Weclome to the Sleeping/Insomnia forum!

This forum may be used to discuss the sleeping issues that many of us ADDers have.

a good book for reading when a goodnights sleep is not possible is Chopra's book on Insomnia

I'm ADD and my problem is deep sleep, such as, we just had a new roof put on our small barn, my husband came home from work and wanted to know when and how long it took the roofers to roof the barn, found out they came around 7a.m. and finished around 9:30a.m. not to far from our bedroom,
I slept through it all, I do this alot. I always have, my mother had a terrible time trying to get me up for school.

well, just wondering if I'm the only one with this kind of sleeping problem

over and out for now

fasthummingbird

No, your not the only one. I also have ADD and (when I find the time to sleep) I sleep rather deep myself. Yes, I will also consider it a problem to get out of bed. But, Fasthummingbird, if you would consider the other side, you might not find it to be so bad. If a thunderstorm rolles through your town, more times than not, you won't be awakened by the light or medium thunder crashes. Minor things that wake up others will not usually wake you up.

Once again, I completely agree that its a pain to get out of bed, but you just gotta pull yourself together and do it. But on the other hand, its kinda cool to be able to sleep longer without disturbance.

My parents from time to time will say, did you hear that thunderstorm last night, and I often reply, "What? There was a storm?.." :D

Wish I had a problem deep sleeping... :P

It takes me a long time to fall asleep, and then I wake up every 20 - 40 minutes. I wake up tired. I'm tired most of the day. And yet, I still cannot sleep. I don't even take naps.

Clonidine helps a little teeny bit. It's very aggrevating.

Cyndi

great idea for a forum! i have gone days without a wink of sleep and know others struggle with this as well.

i was thinking about this just this morning because i was up until 5 am, finally drifted off, and awake again at around 8. the good news is that before i started taking my adderall, i dreaded the very idea of trying to fall asleep because my thoughts were the ole freight train going 500 miles an hour. at least nowadays, when i can't sleep, i don't feel edgy or wonder if i'm going nuts. i just feel awake. so generally i check out the forum, read, do some work (i write), or watch cnn. i'd still like to sleep a bit more, but hey, it's definitely on the upswing so i'm not complaining!

Wish I had a problem deep sleeping... :P

It takes me a long time to fall asleep, and then I wake up every 20 - 40 minutes. I wake up tired. I'm tired most of the day. And yet, I still cannot sleep. I don't even take naps.

Clonidine helps a little teeny bit. It's very aggrevating.

Cyndi
i have the same problem. i don't fall asleep for along time. and when I do sleep i don't stay asleep that long. I also am tired during the day. i don't understand why i feel tired but don't sleep. What are you going to do about your sleep disorder?

I have bad sleep problems. I can never fall asleep and when I do I am so active in my sleep I get no rest. Then when I do get rest I wake up every hour instead. I wake up more tired then when I fell asleep a lot and my eyes and head pounds

crumb. Had typed a whole post, and accidentally lost it. :( and I'm trying to get to bed "early" tonight! Grrrr.

Anyway, I've had sleeping problems for a few years. I'd fall asleep at
work, and take one or two 15 minute naps, one in morning, one in afternoon.
It's been getting worse. Last fall, my pdoc sent me to sleep center for overnight sleep study, he thought I had sleep apnea. Didn't, they said I had RLS and was on meds for that for a few months. Didn't seem to help. I'd have trouble falling asleep and/or wake up it seemed every hour or two through the night. Then I quit (with permission) the RLS meds, and took 10mg Sonata most nights. Then, pdoc switched me from 30mg/day Focalin to 60mg Ritalin. That helped the falling asleep at work. The past week or so, however, I've been getting sleepy, around 2 hrs. after taking 40mg Ritalin. I read elsewhere on this forum about someone taking their Lexapro right before bed, and sleeping through the night, so I've done that the past two nights, and have been sleeping through, maybe waking up just once or two. I'm not sure why I'm falling asleep at work again. On bad days, I take a 15 minute nap in morning and afternoon, and sleep for about 30 minutes at lunch. I have been working extra hours at a second job, but last night, for example, I got about 6.5 hrs. sleep. And it's only going to get worse the next few weeks being peak time.

crumb. Had typed a whole post, and accidentally lost it. :( and I'm trying to get to bed "early" tonight! Grrrr.

Anyway, I've had sleeping problems for a few years. I'd fall asleep at
work, and take one or two 15 minute naps, one in morning, one in afternoon.
It's been getting worse. Last fall, my pdoc sent me to sleep center for overnight sleep study, he thought I had sleep apnea. Didn't, they said I had RLS and was on meds for that for a few months. Didn't seem to help. I'd have trouble falling asleep and/or wake up it seemed every hour or two through the night. Then I quit (with permission) the RLS meds, and took 10mg Sonata most nights. Then, pdoc switched me from 30mg/day Focalin to 60mg Ritalin. That helped the falling asleep at work. The past week or so, however, I've been getting sleepy, around 2 hrs. after taking 40mg Ritalin. I read elsewhere on this forum about someone taking their Lexapro right before bed, and sleeping through the night, so I've done that the past two nights, and have been sleeping through, maybe waking up just once or two. I'm not sure why I'm falling asleep at work again. On bad days, I take a 15 minute nap in morning and afternoon, and sleep for about 30 minutes at lunch. I have been working extra hours at a second job, but last night, for example, I got about 6.5 hrs. sleep. And it's only going to get worse the next few weeks being peak time.

