[OSL]

For the last week or so, I"ve had trouble falling asleep before 6 AM. It's messing up my day because I've been sleeping from 6 AM to 2 PM.

Any suggestions to get my sleep cycle back on track?

[haywire]

(10-10-2011 03:39 PM)youngmobileglobal Wrote:  

For the last week or so, I"ve had trouble falling asleep before 6 AM. It's messing up my day because I've been sleeping from 6 AM to 2 PM.

Any suggestions to get my sleep cycle back on track?

Next time you goto sleep, set an alarm and wake up at 10AM and don't sleep at all till night. Ofcourse you'd feel tired and sleepy a lot of times during the day, but will have a real easy time falling asleep at whatever time you want at night.

[bface]

Fast for at least 12 hours, then the first meal will set your waking up (breakfast) time.

Very useful when you travel a lot.

[Chad Daring]

I always rep melatonin, though last time I did a lot of guys came out saying they had bad side effects. For me the stuff works great, it doesn't put you out, it just makes you ready to sleep.

Also, maybe just take a day off and bite the bullet, stay up for 24+ hours, then crater into bed the next day.

[gringochileno]

I wouldn't recommend trying to fix your sleep cycle by pulling an all-nighter and staying up the next day. It isn't good for you to go that long without sleep and when you finally do crash, you might just sleep longer to make up for it and not end up getting back on schedule.

If it's really severe you can take an Ambien at the time you want to go to sleep. I've taken it on the plane on flights across the Atlantic and it's a good way to adapt rapidly to jet-lag. It would probably get you back on track by getting you to sleep at the proper time. Make sure you have 8 hours to devote to sleep when you take it.

If you don't want to use drugs, try going to bed and waking up 2 hours earlier every day until you get to your target.

[OSL]

I'm going to first try the all nighter, since it's already 730 AM here and I haven't slept all night. I also just chugged two cups of black coffee.

I'll then try the melatonin, which I've used before with success in the US.

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. Most of us are travelers, so we should figure out healthy ways to beat jetlag.

[gringochileno]

(10-10-2011 07:29 PM)youngmobileglobal Wrote:  

I'm going to first try the all nighter, since it's already 730 AM here and I haven't slept all night. I also just chugged two cups of black coffee.

I'll then try the melatonin, which I've used before with success in the US.

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. Most of us are travelers, so we should figure out healthy ways to beat jetlag.

Make sure you set an alarm and actually do get up at a time that will put you back on schedule. It's not uncommon to crash for like 14 hours and miss your target after pulling an all-nighter.

[Brian]

ambien

[kbell]

sleep mask to block out the light.

[Chase]

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/category/sleep/
Maybe there is something of value in his articles on sleep.

[Moma]

When I nutt, I pretty much pass out. Try fcuking more lizards...seriously.

[DLuzhin]

I'd avoid melatonin if you're prone to depression-- it acts as a slight CNS depressant.
Try a search for "DSPS" and find a few good articles on it. The best thing for your situation is this blue light alarm clock, which is expensive but works wonders:

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-goLITE-BLU...B001I45XL8

[Batata]

You will, unfortunately, have to either use drugs/alcohol or tough out a sleepless day in order to time your cycle correctly.

[Brian]

(10-14-2011 03:56 PM)DLuzhin Wrote:  

I'd avoid melatonin if you're prone to depression-- it acts as a slight CNS depressant.
Try a search for "DSPS" and find a few good articles on it. The best thing for your situation is this blue light alarm clock, which is expensive but works wonders:

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-goLITE-BLU...B001I45XL8

can you elaborate on this a little more? what does it do and why does it work?

[Chad Daring]

I had a history of depression, melatonin never caused me any issues in that respect, in fact the increased sleep made me a happier person.

[ModernRUBIROSA]

Eat a heavy meal with red meat and carbs ( ex. big mac and fries from mcdonalds), one melatolin pill, and bust a nut, in that order. Do not make into a habit though.

[Pusscrook]

(10-16-2011 01:42 PM)ModernRUBIROSA Wrote:  

Eat a heavy meal with red meat and carbs ( ex. big mac and fries from mcdonalds), one melatolin pill, and bust a nut, in that order. Do not make into a habit though.

RUBIROSA, that's my idol! How you know about him?

[Chase]

(10-16-2011 04:46 PM)Pusscrook Wrote:  

RUBIROSA, that's my idol! How you know about him?

There is a good biography about him by Shawn Levy. You probably read it anyway.

[DLuzhin]

(10-14-2011 08:53 PM)Brian Wrote:  

(10-14-2011 03:56 PM)DLuzhin Wrote:  

I'd avoid melatonin if you're prone to depression-- it acts as a slight CNS depressant.
Try a search for "DSPS" and find a few good articles on it. The best thing for your situation is this blue light alarm clock, which is expensive but works wonders:

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-goLITE-BLU...B001I45XL8

can you elaborate on this a little more? what does it do and why does it work?

This is going to be a little incomplete:

Sleep-promoting hormones are released by the pituitary gland, and the way that the pituitary gland knows to release these sleep-promoting hormones is when light hits the retina, which then stimulates a bundle of neurons called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Whenever light hits the retina and stimulates the SCN, the brain inhibits the release of these sleep-hormones and essentially tells itself "Don't sleep." On the other hand, when light doesn't hit the retina and it's dark out, the brain allows the release of these sleep-hormones and allows you to fall asleep.

