Tired in the morning and awake at night? Here is a REAL solution.

May 10 by | 118 comments | Featured, Lifestyle | Tags: , ,
Sleepy

Ever since high school, I’ve had a peculiar problem.

No matter how little sleep I get the entire week, no matter how much I avoid caffeine, no matter how much exercise I do…I am wide awake in the middle of the night doing my best work!

Often my most productive hours are between midnight and 2 or 3AM, even if I’ve gotten only a few hours sleep the night before and been up for 18 hours.

It’s truly a bizarre pattern of dead tired mornings, walking around like a jet-lagged zombie, followed by a tortuous afternoon in desperate need of a nap, and finally an evening where I start to wake up.

“What could be wrong with me?” I wondered for years. Surely this was not a normal way to live!

As it turns out, I’m not alone with this small problem. Like others, I eventually managed to deal with it (taking only afternoon classes while in college, and starting my own business to set my own hours). But it always bothered me because everyone I met didn’t seem to understand my problem.

I tried every piece of advice that I heard: “Read before bed”, “Drink a glass of warm milk”, “No caffeine after noon”, but it didn’t seem to work. I even spoke to several doctors about it who didn’t have any good answers. Even if I forced myself to get in bed at a reasonable hour, sure enough, I would toss and turn until 3AM before finally falling asleep.

If this sounds like a problem you have, then I’m here to help, because you may have something called “Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome”.

It’s a well documented sleep disorder that goes undiagnosed (or misdiagnosed) by the vast majority of doctors today. You can read more about it in this excellent article

As you may recall, everyone has a biological clock, known as a circadian rhythm, that regulates when we are awake and when we feel tired. People with delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS for short) tend to have:

  • A shifted circadian rhythm
  • A longer than normal circadian rhythm

The second one in particular is difficult to live with because it causes you to operate on a 25 (or more) hour day. Each morning you want to sleep in a bit later, and each night you want to stay up a bit later. The world is moving too fast for your biological clock, so you are always a bit behind!

After trying everything under the sun to correct this efficiency problem in my life (since it was certainly affecting my productivity), I finally stumbled upon light therapy. It sounds bizarre, but you can actually use light to reset your biological clock. In particular, certain wave lengths of light seem to work better than others.

Thinking back to the caveman days, life was very simple getting plenty of sunlight during the day and it being pitch black at night. Our brains evolved to operated on this schedule over millions of years, but with today’s society full of artificial lights and plenty of activities to stay up for, some of our brains (mine included) have gotten confused.

Simply getting some sunlight early in the morning can help reset your biological clock, but for those who are in an office building, there are some simple light therapy devices that can help reset your biological clock. One that I’ve used and would recommend is the Apollo GoLite.

I use this for about 30 minutes each morning, shining some blue wavelength light on myself, and after about the first week of using it my entire sleep cycle had been reset. Getting up a regular hour no longer felt like I had just been awoken in the middle of the night! It was truly remarkable because after years of struggling with this problem, I finally found something that worked.

So stop trying to drink ten cups of coffee each morning, setting two alarms, and sneaking off to your car during your lunch hour to catch a nap! You might just have delayed sleep phase syndrome, and you can do something about it with light therapy!

Brian Armstrong is an authority on time management and how to quit your job to work for yourself! You can download three FREE chapters of his book and sign up for his free online course, “Successful Entrepreneurship”, by clicking here now: Start Your Own Business

Brian Armstrong is a 25 year old entrepreneur who achieved financial freedom working for himself! Today he seeks to help others do the same as a writer, speaker, and consultant. Prior to becoming self employed, Brian’s work experience ranged from fortune 500 companies, to several small startups with less than 15 employees. In 2001, he ventured out on his own with his first company and was instantly hooked, starting two more in the next five years. Brian currently resides in Houston, TX leading authority on how to quit your job to work for yourself.

  • Chatsubo

    You sir, have opened my eyes. I’ve had this most of my life. During my studies I could sleep how I wanted to, and I was very productive then. My working carreer has been vastly less productive, and I’ve often napped in my car during lunch. Thank you for finally pointing out what’s wrong with me.

  • Adam

    Wow, I’ll have to look into this. I’ve had the exact symptoms you describe as long s I can remember, and it’s a problem. Thanks for the insight.

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  • BrianArmstrong

    You’re welcome, and I know how you feel. My whole life I was thinking “everyone talks about how hard it is to get up in the morning, but is it really THIS hard fr them as well?”

    This finally gave scientific evidence to what I was feeling for years, a great feeling. And 3 doctors I spoke with never knew what it was.
    Brian

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  • http://searching4arcadia.wordpress.com/ a11en

    Thank you, sir!

    I think I got my behavior very young- staying up at night to finish homework when the family finally went to bed (often 9/10pm)… same for undergrad, except add in the almost weekly projects due, and the 4am or no-sleep nights…

    Do that for 8+ years or so- so far I haven’t been able to fix it! I’ll try this! Thank you very much!!

    [Finally, someone else has the same problem. I'd swear it was laziness before... ]

  • JaBbA

    I’ve been on a 26 hour circadian all my life. I have known this and just dealt with the narcolepsy in the morning and wide-awake at night, but it’s affected my health something fierce.

    I’ll be trying light therapy as soon as I possibly can!

  • http://searching4arcadia.wordpress.com/ a11en

    BTW, if anyone finds info about specific wavelengths (like Apollo’s lights), can you post it here? Making a light out of LED’s couldn’t be simpler… paying $200 on a graduate student’s budget isn’t much fun…

    [DIY light therapy here I come...]

  • http://searching4arcadia.wordpress.com/ a11en

    470nm blue (almost completely standard blue LED’s wavelength- short bandwidth = no UV exposure)… here’s a citation:

    Optimization of light and melatonin to phase-shift human circadian rhythms, J Neuroendocrinol. 2003 Apr;15(4):438-41

    “The findings showed that light-induced melatonin suppression in humans was sensitive to short wavelength light (420–480 nm) a response very different to the classical scotopic and photopic visual systems.”

    Of course there are many more things to check now- intensity of light, duration, pulsed or continuous, etc…

    These little suckers (led’s) range in price from around $0.45 to $0.70 or so at various places… Will let you guys know how I get on with the project.

  • Adam

    I’ve known I’ve had this for a while now, but I have to be very careful about how I go about it. I’ve been bipolar since I was about eight years old (now twenty-five), so not only does it make the consequences worse, but also exacerbates the problem itself. Light does work with me, but I still end up back in the nights. I’ve just kind of adapted around it through by scheduling everything in the afternoons and working for myself.

  • mike

    I’ve had these exact symptoms for as long as I can remember and as a 17 year old student it has been absolutely killing me. Thank you so much for the article!