Thanx for your post. I'm a newbie trying to slog thru the site. I've been taking Effexor for depression but taking it 1st thing in the AM. It never occurred to me to take it at night so I could get to sleep sooner. I loved the line about sleeping at work. I was an outside salesman before I retired and can't tell you the number of times I was awakened during the day in some parking lot by a cop asking if I was OK. Had a terrible time almost falling asleep at the wheel. Your post pretty much describes my condition except I am such a light sleeper that when I finally fall asleep I am literally awakened by everything. When I was on the road I dreaded checking into the hotel every night because of the constant noise. I hope you have solved your problem, you may well have solved mine.

I find it hard to get to sleep, even when I'm etremely tired I can lay awake all night and be awake all day, and still not be able to get to sleep the next night. I found that playing classical music as I try to sleep sometimes helps me, but other times I'll just lay awake and listen to the music. Also if I know that I have to get up early the next morning for an appointment, there is no hope of me getting to sleep,and I get aggravated with myself and count down the hours until I have to get up. Does anyone else have that problem?

I found a .25mg or .5 mg dose of xanax about an hour before I want to go to sleep will help on those nights that I know that I HAVE to sleep. I don't do it often because I don't want to be dependant on the xanax but it helps in those situations where I know I need to be 100% in the morning. The only thing that sucks is I have to decide early enough to do it or else getting up is HORRIBLE. :eek:

i was wondering just how much sleep i affected by ADHD. I have historical not been a very good sleeper. (in my opinion). SOmetimes it takes a bit not usually longer then an hour depending to fall asleep. My wife it takes her sometimes less then 5 minutes. When i do go to sleep, i am sometimes up frequently, meaning awake and see the time and go back to sleep. Other times, awake and stay up and toss and turn for various times. When I do sleep sometimes it is pretty good though. I think the best night sleep I got once was when I was up for 3 days straight and went to bed, it was very good. My job affects my sleep also, so that may have soemthing to do with it, hence, wondering how much ADHD affects sleep

I find it hard to get to sleep, even when I'm etremely tired I can lay awake all night and be awake all day, and still not be able to get to sleep the next night. I found that playing classical music as I try to sleep sometimes helps me, but other times I'll just lay awake and listen to the music. Also if I know that I have to get up early the next morning for an appointment, there is no hope of me getting to sleep,and I get aggravated with myself and count down the hours until I have to get up. Does anyone else have that problem?

Yep! I'm exactly the same... I've recently been taking Imovane (not sure the dosage) I find that I still lay awake for 1 1/2 hrs before falling asleep but at least I sleep through the night. (unless I have an appointment the next day :()
Same as with eleanorabernathy I used to wake up every hour...look at the clock, back to sleep but I still always feel like I have a hangover the next day (without having the fun part of drinking the night before:p )

I think my problem (similar to y'all's) is that when my husband and dog are sleeping (yes, our dog, Belle is so spoiled:D) is the only time I can concentrate on using the computer (and check and reply to posts).. Then, like last night, I got distracted by all the good posts to reply to that I forgot to check online for jobs at our local medical organization hospital-offices, etc. until now... then when I tried to apply, it took so long to load that I exited out of it (cancelled, whatever.. in my own way).

So, I think my sleep problem is also a result of hot flashes (they keep me up, or wake me up) and night sweats as well as ADD. I try to take all my meds (Paroxetine and Arimidex) at night. Then take my Gabapentin that's suppose to help with hot flashes, for me anyway. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. I'm supposed to take one 3x/day, but I forget... like I keep forgetting to take my calcium and vit. D supplements, etc. So I end up taking all 3 at night, but it no longer makes me sleepy. Now, tonight I finally remembered to take my meds (night meds) earlier, then at about 9:00 a.m. (maybe earlier??) I'll take a Benadryl that will help me sleep or get sleepy (the dr said it's okay).

Anyway... Usually at the last minute... I think of something else to start on... at about 1 or 2 in the morning. Which I did last night.

I have to wear earplugs at night to drown out my husband's snoring. Then I can try to go to sleep. His snoring is distracting... that's the only problem. Sometimes our dog snores too.

Well, this morning I stayed up, got on the computer (okay, not literally, LOL) and stayed on it until 12:00 p.m. I was going to take a nap and had my alarm set, but didn't go to sleep real good until just before it went off, so - what do I do? Why push the snooze alarm, of course... bad habit. I know I should put the alarm clock far away from the bed, but there's no where else to put it (we don't have any chest of drawers, etc. to put it on. So, I finally get to sleep (and layed on my good ear) but didn't hear the alarm go off... and slept through my dr's appt. (not a psych dr, just a regular family prac. dr.)...

I've got to get my b**t in gear before I start this semester then start working at Greenberg Smoked Turkeys this Holiday season, or the results will be "BAD"!

Okay, it's now 8:43 p.m., I'm going to take a Benadryl as soon as I click on "submit reply"... ready set... here I go...

I'm not sure if anyone can relate to this, I think Fasthummingbird and Dragon_slayer8 are likely to see some similarities but I'm curious to see if we are having the same problem or seperate problems.

I find that at night I like to be up and doing things, sometimes I feel tired but it takes me an age to get to sleep thoughts zooming round my head and so I try to think myself into a dream (wierd I know!).

