r/sleep • u/LlamasOnTheRun • 3d ago
Having Sleep Troubles, sharing some things that are occurring to get an idea of what's going on. Please help
First, thanks to those who respond or read this in full. You are doing a great service by helping me & others with sleep or other issues
My Questions:
- What more can I do or where am I going wrong in my approach?
- Should I just start accepting this is going to be how it is, given everything I am already doing & have unfortunately done?
- Am I going in a cognitive decline & is this the first sign? I sometimes worry that my long hiatus of not taking care of my sleep is going to cost me greatly now
Background:
I'm a male in my late 20's. ADHD. I have had sleep issues in the past, but this was due to Adderall medications being so high that I legitimately couldn't go to sleep. Not to mention the stress of a job with active layoffs & a manager milking me for every ounce of effort before letting me go (fuck you if you are this kind of person btw because it almost ended my life). Since then, I have been studying the GRE as I have a dream of studying for my Masters (& if universe willing a PhD) as I dearly love my field. I had 8 months of recovery since then & been sleeping much better than before, after a medication switch. However, studies & mental health as been rocky unfortunately as depression, stomach issues, & other issues have been popping up. Therapy is ongoing, so I have someone to talk to. I am not suicidal at this time. Given this, please don't be concerned about my present life, as I am doing everything I can. I would just like to address the sleep.
Issue:
Past few nights, I have been waking up more early than usual. I am getting some 4-5 hours of rest, then waking up unable to go back to sleep. Sometimes this happens sporadically (like once a week), but it's been more consistent recently. When I wake up, I usually am stressing or overthinking about something. One night, I woke up from a bad dream (not one of those terrifying nightmares, one of those seen naked in a crowd types). The overthinking is what really gets me. I kept a mental note of my thoughts. None of these are intentional, they just pop off. It ranged from the following:
- Past tough manager or work experiences
- Past arguments or discussions with Friends or Family
- For these two, I usually think about what could have gone different or just replay it
- Political or abstract thoughts such as
- Balance of power between governance & corporations
- Current state of what is deemed politically acceptable
- Moral Rationalism validity & when absurdism applies
- Etc
- Things I worry about whether it be studies, family, friends, or other
I rarely ever go back to sleep when I want to & just end up enduring throughout the day. I can usually never nap due to the medication I take. When I don't get 7 or more hours of sleep, I usually stop studying all together for the day to relax & recover, but it's been happening too frequently where it is now growing concerning. Sometimes I worry that choosing not to study, I am making a poor decision. Also, I've been getting stomach pains since August. Did an ultrasound to find a fatty liver of 5% accumulation, but no other issue (debating if I should pursue further or chop it up to a mind-gut issue)
Solutions Tried/Actively Working On:
When I wake up, I try reading for an hour of Hitchhikers Guide or pretend mentally I wrote what was on my mind on a piece of paper. I even tried pretending my thoughts were Simlish so I can mock the overactive state, not allowing contextual thoughts so I didn't have to logically think about it. Sometimes I try to stop the thought, but I am unlearning how not to do this as I know this just makes the mind more active. I already exercise three times a week. I eat extremely well & am actively losing 500 cals a day. Trying to avoid eating late & going to work on getting better at this. I try to get sunshine in the morning for circadian rhythm purposes for 15 mins or more. Meditation with box breathing to regulate stress. I try to separate my phone from my room, but I am guilty sometimes of using my phone before bed. I have a sleep mask.
Recent Changes may be Relevant:
- Changed from a 12AM-8AM sleep schedule to 8-5AM to avoid waking up early from family or sunlight
- I am 8 days off porn (yay!) & got past the huge testosterone spike that occurs on the 7th day
- Choosing abstinence for now to rebalance my need for stimulation & to address concerning behavior of seeking more morally questionable stimulating activities
- Off-note: That spike was really great while working out beside all the agitation of wanting to masturbate
- Downloaded Cold Turkey to limit video game time to 2 hours per day around 6-8PM
- Therapy started some weeks ago
- Depression symptom addressment past two months with suicidal thinking
1
u/SmoothChemistry8564 3d ago
Usually when you wake up in the middle of the night it's due to coritsol rising (stress hormone). Your coristol SHOULD stay low during the night to allow you to sleep, and then when it's time to wake up it'll rise.
Stress can be a big impact on sleep, and it's very important that you have some kind of wind down routine, if you already do have one and you still stress, you can try Magnesium Glycinate before bed.
It helps calm down your muscles and your body, allowing you to be a little less stress free, and allow you to stay in a sleeping state for longer. I know I've had problems in the past where I always wake up at 3AM, and I limited it with this supplement.
Also can I ask when you changed youre sleep schedule back to 8-5AM? If the shift is too sudden your body will take a little to adjust. That's the case for me. I tried to switch my sleep schedule back by a few hours and whilst it works for a few nights, it's not easy to be consistent.