  • smallsushi

    D: no wonder why I’m jobless, what do you people do? D:

  • Gill

    Wow, just wow, I’ve been living with those symptoms since I was in high school and everyone always just called me lazy. I remember trying so hard to wake up and trying to change my sleeping patterns, practicing getting up as soon as the alarm sounded, and a few other things just to end up in the same place I started. I am defiantly going to be looking deeper into this. Thank you again :)

  • Tico

    That’s incredible! It confirms my theory against my brother’s: I’m not crazy!.. :)

  • bucketgirl

    I’ve known about DSPS for awhile but it seems like everyone I tell seems to think I’m making up some story to excuse how I find it impossible to wake up in the morning.

    Thank you so much for venerating the concept and presenting a solution!

  • Dan

    Interesting article! I’ve been reading a lot of praise about alarm clocks that wake you up with natural light, and maybe it’s time to try it out seeing this works so well for you. Being tired in the evenings and falling asleep isn’t a problem for me anymore. Getting a baby took care of that nicely! ;)

    Also, where did you get that nice picture? I’m 99 % sure it’s from the subway in Stockholm, Sweden, so I was a bit surprised to see it here! :)

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  • BrianArmstrong

    Hey Everyone,

    I’m excited about the response and how many people it helped. Regarding the cost, yes the $200 price tag is high. I got my apollo go lite off ebay for about $100 I think. My friend who is a mechanical engineer also balked at the price and decided to build one for himself with blue LED’s, but I don’t believe he ever finished it.

    To me the cost was worth it. I mean, how can you put a price tag on getting an extra hour every day and being alert? Over a life time, that could be worth millions.

    Good luck!
    Brian

  • oluxxx

    wow, i’m very happy to hear about this. but i don’t have the money for it. still i think this would be the first thing I need right now. Can enybody tell how you can build tomething like the Golite by oneself?

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  • jedge

    Wow, I’m 15 and you pretty much described my life :( Now I just need to get my hands on $200…

  • Ted

    Wow, I’ve had this for years. My dad had it and his mother had it, but not nearly as bad as I do. They just described it as being a “night owl”. I can get 12 hours of sleep and I still wont be fully awake in the morning. I may not be tired, but my mind isn’t alert until it is dark outside.

    Haha… two alarm clocks, I’ve done that. It gets kind of confusing when you wake up at 8 a.m. and have to fumble with both of them. I remember giving up once and unplugging both, only to plop back down in bed and miss school.

    Thanks for the info, now I just have to see if light will work for me.

  • Spiff

    Amazing post. I’ve been struggling with the same problem for years (I’m 32). Waking up is almost always painful. I’m dead sleepy, pretty much a zombie. Often feel more tired than when I went to bed. I want to sleep in the morning and have energy at night..usually go to bed at 2am when I’m sleepy or so and get up at 8am with the alarm clock blaring in the darkness.

    Curiously, I’ve been looking into Dawn Simulator controllers and lights to see if that helps me wake up feeling energized for once in my life… it was interesting to find this post while googling for “wake up tired” tho.

  • svelter

    Thanks for posting this. I was trying to find lifehacks for going to bed earlier, as I just can’t seem to go to bed before 1 or 2 am. Since I’m supposed to be at work at 8, this is becoming a problem. I’ve been showing up later and later to work – sometimes as much as 3 hours late. It’s a terrible cycle.

    I’ve gotten to the point where I’ve begun to feel hopeless – that I’m lazy and deserve whatever criticism is coming my way. Because it’s a problem that’s plagued me for so long, I remain a little bit skeptical. But I am hopeful that, once I can scrape together the funds to try this out, perhaps it will help me to obtain a more “normal” daily schedule.

    Thank you for the resources and for helping us to know that it’s more than just laziness that’s keeping us in bed in the mornings.

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  • GrimRC

    Vitamin D and optimise TSH.

  • Daniel Burgess

    Been trying to find out why i am still awake at 5 am and feeling really tired and just generally awful in the morning. Training to be a Primary School Teacher and having to get up early feeling full of energy has been impossible… i am seriously going to concider using this.
    Thank You

  • http://www.npe.com sara

    Just get a bunch of full-spectrum light bulbs and some lamps – maybe a multi bulb lamp. Get about 5 of the high intensity bulbs that emit about 1,500 lumens a piece and use those for 30 minutes in the am.

  • http://www.chaosgone.blogspot.com chaosgone

    Good article! I have noticed lately that I have had a similar problem. It’s probably due to the shorter days this time of year. It’s time to start using the full-spectrum light bulbs that I have.

  • http://mybytenetworks.com/matt Matt

    This is incredible…
    It sounds like your reading straight out of my life…
    I will DEFINATELY be checking this out. Always felt like this. I’ve been diagnosed repeatedly with chronic daily migraine and the whole ‘lethargy’ thing has always been put down to that. After reading this up a bit on the net, the problem I’ve been telling everyone for such a long time seems to have a name! It’s 11:14 and I feel so awake just in the last few minutes but I have to head off to bed soon, its the same story every night, and the same as all of these people commenting above.

  • http://www.StartBreakingFree.com Brian

    Hi Matt,

    Keep in mind that I have since changed my opinion of this slightly. The blue light appeared to help the beginning, but it may have just been placebo effect because I couldn’t stick with it and it never worked for me long term. Whether this was me not sticking to it closely enough in the beginning I can’t say for sure. Just wanted to provide an update.
    Brian

  • Rob

    Hi Brian,

    Have you tried anything else since your last post? After reading this whole thread I was disappointed to learn at the end that it didn’t work. I’m 39 and have experienced the exact same thing since I was in high school. However, I do find that in the summer I’m a little bit better (not great compared to normal people, but better when compared to myself at other times of the year) so the light therapy concept sounds like it makes sense. I was all ready to run out and buy a blue light until I came to the end of this page. I would love to hear if you’ve found other solutions. On to researching “micro-napping” now. I heard that could help night owl’s like us.

  • http://www.startbreakingfree.com Brian Armstrong

    Hi Rob,

    Nope I haven’t tried anything else…my “solution” has been to work for myself so I can keep the hours I want (working late, and waking up late). I wouldn’t completely give up on light therapy. Like I mentioned, the results with it were good at first. The first week is very difficult because for the light to work you have to do it early (at the right time of day) and you haven’t adjusted yet. So the first week is tough. I would fall out of the habit because at some point the weekend would come around and I’d stay up very late drinking, and the next day sleep till noon. Then it was hard to go back, especially since i had no job requiring me to wake up at that hour.

    At one point I even tried turning it on my face while I was sleeping in the morning and this didn’t help.

    I feel like it may still work though and would be worth trying in your case. See i you can grab an apollo go lite off ebay for cheap maybe? Post your results, I’d be curious to here it. Thanks!
    Brian

  • HHH

    It´s pathetic to buy a machine for that matter of lighting up your life !!! I´m sure that 25 mins under the real sun is affordable for any and every human being. Unless you live in the artics or in Boston in winter time. If not, the excuse of lack of time to optimize your life because of work is stupid. No matter what 25 mins wont make you jobless or poorer !