Anywho after a few hours I am asleep (or I've got so bored I'm out of bed again!) and then before I know it my wife is getting up - she might wake me and speak to me but I rarely if ever remember these conversations.

Then I fall back asleep and I won't wake for anything! This has caused major problems with appointments, getting to work / Uni etc. It's like i just can't get motivated to get out of bed and because i am such a heavy sleeper I can sleep right through the day. On the other hand no matter how early I go to bed I can't seem to sleep straight away so a bedtime of 9 will quickly become 2 or 3 in the morning :confused:

I'm not taking any meds to help me sleep though this is something i would consider and I'll be mentioning it when i go to see the pdoc. I know though that once i get into a routine of getting up, the getting up part becomes much easier (from past experience). Saying that though, despite being able to get up once I am in a routine of getting up early (may last a few days / weeks / months I couldn't say I've never paid attention until now) I just seem to eventually keep slipping into this bad habit of not being motivated to get up. Not to mention no matter how determined I am to get up, it still doesn't solve the heavy sleeper / terrible trouble getting to sleep issues! lol

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Oh Fasthummingbird, my mother always had trouble getting me up for school! It's still a running joke in my family and now I'm 25! :D

I'm not sure if anyone can relate to this, I think Fasthummingbird and Dragon_slayer8 are likely to see some similarities but I'm curious to see if we are having the same problem or seperate problems.

I find that at night I like to be up and doing things, sometimes I feel tired but it takes me an age to get to sleep thoughts zooming round my head and so I try to think myself into a dream (wierd I know!).

Anywho after a few hours I am asleep (or I've got so bored I'm out of bed again!) and then before I know it my wife is getting up - she might wake me and speak to me but I rarely if ever remember these conversations.

Then I fall back asleep and I won't wake for anything! This has caused major problems with appointments, getting to work / Uni etc. It's like i just can't get motivated to get out of bed and because i am such a heavy sleeper I can sleep right through the day. On the other hand no matter how early I go to bed I can't seem to sleep straight away so a bedtime of 9 will quickly become 2 or 3 in the morning :confused:

I'm not taking any meds to help me sleep though this is something i would consider and I'll be mentioning it when i go to see the pdoc. I know though that once i get into a routine of getting up, the getting up part becomes much easier (from past experience). Saying that though, despite being able to get up once I am in a routine of getting up early (may last a few days / weeks / months I couldn't say I've never paid attention until now) I just seem to eventually keep slipping into this bad habit of not being motivated to get up. Not to mention no matter how determined I am to get up, it still doesn't solve the heavy sleeper / terrible trouble getting to sleep issues! lol

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Oh Fasthummingbird, my mother always had trouble getting me up for school! It's still a running joke in my family and now I'm 25! :D

Wow, that is me, too! I have to use earplugs to drown out (as much as I can) snoring and the dog ("cleaning" herself:eek:). Just wish I could drown out my own thoughts, but I know that doesn't work. So, I've tried (but keep forgetting until it's too late) to take Benadryl at about 8:30 p.m. (CST) or so. But you might want to ask your pdr if that's okay, or other dr's who know what other meds you're taking. At least I don't have any allergy problems so I can sleep. At least the earplugs help me to not hear anything, much, so I can "think" myself to sleep. (I do the same thing).

Wow, that is me, too! I have to use earplugs to drown out (as much as I can) snoring and the dog ("cleaning" herself:eek:). Just wish I could drown out my own thoughts, but I know that doesn't work.

I've quoted this for the scary amount of truth behind it, especially the dog cleaning herself part, tho mine is male and I think after 5mins or so he's stopped cleaning and is just enjoying it :eek:

I've quoted this for the scary amount of truth behind it, especially the dog cleaning herself part, tho mine is male and I think after 5mins or so he's stopped cleaning and is just enjoying it :eek:

LOL- Hope "he's" quiet about it... or is he...??? Or, no, nevermind... maybe we'll have to try to get that out of our head!:eek::D

well he's always smiling! Perhaps we should market it as a cure for depression... we would need to hand out earplug's to spouses of those affected as part of the treatment naturally!

well he's always smiling! Perhaps we should market it as a cure for depression... we would need to hand out earplug's to spouses of those affected as part of the treatment naturally!

LOL:D - your dog or your husband (smiling)? probably both, huh? LOL. Well, it does work for me (earplugs)...

But, sometimes, I have a hard time putting those earplugs in right and they either gradually come out or I keep fooling with them trying to get them to stay in. But, why complain, it could be worse... like I wouldn't need earplugs! So, okay, I won't complain anymore.

I used to take ambien to sleep. Truth be told I kinda wish I still did, but it doesn't make sense to be taking medication day and night literally. I liked knowing I was going to sleep, but really never slept that long even with ambien. I'm not sure I didn't enjoy the comfort of knowing I would sleep more than the sleep itself. The 30 minutes after taking my medicine were really nice... I felt calm and peaceful. Miss that for sure.

My best, KOJOIN

My hubby is not on any meds nor does he have a diagnosis, but my son has adhd which i have scene allot of myself in apart from the hyper bit. nd my hubby is my son, but i would say allot worse.

