Day 1 results

[prog]

FAILURE

Upon exposure to unpleasant noise, subject shut off computer speakers and crawled back into bed for three more hours of sleep. Subject also shut off cell phone alarm in the kitchen, and ignored the radio.

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Example of a good system that would work: a service that would call me on the phone every 5 minutes until I called back. The recorded voice would give me two small numbers, and have me type in their sum on my phone's keypad. Only this could make the call-barrage stop.

This is unfeasible, because this service doesn't exist. (Unless I can make it myself, somehow, have my own computer call me mercilessly. I dimly recall looking for some way to do this a long time ago, and coming up empty-handed.)

Perhaps putting an alarm clock into a locked container? Hmm...

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I seriously think I will have to turn to chemicals. What I really should do is go to sleep earlier, but the thing about me is that I don't actually sleep unless I am sleepy, and right now that doesn't start to happen until 2:30 am.

I wonder where one gets the melatonin supplements. Drugstore? I'll look.

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I am seriously upset about this. Every day I do this is a day wasted. This shit's gotta stop.

Comments

[cnoocy]

Is there something you can do that makes you sleepy? I find that a few pages of impenetrable non-fiction allows me to sleep whenever.

[rserocki.livejournal.com]

My brother-in-law was saying a couple days ago how melatonin helps with jet lag, and how he and Michele use it for that purpose.

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

Maybe you're aiming for something too early. Try setting your alarm only an hour or so before you'd wake up normally instead of trying to get yourself up in the middle of your night. If that works, you can go backwards from there in increments every couple days. Do you have a bright light on a timer in your room/face? On days like today, that might help a lot! (Zzzz....)

I tried melatonin a few times for jet lag. Maybe it helped. Any drugstore should have some.

Good luck! This is totally not a problem I have, but I can sympathize. I wake up immediately to any alarm, but I always feel sleepy during the day.

[jordanwillow.livejournal.com]

There are SAD lamps that come with a timer so they can turn on automatically-- and you could set them really close to your bed. However, you might need one on each side (otherwise you'd just turn onto your side), and they tend to be really big and really expensive. And also blinding.

I'm so sad that your plan didn't work, but if you keep trying you'll find a solution, I'm sure of it. Don't lose hope.

[aspartaimee.livejournal.com]

aha. something i know about! prepare to be nagged...

you stayed up too late to make this experiment work. of course you blearily shut off everything, you were in the middle of a sleep cycle and your body wasn't finished yet. you need help to get your sleep schedule back on track. when you go to bed at a reasonable hour you will get up at a reasonable hour.

if i was left to my own devices, i would not sleep. oftentimes, i don't. here's how i work it:

tylenol PM or some such OTC sleep aid worked for me for awhile. they can take up to an hour to work, so take them early. at first i woke up a little groggy, but that passes. once you establish a reasonable sleep schedule, it will be easier to maintain without the use of the tylenol PM. i think the key ingredient is the same that is in actifed or any of those other drowsy decongestants.

melatonin works for a lot of people. i found i could not find a happy dosage, either i slept for way too long (16 hours once) or not long enough (2 hours). everyone's body chemistry is different, so it's likely worth a shot.

tylenol PM no longer works for me, so my doctor gave me ambien. i hear it's addictive, but i still have most of the prescription i had in february. i use it the same way as the PM. when i get off track and find myself staying up watching emma until 3am, i will take a half of one each night for a couple nights in a row, and get back into a reasonable pattern and stop taking them.

i think the 'i love horses' alarm will work, once you get the correct pattern down. don't be so hard on yourself.

[dougo.livejournal.com]

You could move to a more hospitable time zone.

[xymotik.livejournal.com]

To induce sleepiness, my psychiatrist recommended the antihistamine Benadryl, 50 mg worth (two capsules, usually). The generic version at the supermarket here costs about $7 for a month's supply. That helped.

[queue.livejournal.com]

If you're looking for yet more ways to induce sleep, I've found that a hot bath helps. Apparently, cooling signals to your body that it's time to sleep. So, as you're cooling down from the hot bath, your body gets the idea that it's time to sleep.

[cortezopossum.livejournal.com]

I used to have a flying-saucer shaped alarm clock that you had to turn off by shooting it with an IR-beam pistol. The pistol could also change my TV to channel 5.

I typically set up two alarms, set about 5 minutes apart if I have to get up at an unusual time -- despite this I'll sometimes wake up about a minute before either alarm goes off (I'm not sure how I pull that off -- it seems to happen too often to be random chance).