    USD 200 for a machine to correct sleep distress? Are we becoming robots?

    Anyway, we could also direct the article (which is good and make sense) to a more healthier pattern of life…for the pc addicteds, we can still have a 3G modem, solar powered notebook in central park from 9:00 ~ 9:30 am.

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  • icewater

    Yep, this article and a number of follow-ups here peg me exactly… Started when I was 17, almost impossible to be productive between 3p-6p. It’s doubly frustrating because sometimes I have to devote my own time to catching up on work.

    I was actually diagnosed with this not too long ago and given sleep medication, but I don’t like the stuff. I want to get off it – in fact I did ditch it over this last (four-day-off) weekend – I’ll see how it goes.

    I’ve discovered the “micro-nap”, mentioned above, on my own. It seems that if I give my subconcious about 15-20 minutes to kind of “check in” and take care of some underlying unfinished business, I do better during the day. I just prefer not to be discovered by Management asleep in my chair.

    The lethargy during the “dead zone” is just profound. Occasionally I work from home, and I just do something else for those three hours and make up for it in the evening. At least that way I’m exchanging time instead of donating it.

    How I long for the days when I could determine my own schedule…

  • Thunder

    What I have found with DSPS is that light therapy can be effective but with some people there can be another issue and that is either being blind or insensitive to light and dark cues. So still this problem will exist but it is possible to re-sensitize to light and dark cues.

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  • kiwi_girl

    oh my gosh…. i almost feel like crying reading this!!! Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome is what I have suffered with since I was a child and I am now 22!!! Brian I know EXACTLY what you mean about when people say it is hard to get up in the morning and I would think “does everyone find it THIS hard?!” that is exactly what I wondered and wow it is such a relief to find out I am not alone. It is currently 2am where I am right now and I have to be up in 6 hours.

    No matter what time of day I wake up in the morning, every single night is the same and I can’t fall asleep till the early hours. I used to think I was just an “extreme night owl”… but when I read about DSPS I realised I had it. I mentioned it to the doctor about a year ago, and just told him straight up thats what I have. But he looked at me like I was being a hypochondriact! Melatonin pills help guys so give that a go.

    At uni I just used to make all my classes in the afternoon but when I begin primary teaching I won’t have this luxury. Wow so good to speak to people who understand this problem. I think I underestimate how much it effects my life… even with ex boyfriends they would find it so annoying that I would want to talk at 2 in the morning lol when they were trying to sleep… and I always do whatever I can to avoid early starts….

  • http://www.StartBreakingFree.com BrianArmstrong

    @kiwi_girl Wow that is awesome thanks for the comment! Glad it helped… Btw here is another article I wrote on it recently:
    http://www.startbreakingfree.com/961/how-i-learned-to-live-with-dsps/

    Do you use a computer at night often? I’ve noticed this has helped me to avoid this or dim my monitor while also using Flux:
    http://www.stereopsis.com/flux/

  • kiwi_girl

    Brian, thank you so much for this blog. I really appreciate it!! It is such a relief to finally know that I am not going crazy and I really do have DSPS.

    When I read the other article about it, the whole time I am nodding my head like “yes yes you are describing me exactly!!” … My mother was always really sympathetic about it, and she even took me to a sleep specialist when I was 17. Who might I add was completely useless and just told me that if I can’t sleep then I should get out of my bed and sit in a dark room for 20 mins and go back to bed and try again. Crazy advice!!

    When I came across an article on DSPS about a year ago I finally had that “ah ha!” moment…and yet still was in slight denial about it but now I know 110% for sure it’s what I have. And yes, I’ve had all the advice from people like my dad saying “if you go for a run before bed then you will exhaust yourself so much that you will fall asleep in minutes”.

    What really shocked me was when I read somewhere that the average amount of time it takes for someone to fall asleep is 5 minutes (or something like that). I was thinking “Whaaat?! And it has always taken me 2-3 hours!” Yet if I go to bed between 2-3 am then I can fall asleep within minutes.

    It is nearly 1.30 am here now and last night I only got about 5 hours sleep and although I was tired most of today…again right now I am wide awake. You are very lucky to be an entrepreneur and to be able to work by your own hours. When I begin teaching I am going to have to wake up at 7am every morning and that is the only thing I dread.

    In high school, people often said I was always day-dreaming…and I wondered why I found it so hard to concentrate sometimes. But now I realise it was because I was always sleep deprived. I’ve spent my life looking forward to the sleep-ins on the weekend.

    I have never liked the term “insomnia” because I thought once I fall asleep I have no trouble staying asleep and getting my 7-9 hours, I just always told people I had trouble falling asleep. Some people are understanding which is great but then as you said, other people think it is laziness or they just don’t understand it.

    I was thinking today that if DSPS is my only problem then I am actually very blessed as so many people have various mental illnesses to deal with. It is like God gave everyone some sort of issue to live with and mine is just this. Most of the time I just pretend it doesn’t exist and don’t think about it but then if we are really honest with ourselves – it can affect so much.

    I remember last christmas I was working in a clothing store and the manager asked who would kindly do the long shifts till midnight – I offered to do them all (10 days in a row of working till midnight). The manager was sooo happy (clearly she was a morning person lol) – and she thought I was being really kind but infact I was also very happy to be able to sleep in!

    I think what makes me quite dissapointed and almost upset is thinking that there doesn’t seem to be a cure. I’ve tried sleeping pills (which actually work great coz the put you to sleep at an appropriate hour). Only problem is that it’s not healthy or good to take them every day – they are addictive and I don’t like to be on them.

    Natural herbal supplements don’t work for me… melatonin worked a little I think.

    I often am on my computer late at night because of my DSPS – but before I had my laptop, I was still up late. But thanks for the idea about the special light.

    Ok looks like I am writing my own blog here so will finish up. Thanks again for making me feel normal finally!

    P.S

    Did you ever have strange sleeping habits as a child that might have influenced your DSPS? Because my mum says that as a child I would always want to be having a nap in the day (before the age of 5) and I wondered if all that sleeping in daylight screwed with my natural circadian rhythm.

