Insomnia Support Group
Insomnia is a symptom, rather than a disease, and is characterized by inadequate quantity or quality of sleep. People with insomnia complain of difficulty falling or staying asleep, which results in significant impairment of daytime functioning. Insomnia is categorized as transient (shorter than one week), short-term (one to three weeks) or chronic (longer than three...
Very interested in testing some factors to see what/if is playing a role in my horrendous sleep but seriously, why 5 a.m? Long story short= For over a week I'm either not sleeping much if any, or sleeping but with extremely frequent waking up and thus making it feel as tho i've been awake more than I have. Regardless of which is going on, why at 5 a.m. or so am I able to go to the basement rather than my bedroom and sleep(It's not the greatest but decent sleep, I usually wake up a couple times briefly but remember dreams as well). So at 5 a.m. what do you think is going on? A) my body thinks that it's 11 p.m like a normal person, B)could I finally be so exhausted I have no choice but to fall asleep, or C) could it having something to do with the new room or bed?
I think I'm the only one I know in real life that's in better from literally midnight to 12 p.m. the next day( earlier if you count reading time before bed). I'm also the only one I know who would be dead tired in forced to wake up at 10 a.m. or before on any given day currently.
I think I'm the only one I know in real life that's in better from literally midnight to 12 p.m. the next day( earlier if you count reading time before bed). I'm also the only one I know who would be dead tired in forced to wake up at 10 a.m. or before on any given day currently.
500mg of L-tyrosine seems to do the trick for me though.
After about 16 hours of nonstop wakefulness, our homeostatic sleep drive normally sends out a signal that it's time to sleep. Basically, our brains keep track of how long we're awake and the longer we go without sleep the stronger the urge to sleep becomes. Conversely, getting sleep reduces the effect of the sleep drive. By itself sleep drive typically will not produce a solid 8 or so hours of sack time.
So that's when our circadian rhythm takes over. Our circadian rhythm produces peaks and dips in what's known as our circadian alerting system over a 24-hour period. For those that usually are active during the day and asleep at night, we usually experience a dip in the early to mid-afternoon, often making it an ideal time for a short power nap.
More importantly though is the dip in the circadian rhythm after the sleep drive wanes. This is often experienced in the early to late morning hours, and the dip in the alerting system is what helps us stay asleep or fall back asleep after the effect of sleep drive wanes.
So the two systems interact and mutually support one another. When they are in synch, quality sleep becomes much easier, and at times practically irresistible.
To keep the two systems aligned, it's important to have a consistent sleep schedule, especially a consistent wake time.
Regarding the basement, this suggests you have a conditioned negative response to sleeping in your bedroom. There may be a number of underlying reasons for this. You've previously described a too-hot sleeping environment, but you also may be subconsciously associating your bedroom with all the negativity and frustration of insomnia.
This negative association is understandable when one spends hour after aggravating hour trying unsuccessfully to force or will oneself to sleep. Since sleep is more of a process of letting go, a frontal assault usually takes us the other way.