HALP I DOES NOT SPARKLE

September 14, 2009 2:56 PM

My sleep schedule's gotten majorly out of whack. I want to be awake when the rest of the world is. Help me reset my body clock?

I quit my awful job in January, and for a while my sleep schedule was fairly normal, but it's gradually shifted. I could deal with staying up till 2 a.m. and getting up at 10 (I need 8 hours of sleep), but lately it's more like falling asleep at 4 a.m. (or later) and waking at noon (or later).

I also don't always stay asleep. If I get up before I sleep the requisite 8 hours, I usually wind up napping in the afternoon or early evening. I can wind up sleeping 9 or 10 hours a day like this.

This morning I woke at 8 a.m. after falling asleep at 4 a.m. After an hour or so I went back to sleep, and then woke at 3:15 p.m. Phone had been on silent; there were numerous texts and messages from my boyfriend and other friends, wondering what was up with me.

The best schedule for me would be to sleep by 1 and wake up by 9. Yeah, that sounds nice . . . any ideas how to achieve that? I'm not going to be employed soon, so I have time to make it happen in a non-rude way.

Footnote: I'm going the the doctor tomorrow and get my thyroid checked, just to rule that out as a cause of sleep issues.

Thanks, everybody.

posted by sister nunchaku of love and mercy to health & fitness (24 comments total)

http://www.wisebread.com/how-to-naturally-reset-your-sleep-cycle-overnight

I tried to doing this and it worked for me.

Good luck!

(You might want to investigate "delayed sleep syndrome" if you're having further problems.)
posted by thisperon at 3:03 PM on September 14 [1 favorite]

Whoops here's the direct link.
posted by thisperon at 3:04 PM on September 14 [1 favorite]

I have used melatonin for this before, and it seems to work pretty well. You can get it at any GNC or OTC in most pharmacies.
posted by jquinby at 3:05 PM on September 14

Take benadryl an hour before you want to sleep and avoid any type of electric screen (t.v., computer, etc.) for at least an hour before sleeping.

You will find that you're more motivated to sleep after the benadryl kicks in.

I have been previously told by a doctor that benadryl is a great substitute for a (somewhat mild) rx sleep aid when used on a short term basis.

After a short time of this routine, it will be more natural to sleep at your ideal times, and many of your problems will likely dissipate with better sleep hygiene.
posted by bradly at 3:05 PM on September 14

Oh man, do I ever have this same problem. This summer, after I graduated and before I started working, it took me about a week to revert to the 4-12 schedule. As much as I would like to tell myself this is not the case, I know that unless I have some reason to get up early, I will naturally fall into a nocturnal cycle.

So, for me that reason is work, but it really could be anything. Manufacture a reason to be up at 9. I dunno... make plans to go out for breakfast once a week at 9:30, or arrange to meet a friend at the gym around when you want to be up. Create a schedule that forces you to wake up when you want to.

On preview: Melatonin does kick ass. But if you're habitually nocturnal like me, you'll find reasons to take it later and later. I take one every single night, and it didn't help me stay on track in the summer.
posted by martens at 3:11 PM on September 14

Speaking as someone who used to do a lot of shift work and is a night owl, the only thing that works for me when I've gotten to a ridiculously late schedule is to try to set it back in increments, like an hour earlier each night, forcing yourself to do something relaxing and eliminating habits that keep you up (like snacks or a laptop in bed). If that doesn't work, move the see-saw the other way and stay up all night, forcing yourself up until 9-10 pm that day. When I do that I find I'm slightly groggy the day after the reset but the sleep reset works flawlessly. YMMV of course.
posted by crapmatic at 3:19 PM on September 14

Tire yourself out during the day. Go for a long walk or a jog. And stay away from caffeine, especially within 8 - 12 hours of bedtime.
posted by zippy at 3:21 PM on September 14 [1 favorite]

You should exercise more... seriously. This is one of those things that exercise helps in a Big (and quickly-noticeable) Way.

(Also, a slight pedant's nit to pick: You probably mean that you'd like to be awake while the majority of people in your time-zone are awake.)
posted by jjjjjjjijjjjjjj at 3:35 PM on September 14

Thanks for the suggestions so far--they are thought-provoking and helpful. I have been using the laptop or iPhone up until the moment I turn out the light, whereas I used to read an book (non-backlit!) before. Going to cut that out! Another footnote: I don't use caffeine at all and haven't for years.

Please keep the ideas coming!
posted by sister nunchaku of love and mercy at 3:37 PM on September 14

I'm sure you have a life, but is there anything you do routinely during the day, every day? I have a work schedule that has me crazy busy for a couple months, and then crazy quiet for a couple months. (I am still looking for full-time work, because this is KILLING ME.) But I tend to develop a schedule like yours when I'm not working (there was one day last February where I stayed up all night online and watching movies until 9AM), but also when I'm not specifically doing anything every day at a designated time.

