how do you make yourself sleep? | ADHD Information

melatonin, take it like an 30 min to an hour before what you want to be your bedtime for about 2 weeks straight and it will "reset" your sleep cycle, seems to have worked pretty well for me, although, now I wake up about 30 minutes before my alarm goes off, not sure what the deal is with that. I think my body is just used to not getting a lot of sleep so it gets up and is ready to go now:)

I got some of that melatonin with shopping yesturday. Worked like a charm and felt great this morning instead of groggy for hours like I normally am!!

Are there any side effects from it?

I'm having an issue (or have been having my whole life) - not being able/not wanting to go to sleep at night. In one of the books I read they said it's like being on a 26-hour day cycle. I really feel that way! I cannot force myself to turn off the light and close the eyes and end up staying late every night till 1-2am. The trouble is with getting up at 7 if you've gone to bed every night really late. I hate being tired all week... Ocassionally I severely oversleep where I end up coming in at 11am. On weekends I'm catching up with sleep often sleeping till 12-1pm. Then the whole viscious circle starts again: On Sunday I will get up at 12, won't be tired at night, won't be able to fall asleep till 3am and here we go again...

Anyway if anyone has managed to solve this issue? Any tips would be greatly appreciated....

 

I have the same thing. It has always been like this my whole life.  After I got my meds I realized,  as I  get tired at night  I get more comfortable in my own skin. I can concentrate better,  I enjoy what I do. But with medication I can have that feeling in day time also so I  have no reason not to sleep. If  I am sleepy I go and sleep.


If I am not sleepy I take a benadryl (antihistaminik) and it makes me sleepy.
lunesta or Sam e's work for meADD related I'm sure, sleep has always been a nightmare(unintended pun there) for me.  I drove my parents crazy as an infant, never wanted to go to sleep, always cried.  I remember laying in bed many nights staring into the dark for hours before I finally drifted off.  As I got older I found a drug of choice, the good ole boob tube.  When I was an older teen and my parents finally got me a TV for my room I was elated because I could leave it on until I fell asleep.  For me, focusing on something outside of myself has always helped put me to sleep and that has pretty much always been the TV.  Maybe it's not the best choice or a cure, but it works for me. 

Another thing that is good and very important is to know how many hours of sleep you actually need, to pick a time to go to bed and get up the same time every day and stay on that schedule.  Even so, I still have weeks that sleep is difficult.  I've tried sleeping pills and just feel drugged out the whole next day.  I have thought of trying melatonin but I get afraid of side affects.  I get severe migraines and I am very cautious about medication, natural or not.   Many people mention that their ADD meds help.  Have you ever tried that? 

I've managed so far without meds to put me to sleep but what happens if there is no TV around?  Sometimes on those occasions a sleeping pill cut in half helps, but it's not something I want to do on a regular basis.  The only other thing that totally knocks me out sometimes is after I've worked both jobs and excersized(as long as it's before 6:00pm or I'm revved up for the night).  Staying up too late is a disaster for me.  I try to get to sleep by at least 11:00pm.  From your post it sounds like your bio-rythms are all messed up.  Sleeping late is the worst thing you can do because it changes your whole body's sleeping time table.   If you could somehow get straightened out and try to get to bed before mid-night and get at least 7 hours of sleep a day, it may help.   You may at this point need either meds or a specialist to get you back on track.  It's very unhealthy to lose sleep and it can cause you to age faster and also weakens your immune system.

I truely hope you can find a solution to your sleeping problems for your health and for your sanity too.  Sometimes I literally feel like I'm losing my mind when I haven't gotten enough sleep.  Sorry so long a post.  It's something I've been dealing with forever and I know how you feel.  Hope something I said may have helped a little. Dee

Thanks for all the great advice. For me the hardest things is to implement it. The idea are great. But to actually make myself go to sleep is almost impossible. I've done a little better over the past two weeks but last night I stayed up again until 3 and today woke up at 12:30 because a phone rang! And I think this will doom me through the next week, because that means that I will be up tonight, wake up late on Sunday, won't be able to fall asleep on Sunday night and will be absolutely exhausted during the week. And thus the viscious cycle of my life continues. I have tried melatonin, ambien (does not work), and I would love to do this without adding extra pills if possible. I think Simply Sleep has worked before, I'm gonna get som more today with the next Ritalin LA prescription.

The reason for me not to go to sleep is not because I'm worried I'm going to miss something, it's because there's so many things I'd love to do that I could still cram in a day... I wish I could clone myself, send one of me to bed and the other one to do all the things I want to do.

I'm the same too and always have been. I used to not want to go to sleep for fear something would happen while I was not conscious. Now I think its a habit and I'm a night owl.

Can you sleep during the day without any problems? I can nod off anytime through the day

To get myself to be I have a shower at a certain time! then after that i say pJs bed. I play a relaxation tape it almost imidiatly has me yaning my mind is distracted and I can get to sleep. does not work every night! but most.

I am a last minute person I always leave the house at the last minute in the morning too.