  • http://www.StartBreakingFree.com BrianArmstrong

    Hi again! Yep I totally sympathize with your story and glad you found it. I don’t recall ever having strange sleep patterns as a child (or my parents telling me about it). I’d be surprised if exposure like that early in life could continue to have an effect later in life, but you never know, it’s possible. You’re right that there appears to be no cure, but it’s manageable, keep in touch!
    Brian

  • kiwi_girl

    Argh 2am here – still can’t sleep. Was sleepy at times during the day and yes now my body clock would choose this inconvenient hour to be WIDE AWAKE. Flip sometimes it is so frustrating I end up crying. Other times will enjoy listening to my ipod for hours… but just wish there was a simple cure. I read somewhere that sleeping pills don’t work but they worked great for me, only problem is they are bad for you and not good to get addicted so I try to only take one a month (if I have a very early start). Wish there was some way to be able to take them every night without any bad side effects :S

    Sometimes I hate DSPS! Actually most of the time lol

  • morg176

    Hey Brian. A couple of things. Thanx for the blog it is bery helpful, my sleep patterns have always been off. Sleepy/lethargic in the morning and more awake at night.For many years I had chronic fatigue syndrome, which is devastating to your system. It is like a shifted circadian rhythm with total and utter exhaustion [without reason]. but you pick up a tiny bit at night. it is impossible to function like that. It was diagnosed that a genetic disorder was causing me to use up all my B12, folic acid and B6, to remove a buildup of an amino acid. I had 16-17x the maximum amount of an amino acid called homocyteine. Once th eexcess amount of this was treated i was far more alert through the day and could sleep better through the night.
    At the moment it is all out of whack again and I am totally exhausted when i wake up in the morning and i spark up when the sun goes down. Im walking around like a zombie and have no energy or appetite to speak of, until night. but at the end of the day [1-3am] i end up going to sleep when i am wide awake. its like my day is backwards.
    its hard to function like this. I believe at the moment, something medical is also wrong, seeing the doc today.

    May I suggest something, Incase someone in here has the same genetic condition I have, and is unaware of it, as most doctors are unaware of it. it is called hyperhomocysteinemia. which means too much of the amino acid homocysteine [hcy] in the blood. easily treated. I would like to recommend that, as i did, people can get a homocysteine levels blood test. my amount at diagnosis in 2003 was nearly lethal. i believe it is one of the things that can cause chronic fatigue syndrome, but few people listen.

    anyway, id love to hear youre coments, and if this sounds a bit confused its because its 3pm and im tired.
    All are welcome to comment.

    morg176

  • http://www.StartBreakingFree.com BrianArmstrong

    Very interesting thanks for posting your experience morg176! It seems there are a number of rare conditions that doctors may not always know about. Google is becoming quite helpful at self-diagnosing.

    Brian

  • morg176

    hey brian, it also made my eyes dry out completely for about two years, i was all but blind. The opthalmologist that i went to sent me to a specialist and he found the huge spike in hcy. had it fixed/treated [but chronic] in about 6 months, if i hadnt seen the eye doc, within a year i would have had a massive stroke

    Get tested before you are 30yrs old as that seems to be when this hcy gets lethal [strokes, heart attacks etc] if that had not have discovered this i would have perished

  • Vanessa

    Right now, I’m more than positive that I’m suffering from DSPS and looking further about it through the internet, I’ve found something called Chronotherapy. I’m just wondering if anybody here have tried Chronotherapy? It looks promising without having to use any drugs, it just requires you to sleep at certain times of the day till you get your body clock set. I’m planning to do it but then I’ve read that you would need medical supervision with it. Any thoughts?

    Here’s a helpful link btw if you want to read more about it: http://www.geocities.com/delayed_sleep/chronotherapy.html

  • http://www.startbreakingfree.com Brian Armstrong

    Hi Vanessa,

    I tried it a while back and it didn’t work for me with any sort of long term effect.

    What has worked better for me recently is dimming the computer monitor at night. I think this is what was causing it primarily. You can see more in the comments on this page:
    http://www.startbreakingfree.com/961/how-i-learned-to-live-with-dsps/

    Good luck!
    Brian

  • Jess

    This rings very true for me, I find that at night I am that much more focused and awake, and I draw and write better, and that trying to go to bed early just results in more lost sleep.

  • Popcorn

    Omg Ive got the same !! I’m 15 and I have to wake up at 6.30 every day for the bus which I always miss !! I never het to sleep till about 3-5am ! During school I’m dead tired, daydream and take naps in the nurses office. I often have naps as well like during 6-midnight but then can’t sleep till 4 am !!

    It’s actually 3am right now !! All my friends just call me nocternal !! One thing that sometimes works for is to stay up all night then fall asleep at 9pm – nackered at this point – wake up at 6am for school .

    Also I don’t think anyone at my school has a much trouble waking up than me in my school because whenever friends stay over at my house they can wake me up till about 4pm !! I’m in such a bad mood as well !! I don’t take any sleeping pills because for many of my friends onec they were on they couldn’t sleep without it !!

    Well I’ve rambled on and going to revise for my chem test today !

  • Hannahh x

    i jst got this about 2-3 months ago and hav been wondering what it was im 13 and i cannot sleep on a night until about 3-4-5am sometimes later. then on a morning i dont get up until about 11am-12pm! how do i stop this??? . see its 4am now and im ot tired at all so i thought id look it up on the internet and here i am! :)… i am deteriating in lessons and getting into more trouble (usually dont get in trouble) ive been forgeting homework not realising we gotten it, day dreaming in lesson and im not hungry at dinner and tea, i am inbetween instead. anyways ive went on long enough, how cn i stop this … (i listen to my ipod on a night tho help me sleep it helps a lot, could that have been a problem its started since i started listening to it as im going to sleep then it slowly started making me more awake then i dont sleep till 3-5am ad now it helps me at around 2am to wind down a bit) xx Hannah xx hope everyone had a good xmas x

  • Nikki

    Hi Brian, and like everyone else, thanks for posting this article. I’ve had yet another late night, restless, tossing turning, and of course, rolling sweat. Aside from my health issues, my life is in absolute turmoil because of my sleep patterns. This is nothing new for me, and has followed me relentlessly all the days of my life. It started as early as I can remember. My Mom said she had to switch me from morning kindergarten to afternoon because I could not get to school on time. She also said that the minute I fell asleep it was like a switch got turned and my body started heating up exponentially, until I lay in soaked sheets. I’m now 39 and nothing has changed, its worse. There were only a few years when my kids were little that I was able to go to work, get them off to school, and function normally. Something happened with my last and final pregnancy, and I was back in the same boat, worse than before!! This tells me it is something absolutely hormone related.

    Let me tell you, my life is in the shambles. My husband and kids think I’m lazy, but give me some rope because I have serious medical issues that keep me in and out of the hospital. When I’m in the hospital, the nurses say they have never seen anyone sweat at night so profusely, they presumed it was menopause and were shocked when I told them it has been that way since I was an infant. They said it would make sense for me to be so fatigued, as every night I’m sweating out all my salt and sugars, dehydrating my body. Throw in the can’t sleep thing and I’m a mess.

    When I was working or getting my kids off to school, it was always a nightmare! Excuses to bosses & schools for being late ran thin. I was passed over for promotions even though I did the work better than anyone else, I just didn’t set a good example because I was late all the time. At least then I was functioning, now there are weeks at a stretch where I can barely get out of bed at all until 3pm. I am missing out on so much! Our home business is suffering due to my lack of ability to call customers during the DAY. My kids are unable to join clubs or sports because I cannot guarantee I can get them there, at all. I have to cancel appointments all the time because I’m just too tired. My teeth are in bad condition because I can’t seem to make it to the dentist, even when the appt is in the evening! My friendships have suffered because I cancel get togethers because I am too tired. My marriage is suffering because I’m too tired for sex, rarely make dinner, cannot clean the house, and never feel like going out. The only time I feel like doing anything is at 12am-3am. The rest of the world is asleep, so I can’t really accomplish anything then. It is a truly horrible condition, often mistaken for laziness, even though inside I feel incredible guilt and beat myself up constantly, I can’t seem to get it together, but my intentions are still honorable.

