Advanced Sleep Phase Disorder - Plus

I'm another of the 'adapt and survive' brigade. If I wake up at a 'silly' hour I either cuddle in and continue relaxing or do whatever the moods takes me be it getting up or watching a film on iPad or whatever. I often drop off again but that's only because of my relaxed state. If I let it bother me I'd be a wreck and never get back to sleep.

Reports are filled with details of poor sleep affecting health, leading to dementia, early death, piling on weight etc. No wonder people sleep badly with all that to worry about.

I sleep OK once I manage to fall asleep it's the first part that's my problem. I often just cannot get to sleep in the first place. It seems whatever breathing or counting or relaxation exercises I try my mind just goes into overdrive and then of course there's DH's snoring. Quite often get up at about 3 or 4am without having had any sleep at all and go downstairs to watch any mindless TV until I start yawning and then go back to bed and sleep until 8 or 9am no problem.

Does it really matter if you don't sleep for a long time at night? I go to bed late but may still wake during the night. I just read or go online which often makes me feel sleepy and, if I'm tired during the day, I have a nap. Pumping yourself with sleeping tablets is not good for the body. You could get a dog and go out for a walk and be thankful that you are here for another day. Far better for the soul than pills!

I’m so desperate now Ive booked to see a Hypnotherapist. Bel Moony recently wrote an article about her sleep problems and tried a short course of Hypnotherapy and it worked for her. Having tried everything possible over the last year am now going to try this. Hypnotherapy worked for my acute arachnophobia... I still don’t like em( see, cant even bring myself to name the beasts) but I no longer run screaming hysterically from the house... I ve learned to just throw things at them! Fingers crossed .

Sleep problems are such a pain I totally sympathise . Post menopause I’ve suffered badly from erratic sleep issues. My saviour is a hypnotherapy download from audible ( I’m sure you can get them elsewhere) . It’s by a chap called Craig beck. I find that over a few days listening in bed my sleep gets much more settled and it certainly doesn’t do any harm. Good luck !

Well, yesterday I went to a dance exercise class and like many of you on this thread I don’t sleep for more than around five or six hours.
I thought attending this class would zonk me out, bit oh no.
Still,woke up between five and six o’clock.

I also use Zopiclone, they can be guaranteed to get you of to sleep, but are short acting. I have tried Melatonin. They don’t work for me. They are not available here and I bought mine from a US website.

Occasionally I will take a half of Phenergan antihistamine tablet. But whatever I take it seems I am doomed to only sleep for a few hours.
I once tried CBT. That didn’t work either. The house seemed very cold at 3am and I couldn’t wait to get back to bed.

I’m lucky if I get 4 hours sleep a night, no amount of exercise works for me. I go to bed around midnight read for 30 mins then turn the light out, I toss and turn till about 4 in the morning then I’m wide awake at 8. I’ve recently had a bad cold and took night nurse I cannot believe how it knocked me out for 8 solid hours so now I take it about every 4th night just to get a good nights sleep.

I too have broken nights - trips to the loo are a large reason for the wakeful times. If you have a real sleep problem, there is a recent well researched book about sleep, which got rave reviews:
Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams
byMatthew Walker
It might help understand things better. I heard him interviewed, and he said that if there was one piece of advice he'd give to anyone about good sleep it is "Go to bed and get up at the same time every day". Of course there was much more. The book does include advice based on research, and lots of scientific evidence about why we sleep.
Also there are Sleep Clinics in various parts of the country, so you could ask your doctor to refer you to one. You might to travel to get there, but could be worth it. Good luck!

If you live alone don't have to go out to work then don't worry as you can please yourself what you do when you do it. The more it bothers you in getting to sleep the more difficult you will find it in dropping off.
What is to stop you having a sleep in the day who is there to complain but yourself. I have when unable to sleep, got up had a light snack say toast or cereal and a hot drink (not coffee) then gone back to bed .It helps to get your bloods taken every now and then. This restlessness may be to do with your blood sugar levels.

I go straight to sleep at between 11pm and 11.30pm after reading for a while. I then wake up at about 4am and then either stay awake until the alarm at 6am or doze. I lead an active life, walk everywhere, garden etc but sleep eludes me. In the evenings I sometimes nod off but that makes no difference to sleep patterns in bed. For several months DH and I have slept apart because he used to wake me up inadvertently but it's made no difference.

You might like to try a natural sleeping aid such as Kalms or Natrasleep, or take Melatonin.

Your GP can prescribe Circadin, which is a slow release form of Melatonin.

Try and avoid other UK prescription sleeping drugs such as Benzodiazepine, or antidepressants or SSRIs.

