Reset My Sleep Schedule

powerss

My sleep schedule is fucked up.

Going to sleep at 4AM, getting up at 12Noon, when I don't have school or work (or, when I DO have school or work, getting up early and ruining my day.)

I need to reset my sleep schedule. I honestly don't get tired until 12:30AM, so I need a way to get tired earlier.

I know about exercise, etc - and I'm going to do that.

My plan is to run a few miles today, then around 10PM take some sleeping pills.

How many say, Sleepanol or Benadryl can I take safely? (in case you didn't know, the active ingredient in Benadryl and most OTC sleeping pills are the same)

Any other suggestions are welcome. I'm tired of losing half the day to sleep.

Sweet, glorious sleep.

Aldo

My suggestion would be to not sleep for 24 hours and then going to bed at your preferred time. You'll be so tired that you'll sleep easily then and you'll probably get up on time.

You should probably read the description of the sleep pills before taking any. It's supposed to say how many you should take and warns against a shitton of things.

Dropping Loads

In my experience, there is only one surefire way to reset your sleep schedule: Go to bed and wake up at the SAME TIME EVERY DAY, including weekends. For this to work, you also need to make sure you are getting enough sleep (you are getting 8 hours now, which is right in the normal range). Not only does this help you adjust to your new schedule, it helps make your sleep more restful and makes it easier to wake up in the morning.

Adjusting your schedule will take some time, but should take less than two weeks if you stick to it. Trying to take medicine or any other crash course readjustment will likely leave your body confused and exhausted a few days after you try it.

Septus

Yeah, I think the weekend shift is the killer, I can't seem to do it, and I don't think you can get the kind of regular cycle you need, if you do change on the weekends.

Specularity

Melatonin is always an option. I know there's a bit of a discrepancy about whether it works or not, but I believe it helps reset your circadian rhythms. If nothing else, the placebo effect might work to make you tired. When I'm trying to get back into a good schedule for school or something I'll take a melatonin every night before bed for about a week, and it seems to help.

Off of the supplements topic, though; what are you doing right before bed? If you're sitting at your computer or watching tv or anything bright like that you're just waking yourself up further. If you try reading or drawing or something for an hour before you'd like to go to bed you might find yourself surprisingly tired.

blizzard224

Aldo wrote: »

My suggestion would be to not sleep for 24 hours and then going to bed at your preferred time. You'll be so tired that you'll sleep easily then and you'll probably get up on time.

You should probably read the description of the sleep pills before taking any. It's supposed to say how many you should take and warns against a shitton of things.

Second this. I used to do this quite a lot, when I'd have wildy varying schedules / in and out of cities. I find it's best to just go the 24 hours, hit the sack when you should be and then it's pretty easy to keep going with whatever (healthy) pattern you desire.

I'd suggest getting about 7-8 hours sleep max unless you're growing as well. Any more than that fucks me up for the rest of the day.

yotes

If you want to go the Benadryl route, one or two (I like to take one every week to induce messed up dreams) 25mg pills are enough to lull most people to sleep, with the aid of some calming music, but you might be way groggy in the morning and you might not get to sleep through the whole night anyways.

If you're really aching for sleep, get your doctor to prescribe Ambien and you will be guaranteed an instant sleep schedule adjuster. I don't really believe in melatonin, but the heavy-duty drugs do work.

RocketSauce

Tips for getting good sleep:

-Don't drink caffeine after 5
-Have some evening rituals so you associate them with being tired (brushing teeth, taking a shower, flossing, stretching, yoga)
-Get up early (probably the best way to make sure you're tired)
-Don't sit around all night watching TV, then expect to be tired come 10 or 11
-Have some downtime about an hour before you sleep, read a book or listen to relaxing music
-Keep light levels low, trick yourself into thinking it's really late
-Sit outside while it's dark out for about 30 minutes and just relax. This does wonders for me

InsensitiveSeaBass

RocketSauce wrote: »

Tips for getting good sleep:

-Don't drink caffeine after 5
-Have some evening rituals so you associate them with being tired (brushing teeth, taking a shower, flossing, stretching, yoga)
-Get up early (probably the best way to make sure you're tired)
-Don't sit around all night watching TV, then expect to be tired come 10 or 11
-Have some downtime about an hour before you sleep, read a book or listen to relaxing music
-Keep light levels low, trick yourself into thinking it's really late
-Sit outside while it's dark out for about 30 minutes and just relax. This does wonders for me

In addition, drink water an hour before bed and avoid spicy foods and exercise in the hours before bed. The water will flush out chemicals and the capsacin (spicy food) and adrenaline (exercise) flowing through your body will both keep you up a few hours longer.

Specularity

Huh, my mom used to tell me that salsa could help me get to sleep after the initial spicy-food effects wore off. Is there any legitimacy to this, or was she just trying to help me justify my addiction to chips and salsa? I googled around and didn't find much; all of the comments against eating salsa were in reference to being too full or getting heartburn, and I couldn't find any information about what goes on once the initial effects of the capsaicin wear off.