Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome

[acidbones]

hi there...found this while trying to find a way to sleep (now there's a surprise!)

in short i'm an 18 year old girl who's always had problems sleeping but muddled along...until now.

i live an hour away from my college and so need to wake up by 7 in order to be on time only i find it impossible. i will put an alarm on the other side of the room, get out of bed to turn it off, get back into bed, get woken up again by my mum, have a conversation, fall back to sleep again, wake up, forgetting i have done all this, argue with my mum etc until around noon. i normally manage to fall asleep at around three or four am. because of this i'm only managing to get into college about one day a week and have the lowest attendance in my year group as most days i should finish at lunch. understandably, the school want to kick me out. i don't want to get kicked out. if i manage to make it into school before lunch i will repeadtedly fall asleep in my lessons. i'm not disinterested or lazy, when i'm awake i really enjoy college and love my chosen subjects....but i just cant do it.

in the holidays i'm completely fine...falling asleep at around for and waking up at around lunch time refreshed and cheery. during term time however i'm absolutely horrible. because i've only been asleep for a few hours when the time comes for me to get up for college if i get up at all i'm rude, snappy and a nightmare. this is causing massive problems for me at home.

last term i had to go and stay with my uncle as he lives closer to my college but i can no longer do that so i'm missing a lot of school and my work as well as my relationship with my teachers/friends is suffering. i don't like to stay at friends houses as i feel really rude when i wake up to discover they have been awake for hours.

my mum used to think i was lazy but she can now see that i genuinely try to wake up in the mornings and get into school. i've tried setting several alarms at 5 minute intervals all around my room, sleeping pills (prescribed), painkillers, excersize, going to bed early, tiring myself out in the day, reading, listening to relaxing music, only going into my room when i'm tired...i feel like i've tried everything within my means. if college started at 2 in the afternoon...i'd be an A grade student. as it starts at 9 in the morning....i'm a D grade student.

I know this is a bit of a ramble but i'm really frustrated as i dont know what to do and i don't want to get kicked out of college/home (proised consequence of getting kicked out of school). just wondering if anyone has any advice. do you think it would be worth going to my doctor?

[Sdryden3]

Hey,

After reading your post, I totally understand how you are feeling. I'm a 22 year old guy who has managed to deal with DSPS while graduating college and now attending graduate school. My first year of college was horrible as I went to school about 3 hour plane ride away, so I could not depend on anybody to wake me up. Also, during this time I was quite depressed, so I was dealing with these 2 issues at once while going to school.
It was at this time that doctors tried to prescribe me with various drugs for both issues including: trazadone, different anti-depressents, sedatives, tons of Nyquil which none had any affect on me whatsoever except hurting my stomach. Eventually, I went to a sleep clinic which diagnosed me with DSPS. After getting this diagnosis, everything clicked as I have been unable to sleep at normal hours for most of my life, but when I do manage to sleep I act like I am in a coma.
Now, finally to help your issues. By the way you write, it seems you are british so I can not guarantee you can do what I did while in college. My first-year I missed almost all of my classes except when I had to take tests and turn in important assingments. Because I was depressed at this time too, I managed to go to the office of disability and told them I was experiencing depression and extreme sleep issues and I worked out a deal to get notes and important announcements from all my teachers. The next 3 years of my college experience, I transferred to another school which did not allow me to do this. During this time, I tried melatonin. THIS HAS BEEN THE ONLY THING IN MY LIFE TO HAVE ANY POSITIVE EFFECT WITH MY SLEEP. I take it around 1-3 hours before I go to sleep, and it is by no means a miracle drug but 70% of the time manage to fall asleep by 4 am in time for my 9 am classes. Yes, I am a pissed off zombie during the day, but during the night I get a TON of energy and have always been able to do all my work which eventually led me to be able to graduate college and attend grad school.

