[livingwith]

so here is my story. as far back as i can remember, i always hated to go to sleep. i struggled with my parents, and would wait until they fell asleep to play with toys or watch tv. mornings were terrible and i would sleep on my way to school, or camp, in the car.
in high school it got worse. i would constantly fall asleep in class. i had many latenesses and would always stay up late. everyone ALWAYS told me i was a slacker, and lazy, and had bad discipline. I will admit i am also lazy, hehe, b...Read the full article

[Circadiabsurdium]

Hi, there. It's nice to have a name for it finally, huh? I encourage you to spread the word so that people know about it; you might save someone else a lot of grief by helping them figure out what's wrong and why they can't sleep.

To answer your question about treatments, there are lots of "bandaids" for DSPS but probably no "magic bullets." The healthiest and most effective option -- stop fighting it and sleep when your body wants to -- is, unfortunately, the LEAST available option for most people. I have had some success with bright light therapy and glasses that block blue light in the evening, but it's too early to say if it will help me in the long term. Some people have had luck with melatonin - but it has to be in the right dose (smaller doses! who'd have thought?) and at the right time in relation to your circadian rhythm. I.e., the small dose should be 6 hours prior to when your body starts producing melatonin - some people approximate by taking it 8 hours after the time they would wake up automatically when they are well rested and sleeping regularly (good luck figuring that time out). Some people use prescription drugs to get to sleep and or to stay alert during the day, while others say these have no effect, or else the effect is delayed so that it just intensifies sleep or alertness at the WRONG time, or that the side effects are so bad it isn't worth it. Everyone I have talked to basically has tried lots of different things until they have found (or not found) something that helps.

If you haven't found it yet, I invite you to join the NightOwl forum at:

http://lists.circadiandisorders.org/listinfo.cgi/niteowl-circadiandisorders.org

There is a wealth of information about all of these treatment options, and it's a sort of social network too. Overall it's much more active on DSPS than this (sleepdisorderchannel) forum, SO active that I would recommend that anyone who joins set up a separate e-mail address JUST for receiving NiteOwl postings.

Even if you don't join the Niteowls, I wish you the best of luck with finding something that works for you.

[sleepproblem]

Hey there.

Just curious, are you a male? sorry if you mentioned it in your story.


I feel like I have the same problem. I am 18 years old and I rarely go to sleep before 12:00 am. My usual bedtime is from midnight-2 a.m. I ATTEMPT to wake up for school in the morning by about 7am with multiple alarms going off and my parents yelling at me, trying to get me up. Most of the time I do not hear or even remember the alarms or my parents trying to get me up.

I go to school and am a very outgoing person but I do tend to fall asleep in class and my tardiness has increased this year. I have even fell asleep while driving a few times, all being close calls for an accident. I am not sure what depression feels like but there are SPECIFIC times where I feel like I am and I have never told anyone about it because I hate to admit it but I feel like it is depression.

I'm not sure how much more longer I can take this. i come home from school and usually end up falling asleep around 4p.m then waking up around 7pm or so...feeling more refreshed and ready to get my daily needs done, while everyone else is just finishing those and getting ready for bed. This is where it starts all again....

I have tried melatonin, it helps me fall asleep but the fact is that i am just not tired at night.

I need help..desperately

[Circadiabsurdium]

Hi.

Not sure if you meant me or the other poster, but I am female. Sorry if you expected someone else.

Is it any easier to fall asleep later on the days you skip the afternoon nap? If not, that's a good indicator of a circadian rhythm problem. Normal people can sleep when they are exhausted; people with DSPS lay awake for hours despite mounting sleep deprivation.

Lots of people have a temporary DSPS just during their teen years but then they grow out of it. There is a bit of controversy in some places about whether high schools should have later start times to accommodate for this. But if what you have is DSPS, maybe you are one of the people who will outgrow it.

There's a definite correllation between depression and sleep problems, but it isn't always clear which causes which. If your sleep problem has an independent cause, such as DSPS, then the sleep deprivation, along with feelings of failure from not being able to wake up normally, are likely causing the depressed feelings. But sometimes people have an independent cause of depression and that leads to the sleep problems.

It sounds like you're really frustrated about this, and it's probably a good idea to try to get help. If you want to get a proper medical diagnosis and are concerned about convincing your parents - or your doctor - that DSPS even exists, check out another topic on this posting called "convincing my mom."

Good luck.

[--A--n--a--]

hey. you were 100% correct about that wikipedia thing. its almost 3:00 right now and I'm just now starting to get sleepy. I read that the symptoms must have been present for at least a month and mine have been there for more than thirteen years!!! my mom said that I've always had problems getting to sleep even when I was a baby, but once I was, it was fine. honestly I think that DSPS sounds like one of those made up things, but it describes me PERFECTLY. Unlike what the article says, I am an A student at school, but I do fall asleep in class sometimes. What puts me to sleep are monotonous or vibrating noises such as fans or air conditioners. Does anyone else have that kind of reaction?
My usual sleep time is between 12 and 3 and I know that everyone says that. I do sometimes take 2-3 hour naps during the day and I usually feel better after them. I am thirteen year old girl and I have had this for as far as I can remember. My "night owl" skills include drawing and poetry. I am also in the gifted program at school.
Thank you for your time. You are right, the only way to describe this is indeed dammit.