Help/Support ► When your whole world's asleep...

[Reflection]

C=

Is there a chance that the sleeping patterns could change to normal as you get older?

Yep. It's just hard not knowing if, or when.

Thanks Mark ^^

 

[UnnamedPerson]

No problem xD
Happy to help.

 

[New2Ya]

That must be really tough.

I dont know if you tried it, but why not not sleep at all during the day, completely wear yourself out (be very active, sports, etc, tire yourself OUT!!) during the day, and then when your family goes to bed, do so too.

The thing is, when you have completely tired yourself out, you have no energy anymore, and your body NEEDS rest. So does your brain (since it's been active for over 24 hours), and thus you're gonna need to sleep. You probably just fall asleep on the couch in the evening if you do this.

Important though is that you seriously step it up in the activeness. REALLY go over the edge here.

There is a catch though. This will work one time, but the next day, you will probably fall back to your old sleeping schedule. To prevent this, be just as if not even MORE active during the day. Push your body in order for it to be so weak and tired that it needs rest. Continue this for at least a month. Your body and brain will need to get used to this. You can slowly 'decline' in the activeness during this period of time, until you're active in a normal way (most fit people do sports 2-3 times a week, around 1-2 hours every workout). It'll be tough, but it's worth it.

You have a disorder, I haven't looked into it enough, so I don't know if it's a chronic disorder. If it is, this will affect the rest of your life. If it's not, as in, you can reverse it, then you should not worry. In fact, it's the mind that is our biggest enemy when it comes to sickness and disorders. Once we are certain we have a problem, whether thats a disorder or a disease, we can actually make ourselves even more sick. So try to keep that in mind.

I wish you the best of strength and keep me updated on any progress you make.

p.s. Here's one thing that might be some sort of comfort for you: you're in puberty. Every teenager that's going through puberty gets sleepy at a later stage than adults or children, because the hormone that runs this sense of sleep doesn't work as well for a teenager. Or more like, it works later than it does for an adult/child.
Melatonin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
That's the hormon. Since you're in puberty, this hormon does affect you like all teenagers. However, yours obviously affects you more. It's quite possible that once you've gone through your puberty, you will slowly adjust to a normal sleeping schedule. Your life is not over, if that'd be the case.

Buuuut I doubt your life is over anyways. Try my advice. Unless you did it already and it doesnt work. G'luck!

 

[gelandporn]

Last year I got diagnosed with a bit of depression because of it, being discouraged with how it affected school and social stuff, etc, so i'm trying really hard to make things normal again, but I haven't seen the sun in forever.

It's a vicious cycle.
Depression would undoubtedly enhance the effects of your irregular sleep cycle. In turn, your sleep cycle would make you more depressed.

I'm not denying that what you have is a legitimate medical problem, but how much of a conscious effort have you honestly made to change your sleeping patterns? If this were wholly medical and not potentially psychological, I don't think you'd be asking a forum for advice on how to change (because we're not medical experts).

Circadian rhythms can naturally be altered over time so that a person could essentially go from being diurnal to nocturnal (or vice versa). You should at least try waking up closer and closer to an appropriate time each day (the interval of time you would want to get back to normal sleeping hours, I couldn't tell you). Use an alarm clock or someone to wake you up and, once you're up, don't go back to sleep no matter how much you're tempted. It's like drug therapy; giving in and taking a few smokes every now and then is going to set you back substantially and may impede the process altogether. It won't be easy but you need to at least give it a go.

To help, you could also make sure to isolate yourself from any Zeitgebers ( Zeitgeber - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) for starters and then perhaps start to introduce normal ones, such as the sun rising.

Best of luck.

 

[Reflection]

Okay, so I've been up since 7pm last night, it's like 3:45pm atm.
I'm going out to see friends tonight and hopefully I can keep myself awake all day. So far so good.
^_^

It's a vicious cycle.
Depression would undoubtedly enhance the effects of your irregular sleep cycle. In turn, your sleep cycle would make you more depressed.

I'm not denying that what you have is a legitimate medical problem, but how much of a conscious effort have you honestly made to change your sleeping patterns? If this were wholly medical and not potentially psychological, I don't think you'd be asking a forum for advice on how to change (because we're not medical experts).