From being born he has never slept. My mother in law told me that when he was about three, she put him to bed about nine oclock, he was flat out within five minutes. She was sat there watching tv, hubbys older sister and brouther were gettin sorted for bed and heard a noise outside. My hubby was wide awake sat outside on his little milk float:D

Hubby said when he was round about fifteen sixteen he was put on sleepin tablets, but just made him feel really ill in a mornin.

During our married life his sleep has driven me mad, as often does not come to bed with me and can be up till early hours of the morning. Then when i try to wake him, it has been a nightmare, besides putting a bomb under his pillow. Often he will wake up, sit on the edge of the bed i will come down stairs make a cuppa and he back snuggled up in bed.

When the children were babies i could never stop out as he would simply not wake.. Still now he can go four nights stoppin up till three four and some times five in the morning and then go to work for eight, leaving the house at seven.

His temper gets worse as the week goes on and by about thursday, he literally comes in from work and he is out for the count in his work clothes an all. I have to say this really upsets me some times and with me being such a light sleeper, he wakes me with the slightest of movements and then i end up not sleeping .

Is their anything i can do to help him. He went to the doctors not long back and they gave him some tablets to take, but he would hold off on taking them as was not tired and felt like he was waisting his evening if he was a sleep, but then when he really wants to go to sleep because he is so tired, he can not sleep and windes him self up

Are any of u like this, his doctor says he is an insomniac

I find it hard to get to sleep, even when I'm etremely tired I can lay awake all night and be awake all day, and still not be able to get to sleep the next night. I found that playing classical music as I try to sleep sometimes helps me, but other times I'll just lay awake and listen to the music. Also if I know that I have to get up early the next morning for an appointment, there is no hope of me getting to sleep,and I get aggravated with myself and count down the hours until I have to get up. Does anyone else have that problem?

I'm just like that, feel like I'm counting down the hours until I have to get up and getting more worked up the closer it gets, stopping me from sleeping!

I have just started taking Nytol and it works great for me. I feel much better and more active the next day too. Try it, they're not cheap but it's worth it to feel so much better.
Hey - there's a lot of you on here from bournemouth, what's going on down there :D

sleeping isss not something ido wel ive not had much sleep since i was born

normal 4 to 5 horessss pernight if iam luckyyyyyyyy dorm

I'm up since yesterday morning at 7 (after 5 hrs of sleep that night).

I'm debating going to sleep for a couple of hours before I have to get up and go to work today.

I kinda want to just stay up, but I know I need to sleep.

My former wife also couldn't understand my propensity for staying up all night long, sometimes two nights in a row.
I do that less now.

Still, I fall asleep rapidly once I do lay down (mostly reported to me by my former wife... she, on the other hand, says she never falls asleep as fast as I do/did).

The other problem is my sensitive hearing.
I can hear people talking outside down at street level.
It wakes me up sometimes and I cannot go back to sleep until they either shut up or leave the area.
Again.. My former wife didn't have the same issue I did. I'd sit bolt upright in bed awoken by the voices, and sometimes my sitting up would wake her up.
She'd ask me what was wrong, I'd tell her there were people outside on the street talking, she'd say, "I don't hear anything!", then go back to sleep.
I'd get up, walk to the front of the house and watch out the window and sure enough, someone would come strolling by on the street and they would be the one(s) I had heard from my bedroom.

The other thing someone mentioned was the issue about their dog licking?
UGH! That's one reason I do not have pets of my own... those tiny, repetitive, obnoxious sounds they make that drive me NUTS!

I'm not mad at the animal, but every time they make their sound over-and-over again... just makes me more tense and irritated.

I can't sleep with earplugs in... I really don't like that.

I found a meditation app for my ipod touch.
It has soft soothing background music, and a lady's soft voice walking me through a calming exercise.
I put on my headphones and this really does help me sleep better... when I use it.

Okay... I've decided... it's now 0225 and I have to be at work at 0600.
I need to be up by 0500 so I can get ready.
I'll stop now and go to sleep for a couple of hours.

I figure that'll give you all a chance to put up a whole slew of interesting posts and threads so I can read them later!:D

Goodnight!

well i dont sleep wel at all i have never done soooo in all my life if i try to gt more sleep i feel sickerrrrr cos it must be the way iam setup i guesss but it has good and bad points to it good o pointsssss i lerean moreeeee i can do more in the day coss i have more ofve it even when i do work i two can hear thingsssss dwon the road two i hear the tv tube in the back at all timeeeeeeeee itssss herrberrrrrr for me serten noiseeee and touch can drive me maddddd ive going miles to find something nice to sleep in once found i allways stickt to theat place iam up 80% the timeee so much sooo id love to have go at the record for staying up world record but they band it nowww geeeeee lol also with me i hate light being sentive to it at night all light soucesss and coverd up no matter were i go soooo to have as much dark as i can if just one small like from standby isss on and i can seee it then i wont sleep at all i do wounder sometimess the cost it must have on my brain with the lack sleep but theres not much i can about it sleeping tabs dont work

herbs teas dont make me sleep ither lol

hugssssssssss to all dorm

OMG!!!! So wait I'm new to this whole ADD thing and still doing research. I had the most awful experience with a psychiatrist yesterday who told me that I am not ADD, but rather that I don't get enough sleep. I told her that even though I go to bed early and have every intention of getting lots of sleep, sometimes I wake up for no reason, or sometimes it is just really hard to go to sleep. When I was little I used to count the little dahes on my alarm clock (you know on digital clocks the numbers are made up of dashes, at least mine was) but now I don't do that. I wonder why I stopped. Anyway, I wake up at night and sometimes I wake up really early in the morning and can't get back to sleep this happened last night. So, that doctor made me feel like this was all my fault!!! She said that people who don't get enough sleep often exhibit signs of ADD when they don't in fact have it. When I do sleep though, nothing can wake me up. I don't hear anything and I sleep really deep. It is like my mind is racing, but I'm not thinking about anything. Does that even make sense. God I never make sense these days. My head hurts.

