Getting too much sleep, how to stop?!

[ThaiDie4]

I've gotten in the habit of sleeping wayyy too much. On average I probably sleep between 10-13 hours a day. It's really cutting into my life, I've missed a lot of class, missed out on things with my friends, etc. Plus I just don't feel that great, I'm always sluggish and don't have the mental or physical energy to get things done.

I just don't know what to do. I try to go to bed at a decent hour, like around 1am or so depending on when I need to get up (I always try to allow for 8-9 hours of sleep). Either I can't get to sleep until really late and end up sleeping in, or I get enough sleep but when I wake up I still feel exhasted, so I go back to sleep.

I've tried just making myself get up, but I rarely ever actually wake up and get ready for the day when I need to. On the days I do get an appropriate amount of sleep, I spend half the morning extremely groggy :/

I'm not sure if something is wrong with me, or if my body is just so used to excessive sleep that I feel like I need it. Any suggestions??

 

[Clean_Cut]

Do you have a need to be up till after midnight? I never feel good unless I get to sleep before 12..usually I prefer around 10ish.

The brain can execute its sleep waves more effectively and efficiently when you are physically active. How often do you exercise? Maybe consider doing some intense exercise e.g. quick sprints (running or on a cycling machine at the gym etc etc). This sort of intense exercise, even in short bursts, is what really gets the brain going.

This may also help to make you feel less 'sluggish' throughout the day. Ive noticed that even if im tired when I begin my exercise, it usually gets me pumped for at least a few hours after and I am able to sleep better later that night also.

 

[SpelunkingTheMind]

Do you smoke weed? This sounds a whole lot like me back when I smoked pretty much every day. If you do, think about cutting back, or at least smoking early enough that you're not at all high by the time you want to sleep. I've heard weed messes up sleep somehow. I'm not sure if its specifically sleeping while high or residual effects too. I can say for sure though that back when I smoked every day (usually at night, meaning I'd go to bed while still at least slightly baked), I would be like you - sleeping way too much (missing many classes too, oy) and not even feeling well rested afterwards. Soon after stopping pretty much cold turkey, I started to feel WAY better, and sleep improved drastically. These days I still lay off weed except for the very rare occasion, and I feel great after a peaceful 8 or 9 hours (and can function well on far less when need be).

 

[SpelunkingTheMind]

Also, totally agree with the exercise bit, that makes a big difference too both in sleep and how you feel during the day.

 

[vagueblur]

Sometimes I get into bad sleep patterns too... I'm starting to at the moment.

What works for me is to set my alarm clock and put it far enough away from my bed that I need to walk a few steps to turn it off. Once I even had it in the next room.

Then when you're standing up half asleep with your body screaming to return to bed, ignore it and jump in the shower. Don't think about it, just do it. Then after the shower have breakfast, or a cup of coffee... basically you want to get into a routine where you're not even aware of what you're doing.

If you can do exercise for about an hour a day I find that really helps to tire me out when it comes to bed time. Because what happens at the start is you feel tired and crap all day but then when it gets late at night your body finally starts feeling awake and you want to stay up because you're finally feeling good.

But if you've got that nice muscle tiredness you can lie down at the right time and get to sleep okay.

It's real hard and you feel pretty bad at the start but it just gets better and better.

Good luck!

 

[vagueblur]

Oh and with the weed smoking thing - if you do - I find it easier to keep smoking weed as usual and fix the sleeping pattern first - giving up weed is easier if you don't need it to sleep.

 

[ThaiDie4]

thanks guys!

Clean Cut: no, I don't really exercize regularly, maybe only like twice a week. that's a good suggestion, i've been meaning to start working out more anyway and this is a good reason to do it.

SplunkingTheMind: oddly enough, it didn't even occur to me that weed would have anything to do with it. But yes, I toke everyday, usually at night, but sometimes during the day as well. I'm glad that quitting weed helped you sleep better, I might try that if I can't fix the problem otherwise... but I'm hoping it doesn't come to that.

Vagueblur: thanks for the suggestions! I usually shower at night but maybe if I started making it a morning thing it would help me wake up.

I apperciate the input everyone

 

[Pillthrill]

I'm having the same problem OP. I can't seem to reset and its kinda messing shit up.

 

[bluesnowmen]

A list of a few things you could try...

1) Try getting less sleep. You could just be sleeping TOO much. If I get 8-9 hours I feel groggy and lazy all day (unless i had gone like 3-4 nights in a row before than on like 4 hours or so each night, then 8 hours puts me right back on my normal track). But anyways. Try and get 6-7 hours instead of 8-9.
2) Exercise has also been proven to improve sleep quality, and give you more energy during the day.
3) Do you eat balanced meals every day? With a good amount of protein, some carbs, low fat, some vegetables, and some fruit? Good nutrition plays a key role in a healthy lifestyle. Think of it like this... Your a car, a nice car. Now, do you think that you would run better on some cheap, low quality gas, or would you run better on some nice, high quality gas?
4) Try doing some research on vitamin supplements geared towards improving sleep quality. I believe melatonin is supposed to do that.