So, I slept 18 out of 24 hours and missed work today.

Now I'm wide awake at 2am. I probably won't get much sleep tonight because I just woke up a few hours ago. I figure right around the time I have to get up for work I'll start feeling tired again. :P

Anybody else here have a really erratic sleep schedule? How do you deal with it? :shrug:

eludes me most nights.

more and more often. :(

G'night sweetie! :hug::hug::hug:

several times per day. Sometimes it knocks me out and sometimes it doesn't. :P

I hope you sleep well! :hug:

Because Vistril and opioids will knock you the f-out

I take it with morphine. Most of the time I'm okay, but sometimes it does really knock me out.

The Vistaril helps opioids work better. My father just had major shoulder reconstruction and nothing helped except the combination of the two drugs.

I have a hard time falling asleep and a hard time staying asleep. Tylenol PM, melatonin, muscle relaxers, sleeping pills, benzos. I've tried everything. Also learned the hard way that you don't want to mix that shit up or take more than the recommended dose or you could end up dead or, as I was fortunate enough to do, spend a coupla days in the ICU with a breathing tube shoved down my throat.

and sometimes they knock me out for long periods of time, and some times they don't knock me out at all. :shrug:

I'm definitely trying to be careful. I'm very sorry you ended up in the hospital. I hope there were no lasting effects. :hug:

and a huge hospital bill

Parkinson's tends to wake her up at all hours.

She does not deal with it well as our daughter tends to keep a different schedule :)

I hope she's doing well and doesn't have an advanced case.

been to the hospital twice this month, heart issues and general weakness. worried about her ovarian cancer coming back, bad heart, etc and so on - but all tested out ok. Now her left side is being affected (Parkies generally have issues with one side of the body at first). So all these new issues with her are most likely just related to parkinson's and not new issues.

Good news I suppose in that we don't have other things to worry about, bad in that it is getting worse.

We still have really good days though, thank god for those.

Alarm clocks, a wife, and an ability to function with very little sleep.

Anyone know where I can get some inexpensive blackout film?

Apparently I've been turning off my alarm clock and going back to bed. My clock is across the room. Weird. :(

I don't know where to get black-out film, but wouldn't heavy curtains work too.?

I have that. 2 layers of very heavy dark fabric tacked in place. Its adequate, but it makes air circulation an issue. I would really much rather have a blackout film, but I can only seem to find industrial quantities. I want to black 2 windows, not a whole pornshop.

We got the privacy film for the living room. Really nice. We can close the windows, and still have natural light, but skip the people seeing my quasinudist bits from the street outside. Or we can open the windows, and look out through the screen, get some fresh air. Thats what I want. Black light blocking for the bedroom, without the hardware or light spilling of a curtain.

not able to sleep lately - erratic sleep patterns are normal to me

:)

I wish I could do so well on so little sleep.

I like to eat and no one supports me

You know about my meds - nothing will knock me out. I can sit up all night watching movies, fall asleep one hour before having to get up, gripe gripe gripe gripe, manage to get to work.

I had one day last weekend that I slept for 24 hrs. What helps me is Trazadone. If I take it about 9:00 I have a better than average ability to fall asleep.

But that's just me. I'm stubborn, but not hardy. I'm sorry you're having so much trouble, honey. :hug:

Just woke up to go to the bathroom... back to bed soon. :hi: :hug:

:hi:

Despite my worries about being up all night, after sleeping all day yesterday I passed out last night and had trouble waking up this morning. I'm still tired!
:wow:

When you find out what works, will you let me in on it too?

:hug:

:loveya:

:hug:

:loveya:

My heart just goes out to you, sweetie...

How I wish I could help you...

:hug:

maybe Thomcat needs an ass-kicking to take his mind off of sleep

You could always offer your services!

:shrug:

Thomcat is sensitive - he might think I'm just being MEAN :o

"Thom's Rule Number 3?"

Anyone, at any time, is invited to do anything they want to me as long as they can make sure I enjoy it. :P

:rofl:

My dad had the same problem so I guess it's hereditary.

