IS sleep a concern for you?

I usually sleep 7 hours (because of conforming to my husbands sleep habits) but I really do much better on 8 hours. But no matter what week day or weekend - if I stay up late - I will still wake up at 7 am... sometimes I go back to sleep until 9 am at the latest.

Though recently started Strattera - and first 2 nights had problems waking up like 10 to 20 times starting around 2 am till like 5 am... so I don't know if this is going to be a short or long term affect...

My sleep is drug induced...thank God for meds.

Yep...I have very irregular sleep. I hate laying in bed, waiting for sleep to come along. The brain immediately goes into high gear. Recently, I have started on Ambien, which has helped dramatically.

I usually sleep 5-6 hours a nite, on average.

My sleeping is "normal" for me which means I am getting enough sleep and have some what of sleeping pattern. I'm sure somebody with out ADD and sleeping issues would think my sleeping pattern is crazy.

When I fall asleep with in a few hours of the same time each night and get up with in a few hours of the same time each day then that is good for me. Sleeping from 4 am to 12 pm may seem crazy for the average person but for somebody like me who used to stay up 36 hours straight to try to "fix" my sleeping patterns it is "normal".

I switched meds over to the Ritilan, and I am able to sleep through the night... but last night I was stuck getting to sleep. My mind was just wandering (which has been from time to time a problem for me). Loss likely an hour just following my thoughts at night.

I clicked my sleep is normal, and not a concern... but I don't know what normal is... I wake up several times in the night, but people have been telling me that happens as I get older (I'm only 37).

Yes, it's usually to pee.

My sleep is erratic as possible. I stay up till 3 or 4 am, and i sleep till when i get up, around 8 hours. That is getting to be a pain in the keesh. I'm going to make a real effort to overcome this.

there is some evidence that some of my sleep pattern problems may be allergy related. I hate going down that whole allergy road. It leads to endless changes in everything, and sometimes not such huge results. However, getting wheat out of my diet has made some difference . When i eat it again, i feel worse and i get sleepy after eating some foods, i mean REAL sleepy, conk out. Still investigating what can be the source and the treatments.

Jonathan

I can't go to sleep until I feel tired, strange as it may sound, but if I wait too long I lose my "drowsiness". Right now, it's not really a problem but with college starting in about a months time I'm going to have to try and pull myself together.

I can't go to sleep until I feel tired, strange as it may sound, but if I wait too long I lose my "drowsiness". Right now, it's not really a problem but with college starting in about a months time I'm going to have to try and pull myself together.

Sam, thanks for sharing. I get the same problem, waiting to get drowsy, but if i wait too long, i stop being drowsy. I end up staying up all night, because when i first get drowsy i sometimes resist it, and then it passes, and then i am up later than i wanted to be in the first place. It probably sounds lame to someone who has not experienced this. But it is a problem, and so far not an easy one to fix.

Jon

Circadian Rythm and cycles, for those of you who are getting drowsy, and then waiting and getting undrowsy. I've been experimenting with this all summer long. The magic number, as far as I can tell, is 90 minutes. (1.5 hours) That seems to be when you get drowsy again after the first time if you put it off.

Furthermore, that is the approximate length of each "sleep cycle." Normally, we have 4-5 sleep cycles in one "sleep session," or 7.5 hours. However, when you wake up, and then roll over and go back to sleep, your body kicks into another 90 minute sleep cycle. So after 7.5 hours of sleep, you're looking at 9 hours next, then 10.5...etc.

90 minutes is the average for people, according to one of my psych textbooks, and it might vary from person to person...but finding the length of your cycle can aid planning sleep very much.

I lay awake for hours before I can fall asleep. My mind just races once my head hits the pillow. I have meds I can take, but I hate the way I feel the next morning...so after about 4 nights of no sleep I'll take one and get some rest.

I guess I consider it "my" normal, I've been doing this since childhood.

I lay awake for hours before I can fall asleep. My mind just races once my head hits the pillow. I have meds I can take, but I hate the way I feel the next morning...so after about 4 nights of no sleep I'll take one and get some rest.

I guess I consider it "my" normal, I've been doing this since childhood.

Get a sleep specialist, and get a sleep study. Sleep deprivation and improper cycles in our sleep, can cause symptoms which mimic every mental illness in the DSMIV. Caring for the sleep issue may fully or partially alleviate many symptoms you associate with ADD or other diagnosis.

