wake up early at the exact same time -- explanation?

General Questions
#1

I go sleep around 10-11 PM, get up at 5. for the past few weeks, about twice a week, I wake up chipper as a bird at exactly 3 AM, and always after a disturbing (as yet unrecalled) dream.

I have been able to wake up at a precise time without an alarm. I found that interesting, but I did note exactly when I was falling asleep, and made a mental note: exactly 5 AM.

I am not make a mental note to wake up an 3. I find waking up at precisely at 3 AM right after a disturbing dream eerie. Any sleep experts out there have a theory?

#2

Sure there isn’t a 3 AM train on your side of town, or a neighbor who gets up and goes to work at that time, starting their car?

#3

Yes, or look for something on a timer. Our coffee maker will wake the dogs. We have also had problems with a light on a timer. The dream may bring you to where a small stimulus will wake you.

#4

Same suspicion here: there’s something, either in your house or in the nearby neighborhood, which is making noise at the same time every morning. It may even be something which, if you heard it while you were awake, you wouldn’t consider to be loud enough to be distracting…but when you’re asleep, is just enough to rouse you.

#5

It’s better than waking up late at the same time.

#6

I sometimes wake up at 4. No idea why. I don’t recall any dream immediately prior to waking up. I live in a quiet, suburban neighborhood. No noises going on at that time. I’ll glance at the clock and it’s right around 4:00. I’m wide awake and it takes about an hour to fall back asleep. When I do go back to sleep, it’s a very deep sleep with vivid dreams.

#7

I wake up nearly the same time every day (about 5:00 AM) regardless of season, time I go to bed, etc. I live in a quiet residential neighborhood and no coffee machine, and no alarm. I can even wake up ealier if I am catching a flight - no alarm (altho I do set it as insurance). How is this done? I wanted to know, too, and started to take notes - turns out I would glance at the clock all thru the night, maybe subconciously. When it got to be closer to the time I needed to get up, I would not fall back into a full sleep.

That would 'splain why I can so easily fall asleep on the plane even before it pushes back from the gate.

#8

My clock is actually on the other side of my wife. I have to sit up in bed to see it over her. I’ll have to ask my wife if she keeps noticing me sitting up all night long. :slight_smile:

#9

Actually, have you recently been under a little more stress than usual?

You may be having a bout of what’s called “terminal insomnia” (which isn’t terminal as in deadly- it’s terminal as in at the end, or termination, of your sleeping hours) which is almost always caused by stress. Especially since you mention there always being a disturbing dream associated with it, which could be another symptom of stress.

#10

I recently read an article on segmented sleep that I found interesting. I can’t find it at the moment, but Wikipedia has some info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segmented_sleep

#11

It’s 4:08 a.m. for me. No trains, no planes.

#12

Can anyone relate & explain the following?

For some reason I don’t need an alarm clock for anything. I don’t know how but I can tell myself I want to wake up at 4:37 and I will wake up if not precisely, real close to it. That is just an example but I can choose whatever time I desire plus it’s not limited to going to sleep at night. Another factor is that I don’t consciously pay attention to what time I fall asleep. It’s strange but pretty cool also

#13

I’ve always been able to do this all my life. If I need to wake up at a certain time then I’ll wake up at that time without fail (excluding drunken stupors, etc). I haven’t a clue how it works, I just know it does.

#14

I suspect you may be looking at the clock during the night, but may not realize it. That is how I can pull this off as well.

Try sleeping in a room without a clock, or remove the clock from your room, and see what happens.

#15

I sleep without a clock in my room except computer screen and still achieve this

#16

I can also do this. I started doing it when I was about 10 by saying “6 o’clock, 6 o’clock, 6 o’clock…” (e.g.–the time can vary) as I fell asleep. Didn’t have a clock in my room at the time but would always wake up at the time I thought about before falling asleep.

I can still do it to this day, and I KNOW I’m not cheating with a clock because I take out my contacts and can’t even see it. I once asked a doctor about this who said it had something to do with the fact that we always know what time it is subconsciously…blah blah blah…circadian rhythms. Can’t remember exactly.

#17

Since Celtling was born, I generally wake up at 3:30am every morning. After DST change this week, I fully expected to wake up at 4:30. Nope.

#18

Hey! I have a very familiar issue! No matter what time I go to bed
Or what commitment I have in the morning I wake up at maybe 7:32 or 6:59. I live in a really quiet resedential area and I have no idea how I’m doing this and wonder if I can reset my ‘self alarm’ to 10 am. Any suggestions?