Sleeping, Part 2

[sibelius]

I have the opposite problem as Jeff -- he can't sleep, but I sleep too much! I like to get up early, around 6:00, to get some work done before my 8:30 class -- so it's a problem if I can't even wake up or get out of bed until 8 or 8:30 or later! (I once overslept/missed a midterm exam this semester, and fortunately the professor is very merciful.) Whether I go to bed "early", around 11:00 or so, or if I go to bed "late", around 12:30 or later, I still have trouble getting up in the morning, and I still feel tired all day long. These last few days, I've even taken short naps in the afternoons, which help temporarily, but then I'm back to feeling tired again.

I also get these bouts of exhaustion sometimes -- for example, last week I was sitting in my favorite class, and for about 40 minutes I had to struggle to stay awake; over the weekend, I was in the library feeling great until about 10 minutes after I sat down, and I would have fallen asleep right there if I weren't worried about someone stealing my bag.

See, caffeine is bad, so I can't drink anything to keep me up! Do any of you have this same fatigue problem, and what do you do to boost/maintain your energy?

I'm also not sure about when to go to bed... I've gotten so far behind in my studies this semester, so I really would like to stay up late studying, but of course I lose all energy altogether and can't even sit at my computer after 12:30 or so. The more sleep the better, that's obvious; on the other hand, I still seem to be really exhausted the next day even if I go to bed early, and I do have lots of work to do. So maybe it's better to stay up as late as I can, since it won't make any difference anyway?

 

[Jeff D.]

Have you ever tried tea with ginseng in it. I used to have that problem except I wouldn't get to sleep until 3 am and I would wake up at 12ish maybe longer and an hour later I would be extremely tired again. I would drink some tea and put some ginseng I got at a nutrition store and I would be up for a while.

Also, I would advise against staying up purposefully because you could get into the habit of it you won't be able to break it. Case in point...me. I would stay up just for the hell of it when I was younger and now I have some sort of sleeping disorder which only about four hours of excercise a day can make me sleep normally but four hours of exercise is quite hard to do.

I wish you the best of luck

 

[Guest]

theres a few things which i've noticed over the years will give me a boost of energy, and actually stop me falling asleep if i have them late in the evening... lucozade (glucose drink), rehydration drinks (like electrolade, diaoralyte), and those glucose sweets you can buy at chemists. glucose seems to be the common factor in all three, so maybe thats worth looking into.

 

[GregD]

I have had similar problems as well. I never seem to be that tired from 5:00pm - midnight, but I am exhausted from the time I wake up until late afternoon, no matter how much sleep I get. I've always been more of night person, but this has gotten much worse since I developed Crohns.

Unfortunately I haven't found an magic cure all, but there are some things that have helped:

-B12 shots and iron infusions. Part of my fatigue was caused by anemia.
-Green tea. I drink it throughout the day. Not only does it give me energy, but it has some natural anti-inflammatory properties.
-Exercise. Even when I am really tired I try to get some exercise. It really helps boost your overall energy levels.
-Digestive enzymes. I was told that digestive enzymes help break down food better so your body absorbs more nutrients, giving you more energy. I tried them for about a month, but didn't really notice any difference. I have heard that they do work for some people though.

Hope this helps a bit,

Greg

 

[sibelius]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll have to try some of those.

I wasn't feeling well today, so I skipped my 2:30 class, and around 3:00 decided to take a 45-minute nap so that I could still make it to my 4:30 class, which, by chance, the prof told us would be very important today, and a half hour longer, because we were merging with another class, and I was going to present something and also help my professor with his own presentation...... anyway, the 45 minute nap turned into a 3 hour nap, so now I am also going to be over an hour late for work, having not only missed out on time, but also on dinner.

You know what, the symptoms are at least bearable (most of the time), and I go to class and work despite them. But what gets to me the most is when it's out of my control -- maybe I needed the sleep, though.