i dont sleep much! myself! and for them to say that isss no good sooo he/she neededs to reavalted thisss nowww its not for me to say if you are add adhd!

but! id go eles were! to check it out!

dorm

Hey guys! I have WEIRD insomnia issues and wondered if anyone had any ideas as to what i might try. Its coexistent with ADD; I'm 25 now and have been diagnosed with ADD since I was about 9 by a few different doctors. I'm on Strattera for it, which helps.

My thing with sleeping is that it seems to be a very, very stubborn nocturnal schedule. I can rarely get to sleep before 4, 5, 6 am no matter how tired I am or how long I haven't slept for. Its been this way since I was about 3 years old (its a miracle I graduated high school.) Not being able to sleep during the day for longer than 3, 4 days at a time or so will lead me very quickly to exhaustion and I've been near psychosis from it before (seeing things out of the corners of my eyes, paranoia, etc.)

This is a huge problem right now as I have mostly morning classes and am graduating in May, at which point I'll need to find a job during the day (I don't think an English degree will qualify me for many night shifts.) Recently I was put on about 25mg of Seroquel, which does help - it knocks me out - but then I sleep for about 12 hours straight and no alarm clock in the world will wake me. My roomates have tried things like screaming at me and throwing the cat at me but if I've taken Seroquel, forget it.

Yesterday, I managed to be up and functioning at 8am, got to all my classes, was thrilled. Then last night I couldn't get to sleep until late, slept till 1 today and missed my 9:50 class.

There's gotta be a happy medium somewhere. Anyone have any thoughts?

Also, has anyone found that Seroquel seems to lead to sensitization? i started out on 25 mg of it (half a 50mg pill) then found i was sleeping too long and heavily, so I started taking only a QUARTER of the 50mg pill, and still sleep too long sometimes. It seems that the longer I take it, the more sensitive I am to its effects.

I now have to post here grrrrr!, I have had one heck of a time getting to sleep at night ,my mind is still in go mode but my body is telling me I need to sleep.Last night was terrible I was up until 2:30 I just could not sleep for anything...and I had to get up at 7:00 am to get the kids ready for school.I am dragging butt today but there is no way I can nap even with the kids gone and the house to myself .Any suggestions?

On weekdays I get only about 6 hours of sleep and on weekends, I get about 1 hour or 2 more and sometimes I'll nap

You have got to be kidding me?

Are you people for real? Someone pinch me....

It will take me a while to read over the posts but I would like to say thanks....thanks for being here ya sleepyheads!

I have been dealing with chronic insomnia all my life. Sure some folks do not need much sleep, but when you are a walking zombie half the time I would say there is an issue. I have so many questions to ask but I will see what I can come up with in past posts.


Thanks again!
Seragilo

Briebird,

I have the same problem with Serquel. Start taking Serquel around 7:30pm. Before you take Serquel, set your alarm for an hour before you have to get up and see how that works. Serquel will strictly knock you out for the count and you will have the worst time waking up the next morning. I started taking my Serquel around 7:30 and I pass out sometime between 8 and 8:30 and I wake up at 5:30am. Part of me likes taking it at 7:30, the other hates it because I want to do things after work other than sleep.

I wish I could get a happy medium myself and this may be as close as I can to be to one.

I would either take 25 mg or a quarter of the 50mg pill. Try taking it earlier and see if that works, if not, go see your doctor about it.

My Dr. and I recently discussed some medical conference he went to a couple of months ago where he was introduced to new research going on now with more and more institutions taking on adult ADHD patient's in their studies in an effort to understand how ADHD symtoms manifest as a person moves through life's stages, from child to adult ... some of it involves the link between ADHD and sleep issues!

This (http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/757.html) is a great article called ADHD Sleep Advice -- End Bedtime Battles! by William Dodson, M.D.

For me, I've been having sleep issues for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid, I would hide a flashlight in my room so that I could read in bed at night without my Mom knowing! Or, I would creep to the top of the stairs and listen to whatever she was watching on TV and let my imagination run wild with the sounds.

Through my college years, I thought that I had kicked my issues with sleep in the butt, but I think they were just numbed from all the studying, working, and partying I was doing at the time. :o As soon as I graduated, moved 450+ miles away, and starting working full time, my love-hate relationship with sleep crept back into my life over the course of a year or so.

Sometimes, I struggle with pulling myself away from whatever it is that I'm doing in order to get myself ready and into bed by a decent hour. Once I'm in bed, no matter how tired I might be, my brain just won't stop buzzing with thoughts, worries, voices, questions, etc. When (and sometimes, if) I fall asleep, it's usually a restless sleep until the wee hours of the morning. Then, I'm dead to the world and often hit the snooze button for an hour before getting up. Most mornings, I'm a zombie until I get my meds and morning coffee in me.