While I know that, sometimes it's just nice to know that people understand it and are out there; it sounds weird but it's really freaking alone in the middle of the night lol.
Honestly, I've tried as hard as I could, 3 years is a long time; and the guilt and stress that comes with never getting to school is awful on my self-esteem, so it's very important to me that I get this changed.

Lol at the drug analogy, and thank you! <3

That must be really tough.

I dont know if you tried it, but why not not sleep at all during the day, completely wear yourself out (be very active, sports, etc, tire yourself OUT!!) during the day, and then when your family goes to bed, do so too.

The thing is, when you have completely tired yourself out, you have no energy anymore, and your body NEEDS rest. So does your brain (since it's been active for over 24 hours), and thus you're gonna need to sleep. You probably just fall asleep on the couch in the evening if you do this.

Important though is that you seriously step it up in the activeness. REALLY go over the edge here.

There is a catch though. This will work one time, but the next day, you will probably fall back to your old sleeping schedule. To prevent this, be just as if not even MORE active during the day. Push your body in order for it to be so weak and tired that it needs rest. Continue this for at least a month. Your body and brain will need to get used to this. You can slowly 'decline' in the activeness during this period of time, until you're active in a normal way (most fit people do sports 2-3 times a week, around 1-2 hours every workout). It'll be tough, but it's worth it.

You have a disorder, I haven't looked into it enough, so I don't know if it's a chronic disorder. If it is, this will affect the rest of your life. If it's not, as in, you can reverse it, then you should not worry. In fact, it's the mind that is our biggest enemy when it comes to sickness and disorders. Once we are certain we have a problem, whether thats a disorder or a disease, we can actually make ourselves even more sick. So try to keep that in mind.

I wish you the best of strength and keep me updated on any progress you make.

p.s. Here's one thing that might be some sort of comfort for you: you're in puberty. Every teenager that's going through puberty gets sleepy at a later stage than adults or children, because the hormone that runs this sense of sleep doesn't work as well for a teenager. Or more like, it works later than it does for an adult/child.
Melatonin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
That's the hormon. Since you're in puberty, this hormon does affect you like all teenagers. However, yours obviously affects you more. It's quite possible that once you've gone through your puberty, you will slowly adjust to a normal sleeping schedule. Your life is not over, if that'd be the case.

Buuuut I doubt your life is over anyways. Try my advice. Unless you did it already and it doesnt work. G'luck!

I actually take Melatonin atm, thank you so much for the advice. ^^

I've tried working out really intensely before sleeping before, it seems to work but it's difficult to wake up and continue doing so everyday, especially with things like school.

 

[qster]

That must be really tough.

I dont know if you tried it, but why not not sleep at all during the day, completely wear yourself out (be very active, sports, etc, tire yourself OUT!!) during the day, and then when your family goes to bed, do so too.

The thing is, when you have completely tired yourself out, you have no energy anymore, and your body NEEDS rest. So does your brain (since it's been active for over 24 hours), and thus you're gonna need to sleep. You probably just fall asleep on the couch in the evening if you do this.

Important though is that you seriously step it up in the activeness. REALLY go over the edge here.

There is a catch though. This will work one time, but the next day, you will probably fall back to your old sleeping schedule. To prevent this, be just as if not even MORE active during the day. Push your body in order for it to be so weak and tired that it needs rest. Continue this for at least a month. Your body and brain will need to get used to this. You can slowly 'decline' in the activeness during this period of time, until you're active in a normal way (most fit people do sports 2-3 times a week, around 1-2 hours every workout). It'll be tough, but it's worth it.

You have a disorder, I haven't looked into it enough, so I don't know if it's a chronic disorder. If it is, this will affect the rest of your life. If it's not, as in, you can reverse it, then you should not worry. In fact, it's the mind that is our biggest enemy when it comes to sickness and disorders. Once we are certain we have a problem, whether thats a disorder or a disease, we can actually make ourselves even more sick. So try to keep that in mind.

I wish you the best of strength and keep me updated on any progress you make.

p.s. Here's one thing that might be some sort of comfort for you: you're in puberty. Every teenager that's going through puberty gets sleepy at a later stage than adults or children, because the hormone that runs this sense of sleep doesn't work as well for a teenager. Or more like, it works later than it does for an adult/child.
Melatonin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
That's the hormon. Since you're in puberty, this hormon does affect you like all teenagers. However, yours obviously affects you more. It's quite possible that once you've gone through your puberty, you will slowly adjust to a normal sleeping schedule. Your life is not over, if that'd be the case.

