I think I have insomnia, but Im not sure.

First of all, Im schizoid (SPD - Schizoid Personality Disorder) so some of this might be because of this.

Anyway, it's a long post and I don't know what the heck is wrong with my sleep. It's a mixture of insomnia and hypersomnia.

Me and my sleep:
-I've always been a night person.
-The more free time I have the longer I stay up *
-I can be awake for 24 hours and feel almost the same as I do "normally"
-Staying up for 30+ hours is only uncomfortable for my body (aches a bit) - not for my mind. Sure I get some of the "drunk" symptoms but I dont really get sleepy.
-Last 2 weeks, there has been times when I've said: "###$ sleep, Ill stay up 24 hours today, or 30 hours"
-When I go to bed it usually takes a long time for me to fall asleep. -Half an hour is about the standard, but often it takes as long as an hour to fall asleep.
-I often think a lot before I sleep. Not so much about stressful things really but I do a lot of retrospection and introspection and "daydreaming" I guess.
-Though I have problems falling asleep, I have no problems staying asleep. I don't wake up during the night.
-Hypersomnia. I usually sleep 9-10 hours a night, but have no trouble at all sleeping for say 12 hours. The only thing preventing me from sleeping 12 hours is THREE alarm clocks. **
-I feel weak everytime I wake up. It doesn't matter if I sleep 6 or 12 hours, I still feel physically weak when I wake up.
-I don't dream much. I maybe have 1 dream per month that I remember. This dream rate used to be higher, maybe 2-3 dreams a month.


So whats wrong with my sleep?


* - When I was in highschool, I had several classes each day. So my rhytm was nothing special. I went to bed at midnight everyday.
When there was holidays, I went to bed later and later, often ending up at 2AM. And then I went back to midnight when school started again.
Now, the same thing has happend when I started university. The major thing is that I have A LOT more free time than I had on high school. So these periods where I have much free time are longer. Last couple of months there has been very few classes (more projects and stuff) and I've been going to bed later and later each night. I used to have limits. First it was 3AM, then 4AM, then 5AM. But now I just dont care.

** - This hypersomnia is one reason why I've lately decided to stay up rather than sleep (staying up for 24-30+ hrs)
Im awake till 6AM or 7AM in the morning and got a lecture at 10AM and 1PM so I just screw the sleep because it doesn't do me any good. I would rather stay up than sleep for 2 hours and then feel physically crap.

Well, since I dont fit all symptoms for insomnia and not all for hypersomnia, I guess you could call it dyssomnia NOS (not otherwise specified). But then that forum section is empty.

ewwwwwwwww - k. if you DO find out whats up with your sleeping problems, leme know now k? i got problems just like yours.

ever since i was a little kid, i can remember my mom pouncing on my bed and having to drag me off the bed for several hours. and this was when i was in grade school and lived about 2min away from school.

as i got older, it got worse. i would take naps during recess and lunch periods, fall asleep on my desk in class or homeroom, and when i got home, took a 2-4 hour nap. also to mention, when i got to high school, the drive was about 30-60 min drive away (traffic is a problem) so i would snooze in the car too. i get to college and after my 1st semester, learned my lesson and try to schedule all my classes at 10am or later if possible. the few 7am classes didn't make sense why it was 7 in the morning (and way far away from campus and us freshmen don't all have cars ya know...oh, and the bus doesn't even run that early). after 7 years of hell in college, i glad-uate and upon entering the workforce, absolutely CANNOT maintain jobs that require me to be there at 3:30am, 4am, 5am, 6am, 7am, 8am or 9am. i have a very bad chronic record of being late for work and i get fired a lot because of it.

so i have a number of alarm clocks i need cause it doesn't matter where its located, i manage to get up, slam it off, and go back to bed and not even know what i did. that and i need to set the clocks all 20 min'ish fast cause even tho i KNOW they are all fast, i'm so damn tired in the morning it will NEVER dawn on me i set them all fast and i have a leeway.

when i DON'T have a job and am looking for a job, i can garuntee you...no matter how tired i MAY have been, i turn into an INSTANT night owl. and it is hard as f'ing hell to go back to dayurnal. naturally, i stay awake for about 18 hours, and sleep for another 12-14. lately i've been forcing myself to only take in 6-7 hours of sleep max to TRY to refix my sleep schedule. so far, no work.

i can tell you when i talk to others and do research, when the human body is 'cut off' from natural environmental affects (ie, it gets bright/dark, warmer/cooler) the body changes itself to a 32hr day schedule. personally, i feel that'd be a lot better for the body.

so yeah, if you ever find out, leme know? oh, and i should let you know...i got the added curse of have seizures. as in, one problem i have, too much stress and too little sleep and i garuntee you i end up on the floor. not fun.

oh, and about your rem problem? part of it is a self-training issue. most people do enter rem breifly and there are 'dreams' that occur. when you wake up, is the part you need to teach yourself to instantly recollect what were you just dreaming JUST NOW? i'm not gona go into you have to be asleep for 6+ hours before you enter the rem stage cause...there are times when i just take an hour or two nap and when i wake, i can remember very vivid dreams. so i duno. maybe its a weird gig regarding if you are or arn't getting enough rem. hell if i know. i'm just coughing up random ideas...