    I have totally ruined my gut from drinking too much coffee, and had to have gall bladder removal surgery. That was fun. Not. I smoke like a fiend and am constantly looking for “safe” & legal forms of speed to keep me going. I have tried vitamins, diet, all of it. Nothing works. Sleeping pills are a joke! They do absolutely nothing. My doc was shocked, said it was enough to knock out a horse, and I only weigh 100 lbs soaking wet! Whatever “this” is, I was born with it and it is destroying my life! What life?! I don’t even have one. My life revolves around sleep and how to get more of it, and staying awake long enough during the day to accomplish something, anything. I’m constantly making excuses for myself and I’m fed up with myself. Depression? You betcha! Self loathing? Got it in tons. Suicidal thoughts enter my mind daily. But, I could NEVER do that to my kids, but still romanticize the idea. An end to this suffering? Yes please. But at what cost?

    I’m sure this has something to do with my screwed up immunity. Ever since I was a kid I got every bug that came around! I’ve had spinal meningitis (viral), shingles, pomphloyx, N1H1, whooping cough, scarlet fever, epstein barr (recurring mono), just to name a few. I get diseases that would kill most people, but I always manage to pull through. I cannot help but think these problems are related. In 3 months time I lost over 50 pounds. I have 6 specialist working on my case and they are no closer to answer than they were when it 1st happened. I’ve been tested for everything you can imagine, running the gamut from AIDS to CFS to MS to fibromyalgia. Nada. If I had a definitive diagnosis I would hope that would provide at least some answers.

    I was wondering if anyone else here has night sweats and health problems in addition to the sleeping problem?? I’m at my wits end and don’t see this condition improving anytime soon. I’d hate to think we are all just stuck with this.

    • Tbi110

      wow i feel for you.. try seroquel. ull find it will knock u out and feel not too bad when u awaken. wihtout it i dont get sleepy. its strange med cause ull be lying there wide awake and the next thing u know its the next day.

    • Mimi

      Why don’t you post this as your own little blog – it’s good!
      (just to let you know I am NOT being sarky)

    • Larken85

      You should get one of your doctors to look into Adrenal Issues and test your Cortisol Levels.  This could be Adrenal Insufficiency or Addisons Disease.  It sounds more serious than a sleeping disorder.  A lot of doctors overlook this and it can take years to get a diagnosis.

  • Hm

    Interesting.

    Well, I guess it’s possible that I have this. Not sure though.

  • Amanda Saffer

    Wow, I’m fairly certain I have this. I’m very tired throughout the day until about 4pm, then I’m fairly normal, I get a burst of energy from 10-3am and usually become tired after this time. I was wondering what was so wrong with me. I downloaded Flux and I’m going to try it. The problem is, I don’t think light therapy will help me very much. I sleep next to a huge, wall-size window. The sun rises on the side the window is on, and it doesn’t seem to be helping me wake up at all. I also don’t have the money to spend on a light. Is there anything else you guys would recommend? If you do, let me know. I’m going to start taking vitamins and perhaps some benadryl 8 hours before I want to wake up. I’m not sure this will help though. Nothing seems to works and it is making me feel distressed.

    :(
    -Amanda

  • http://CANADA Michael

    Not that this will apply to everybody, but I’ve been having these problems right up until I was 20 (now 21) and I’ve made several changes that really helped (sorry if some of these are obvious):
    - eat a light meal 1-2 hours before bed
    - breathe through your nose when trying to fall asleep (this one proved effective for me)
    - be in a dimly-lit environment 1-2 hours before sleep
    - fresh air (hard to sleep in stuffy rooms)
    - SUNLIGHT (though it doesn’t help everyone)
    - Firmer mattress (sounds illogical but it worked for me)
    - Do not stress/think about it (I used to stress over not being able to fall asleep – while trying to fall asleep until I began realizing it’s not a big deal)

    For many people, there’s no helping this. It’s an imminent age-related process that goes away as you get older and become an everyday up-at-8am morning person.
    - I also cut back on the weed..

  • http://myspace.com/the_jollyrancher Josh

    I know how you feel, I too have this problem. I watched a show on the BBC about this exact problem and unfortunately seems to be a pain in the ass to diagnose… some people have to wait 10 years before they rule that is what you have. I hope that one day you and I will perhaps get a full nights rest and feel refreshed at 7am like the normal world. Cheers!

  • felicia

    hi there :)
    okay so im 15,
    and im having this same problem.
    its been MONTHS now.
    i dont really have the money to get light therpay,
    and i have no idea how
    im sorta goling through this on my own.
    since my dad is always working.
    and doesnt know im up ALL night, every night.
    and SOO tired in the day.
    and my brother| (who is 18) has no idea whats going on with me .
    i was thinkign about going to the doctors, but i am NOT taking any pills.
    ive tried so much.
    too fall asleep at night.
    AND stay up during the day.

    im just so confused on whats going on D:

    • Shannon

      Wow I feel for you! Im only 12, but I have the same exact problem and it is very hard to get through school! I went to the doctor, and found a solution. You need to find an EXTREMELY boring book. Read it for as long as you can. I promise you will fall asleep =) I hope this helps you!

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  • marie masarova

    Hi i am 14 years old and i have this problem wherei am very tired throughout the day and somehow find energy at night…it is very strange!

    • Clbtimes

      Hi Marie,

      The article the author linked to explains that this is most common during the teen years and does not necessarily mean it will be forever. For most teens it naturally subsides as you approach young adulthood maybe earlier. There seems to be a strong link between this issue and the hormonal changes we all encounter. As your body attunes to the changes your sleep may very likely normalize again where you will sleep at night and have energy in the morning again. If you have siblings, cousins or friends who were teenagers when you were still 8-11 years old, you might remember that you would wake up early on a Saturday morning with normal energy and the teenagers would sleep till later or even till the afternoon. They might have been groggy and sleep for a while when the got up. Many of the could have been were experiencing what
      you are dealing with now. So in case you are concerned, don’t worry it does not mean you will always be like this. I know that is not helpful for you right now so it would likely be helpful to tell your parents and a school nurse. Perhaps they can bring you to a sleep specialist or learn about things that could help you.

  • Allanah

    Does light therapy really work?

    For me when it’s sunny it’s even harder to get up in the morning – I struggle to get up before 3 in Summer. I also find it easier to wake up when it’s dark or raining. Is this normal for delayed sleep phase syndrome?