Unfortunately, I am now starting to have less and less effect from melatonin and am having much more trouble trying to sleep which is why I found this website out haha. Basically, I am kinda glad I have DSPS because it definately has shaped the person who I am now and through being alone alot during the night has made me very creative and funny. For you, try melatonin. I take only 1 3mg pill a night. Also, try to harness your talents and lots of time at night to get your school work done. Finally, try to not rely on others to get you up because in the long run it will only be yourself to get yourself up. The longer you do this, you will be able to better cope with having no sleep and being able to function. Hope this helps!

[GAL65]

I don't know if this will be much help, but I found a great wiki page on the disorder: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delayed_sleep_phase_syndrome

My 18 year old daughter was diagnosed when she was 15. I decided to take her into the doctor at that time because her difficulty waking was getting worse and worse each year and I knew something had to be wrong because I would drag her out of bed by her ankles and she would just curl up on the floor and continue sleeping. I also suspected it wasn't personality driven because she displayed the same behavior my brother displayed our whole lives growing up so I knew there had to be a connection. I also believe I suffer from a milder form since I've always been a night owl and can't get up before a certain time in the morning but not as difficult as my daughter and until recently when I now make my own work schedule I was pretty miserable for years. She has a similar pattern as you do where she feels great when she falls asleep around 3:00am and gets up around noon. She currently works that schedule and she has been feeling great requiring less sleep than ever. When she had to get up at 6:00am for school, she was miserable and could sleep for 12-16 hours during the night and still not feel good when she woke up.

Anyway, I'm sure you are aware of all this, but what I found out after much research was that the best thing to do is try and find a schedule that suits your schedule. For example, I deliberately chose a college schedule for my daughter that started in the afternoons, otherwise I knew she wouldn't ever make it. My brother since he was a teenager (he's in his 40's now not knowing he had a disorder until my daughter was diagnosed) instinctively adjusted his lifestyle so he only works swing or midshifts. But, I understand that is not an option for many. Unfortunately, I have read that there is very little you can do if your condition is severe. The wiki page offers treatment options if you have to adjust your schedule so I thought it might help if you haven't seen this already. My dauther has tried the light therapy when she was in high school but she wasn't consistent so she didn't notice much of a difference.

As far as the melatonin treatment, I used it myself and really like it, but like I said my condition is minor. I have been afraid to have my daughter try it because I think that it might make her worse since DSPS affects the natural melatonin cycle in the body anyway and is hard to alter in the more severe cases.

Well, I've sort of rambled for a while, but I hope that I have given you some insight that might help and I wish you the best of luck.

[smak451]

I have been struggling with this for as long as I can remember (I'm 40). There is hope however. My issue is that I cannot sleep at night and am a zombie if awake during the day. I was a straight A student in college and attended Wharton Business School where I did very well. I did well because I simply didn't fight my condition at the time; rather i stayed up all night when I was incredibly alert and studied; I lived on campus though, so I took naps in between classes but I simply toughed it out and took tests/handed in papers without sleeping the night before. I would sleep in the afternoons after classes and become active at around 11 pm. This condition actually helped me since there were no distractions at night and I could focus. It's only hell when trying to adapt to the working world; and I have not figured that out and live in hell during the days at work. I hope this helps in some way, but know that it is possible to have this weird affliction and still succeed academically.

[smak451]

Bones -- In case I wasn't clear, what I'm suggesting is that you alter your sleep schedule to something like 5pm to midnight or 1 am. Stay up all night and study, you'll still be awake in the am to get to school and you'll be up at night on the weekends to party with your peers as well. Make it work for you while you can -- it actually was a help to me in school big time. My condition is lack of focus during the day; sometimes i'd be in class looking alert without being able to recite a word the teacher was saying. Teachers really just recite what's in the texts, so I studies them all night, and brought a tape recorder to class when I felt it was necessary to concentrate on what the teach was saying. Exams you just need to rise to the occasion, but if you do stay up at night and use that time to study, you'll be an ace. Seeya.