I find it hard to get to sleep, even when I'm etremely tired I can lay awake all night and be awake all day, and still not be able to get to sleep the next night. I found that playing classical music as I try to sleep sometimes helps me, but other times I'll just lay awake and listen to the music. Also if I know that I have to get up early the next morning for an appointment, there is no hope of me getting to sleep,and I get aggravated with myself and count down the hours until I have to get up. Does anyone else have that problem?

+

I'm up since yesterday morning at 7 (after 5 hrs of sleep that night).

I'm debating going to sleep for a couple of hours before I have to get up and go to work today.

I kinda want to just stay up, but I know I need to sleep.

My former wife also couldn't understand my propensity for staying up all night long, sometimes two nights in a row.
I do that less now.

Still, I fall asleep rapidly once I do lay down (mostly reported to me by my former wife... she, on the other hand, says she never falls asleep as fast as I do/did).

The other problem is my sensitive hearing.
I can hear people talking outside down at street level.
It wakes me up sometimes and I cannot go back to sleep until they either shut up or leave the area.
Again.. My former wife didn't have the same issue I did. I'd sit bolt upright in bed awoken by the voices, and sometimes my sitting up would wake her up.
She'd ask me what was wrong, I'd tell her there were people outside on the street talking, she'd say, "I don't hear anything!", then go back to sleep.
I'd get up, walk to the front of the house and watch out the window and sure enough, someone would come strolling by on the street and they would be the one(s) I had heard from my bedroom.

The other thing someone mentioned was the issue about their dog licking?
UGH! That's one reason I do not have pets of my own... those tiny, repetitive, obnoxious sounds they make that drive me NUTS!

I'm not mad at the animal, but every time they make their sound over-and-over again... just makes me more tense and irritated.

I can't sleep with earplugs in... I really don't like that.

I found a meditation app for my ipod touch.
It has soft soothing background music, and a lady's soft voice walking me through a calming exercise.
I put on my headphones and this really does help me sleep better... when I use it.

Okay... I've decided... it's now 0225 and I have to be at work at 0600.
I need to be up by 0500 so I can get ready.
I'll stop now and go to sleep for a couple of hours.

I figure that'll give you all a chance to put up a whole slew of interesting posts and threads so I can read them later!:D

Goodnight!

=

ME

------------------

everything is already said so perfectly, especially the part about voices and noises outside the home, like people, vehicles..etc

In the past,and most probably in the future aswell,everytime i have started a new job (plastering/physical labour)i,m very anxious about it,the actual work itself,and especially the people.....then i'll lay awake all night,trying to sleep(as if i were trying too hard),and as soon as my alarm goes off or its getting to 'getting up time'.....i'm instantly tired or i'd fall asleep(most of the time i would go and be a drone all day(nearly forgot to add that!))--------what's that all about-how would i have explained that to anyone especially an employer/client........I/you just cant.
It was made worse because if i had a tired day i'd be pushed as if it were a normal....i,m not a fan of that-all they'd need was a whip.....had to storm off a few times because did'nt trust my temper at the time to stick around.

On a lighter note-I know.....its a nightmare x

p.s-when i do sleep i sleeeeeeeep ......as in i need 12 of them bad-boys :)

I too have issues falling asleep...Generally once I get to sleep I stay asleep. I am taking vyvanse 50 mg in the am, and fluoxetine 10mg in the am, I take dexerdrine 5mg at noon and an hour before bed to help me sleep...

I have just woken up from sleep paralysis i hate it.....i dont want to stay like that/this.
it is a living nightmare!!!!!!!:(

Found this article on insomnia (http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/757-2.html) to be interesting, but I wonder if the person who starts talking about delayed sleep phase syndrome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delayed_sleep_phase_syndrome) took something I personally found significant into account. I have delayed phase of sleep syndrome, but it gradually developed in High School/College when I developed a habit of pulling all nighters because things were simply quieter, and there were fewer distractions late at night, making it easier to pay attention and study. Could part of the link between ADHD and delayed phase of sleep syndrome be the fact that people with ADHD may find late nights an easier time to simply concentrate on things? Eventually their internal clocks get messed up because of this?

I've always had sleep issues meaning I take 2 to 3 hours to settle down enough to finally drift off to sleep and then I wake up over and over all through the night. Around 3:30 to 4:30 I finally fall to sleep but my alarm clock rings at 5:30! By that time, I can barely get my eyes to open up since I've finally gone into the deep sleep phase.

I'm new to using meds after finally getting a correct diagnosis. My pdoc told me that my sleep patterns are typical of many ADHD people (hurrah, I'm not the only one) and CAN/MUST be treated. First he wants to work on getting a good fit with the meds to assist with the attentional issues but then plan is to attack the sleep issues.

He explained that he has been using some of the stim meds to treat the sleep issues with success. The thinking is- calm the racing mind/brain and the body can relax/sleep. As I've been browsing the internet, I've found some articles by some of the leading experts that discussed and support this thinking. I never worried about the possible side-effect of 'sleeplessness' caused by the meds since it had always been a problem for me (yep, even as a baby, never slept!, nearly drove my mom crazy).

I've seen posts on this forum in a couple of places where people have said they have accidently discovered on their own, that taking a dose of their meds late one time actually allowed them to get to sleep much quicker than they ever had!

