Help me fix my body clock.......please??

Factual Questions
1

No, not my biological one.

My mom died back in March and since then my body clock has gotten pretty fucked up. It’s gotten to the point where even if I go to bed at say 11:30 ish I just lie there until at least 2:00.

I’m currently taking imipramine & Effexor but the imipramine has the side effect of making you sleepy. After my mom died I went to see our family doctor and he gave me some sleeping pills. The problem with them is if I take one I’m walking around in a fog most of the next day.

Compounding all of this is the fact that I’m starting a job on the 25 of June for which I need to get up at around 6:00 AM in order to get there on time.

So, any advice on how I can get my body clock back into some sort of normalcy?

Anyone? I’ll make ya famous.:wink:

2

Have you tried exercise? Go do something for an hour every day that makes you physically tired. I know it helps me to sleep!

3

Sorry to hear about your loss.

Walk a lot whenever you can – at a minimum. Aerobic exercise would be better. Maybe force yourself to get up at 6 and start walking. Good luck!

4

If you lie there until 2AM, what time do you wake up? If you wake up around a normal waking time (6am - 9am) then perhaps you should see your doctor about anti-depressents (perhaps trazadone - an anti depressant that you take 30 min before bedtime to help you sleep).

If you lie there until 2AM, and then sleep until noon… have you tried not going to sleep, then staying up all the next day. You should be able to go to sleep at 11 and fall asleep. Then, when you wake up at 6AM, you should be on a good schedule…

IANADoctor. Do not operate hair dryer in bathtub. This is not a step.

5

I am an 8 hour sleeper. If I go to bed at 2 AM, I would naturally wake up at 10 AM.

I would set the alarm for 8 AM. After a few days of sleep deprivation, I will start getting tired at about midnight.

When I do, I set the alarm for 6 AM until I start getting tired at about 10 PM.

It may take a couple weeks to shift back 4 hours. Use coffee and perhaps some sleeping pills to expedite the process. I try not to go less than 6 hours of sleep per night for fear of catching a cold.

6

WSLer,

I have had some sleeping problems until my Doc gave me Sonata. Sonata has helped out a lot. It is, according to my Doc, non-addictive and it has never caused me to feel groggy the next day.

Ask your Doc about it.

Just a thought

Slee

7

I have sleep apnea and can’t take sedatives; and when I’m on deadline, I tend to pull all-nighters. I do almost exactly the same thing Bearflag70 does to snap out of Tokyo time, and it usually takes me about four days.
Cheers,

8

Exercise is a good suggestion. You could consult your doctor about maybe halving your dose. Another thing to talk to your doctor about is the possibility of trying something like Wellbutrin which may help with depression and the sleeping disorder.