Buuuut I doubt your life is over anyways. Try my advice. Unless you did it already and it doesnt work. G'luck!

Hey, that's an impressive idea! Oh, and Reflection, don't give up hope.

 

[coolfresh1224]

try staying awake half a day then working your way up.
and if that dosent work go to a city with a great night life
or just pm us i'll respond

 

[Enchanted Rose]

Like everyone else has said, it does sound like you would really benefit from changing the schedule, as hard as that may be, I'm sure you haven't exhausted all the possibilities itself. Consult another doctor.

Some not so great suggestions:

-Befriend lots of insomniac people. And then invite them to sleep over. Or just host loads of sleep overs where none of your friends will be sleeping anyway.
-You could get a part-time job, and work night shifts. Good pay, plus you'd still get to talk to people.

Idk really, I think you've just got to keep your attitude positive. Make sure that you get out of the house, and get as much fresh air as possible, and make sure that your days vary so you don't feel that life is getting mundane and limited. Try and plan some fun activities things you can do at home as well.

 

[New2Ya]

I actually take Melatonin atm, thank you so much for the advice. ^^

I've tried working out really intensely before sleeping before, it seems to work but it's difficult to wake up and continue doing so everyday, especially with things like school.

Ah yeah, it won't be easy to keep it up.

But that's the thing. You need to prepare yourself mentally. Like if you tell yourself today that next monday (May 18th) you start with changing the schedule and work out to tire yourself out, and keep this up for a month, then it can work.

When there's a will, there's a way. And you seem to really want to overcome this 'disorder'. So I would really suggest you to give it a try. Go berserk!

Also, be very strict to yourself. It's too easy to just give excuses like "Ah but today I had school and I'm tired now."

I'm not saying it will be easy. This will probably be the hardest thing you've ever done so far. You have a severe disorder after all. So don't take it too lightly. But keep in mind that your mind is strong, so you CAN get rid off your problem.

Good luck.

 

[Bukkake Sensei]

That's bullshit. Wake up to yourself.

I can't help but agree. Where can I sign up for this disease? I would love to have a free pass out of school and to be on a completely different schedule than the rest of the world.

 

[Reflection]

I can't help but agree. Where can I sign up for this disease? I would love to have a free pass out of school and to be on a completely different schedule than the rest of the world.

lol go to a sleep clinic

but i'm serious :|

 

[Nami]

God, Reffles, this sounds horrible. But very familiar.
My mom suffers from something similar, or at least she did. After she changed her midnight-shift job, her body was still trained to sleep from 7 A.M. to 5 P.M...
I wish I knew what to tell you, but I don't. She just kind of fell into a different sleep pattern after staying up for a few days straight, so I can't offer any personal advice. other than... umm... staying up for a few days?
=/
Im really sorry. I hope you can feel better soon.

[Have you considered night school?]

 

[Orion]

No idea whether this is directly linked to what you have, but I've read a couple of times that it's a natural tendency for teenagers to find it difficult to get to sleep. We wake up, have breakfast, then go to school/work, sit on our arses for the next several hours, and then go home and do not a whole lot. There's so much energy we get from the food we eat, and so little of it used up, hence why we find it easy to stay up late.

 

[New2Ya]

No idea whether this is directly linked to what you have, but I've read a couple of times that it's a natural tendency for teenagers to find it difficult to get to sleep. We wake up, have breakfast, then go to school/work, sit on our arses for the next several hours, and then go home and do not a whole lot. There's so much energy we get from the food we eat, and so little of it used up, hence why we find it easy to stay up late.

Melatonin.

We discussed it on the previous page. But yeah, you're absolutely right, and let's further discuss it then.