The pdoc says the stim meds don't work this way for all people and then again, some of them work better than others (just like our different responses to all meds). He says if one plan of attack doesn't work, he moves onto the next plan. He mentioned briefly 3 different ways he tries to address the sleep problems of his patients because it was an important aspect of care. Sure glad I finally found an MD on my side!

I find it very difficult to sleep in general. I have a hard time falling asleep and if I do I have a hard time staying asleep. But I find that the less sleep I get the better I feel. If I have a good nights sleep then I tend to feel tired and run down all day. I don't get it. As much as I hate not being able to sleep (mainly because I hate just laying there) I don't mind the way that I feel when I don't sleep well. :)

Hello all.
For me, the issue usually isn't falling asleep...its trying not to.
I have actually fallen asleep while writing in a note-book on the bus...and
had my arm continue moving all the way down the page and onto my WHITE pants, leaving a trail of unintelligible scribblings that ruined them.
I have, in fact, fallen asleep while talking...in the middle of a sentence.

No, I don't have narcolepsy...I was only extremely tired because I didn't know at that point that I had sleep apnea, and I wasn't yet on any treatment for it. Most of the time, I'm so over-tired that I don't have any trouble falling asleep, usually, I'm asleep almost as soon as my head hits the pillow. There are rare nights when for whatever reason I'm not able to make my mind stop racing, and it can occur that no matter how tired I am, I will still lay there for hours.

Due to the apnea, my sleep is broken up many times a night by brief interruptions in my breathing. They are not enough to bring me to full consciousness, but I do come out of deeper stages of sleep, like REM.
I have a CPAP machine that I wear, which regulates my breathing, and helps, but its not entirely effective. Various things will happen, like me getting up in the middle of the night to walk like a zombie into the bathroom, and then not put the mask back on when I return to bed.
Or I'll take it off in my sleep for some reason, or whatever.

My wife is so much like some of you: the tiniest sound will wake her. This last January, she kept hearing this odd rustling-tinkling sound in the living room that woke her up. She went out to investigate. You'll never guess...our Christmas tree was still up, and she was hearing the sound of dry needles falling off the tree!!! :eek: So naturally, I wake her constantly.
If I don't have my mask on I snore, if I do have it on, the machine makes a constant humming and respiration sound. I also move around a lot in my sleep. The end result is that we've reached a point where we just can't get any sleep if we're in the same bed. So I have had to sleep either on the couch or on an inflatable mattress, far enough from the bedroom so that the noise from my CPAP doesn't wake her. This is an improvement over not being able to use the machine, but its not very comfortable, so I still wind up not getting good quality sleep. My sleep is also often disrupted by back-pain, sciattica, or heart-burn from GERD.

So basically, I'm tired most of the time. When I was still working, I would always fall asleep on the bus, and bolting suddenly awake in that initial moment of confusion I wouldn't be able to remember if I was on my way to work or on my way home...I would feel just as tired at the start of the day as I did at the end.

I also have this weird thing that goes on when I'm asleep...it has a name but I can't remember what it is. Its kind of like the opposite of the sleep paralysis some of you describe. Most peoples body shuts down when they're asleep (and mine does too, most of the time). If you dream that you're playing a piano, you don't usually move your fingers in your sleep, right? Some of the time, I will physically act out what I'm dreaming about
in just such a manner. If I'm eating, I'll raise an invisible sandwhich to my mouth and "chew", if I'm running my legs will move around under the blankets. If anyone knows the name of this, and if its ever been shown to be connected to any other co-existing conditions, please share...

As I said, not always, but some of the time, and I have no idea why. Predictably, this drives my wife NUTS. I've kicked her while walking or running in my dreams, but the absolute worst one was when I had a nightmare in which I was jumped by three muggers and was fighting for my life. I actually hit her in my sleep! :eek::( I felt horrible (I do right now just talking about)...I'm not the sort to hit anyone under normal circumstances, and had never struck a spouse while conscious. That had a lot to do with us sleeping apart. :(

To fall asleep is the one of the most difficult tasks in the world...honestly:(

I used to have really bad sleep problems until I found some really good natural methods of helping. Valerian Root, which is a natural herb is awesome! You can take 1-3 about 1/2 -1 hour before going to bed and the next thing you know you are sleeping. It doesn't make you sleep either it just lets you sleep getting rid of that racing mind. So for deep sleepers it isn't something to worry about.
The other tips I found:

Don't drink caffeine. It stays in your body for 12 hours and makes your sleep restless. If you really need it to function try getting off it slowly by decreasing the amount and then stopping completely on a weekend when you can sleep if you feel tired.
Don't watch TV or work on the computer for at least one hour prior to bed and dim the lights around your house. The artificial light disturbs the body's ability to produce the hormone melatonin necessary to sleep. I have also heard talking on cell phones right before bed will do the same.
Go to bed at the same exact time every night. It helps regulate your bio rhythms. This was my biggest problem and once I set a bedtime of 10:30 lights out - went to bed at 10 and read for a bit - I would fall asleep within minutes. The first week or so you will probably lie in bed awake, so then use the valerian root and the next tip.
The last greatest little sleep secret I discovered to help was to take a cold pack or one of those spa things after putting it in the freezer and put it on the back of your neck for 15 minutes prior to your set bedtime. It decreases your body's temperature and causes your body to release melatonin helping you sleep. Melatonin if you don't know is a hormone your body releases in the evening when your body temperature decreases and it gets dark to cause sleepiness.
If you put all of those into place you will definitely notice a difference. I was the most restless sleeper and constantly felt horrible all day and after putting this into place I get such good quality sleep I don't need to sleep more than 7-8 hours and wake up feeling great and well rested.
I did find that a little caffeine in the morning is okay for me, since the valerian root works so well, but if you know you won't be able to stop throughout the rest of the day you should probably just cut it out completely. Anyways hope these tips help!