  • Rani

    hi, insomnia is annoying -having suffered from it years ago i can totally understand. But then i started taking Zinc ! try taking Zinc picolinate with a multivitamin, 75mg zinc (this is a higher dose) and a A-Z daily for ten days and you will notice a difference pretty soon -cured my insomnia and is Great!for your skin

    • Clbtimes

      Thanks for this, will try it!

  • M@rk

    Apart from the author can anyone else confirm this works? People say they are going to try it. Can we have results please!

    • Clbtimes

      All available info regarding results are relative to each person. There is no uniform result, and no expectancy that any sort of light therapy will work the same for all individuals. As you read in the article the result for the author (who used it as opposed to “trying” it) was very good. So that’s at least one result. It’s an effective treatment for a lot of people, helpful for others, and indifferent for some. Basically the fact that it helps some people would be the reason to get and use it in order to determine if it would help you. Otherwise there’s no way to know regardless of all the results others have

  • Jem

    Well I’ve had this issue since I can remember like 2-3 years old laying and tossing in my room cause I couldn’t sleep. So what does this mean my clock’s been messed up since birth ??? The only time I can recall when I didn’t have this sleeping problem is when I was pregnant lol. So what do you think born this way or something else ???

  • Rayanne

    Hello, my names Rayanne and I think I have one of these symptoms. I’m 13 years old now but ever since I was born I stayed up all night, every night. As a baby I didn’t sleep and my parents thought it was from the milk I was drinking before bed but it wasn’t and if I eventually got to sleep I would have the worst nightmares ever. This went on for years until I was at the age of about 10. That’s when the bad dreams stopped. At this exact moment in time it is 6:00am and I can’t sleep. I have to get up for school in an hour and I will be exhausted! But I will still be able to find the energy to go by school work and come home without being tired. Tomorrow night this will all happen again and I will be fine. On weekends though its different I fall asleep really late! Maybe about half 5/6 and I mite not wake up until half 4. This has happened to me all my life and I don’t no what it is. Please if you might have an idea tell me because I don’t no what to do. Its very abnormal bbecause getting less then an hours sleep every night and still being fine with no effects or bags under my eyes. Please please reply. Thank you so much

    -Rayanne

  • amberkin

    I just read the entire wikipedia post, and… I feel like I just came upon a miracle. I ALWAYS knew I wasn’t an insomniac, because in reality I actually enjoy sleeping. It’s just, it always ends up, EVEN if I try and change my schedule, I’m always back awake during the night. I thought maybe it was just me, and I was meant to live on the other side of the world or something where my clock was working correctly with the time zone. I don’t know, but this…it makes complete and perfect sense. I’ve been struggling with this my whole life, school was awful for me because I never felt rested, and I resisted going. I got diagnosed as an insomniac, but honestly, like I said, I just don’t feel like one. I just feel more awake during the night than during the day! I feel terrible about sleeping all day sometimes because my friends and family hate it, and the past few months I’ve REALLY tried to change my schedule, over and over again, but I always end up back here. It’s 5 AM right now, I’ll probably get tired around 6:30 or 7. :/ Are there any other treatments? :/

  • Ady

    Man i almost want to cry lol. Its so nice to maybe have a name for my problem!

  • Cssmiau

    I’m almost certain I have it. but in the winer, there are almost no sunlight… what should I do?

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=710736026 Lauren Faffler

      Even though it’s not as warm & bright as it is in Summer, doctors have told me it’s still more than enough sunlight to work!

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_MKIUFTLNS323OXFJBZWLJF3U4I hardknox knuckles

    my names pat im 20 and have been having a problem with sleeping siince i was 13 me and my mom both noticed a really big difference in my sleep pattern i would wake up tired and constantly wake up during the night. people at school thought i had narcolepcy how ever you spell it. but i know i dont im tired ALL THE TIME AND DONT KNOW WHY……

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  • Mimi

    hi
    okay so I’m 11,
    and I’m having this same problem.
    its been MONTHS now.
    i don’t really have the money to get light therapy,
    and i have no idea how
    I’m sorta going through this on my own.
    Since my dad is always working, my mum never rests but can always get to sleep at night, they don’t know I’m up ALL night, every night and SOO tired in the day.
    My brother| (who is 16) has no idea whats going on with me because he has no problems getting to sleep – even if he goes to bed at 6:30 he would be asleep within minutes and I am not sure whether this is due to spending most of his time on his PS3 .
    i was thinking about going to the doctors, but i am NOT taking any pills.
    I’ve tried so much too fall asleep at night.
    AND stay up during the day.

    im just so confused on whats going on.
    ‘~’ =’S

    • Clbtimes

      Hi Mimi, sorry you are having this difficulty. Maybe it would help if you told your parents, or even just your mother, since your Dad’s is always working. It seems like that would be a very good idea for you since you are 11 years old. Most 11 year olds probably dont make Dr appointments and go alone. They probably would not have the money or any way to by the light you are talking about. It’s a pretty good and normal thing that you dont take pills. Your parents though can help you with this and they would probably really want and need to know you have this issue so they can help. Good luck Mimi

    • Nether

      Why did you use the same comment as felicia a few comments below? just altered it alittle?

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  • Dyylan

    Hi my name is Dylan and i came back from Hawaii wednesday at 9:30 California time and now its saturday and i have been able to stay up wide awake till 6 in the morning full of energy and then cant force myself to sleep and i woke up at 3:15 today is this jet lagg or what is it?

    • Kerrynotes

      Not sure if you read the article but it’s about a sleep disorder. Your trips or vacations would have no bearing on this. If, for months or years, you sleep in the day because your body needs to sleep then – and you feel normal and productive at night, then this article should be useful regardless of you going to Hawaii

  • Honestanderson

     i have this disorder and have been diagnosed by my sleep clinic for it however i have also tried this ‘blue light’ method for the past couple of months and no improvements have been made, im out of other suggestions

  • loiscoop

    i have the same problem, only i go to bed at like 5am or later beacuse i dotn feel tired, but they i sleep all day till like 2pm or even later.. ive tried having an ‘early’ night but i can never seem to sleep its really annoying me now.. ive tried alot of stuff to help me sleep better but nothing works.. im starting work soon as ive just left high school, im very worried that my sleeping pattern is going to be a problem for me as i dont go to bed till late. what should i do?

  • Brad

    I got the same problem, i’m 14 and i study in Hong Kong, in school i get really good grades but the only problem is that i can’t really concentrate in school cos i feel really tired. Here school starts at 8am and finishes at 4pm, during the day i feel extremely tired but all of a sudden in the evening at around 6pm I wake up. It seems to me that even though after having a really long day i only manage to sleep at midnight or later, any solutions?