Think back to an all-nighter that you pulled at some point. You will notice that it was much easier to stay up all night in front of a computer writing an essay than it was to read a textbook to cram for an exam. The reason is that the light of the laptop screen was hitting your retina all night, which told your brain "Don't sleep." The textbook could do no such thing.

It turns out that these neurons respond mainly to blue light (like the sky). Unfortunately many of us fuck up our biologically-ingraned ability to sleep at the proper times with artificial light from lamps, from TV's, from laptop screens, and this throws our circadian rhythm out of order. When it is thrown really out of order, to the point that you are going to sleep at 7AM or later, it's known as DSPS. People with DSPS--about a quarter of the population--usually struggle with it from adolescence onward. Ambien, ativan, and other sleep aids are generally useless in these cases.

The thing I posted is basically a blue light alarm clock. It normalizes your circadian rhythms by shining a very bright blue light in your face in the morning and entraining your sleep-hormones to start releasing and inhibiting themselves at the right time. In my case it has been very effective in normalizing and maintaining my sleep-wake cycles, as it has to many reviewers on that Amazon page, and is well worth the $150.

[Moma]

(10-21-2011 06:49 AM)DLuzhin Wrote:  

This is going to be a little incomplete:

Sleep-promoting hormones are released by the pituitary gland, and the way that the pituitary gland knows to release these sleep-promoting hormones is when light hits the retina, which then stimulates a bundle of neurons called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Whenever light hits the retina and stimulates the SCN, the brain inhibits the release of these sleep-hormones and essentially tells itself "Don't sleep." On the other hand, when light doesn't hit the retina and it's dark out, the brain allows the release of these sleep-hormones and allows you to fall asleep.

Think back to an all-nighter that you pulled at some point. You will notice that it was much easier to stay up all night in front of a computer writing an essay than it was to read a textbook to cram for an exam. The reason is that the light of the laptop screen was hitting your retina all night, which told your brain "Don't sleep." The textbook could do no such thing.

It turns out that these neurons respond mainly to blue light (like the sky). Unfortunately many of us fuck up our biologically-ingraned ability to sleep at the proper times with artificial light from lamps, from TV's, from laptop screens, and this throws our circadian rhythm out of order. When it is thrown really out of order, to the point that you are going to sleep at 7AM or later, it's known as DSPS. People with DSPS--about a quarter of the population--usually struggle with it from adolescence onward. Ambien, ativan, and other sleep aids are generally useless in these cases.

The thing I posted is basically a blue light alarm clock. It normalizes your circadian rhythms by shining a very bright blue light in your face in the morning and entraining your sleep-hormones to start releasing and inhibiting themselves at the right time. In my case it has been very effective in normalizing and maintaining my sleep-wake cycles, as it has to many reviewers on that Amazon page, and is well worth the $150.

Is there a refund if it doesn't work?

[DLuzhin]

(10-21-2011 08:39 AM)Moma Wrote:  

Is there a refund if it doesn't work?

You can probably return it to the retailer like a microwave or whatever.

[Moma]

(10-21-2011 09:25 AM)DLuzhin Wrote:  

(10-21-2011 08:39 AM)Moma Wrote:  

Is there a refund if it doesn't work?

You can probably return it to the retailer like a microwave or whatever.

I am very interested by this. have you tried it yourself? I might recommend it to a few mates of mine in the UK. SADS is a serious biz there come winter months. Thank goodness for Toronto...

[DLuzhin]

(10-21-2011 09:47 AM)Moma Wrote:  

(10-21-2011 09:25 AM)DLuzhin Wrote:  

(10-21-2011 08:39 AM)Moma Wrote:  

Is there a refund if it doesn't work?

You can probably return it to the retailer like a microwave or whatever.

I am very interested by this. have you tried it yourself? I might recommend it to a few mates of mine in the UK. SADS is a serious biz there come winter months. Thank goodness for Toronto...

Yeah I love mine. It's also a definite energizer and mood-brightener; after sitting in front of it for 15 minutes it feels like you just drank a latte.

Speaking as a lifelong night owl who would normally need a brick to the head to go to sleep at 11PM, doing so naturally and waking up at 7 is pretty badass. I'd recommend it.

“Morning people: joggers and parents. Night people: strippers and ninjas.”

[Moma]

(10-21-2011 10:55 AM)DLuzhin Wrote:  

(10-21-2011 09:47 AM)Moma Wrote:  

(10-21-2011 09:25 AM)DLuzhin Wrote:  

(10-21-2011 08:39 AM)Moma Wrote:  

Is there a refund if it doesn't work?

You can probably return it to the retailer like a microwave or whatever.

I am very interested by this. have you tried it yourself? I might recommend it to a few mates of mine in the UK. SADS is a serious biz there come winter months. Thank goodness for Toronto...

Yeah I love mine. It's also a definite energizer and mood-brightener; after sitting in front of it for 15 minutes it feels like you just drank a latte.

Speaking as a lifelong night owl who would normally need a brick to the head to go to sleep at 11PM, doing so naturally and waking up at 7 is pretty badass. I'd recommend it.

“Morning people: joggers and parents. Night people: strippers and ninjas.”

Hmm I value a Rooshian recommendation...I just might do it..

[Brian]

yeah i may have to give this thing a shot.