You're only making it harder on yourself by constantly relying on a quick fix than actually trying to get to the root of the issue.
Caffeine is fantastic is you do a lot of physical activity and need that extra boost (for example, I'm a powerlifter/bodybuilder, and caffeine always helps me to push a few more sets/reps out and I feel less worn out after my workout is done), and it's great when you don't use it daily, and sometimes even take a whole week or two off from it (called cycling off) to reset tolerance levels.
This is all good, because when you've slept well, and you're actually pushing yourself hard physically you're putting that caffeine to great use with a lot of physical and mental benefits.
I only ever use caffeine on workout days (3-4 days a week), so that I don't really build up a tolerance to it, and even then, I take workout days off from caffeine to be safe.
It also helps I don't consume anything like coffee, tea etc at all, I just use caffeine pills so I know exactly what dose of caffeine I'm getting and I can have complete, total control over tolerance levels.

However, if you're sitting on your ass all day, not doing much physical activity, using caffeine on a daily basis just to keep yourself focused and awake, you're setting yourself up for adrenal gland depletion and damage and it's just going to fuck with your overall mental and physical health.
Just sitting there, but not actually using that boost, well that's just terrible for the body in general really.
Chances are you're already in a physical state of over stimulation of the adrenal glands, which is only making you feel even more burnt out and shitty on top of the lack of sleep.
Reduce your caffeine intake IMMEDIATELY. Not tomorrow, not next week, NOW. Slowly reduce your dosage (for example, if you drink 4 coffees a day, cut back to 3, and then to 2 and so on), as immediately cutting caffeine out can cause withdrawal symptoms.
After a few weeks, you should be caffeine free entirely.
It honestly boggles my mind that society has gotten to this point where so many people are reliant on caffeine just to get through their daily activities.
It's not good for you, and don't be one of those that have to rely on it.

As for sleep, some supplements can help increase quality of sleep:

Valerian
Melatonin
Zinc supplements if you're Zinc deficient (I like to use the ZMA variant, Zinc monomethionine aspartate)

There's more, but those are some good ones that are easy to come across.
Melatonin has the added advantage of helping you to fix up your circadian rhythm.
Even though I do get a good 8 hours of sleep every night, it's good to have the above stuff anyway. I'll never go without the zinc now, always helps to give me a great quality of sleep.

Just do a lot of research on insomnia in general. I used to have it, and it takes time to beat it, but it can be done if you're willing to start now.
Although you'll probably read about this while researching insomnia, having a dark room to sleep in is important. If it means hanging sheets over your window, even over a curtain to further darken the room, by all means do it.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

I suck at sleep, but this is most likely due to my retarded work schedule.

 

[setyouranchor]

I feel this way all the time as well, but I realized that it's probably due to the fact that I don't eat right at all, I don't keep normal sleep schedules, and I am a smoker.

Problem is... I am a horrible procrastinator. I always say I will change my habits but never do, so... I don't have anyone to blame but myself.

I'm EXACTLY the same

And if I get disturbed at all while sleeping, or relaxing, it throws me off balance and I'm up for the rest of the night : /

 

[gabriel g.]

I am in the same situation for like 2 weeks now.
I think its the weather and my last cold which is slowly going away.

Fuck I hate the time between winter and and spring.
Its fucking cold, but not snowy anymore. It rains, the rain freezes.
One day its like 10°C the other day its -4°C

The thing about sleeping when its dark is TOTALY true!!!

Normaly I get my sleeping rythm back if I tortue myself to get out of bad at 7am, no matter how late it was last night.
Then no sleeping while the sun is up, and I will fall into my bed so tired and so early that I will stand up the next day also at 7am but with like 8h of sleep.
Doesnt work anymore

 

[StefTD]

try to eat more "good" stuff, like fruits and vegetables, not to much fast food and look after
your iron values. Most people don't get enough iron but it helps especially in cases like this.
Had to learn it the hard way I sucked at sleeping, was very passive and so on, than I started
to look after my iron values and it got sooo much better.

 

[ze kink]

I have a retarded sleep pattern. I only get sleepy at about 3 to 4am and I'll then sleep until 12pm or so. That's not a problem though, I feel really energetic and can get out of bed no problem. The thing is, when the fuck do I get to sleep until 12pm, if I have to get up at 7:30am to go to school? When I don't get to follow "my" sleep pattern, it's just as you described in your post. I use two, sometimes three alarm clocks to kick me out of bed and to keep me oversleeping important things. One is a Clocky, one is one of those wake up lamp -type of things, which seems to work surprisingly well. Even though I'll never see the light... what a shitty pun.

It occasionally gets quite bad with sleep deprivation, so I've got prescribed sleeping pills for the nights I really need to get the ~6 hours of sleep to function normally for the next few days again. Caffeine keeps me going too. After I quit drinking energy drinks almost daily, I stopped feeling all fuzzy in the head, coffee instead just makes me more focused and sharp so I won't blame just caffeine for anything.

 

[jipchen]

I have a similar problem, can't sleep for more than 6 hours. Mostly even less.. I fall asleep easily and never wake up during the night but I Sleep WAY too short. Especially after going to bed very late. Stayed up until 4 a.m. and woke up 5 hours later. No chance of falling asleep again ;(
Guess you guys are right with the going to bed early thing.

By the way, feeling totally crushed and overwhelmed after getting up is also a sign of burn-out syndrome.

 

[Peti]

Same problem here, I can't fall asleep before 3 AM so I can't wake up in the morning.
And I agree with those who say go to bed early but I just don't feel like it when I'm not tired yet.
Except after a couple beers but that's not the best solution for everyday's problem

 

[nialldoran]

yeah i sleep in almost everyday and can never get to sleep untill about three hours before i have to wake up i set my alarm clock, ipod and three alarms on my mobile phone and nothing, most mornings ill get my girlfriend to phone me and talk to me so ill stay awake after i answer the phone, but most times i hang up on her thinking its one of the three alarms,

even if i go to bed early i just lay there awake for hours, drives me nuts, i was thinking it could be my diet though as i dont eat alot of fruit or veg, and i stop drinking coffee at like three in the day to try and get some sleep, but to no avail, beer helps definatly, but not the liver so i cant get drunk every night

 

[Loki Laufeyiarson]

To the OP: ever got checked for vitamin B levels? Could be there to low. Some people get that because the body doesn't take in enough vitamin B on it's own. Couple of my friends have that. With some treatment, it can get better. This in case the "proper eating, normal sleeping schedule" thing doesn't seem to help with your case.

 

[Chris_P_Critter]

Another thing worth noting... I've had depression issues my whole life. I find if I am depressed, then my whole body is also depressed in a real physical sense. State of mind has a huge impact on how you feel. FWIW....