Jonathan

My sleep pattern is irratic because my work schedule is highly irratic right now. I work graveyard which isn't a problem for me since my most productive hours are at night but I'll work a day, have a day off, work a day, have a day off and then work six days straight. Which is what I did last week so I'll just give you an idea of what it's like...The first day I slept two hours before work by the time I got home I was exhausted and slept for four hours before getting up to start supper, clean the house and take care of my kids on my nights off my husband gets very irritated with me if I do not go to bed when he does (he works mornings up at 4:00 am) so I lay in bed for at least 5 hours listening to him snore, so I end up with probably about four hours of sleep that night, the next day I'm up at 5:00 am taking care of household chores and the kids I leave for work at 10:30 pm and by the time I get home I'm exhausted again, the cycle repeats only to be broken by a long stretch of days I work. I can't find a cycle and end up with an average of 3-4 hours of sleep a day not nearly what I need but you learn to deal with it.

I started applying at other places due to the irratic scheduling today and have already had a job offer for 3-12 hour shifts and the DON not only promised to put them in 3 day rows with 4 off but offered me $1.50 more an hour so I'm seriously considering it. I just hate to throw away over 10 years because of sleep.

futs, that sux, irtic work shifts is never helpfull.

I used to just about have it under controll, my sleeping, it wasnt for very long, about 4 hours per night, but it was regular and satable. That was a few months ago and before that i was self medicating and my slepping was, well all over the place. awake for days, then sleep till 3pm then start living as a night creature, then sleep at lunchtime till 4am, then. there wsa no patern of anysort, just when my body could no longer cope, usualy when the gear ran out.
Now their erratic AGAIN ARGH, my last job was an up at 5am back home about 6pm ish. shower, food, sleep then repeat. The job was physical and stressfull so sleeping wasnt an issue, i was to knackerd to stay awake and waking up was ok because my alarm always caught me at a strange time of sleep, so i was alert right away. Now im unemployed my sleeping patterns are still messy and meds have only worsend this. After ive lost count of how many years this has been bothering me but ive never slept a good, normal night in my life. Still that is life and i plan to see if i can get meds for it.

Last night was a night off for me. My husband decided to try something new and sent me to bed at 830pm and he put the baby and kids to bed. This let me accomplish falling asleep before he came to bed. If I can fall asleep before he starts snoring then I'll sleep the night but if I go to bed after him I play **** getting to sleep. I got 7 hours count em 7 full hours of sleep with no interuptions and no nightmares. I feel so much better mentally today then I have in a very long time so he wants to keep working on our schedules so I can survive until I get the nerve up to quit my job. I'm all for it lol.

that hubby of yours deserves an applause - well done!

but he also deserves an appt at a sleep study center. I'm sure if he is snoring, he is not up to snuff, as compared to where he would be with out the snoring. He might also be gaining weight, which is directly related now to lack of proper sleep. There are too many health problems to list related to lacking complete sleep. Snoring disrupts sleep even if a person stays asleep while snoring, because there are very specific things that must take place in sleep for it to be fully restful, yet those things either dont take place at all or only take place partially when one is snoring. I bet he is not feeling as much himself as he did before he snored. If he always snored, he will be shocked to find out how it feels to not snore. And you will sleep better too.....


Jonathan

I wish these things included all options. Yes, my sleep patterns are abnormal as hell. No, it doesn't concern me at all. It's just the way I've always been. Given my druthers, I would work on a 30 to 36 hour cycle rather than 24 hours. If I don't have any reason to get up at any particular time, I tend to work my way around the clock.

OK, this doesn't work very well in the real world. I do my best to stay out of there.

My patterns sound like yours Dan, I would go and go and go and go and go until I am exhausted and then sleep.....

Thankfully, my medicine actually makes me want a little more normal sleep schedule, and well yes, I still love staying up late... but when I sleep now, I get really good sleep and it changes my day significantly.

I think my sleep is becoming more normal over time. I have just started this program of getting real sleep for about 4-6 weeks I think, and it is having a positive effect on me, and on my business.

:)

Jonathan
Jon

I have had sleep problems all my life.
I used to have real problems getting to sleep, until a few years ago.
Now I can usually get to sleep within 30 minutes, but my problem is that I can sleep for about 2-3 hours and then I keep waking up every 15-25 minutes, so I am always quite tired during the day :(
I think this plays a part in with my concentration levels too.

For me, I sleep enough long (at least 7 hours and a half at sometimes into 9 hours). My concern is that: It never seemed refreshed.

If your sleep is abnormal or not refreshing, a sleep study is in order. Sleep studies are relatively common place now, and easy to obtain from your doctor. See a sleep specialist in your area, to get the most out of the results. Sleep needs to be corrected in order to seperate and treat what is a poor sleep symptom from an ADD/ADHD symptom.

Jon

how many people here put their sleeping problems down to bad sleeping habits and how many put it down to ADhD, how many have just assumed ADhD and how many put it down to a combination..? Im the last, i was just curious.

make a poll shinobi

:)

Jon

do it tomorow, now i just wana go home.