Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome

[StillAwake]

I recently googled "circadian rhythms" sometime in the middle of the night and stumbled upon the delayed sleep phase syndrome page on Wikipedia. WOW! The symptoms area read as though I was writing my own symptoms - it fit my problem perfectly. I have always been a night owl, even as a young child (I am in my late 20's now). My parents had a strict bedtime for me growing up and I'd always stay up for hours after bedtime, reading late into the night until I fell asleep. Come morning I am a beast to try and get out of bed, even at a very young age.

Now I still stay up very late, usually 3am - 5am and get up relatively early for college, usually around 8:30. No matter how little sleep I get, I am still up until all hours the following night. Naps are worthless as I will inevitably zonk out for hours which only makes the situation worse. Staying awake during classes requires coffee or I am constantly nodding off. In the mornings I will hold conversations with my wife, sit up, open my eyes and have zero recollection of it when I actually wake up. Also, I can never recall dreams and I can sleep through virtually anything - my wife vacuums the bedroom with me sleeping and it doesn't wake me. Alarm clocks are normally worthless and I have been known to sleep through them which is quite frustrating. Once the weekend rolls around (I work Saturday mornings so by weekend I mean Sunday), I am out for up to 10-14 hours which doesn't make me feel any more rested. When I do get a chance to get a full night sleep without excess, for example 4am-noon, I feel alert and well rested so I don't believe there is any problem with my actual sleep-time.

I don't snore normally unless I've had a few drinks, but I talk in my sleep which leads me to believe that I actually do dream. I rarely wake up in the middle of the night and if I do it is just to pee and I have no trouble falling back asleep. Consuming alcohol or taking a toke does nothing to induce sleep, and I am also a pack-a-day cigarette smoker (trying to quit again in about a month). My wife is an early-to-bed, early-to-rise morning person who while frustrated with my sleeping habits, is somewhat sympathetic.

The only thing that seems to help is when I am out of my normal element. I traveled to Texas to visit friends for spring break this year (-1 hour time zone) and I was out by midnight and up at 8 am every day. If my wife and I go on vacation somewhere even within our own time zone and we stay at a hotel, I am exhausted by midnight - 1am and have no issues sleeping or waking.

My brother seems to have the same issue but to a more severe degree - he works at 6:30am and will often be up until 2-3am the night prior. Come the weekend he'll be up until 6am or later (24+ hours awake time) and sleep until 7pm or so. My mother has a relatively normal sleep schedule but will hardly mumble a word until she has her coffee in the morning. My dad works factory swing schedule, but on his days off he is out and up with the sun (asleep by 9pm and awake by 5am).

Recently I made an appointment with my primary care physician at the local VA clinic as I am a disabled veteran and this is my only health care. I never served in combat so it isn't PTSD related or anything like that. So my doc gets me a referral to the local VA hospital (45 minutes away) and they eventually call me to schedule an appointment. They want me to drive to their hospital, and hook me up to machines to watch me sleep - get this - at 9pm until 5am. I laughed and canceled my referral. We'll see if I can get something else figured out at my next visit, but the VA is all about following protocol flow charts and whatnot. I am considering trying the melatonin pills to see if they help.

Anyways that's my story, and I'm still awake...

[StillAwake]

Side note: After reading some more posts I feel that it is important to add that I don't believe that I have nor have I ever had any form of depression. I've felt down-and-out before but it was always something that passed within a few days and occurred when I had some serious S*** hit the fan. I get kinda dopey during the winter months when we can go a week or two without real sunlight here in PA but that is about it - and that is always relieved by a good snowfall (I love snow).

[AngTheBanj]

about that cicadian rhythm google search and wikipedia. same thing with me. lol.
i know, it gets extremely frustrating.