 

[afrobutt]

shit this thread is stupid. not the thread itself, but the people posting in it

this is not like having an all-nighter and then your sleep schedule is fucked up for a week. this is where your body's sleeping habits flip over and you can't help but sleep during the day and stay up at night.

this is not a free pass out of school. ref still does a shitton of homework, the only difference being that while everyone else goes to an establishment and learns with their friends in the sunshine, she does it in her room at 2 in the morning.

this is not something that can be dealt with by using alarms or staying up for a week

now if your the kind of person who spends their nights partying then this would be a pretty cool disease, but

or do anything I used to; church, orchestra, musicals, volleyball, everything I really loved,

the point of this thread isn't to raw raw fight the power of your own biological clock (see: not nearly as easy as people in this thread seem to think it is), it's whether someone can go through life like this.

speaking of which, i have no idea if this could be comparable, but my dad (as far as memory serves) had a sleeping schedule similar to ref's. he would sleep until 4 or 5 in the afternoon and go to work, then come home to sleep early in the morning and repeat. now iunno if this was because he had a similar disorder, or because he was a border-line NEET, but the point being that he still had time to hang out with friends, myself, play sand volleyball, keep a job, and have time to spare. And once you graduate there's always night-school for college needs.

tl;dr you don't have to become batman (always a thought though)

 

[New2Ya]

shit this thread is stupid. not the thread itself, but the people posting in it

this is not like having an all-nighter and then your sleep schedule is fucked up for a week. this is where your body's sleeping habits flip over and you can't help but sleep during the day and stay up at night.

this is not a free pass out of school. ref still does a shitton of homework, the only difference being that while everyone else goes to an establishment and learns with their friends in the sunshine, she does it in her room at 2 in the morning.

this is not something that can be dealt with by using alarms or staying up for a week

now if your the kind of person who spends their nights partying then this would be a pretty cool disease, but

the point of this thread isn't to raw raw fight the power of your own biological clock (see: not nearly as easy as people in this thread seem to think it is), it's whether someone can go through life like this.

speaking of which, i have no idea if this could be comparable, but my dad (as far as memory serves) had a sleeping schedule similar to ref's. he would sleep until 4 or 5 in the afternoon and go to work, then come home to sleep early in the morning and repeat. now iunno if this was because he had a similar disorder, or because he was a border-line NEET, but the point being that he still had time to hang out with friends, myself, play sand volleyball, keep a job, and have time to spare. And once you graduate there's always night-school for college needs.

tl;dr you don't have to become batman (always a thought though)

I agree, but it seemed to me like the topic poster wanted some help. Either a solution of the problem or some sort of comfort, like you gave.

It is a severe disorder, and you won't overcome it in a week. If that was the case, doctors would have mentioned it, right?

But it IS possible to change your biological clock. Think about the thousands of nighttime workers! You think they all have the same disorder as the topic poster has? No way!

They adjusted their biological clock.

It's not easy, no, but it's DEFINETLY possible.

 

[afrobutt]

I agree, but it seemed to me like the topic poster wanted some help. Either a solution of the problem or some sort of comfort, like you gave.

i said that

It is a severe disorder, and you won't overcome it in a week.

this is not like having an all-nighter and then your sleep schedule is fucked up for a week.

But it IS possible to change your biological clock. Think about the thousands of nighttime workers! You think they all have the same disorder as the topic poster has? No way!

They adjusted their biological clock.

It's not easy, no, but it's DEFINETLY possible.

said that too

thnx for restating, helpful stuff

 

[xgnarmanx]

If they're out there, I've tried them.

And again, there's simply no waking up, no "fixing it". We've been trying and fighting that for 3 years. There is no changing the schedule, that's what the syndrome is. At this point I don't feel like fighting it anymore, I just want to know how to cope.

You might just have to live with it. I say to make the best of the situation your in go to a down town area of your city there is allways shit going on late at night your to young to drink but theres bound to be some people there make some friends it would be a more social enviorment then just siting on your computer. I know thats not the anwser your looking for but you probly not going to find that awnser on a kh forum site

 

[Shadow Soldier]

You might just have to live with it. I say to make the best of the situation your in go to a down town area of your city there is allways shit going on late at night your to young to drink but theres bound to be some people there make some friends it would be a more social enviorment then just siting on your computer. I know thats not the anwser your looking for but you probly not going to find that awnser on a kh forum site

So you tell her that she's too young to drink... but you tell her to go in town by herself in the middle of night? You're just waiting to rape her aren't you?

 

[Reflection]

oh my
i doubt these people would want to be my "friends"
not a good idea...