When this started, I would get 8 hours of sleep and wake up feeling real tired. Doctor said I was skipping the part of sleep where you rest. He put me on Ambien and some other stuff for stress. I didn't have as much energy as before and Ambien isn't intended for long term like I was using it but at least I could work. And it was helpful to be able to drive without suddenly finding myself fighting an intense urge to immediately sleep.

I retired almost 5 years ago and with some effort gave up all prescription drugs, including Ambien. Now I usually go to bed at 10 PM or before, then wake up somewhere around 2 AM and can't go back to sleep. I pass the time posting incoherent DU messages like this one and then manage to go back to sleep around daylight. I then wake up some time between 9 and 11 AM usually feeling rested.

I've been thinking maybe I'll try taking something to help me sleep through the night.

sort of like yours. I seem to want to fall asleep late at night (after 2am) and sleep until around 11am. Then I want to sleep some time in the afternoon for about 4 hours. But recently, even that has not been enough. :(

If you find something that helps regulate your sleep, please share the news. :)

To reset my internal clock. It actually worked.

My apartment is dark, and my office has no windows. I see very little sunlight.

I'll definitely work on that. :)

i'm tired that day, but it gets me back on schedule.

i hope today is better for you than yesterday. sorry to hear you had a difficult day yesterday.

I used to be able to. But now, when my body decides that it's time to sleep, forcing myself to stay awake turns me into an incoherent zombie and often triggers worse pains.

I often feel like I'm a prisoner to biological stuff I don't understand and can't control. :(

I live on caffeine during my waking hours and as soon as I stop caffeinating...I fall asleep within an hour.

Except on some days I get insomnia and it backfires. :P

I do the same thing sometimes, I just watch late night cable, and doze off when I can

:hug: :hug: :hug: :hi:

and play card games or board games against the computer for hours at a time. :P

The computer cheats. I've noticed that it gets good cards and good rolls of the dice more often than true randomness would account for.

i go to bed every night around 6 am, and get up at around 2 pm.

It's been like this for me since I was a little kid. I can try to conform to the "normal" sleep schedule but it always feels unnatural.
I feel great when I can do my normal routine.

Get your ass out of bed and go to work! hee hee LOL! :P

Hope you get some sleep and that you are feeling better.

My sleep patterns are all screwed up. I work second shift and then I am wired after work. I usually don't go to bed until around 3 or 4 and it's a real restless sleep. I don't sleep late; I usually get up around 9 or so.

I do, however, nap everyday and that's when I get my best sleep. I usually nap right after lunch for a few before I have to get up and get ready for work.

:) :hi:

:)

I would love to work second shift again. I am very much NOT a morning person. It's the worst time of day for me.

But it sounds like you are a morning person. I hope you can get a really good job first shift at some point. :)

boring? Such as ATLAS SHRUGGED, or an economics textbook?

Seriously, hope you can get some shut-eye! :hug:

being exhausted, usually my eyes hurt and I can't read at all. Sitting, staring at nothing is far more boring than reading. :P

I have a very smart, knowledgable friend who has narcalepsy, and I've been talking to her about what she knows about sleep disorders. She knows a hell of a lot. No suggestions yet, but she's going to see if she can dig up any good suggestions about dealing with chronic exhaustion. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. :)

structure in my life at all.

But you must have been really exhausted to sleep 18 hours. I have done that on occasion, when exceptionally stressed or just worn out

Hope you get back on track though

Hopefully soon. :hug:

Thank you. I would really love to find a way to moderate all of this and get back to a manageable routine. :)

so we will see.

Good wishes for good sleep.

when I need to sleep 3-5 hours to get my sleep cycle back on track, I drink a caffeine drink or two, lie down, turn the radio to something that bores the shit out of me, and off to Dreamland I go. When you come down from the caffeine and you're bored, you start yawning - and then you'll be asleep in under five minutes.

I've been relying on more and more caffeine to keep me going through the afternoon at work, and when it wears off I definitely know it. There is a backlash that pulls you down.

I should try that in the evening. That's a good idea. Thank you. :)