Found good information on Insomnia, my roomie was taking ambien, and it gave him horrible dreams and he sleep walked alot. He is not off it and trying other things that or more natural...

Treatment of insomnia may center on developing general healthy diet guidelines, in addition to making some key adjustments in your relationship with food. This involves adjusting the diet to eliminate foods suspected of stimulating or disrupting the nervous system or triggering food allergies, such as lactose (dairy) intolerance. Also, consuming the right carbohydrates prior to bedtime may encourage the production of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which reduces anxiety and encourages sleep.

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Dietary recommendations for insomnia include:

* If you’re hungry at night, eat quality, complex carbohydrates such as a piece of whole-grain sprouted bread, a bowl of oatmeal, organic unsweetened yogurt, or a raw apple.12
* Eat foods rich in L-tryptophan such as organic turkey and chicken (poultry), organic milk, cheese, and yogurt (if you’re not allergic to dairy), beans, and cashews.13
* Combine your dairy products with carbohydrates. The L-tryptophan from dairy products reaches your brain more easily when it’s combined with a carbohydrate. As an example, choose cheese and a whole-grain sprouted slice of bread.13
* Eat foods that contain lecithin, an excellent source of choline (a B vitamin). These foods include egg yolks (from organic, cage-free hens), cauliflower, grape juice, and cabbage. Lecithin has positive benefits in helping with sleep, stabilizing mood, and enhancing brain function.14
* Add saturated fats to your diet that have antimicrobial properties such as organic virgin coconut oil.
* Eat foods that are rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids, such as organic flax meal, fish oil, wild salmon, minimal-mercury tuna, avacados, and sprouted walnuts.
* Add nutrient-dense and unprocessed foods such as sprouted nuts and seeds to your diet.

Foods to AVOID include:

* All simple or refined carbohydrates (white bread, pasta, cookies, cakes, crackers, processed snacks, etc.) – Read more about good carbs and bad carbs.
* All foods containing refined sugar or synthetic sugar-substitutes such as aspartame, Nutrasweet, Splenda®, etc. Choose a natural sweetener like Xylosweet™ instead.
* Alcoholic beverages – Although alcohol has a sedative effect initially, it actually disrupts good-quality deep sleep.
* Foods and beverages that contain caffeine, such as soft drinks, coffee, tea, and chocolate – caffeine is a stimulant that disrupts healthy sleep patterns.
* Energy-boosting drinks – These stimulate the nervous system and can contribute to insomnia.
* Sweetened fruit juices that spike blood sugar levels too rapidly
* Bottom crawlers such as oysters, clams, and lobster that may contain toxic levels of mercury
* Deep-sea fish such as albacore tuna, mackerel, and swordfish that may contain toxic levels of mercury. Choose minimal-mercury albacore tuna instead.
* Sodium nitrite found in processed foods such as hot dogs, lunch meats, and bacon
* Monosodium glutamate (MSG) found in many foods as a flavor enhancer
* Hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils (trans fats) found in many processed foods, deep-fried foods, fast food, and junk food – Read more about good fats and bad fats.
* All tobacco products – Cigarettes contain over 4,000 chemicals, many of which are extremely harmful.

Other tips for insomnia sufferers:

* Purchase a comfortable bed and quality sheets that make you feel relaxed.
* Avoid heavy meals in the evening hours. High-protein meals may keep you awake.
* Practice meditation, deep breathing, and guided imagery while in bed to help ease your overactive thinking.
* Review your calendar and write down a checklist of all the things you need to do the next day so that you unload your brain before you go to sleep. Journaling before bedtime also helps to unload your thoughts.
* Get plenty of morning sunlight to help regulate your circadian rhythms.
* Avoid exposure to bright light before you’re going to sleep, and during sleep. Bright lights may disrupt sleep/wake cycles and keep you awake. Use nightlights in the bathroom to avoid turning on bright lights in the middle of the night, and use heavy blinds/shades to keep the room dark.
* Try to fall asleep and wake up during the exact time every day (even on weekends) to help your body establish a normal sleep pattern.
* Light therapy can be used to reset the body’s circadian rhythms and reestablish natural sleep/wake patterns. Carefully timed exposure to bright light can bring the body’s cycle back into synchronization with the natural cycle of night and day. Read more about blue light technology.
* If you have “silver” dental fillings, get an evaluation from a mercury-free dentist who specializes in the safe removal of mercury amalgam fillings. Mercury is a neurotoxin that can cause wide-spread damage.

for some people, thinking is like an endurance run, they almost
never get tired of even heavy loads. they simply cant wind
down after they've been running hot.

i think for hours and hours some nights, there were times
when i raged at my screaming thoughts, too erratic to sooth
like the babbling brook, no they demanded attention.

schizoids are particularly prone to not feeling consequences
to an abnormal wake-sleep schedual. almost everything
they do is on their terms, with as few promisses and obligations
as possible. no deadlines. not really.

beyond a certain point of rest, rationality melts away.
there is no longer a conscious analysis of input, but a
dissonance as interference drowns the signal.
is your signal too dominant? does it refuse to release you into sleep? bad news.

im not personally very concerned about my bad sleeping,
im sure it is slightly unhealthy, but many things are worse.
sleeping pills for example...

ag.