  • Salt123

    Well I am sure I have this too I have only got it since high school I can get in bed early but end up just sitting there it’s as if I have just woke up but then I get so tired in the mornings but as soon as I get to school I’m ok so I don’t suffer from it with school work and when ever I tell sumone they think I’m benign silly I think my body just doesn’t need much sleep I don’t know whether or not to go to a doctors what do u think x

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  • josh

    i had the same problem i used ot stay up till around 10am and sleep till 6pm in the winter but in the summer i am up at around 7am and sleepy at around 9pm my diffrence is that i got rid of one of the things that stressed me and even with that i also took some of the things that stressed me head on to make it less stressing and i started sleeping easyer so i think its stress and motovation if you have something like plans ahead of time htey can keep going throught your head also knowing your getting up early get someone to wake you up for the things inportant like your wife/husband or your perents that way your sleep will be alot better than normal

    reason i know is i have studyed my patterns and ways to get em to sleep at a more resionable time

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    • Hsgs

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  • http://twitter.com/sinembargo Aine Sexton

    I love summer and winter breaks.  They are the only time I can sleep when I want to/need to.  The rest of the school year is torture.  I have to get up early and be surrounded by morning people. They don’t get it at all.  They say silly things like, “Why don’t you go to bed earlier?”  I have tried bedtimes ranging from 7:45 pm onward.  At some point, usually between 1-4 a.m., I will be awake and up…ready to go back to sleep around 6:30.  The problem is during the majority of the year I have to get up at 6:45.  (P.S.  I have never drank coffee.  (can’t stand the smell of it) So, caffeine is not a component in this situation.)
    The difference between me and a lot of the posters is I am not a student; I am the teacher. Teenagers have different sleeping patterns than adults due to their hormones, they are still growing/changing, etc.  Those of you writing in have nothing to be concerned about! Give yourself  2 or 3 more decades.  If you still have a problem then, then you have a legitimate concern.

    • Bennihanna

      So happy to be done with school. Yea nothing like a shrill over cheery morning voice when your still half asleep good luck!!!

  • JenTen

    I can’t believe you hit the nail completely on the head!  Although I wasn’t like this as a child growing up I became this way during my mid teenage years.  I’m seeing a sleep doctor, have tried medications, have a CPAP machine – but all to no avail as you can see I’m writing this comment at 1:39 A.M.

  • Gage38

    Yeah I think this is probably what I have because when I’m tired I fall asleep easily but it takes A LOT for me to get tired. And I can’t help feeling that mine is a little more severe than most people’s on here. It’s 4am right now and I’m not tired at all. The ONLY times I’m tired are between 6 or 7am and 1pm. Today, or yesterday, I managed to get up before noon for the first time in weeks minus one day because I worked that day, and fell asleep early so i could get up early the next day for work. But that first day I worked I actually had to stay up all night and work was awful. I’m up all hours of the night every night and I’m usually sleeping during PM hours. Is there any manual solution to something like this? If I were to spend money on this light therapy deal, I assume I would have to wake up around 6 and use it, right? Or could it be while I’m still up from the night before? Because there is no way in hell I can wake up at 6am to shine light on my face. I can only get up early when I have to and my body refuses to get up when I don’t have to if I’m still tired. Obviously I know it’s all mental but I unintentionally come up with an excuse as to why I should still sleep and then I just keep falling back asleep until I’m alarmed at how late in the day it is and I just get up. Often times I wake up around 3 or, sometimes 6. Two nights ago I woke up at 10pm. Most people are going to bed then. I managed to fall asleep for a few more hours resulting in my waking up at 11am of what would be yesterday morning but here I am, not tired, likely to be up for several more hours. It’s like I get a different feeling of exhaustion that makes me want to lay down early in the morning. There HAS to be some way around this. If I lay in bed while I’m not tired, I won’t fall asleep. Once I get tired, it’s easy to fall asleep and hard to wake up. I am practically nocturnal. Can ANYONE give me any advice on solving this? I would prefer something that would be more natural than buying a special lamp or going on a walk that REQUIRES me to wake up early as if that’s not the problem to begin with.

    P.S. My preferred hours to be awake would be 9am – 1am or 2am.

  • http://profiles.google.com/dm4242 David Moss

    This sounds just like me (I’m diagnosed with DSPS). 2mg Melatonin (available on prescription or as a supplement) fixed the problem almost instantaneously. Light therapy made a modest difference once I was on melatonin, in that I sleep a bit better if I get very bright sunlight, a bright full spectrum light (I think) makes me a tiny bit more alert, and avoiding my laptop (even dimmed and with F.Lux installed) makes a pretty substantial difference in terms of sleep time (9pm sleep time rather than 12pm).

    I would definitely worry about this if you’re a teen, contra what Aine Sexton says below. Teens only have a melatonin release schedule on average an hour later than the norm. My DSPS also began in my teens and was utterly crippling. Indeed, it typically begins in adolescence-early adulthood. Also don’t expect your doctors to know anything about this. Be prepared to walk in, with a detailed sleep diary, the insistence that it’s not caffeine and most importantly, lots of information from a legitimate health source (or wikipedia) about DSPS. None of my doctors over the years had heard of DSPS, until I told them about it.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Enedelia-Obregon/1621402966 Enedelia Obregon

    Sounds like my 15-year-old daughter. I’ll need to ask her doctor about this.

  • Austinparkks

    Okay the fantastic,wonderful school school i go to makes me wake up at 5:30 AM ( starts at 7:10 bus comes 6:15). When i go to sleep around 10:30 pm… okay this might sound a little weird but whenever i try to sleep i cant get thoughts out of my head and like when i close my eyes i have many many dreams and all of a sudden i just open my eyes around 2-4 am and I DONT FEEL TIRED AT ALL and my whole body aches. okay so to make this sound a little clearer if you kind of  cant understand. i “sleep”( notice the ” “ )at 10:30 pm and wake up around 2-4 am I dont even feel a bit tired dont yawn or anything just all of a sudden open my eyes. and then when i go to school i feel so tired. But does anyone know what not feeling tired at all and stuff is??? I would really appreciate any awnsers.. can email me at [email protected] thanks!

    • LastDay

      Austin,
      It sounds as though you might need a bit less sleep than the 8 hours (vs. having DSPS); many people do need somewhat fewer than 8 hours.  
      But try this:  
      when you wake up at 2-4 am, begin to count each breath.  One inhale plus one exhale = one count (as in, inhale/exhale “1″ …inhale/exhale “2″ …and so forth).
      That frequently puts me back to sleep if I wake up during the sleep hours (although I can never GET to sleep before 4 am because I DO have DSPS).
      And even if it doesn’t get you back to sleep, it gives you many of the benefits of sleep.