Melatonin is prescription only in the UK, but is available over-the-counter in USA. Start with 3-5 milligrams about 1 hour before you go bed on a Friday or Saturday and reduce the dose by half each 1 week until you find the dose that is just enough. This might be as little as 0.1 milligram

I take a tiny amount of Melatonin at around 10:00pm and then I sleep well from 10:30pm until 7:00am

I import 500 microgram tablets from USA, as they are not sold in the UK, and cut them into 4 pieces. This means that I am taking only 125 micrograms, which is a tiny amount, but it works for me

As another person has written, exercise during the day makes a big difference. Try 30 minutes of brisk walking, swinging your arms and breathing deeply through your nose - this is probably the best thing that you can do to help you sleep

An electric under blanket is very soothing, and lulls me to sleep. Turn off before nodding off

Try some 'sleep hygiene' ( you would be able to get this off the internet)...similar to what Emily Harburn is suggesting. I'm loathed to start taking medication, unless all else fails x

I leave my radio on during the night, not every-ones "cup of tea" but it helps me to drift off. I rarely go to bed before 12 although last night was a rare occasion, in bed by 11. I usually get up once during the night, I always read when I go to bed, sometimes for hours. My normal sleep pattern is 5/6 hours, sometimes I wake up & can't get back to sleep, 10 mins is my limit before light goes back on & I pick my book up, works a treat for me. Seems to be a problem for women as we get older. I do also have the occasional "day-time nap" usually when I sit on my settee to watch the tv.

The best advice I saw was to work backwards from the time you wake up For example if you wake at say 6am and your normal sleep pattern is only four hours don't go to bed until 2am. A bit of a pain I know but this worked for me. Each night go back another half hour so then it's 1.30am the next night 1am and so on. I've tried everything else and this is the only thing that worked If on occasion I wake up I read for a little while and an electric blanket is a must Very conducive to helping one get back to sleep Good luck

Sounds just like me! When I get to the point where I am desperate for a good night's sleep I take a tablet - Zopiclone - which my GP has prescribed. I manage to make 24 tablets last one year so use one tablet, on average, twice a month. I make sure I take one when I go to bed at 10.30 p.m. as they guarantee me at least 6 (sometimes more) hours solid sleep. I never take them after midnight - that way I don't feel drowsy in the morning. I also find eating something like nuts or a banana just before bedtime helps relax me as they have something in them that has a calming effect. I survive most nights on 4 hours sleep - anything more is a bonus. Hubby sleeps like a log every night!!

I agree with Wilma45, taking a sleeping pill at 4am is bound to make you drowsy during the daytime. If you need a sleeping tablet it would be much better to take it at bedtime, then it will have worn off by breakfast time.

My pattern is going to bed at about 10:30 and reading for an hour. I either spend hours getting to sleep or drop off within half an hour. I usually wake after 2/3/4 hours and then lie awake seething till I drop off around 7am and then sleep till 9am. I’d actually prefer to wake at 8am every day. DH is asleep by 10:30 and sleeps through till 9am every night. He often snores but separate rooms doesn’t make much difference. He sometimes naps during the day as well. Soon he will be asleep more hours than he is awake ?

The BBCi radio app on my phone has helped my insomnia . Instead of tossing and turning, trying to get to sleep or on waking in the early hours I listen to plays, talks, Woman's hour etc from Radio Four and normally miss most of what I have set out to hear. Perhaps it is the trying to listen instead of trying to get to sleep that works!!

Hi magsypoo - yes, I've tried taking a sleeping pill soon after going to bed, but while it gets me off to sleep (I have no trouble doing that anyway) I still wake up after just 4 - 5 hours sleep. So that's not a runner for me, sorry to say.

Hi Doreen 5 - yes, I do the same: that's to say I too use those Zopiclone tablets as a last resort. . .

GeeKay have you actually been diagnosed with ASPD? My understanding of ASPD is that you would be going to bed early in the evening and waking early in the morning. In other words your 'sleep time' is ahead of what we consider normal. From what you have written it appears that you go to bed at a 'normal' time and wake early.

Do you keep a sleep diary? Keeping one could help you identify what the actual problem is.

My daughter has M.E and had awful sleep problems so she started keeping a sleep diary. It took several months for us to be able to spot a pattern. She was suffering from Non-24 Sleep Wake Disorder as a symptom of M.E. Her bodyclock was around 25 hours so her 'sleep time' was an hour later each day. Once we had worked out the pattern it became easier to live with as we could predict when she would be awake during the day. A few years ago a friend won a Lumie Bodyclock Alarm which she gave to her and it has changed her life, From being housebound she now sleeps 'normal' hours, her health has improved and she is job hunting.

I have never slept more than four or five hours since getting older I find I go to sleep very quickly at around 11 and then wake quite brightly at 3 or more likely 4 am. I think the difference is I absolutely don’t think it’s a problem at all I think this is a very normal sleep pattern for me as an older lady I do sometimes nod off in the afternoon if I m doing nothing or maybe the evening if a tv programme bores me
You have made the mistake of enhancing it to a medical problem even with a name I ve never heard of, you are constantly looking for ways to beat this ‘illness’ even considering resorting to medication so you are elevating it to a huge problem when it just a very normal phase in our lives for some
I love lying peacefully gradually hearing the birds waken up seeing a sunrise through the curtains I put the radio on softly and listen to either a talking programme or light music I may even nod off for an hour or have a game on my iPad
Geekay Stop seeing it as a problem and it ll probable stop being one

BlueBelle - what a good post!
I agree with you 100%.
Plus, sometimes I like to sleep to pass the time. Because as my active life diminshes with age, it's boring.