I have a horrible time getting to sleep at night. I think of myself as more of a night person, so that probably doesn't help to start off, but then when I do try to go to bed at night something ends up happening that either I can't relax enough to fall asleep and end up 'waking up' or i get distracted by something and, again, wake up. I am in the habit of only going to sleep when I am tired, so this makes it even harder for me to sleep like a 'normal' 'day person'.
Admittedly, I am yawning and nodding off as I type this even now, because I ended up not going to bed until 5:30-6am, and had to get up at 7am for school. I have a good feeling I may end up taking a nap when I get home, even though I can't really afford to with having a speech tomorrow and a *bunch* of stuff to do to finish preparing for it. Oh well, maybe fate will be kind to me and the giant snow storm they are predicting will come true? <_<
>_>
Oh who am I kidding?! It's completely clear out and I have my own full personal prediction that not a speck of snow will fall, despite all the hype and predictions of everyone else. /sigh *lays her head on the table and falls asleep, squishing the origami she was making for her demonstration speech*

This is awesome, I will so have to write down the name of that root you mentioned, plus now that I think about it, I am probably hurting myself by being on the computer right before I try to go to bed many, if not most, times. Plus I never go to bed at the same time each night so that makes it even worse.
Thanks rrsszz22!

i can never sleep i am perscribed sleeping pills i have tried reading and everything , i can stay awake for 3 days sometimes but dont feel tired dont know why ? what else can help me sleeep ??

I have the same problem... I could sleep up to 12 hrs. (with out having any one home) and take naps during the day. lunch breaks are my nape time @ my work. I always feel tired in the after noon. I had this problem since I was a kid too....

I'm ADD and my problem is deep sleep, such as, we just had a new roof put on our small barn, my husband came home from work and wanted to know when and how long it took the roofers to roof the barn, found out they came around 7a.m. and finished around 9:30a.m. not to far from our bedroom,
I slept through it all, I do this alot. I always have, my mother had a terrible time trying to get me up for school.

well, just wondering if I'm the only one with this kind of sleeping problem

over and out for now

fasthummingbird

I have always been such a light sleeper. I get up at least twice a night to use the bathroom and I usually have nightmares a few times a week. Once I wake up startled I toss and turn until I can get to sleep. A new thing I have been doing the past few months is waking up in the middle of the night screaming after having some crazy dream. I think I have done this about four times now and scares my hubby to death. Just diagnosed with ADHD and started on Ritalin this week. Anyone know if ADHD is tied to nightmares? They have gotten worse as an adult. Thanks!:confused:

Edited to add that I just saw there is a thread for bad dreams with ADD/ADHD. Will check it out...the forum is so helpful!

I've had insomnia all my life, and really what I find to be the problem is that when it's dark and quiet, it's the perfect time to thinkthinkthinkthinkthink. Worse, if there's a light or a noise, anything that makes it less than the perfect environment for undisturbed sleep, I can't sleep because it's so annoying that this disturbance exists and is making me think about it, which keeps me from sleeping! I have tried everything. You name it. The best I get is sleeping a little less horribly.

I have a noise machine (those little fans they have in the therapists' offices). I use a nice comfy headband to cover my eyes. I take 1/2mg of xanax (antianxiety meds at least DO something, unlike sleep meds.) If I'm still awake an hour later, I take another 1/2mg. Last night, I took a third and fell asleep just before I became desperate enough to take a fourth. And, of course, benzos decrease the amount of deep sleep, so even if you slept 8 hours, it still feels like 6 or less.

I've gone through Valerian, Melatonin, diphenhydramine, halcion, ambien, lunesta, trazodone, rozeram, ativan. . .even an off-label use of risperidone (which was the most hellish month of my entire life!) I'm just so tired of being tired!

Dear All,

This is a meditation for helping with insomnia and regulating sleep stages;

Sit crossed legged on the floor (if possible, otherwise upright in a chair with both feet flat on the floor) with the eyes closed focus on the tip of your nose (where you imagine it to be) Inhale through the nose in 4 equal parts (a 1/4 of a breathe each sniff until you are fully inhaled) mentally repeating the sounds "Sa Ta Na Ma" Hold the breath and mentally vibrate "Sa Ta Na Ma x 4 for a total of 16 beats then exhale through the nose in 2 equal parts mentally vibrating "Whahay Guru" one word per beat. This equals a 22 part cycle. Continue for at least 15 minutes and you can go up to 31 mins or even 62 minutes. Ideally do this just before you go to bed. There are occasional side effects with this technique for the first 3 -5 weeks prior to obtaining improvements. It is also possible to do this meditation during the day which should stop any problems that might occur initially. To prepare for this meditation i would recommend following the 'tuning in' and 'warm up' routine to be found on my YouTube channel 'Succeed with ADHD'; video 1 part 1 All best wishes, Amrit