This past August (a really quiet time), I developed a routine for myself in the morning (I usually woke up on my own between 7:30 and 8:
- breakfast
- shower and get dressed (even though not showering and staying in PJs was REALLY tempting...and yes, I consider cotton workout shorts "getting dressed")
- check email/job listings
- chat with one friend who has a very boring job, we had a standing IM meeting for about 30 minutes every day, sometimes longer
- return emails/send out my resume
- go for a walk (even if it's just around the block or to move my car for street cleaning day)
- have lunch

Yes, I know that's a very leisurely schedule, and now that I'm back in a busy time at work, I wish I could have it back. But committing to a routine every day really helped me - I think the latest I slept in August was 10:30am, and that was on a weekend after I stayed out with friends.
posted by AlisonM at 3:59 PM on September 14

I don't know if it will help in your situation, but the Argonne anti-jet-lag diet worked to reset my body clock pretty well when I went to India (a 12-hour sleep/wake shift.) Basically, fasting for 18 hours or more, then eating your first meal with lots of protein at breakfast time, resets the bod. I had NO jet-lag when I got to Delhi from San Francisco, though I was plenty hungry.
posted by anadem at 4:01 PM on September 14

My schedule gets so bad I'll occasionally just stay up all night and go to bed early the next day. It's a little miserable, but you get a sorta second wind at some point. I will feel tired for the next couple of days at random times, and then it corrects itself. I haven't done much traveling, but I assume this is the effect "jet lag" refers to.

I find this a lot easier than the "incremental" method, or trying to drag yourself out of bed after 2 hours of sleep, but YMMV. Disclaimer: I abuse caffeine to get me through this, so it might not work as well for you.
posted by cj_ at 4:43 PM on September 14 [1 favorite]

I fixed my sleep schedule recently. Two tricks that help me:

Drink a couple of glasses of water before bed. Having a full bladder can force you to get up at the right time no matter how tired you are.

Set a loud alarm for the desired time you want to adjust to, 7 days a week, no matter how off schedule you are. If you keep getting woken up at the same time every morning, your body gets used to that, even if it starts out being only one hour after you go to bed.
posted by idiopath at 5:12 PM on September 14

Keep your house dark when it's dark out, I mean REALLY dark, like, use a flashlight to walk around. Set your alarm and when you wake up, turn on ALL your lights, open your blinds, etc.

And get out of your house and do something super stimulating during your peak afternoon sleepiness hours.
posted by kathrineg at 5:16 PM on September 14

Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day. If you have trouble getting to sleep, don't sleep in to make up for it.

Don't nap. It will disrupt your ability to get to sleep on time.

If you exercise, do it early in the day.

Do something relaxing before bed. Use the bedroom only for sleep and sex.

If you can't reset it on your own, consider taking a week's worth of prescribed sleep aids to establish a rhythm.
posted by moira at 5:34 PM on September 14

I went through this in 2002. Between losing my job, and the lure of the World Cup games from Korea starting at 3am, I found myself going to sleep at dawn and waking up around 5pm.

The only thing that fixed it for me was getting a job that forced me to get up again. Can you maybe plan something with a friend around 9 in the morning, and have them come to your house? That way no matter how late you were up, you will have to get up then.
posted by drjimmy11 at 5:38 PM on September 14

My girlfriend and I have this problem too. One thing that helps, when we're in the mood for it, is playing board or card games. For some reason, we always feel tired after we finish. Even if you're not hanging out with someone else, you could try some one-player board games, or some puzzles.
posted by Earl the Polliwog at 5:44 PM on September 14

Expose yourself to bright light in the mornings, either sunlight (hard to stick to consistently) or using a light box.

I've found that once you're way off, it's better to just bite the bullet and roll all the way forward, maybe an hour or two a day, and then lock in the new schedule. Moving gradually earlier is a lot harder.
posted by dixie flatline at 6:33 PM on September 14

Oh yeah: one thing you should be aware of is that depending on what you do, you could wind up pushing your schedule in either direction. So if you figure out which 8 hours you would naturally sleep during right now, if you get up and get light during the first 4 hours of sleep, you'll move your schedule later, and during the second 4 hours you'll move it earlier.

That's significant because, say you're sleeping from 7am to 3pm but you'd rather get up at 8am. If you just immediately start forcing yourself to get up at 8am, you'll probably have a lot of trouble because you'll be pushing your circadian rhythm in the opposite direction of where it needs to go.
posted by dixie flatline at 6:37 PM on September 14

Actually I'm sleeping from about 4 a.m. to noon right now, on the average. Getting up at 3 p.m. today was just a fluke, I hope, and due to the 8 a.m. interruption after falling asleep about 4.
posted by sister nunchaku of love and mercy at 6:41 PM on September 14

See the treatments section for delayed sleep phase syndrome, the official name for what you are likely experiencing.
posted by Wordwoman at 6:56 PM on September 14

If you use your computer after the sun goes down, F.lux will make your life better. The reduction in color temp is subtle at first, but now I find it significantly more relaxing to use my computers at night.

1-3x the RDA of various combinations of zinc, magnesium and calcium will help to relax you at night. Inositol and melatonin are also useful. Phosphatidylserine will reduce your cortisol levels if you've have high stress levels.

Blackout curtains and unplugging all electronics in your room can really improve quality of sleep.

If you go to bed late, I find it preferential to wake up on time and take 1-3 20 minute naps throughout the day. Long naps are deadly.
posted by zentrification at 10:14 PM on September 14

So last night I ate for the last time 12 hours before I wanted to get up, turned off the computer screen an hour before sleep, and fell sound asleep before 1. Woke once to go to the bathroom and fell asleep again. Woke at 9 a.m., feeling fine. Will try to repeat, and update here. Thanks again to all for the advice!
posted by sister nunchaku of love and mercy at 3:49 PM on September 15

The advice to fast for 12+ hours before my desired waking time and the recommendation to turn off the computer screen an hour before bed sorted me out totally. The general sleep hygiene reminders were very good, too. Thanks again to everybody!
posted by sister nunchaku of love and mercy at 11:03 AM on September 20