  • Rachel

    This is the exact problem I’ve been having! My most active hours are between 1am and 5am, the latter time at which I’ll begin to wind down a bit. By midmorning I’m sleepy, and by late afternoon it’s torture trying to stay awake! It’s so aggravating, especially since my mother always just says to me, “Well, if you would just stay in bed until you fell asleep at night, we wouldn’t be having this problem!” I’ve tried that many times, and, as stated in this article, I just toss and turn until morning when I can finally get some sleep, plus I always wind up waking up sore that evening from being stuck in bed at a time when my body is used to being up and about. Thank god I’m homeschooled, and don’t have to worry about school hours… but even considering that, I can’t just keep living off of little snippets of naps as I have been for the last few days. If this continues much longer I may have to resort to taking some sort of sleeping medication just to rest at night… :(

  • Teganrox2010

    Thanx really helped out

  • Iceman

    Thanx

  • LastDayCafe

    I truly appreciate this article, Brian.  I’ve experienced every single thing you mentioned, and I had no CLUE that so many other people suffered from this.  I am 56 years old and I’ve dealt with this since high school (actually even had a touch of it here and there when I was 9 or 10 !).

    I’ve tried reading myself to sleep, not drinking coffee after 4 pm …all of it.  I was even thinking of putting a tv in the bedroom which I’ve never done, but if that worked I’m sure someone would have mentioned it in all the comments.It would be only a slight inconvenience to me except for the noise made by neighbors.  One can scarcely ask people to walk around on tiptoe til 2 pm, and I live very close to other families.Like a previous poster, I’ve been blessed with amazingly good health except for this, so I’ve taken that attitude she did, that everyone has to have some load to carry.I’m wondering if this could work:instead of the light in the morning, just turning out lights and computer at a certain hour even though you don’t necessarily go to bed.  I have two electric candles and I’m thinking I could just …I don’t know …do something which doesn’t require terrific vision lol.It’s kind of like what you wrote about dimming the computer; I think I will try it.Again, thanks for this article; I will show it to my loved ones who no doubt privately suspect I’m a vampire.

  • Kait

    I think I might have this problem!!! I will frequently stay up all night or take some melatonin, trying to fall asleep at a normal time. But even if I get on a normal schedule, it slowly migrates later and later until I am falling asleep around 6 or 7am. Once it gets there it seems to stay fairly constant unless I do something about it. My other problem, though, is that even the nights I do get enough sleep, I’m still tired. I’m not sure if that’s a different sleep problem altogether.

  • anony-nony

    wow… not to be needle in haystack but.. this is EXACTLY ME!! my family HATES the fact that i dont wake up on a “normal” time, and consider me as lazy.. and just dont understand why i can’t just sleep at 10 and wake at 6… my parents think i’m so backwards for studying all night and sleeping all day.. and NO WONDER i sleep in class! no wonder i suddenly become awake WITHOUT coffee when evening comes…. WOW…
    BUT.. who can afford this “light therapy” device???  any other solutions? i’ve tried multiple alarms, i’ve tried leaving my curtains open to allow light in early morning, i’ve tried to force my sister to piss me off in the morning just to wake me up… but that only works for so long.. WHAT TO DO????? >.<

  • Harun

    One more with same kind of problem here. I am 18 and I feel really drowsy throughout the day, and when the night comes I suddenly feel more energetic and my skills improve, so that again delay my sleep and I manage to catch a lil’ of sleep most of the time just when the dawn comes. But I don’t know if I’ve got that syndrome, it started a few months ago because of the intense anxiety and depression because of the fear of cancer, now I am concerned about my mental health, and I would really like this to be answer. Anyway, thank you so much, I am open for any kind of method just to restore my biological clock. Even thou lack of melatonine might be my case…thanks again…

  • Annabel

    Wow, this sounds like me! I’m 14 years old and no matter what time I try to go to bed I always fall asleep at 2am. My parents are always nagging me to go to bed at 10, and up at 8 for school, but because I can’t fall asleep I’ll always get less than 6 hours of sleep a night. Consequently I’m always extremely tired at school the next day(but I’m a good student so I still manage to get A’s) and when I get home It’s straight in bed for a ”rest”(as I can’t fall asleep during the day). But when It gets to about 8 pm I can’t stop moving and I feel like I could run a marathon!  A couple of times I’ve actually snuck out for a midnight run(don’t worrt I live on the safest place on Earth) and feel fantastic. I wish I could sleep during the day and do everything at night, then I wold be unstoppable!

  • Ghj

    Thank you so much for sharing this. I am having the same problem and it’s been terrible. I Am so excited to give this a shot.

  • Platypus With a Fez

    I am 14. I don’t know if it’s normal to have that problem at this age, but alas, I seem to have it. My best hours are usually around 11-5. I cannot go to sleep before 12. Even when I do, I’m awake and feeling so uncomfortable in my bed. I have to get up at 7 every morning, so it’s a bit of a problem. I’ll try getting some sunlight in the mornings, if it really does help. 

  • Brian

    Idk… I get sunlight as soon as it comes out because i start work at 7am (construction). But still im restless at night and it now is causing problems with my career because im often late. Dont know what to do…

  • X-winnie-babezz-x

    Omg! this is exactly what ive got, its like in the morning i feel drained and tired, and at night cant fall asleep, im tossing an turning til about 2am, then when i finally get to sleep i wake up at 4/5/6 am and ive even tried sleeping tablets and they dont even touch me, just made me even more tired in the morning. but this, hopefully i can mention it to my doctors and see if they can do anything about it, as i feel like i cant go out in the day because im too tired and just want to sleep in, i rely on my cuppa tea’s to keep me awake in the morning and at night, i get frustrated with myself, so thanks for this! x

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_WH3RLOD223WV4J5JLXN67QVAWY Emily

    haha been trying everythin but DANG…. I am only tired from five am in the morning to six am… and then? I WAKE UP ALL DAY LONG. considerin my day is from five in the morning to ten thirty at night i should be tired no? but dang am i awake… even sleeping pills don’t work! what am i supposed ta do about that? 

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=710736026 Lauren Faffler

    It makes me feel so much better reading articles like this!  I am only 22 and have been struggling with this for about 15 years now.  I have tried every medication, but after a few days it’s like I have to overdose on the meds in order to sleep.  I was on Ambien for 10 years, but I am addicted to it.  No medication can fix what I have.  It’s going to take a lot of hard work along with watching my sleep hygiene and sunlight in the morning.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=710736026 Lauren Faffler

    Anyone else feel like you’re living in the wrong time zone? haha

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Thommy-Strömdahl/100001644872302 Thommy Strömdahl

    Same problem here. Im tired all day and around mid day its just hell to try and stay awake. But that around 6pm when the sun goes down i start functioning again and i cant sleep until 4 or 5am… Its so frustrating. If someone has Draculas phone number pls write it, there is one or two questions i would like to ask him ;-)

  • Anonymous

    I’ve been suffering with really bad sleeping lately but I know I drink too much caffeine during the day so I can’t say I don’t know what’s wrong!

  • jess_paterson7

    omg i have this! im 14 and i have had this for years! over the holidays its the worst and every time my parents tell me to go to sleep i tell them i cant and they just shrug it off. at least i have a name now and can say its a real thing.