HELP! Falling asleep when I read/study.

[jmorris]

Hello and thank you for taking the time to read my post. I have ADD and I'm new to this forum. I look forward to sharing and helping as best as I can.

In the meantime, I have a quick question (and yes I searched the FAQ before creating this thread although I'm sure this issue has been raised before).

Whenever I start to study, I either fall asleep or become very sleepy within 10 to 15 minutes. And it doesn't matter if I just awoke from a full night's sleep (nap), or if it's the middle of the day, or if I just had a gallon of coffee, etc. I've had this problem all of my life but it was worse in law school and when studying for the bar exam.

After I failed that bar exam I reluctantly decided to get tested. I say reluctantly because I was afraid that I would be diagnosed with being stupid rather than having the gift of ADD.

Now I'm studying for the Foreign Service Officer Test and I need help fending off the Mr. Sandman. If anyone has any tricks or workarounds, I'd be grateful to hear them, whether sublime or ridiculous (here or via the private message portal).

Thank you.

[sarahsweets]

Have you ever had a sleep study done?

[hanikamiya]

I get very tired when the material is too difficult for me to handle. (And I have a really hard time falling asleep normally.)
What helps me most is to move. Walk around while reading my textbook aloud. If I can't, alternate between moving and studing in short segments. Ten minutes on and off are said to be more effective for studying difficult material than studing the entire time, and it is certainly more effective than studying for a couple of minutes and then falling asleep/doing something else for the rest of the day.

Read a paragraph and try to explain it with lots of gesticulation and drawing shapes in the air etc. Copy things by hand. When I can't understand a text, first copy a paragraph by hand, and then read through it again sentence by sentence and try to make sense of it. And then move on. Read the same text again the next morning.

What trips me up is that I hate using several passes to work through a text. But textbook texts need exactly that. You can't expect to study something intensively once and then know it, and never have to review it. (I do expect that.) So doing the same stuff in different ways helps. Also, using two textbooks can help. That's for things you need to understand. Things that have to be memorized - I use guessing games for that.

[scrambled86]

I would echo what Hanik said.

Keep yourself moving while you study, if possible do it outside where you have fresh air around you.

Good luck

[SquarePeg]

Have you spoken to your doctor about excessive sleepiness. My doc who has given me concerta for adhd says it is also used to treat necrolepsy.

[Fuzzy12]

I fall asleep while studying or reading (or in lectures )

While reading what helps me is to either make notes on what I'm reading or to at least underline important passages. It also helps if I look up terms constantly or reference other material simultaneously. Anything that keeps my brain, eyes and hands moving usually helps keeping me focussed and awake. And also lots and lots of coffee. Coffee keeps me awake but it also kills my concentration.