Too much sleep, To little sleep, No Sleep.

[StormChaser]

Well somedays I am not tired at all, and can stay up for 20 hours, before i NEED to sleep.
Sometimes I can go 2 days without sleep.

Other days I tire early and go to bed as such.

No heres the big thingy. I can sleep for 2 hours, or 14 hours *no lie, I slept for 32 hours straight before* and I wake up feeling exhausted just the same.

Does this come from the lack of light\sun... my hobbitesque life of low impact living. (I live in a room in a basement. Two windows face shrubs. I've seen the sun in time slots greater than 20 minutes about 25 times since may)

Or is it more related to mental emotional stress.. which despite my daily life being pretty bland, it VERY VERY rediculously high?

Or is it something else all together?

~Confused Sleeper,
Storm Chaser

[Margie]

IMO-it's because of your irregular sleeping pattern. If you were to go to bed at roughly the same time and wake up at roughly the same time-maybe you wouldn't feel so "wacked out".

[flar7]

Activitiy is important. Get some aerobic exercise(walking will work) and then if sleep is still messed up see a doctor, it could be clinical depression.

[emraldshadowcat]

I used to be the same way. Turns out, I'm clinically depressed and they put me on medication to get my sleep in order.

[Myst]

I agree with Margie and flar but yes the lack of sunlight will contribute too especially if you have SAD.

[StormChaser]

Well i already know i'm depressed. Clinically but not diagnosed. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure that out. I got tired of not having all the answers to why i felt the way i do, and act the way i do so I did my own research.

I don't generally believe in popping pills to make everything better.

If anyone has any other ideas besides seeing a doctor and getting told "take two of these twice a day". I'd be interested in hearing that. *laughs*

I don't even take medication for pms or period relief, my mother says I'm a masochist. I think I just don't like drugs. I should be able to work just fine without them.. right?
I'd have been born with a pill case if I was sposed to take em.

~Storm

[flar7]

and the sunlight will also help. As much as I love the dark, you gotta have light. You absorb some important vitamins and such from sunlight.

[UnSolon]

I really would suggest getting out more... into the sunlight that is.

It is quite possible part of your problem is SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). Most often people get sad when they are not exposed to enough sunlight. Hence why it is called "Seasonal", for in winter the cases of SAD skyrocket. Infact, up here in Canada, its a regular ritual for the Canadian population, most of it, to become depressed in the winter. Its quite the phenomenon.

But yeah, get some exercise... Mind you I should talk, I just got back from travaling a few weeks ago, and have been very stationary since I got back. But time to move out again.

Peace,
UnSolon

[Lavender]

I agree with the sunlight thing. There has been research that shows people are more prone to depression around the winter months, ie: Jan, Feb. Sunlight provides the much needed vitamin D that your body needs. Try taking a walk for 20 mins each day & see if that helps a bit. Do you drink a lot of coffee or anything that's high in caffine? Sometimes, that's part of the problem too.

Take a walk no matter what the weather is like. There is so much beauty out there. Especially now, in the changing seasons. Splash through a puddle!

[StormChaser]

*laugh*

Well seasonal depression is my moms bag. I'm always messed up.
I'm more like my grandmother, a permanent hibernator.

I should have been born a bear.. but where would my mom have kept me?!

[StormChaser]

I suppose a bike ride couldn't kill me..
nor couold cutting down on my caffien intake

*looks at the three cans of coke drained on the desk*

*sighs*

Caffiene is my happythingy though hehe

~Storm

[Illuminatus]

Originally posted by StormChaser
I think I just don't like drugs. I should be able to work just fine without them.. right? I'd have been born with a pill case if I was sposed to take em.

~Storm

Well you were born without shoes too, but you gotta admit, they make life a whole lot easier!

Drugs are good. Yes, your body is very good at some things: healing physical scrapes and bruises, managing hormonal levels at the onset of puberty, and making antibodies to protect you.

But at times, those systems fail, and there's no reason why a doctor can't help any of these processes when your body fails. When you reach menopause and your bones get brittle because you don't get enough estrogyn or iron or calcium or maybe all three.... there's no reason not to suppliment these.

Also I think that our minds really arent really wired to deal with artificial light. Before we had fire or electricity, well humans would just bed down as soon as it got dark, because barring a full moon, we can't see a damn thing. No problem with sleep cycles. However, with the onset artificial light, people can (and often do) lose their sense of balance. It's an un-natural condition to stay up till 5am watching TV, and while it may seem counter-intuitive, an un-natural treatment (for me, ny-quill) is the best solution.

I had a horrible time regulating my sleep cycle in college, but once I got a steady 9 to 5 job and waking up the same time every day, it got a lot easier.

[Myst]

Originally posted by Illuminatus
Well you were born without shoes too, but you gotta admit, they make life a whole lot easier!


So, you won't go see a doctor, and you don't want to cut your caffeine intake, are you sure you really wanna fix this? Your doctor can help you and get you to therapy if you need it. And I don't agree with not taking drugs at all, being as my dad's been diabetic since I was 10 and has to take insulin for the rest of his life, as well as various other members of my family who are diabetic. So I'm with Ill on that.

[StormChaser]

Okay.. I am writing up my new schedual.. tell me if this sounds okay.

Wake up at 6am
Go to bed between 11pm and 1am.

Take a bike ride or walk for at least 15, preferably 30mins *hmm. this could lead to weightloss.. WOOHOO*

Cut down on caffiene: 3-4 cans a day, vs. the 6-10 i normally have *i know that can't be good on my stomach*

If this stuff helps I won't see a doctor.. or a shrink.
If it doesn't do enough, I'll go to a clinic and get checked.

Sound decent?

*yes, i'm a cold turkey person, i don't do gradual well, i've got to change, or not bother*

~Storm Chaser

[Myst]

If I were you I'd spend a lot more time in sunlight or get one of those natural light lamps.

I don't know what your schedule is now but if you're sitting at your computer almost all day and only getting up for 15-30 mins that's your problem right there - you aren't doing enough to tire yourself.

[StormChaser]

The body does somethings normally, makes some chemicals naturally etc etc etc.

I understand drugs for some things.. and vitamins for others, deficiencies and the bodies failure to do what it's supposed to.
I am actually just starting to take vitamin b and soy supplements because my period is completely, and detrimentally, irregular.

The body does not naturally make paxil and zyprexia and the like.
I just believe there are other ways around depression than popping pills. I've been to councelors and psychiatrists and such.
Many of them are all pill happy. A couple, before ever meeting me, just talking for 10 minutes to my mother wanted to put me on pills. If you ask me that's a little nutty.

I personally have done a lot better in combatting my depression by facing the issues and that which makes me depressed head on. Admitting to problems rather than masking them, addressing feelings over banging my head against the wall denying them.

I didn't say i was against lowering caffiene intake.. Just against cutting it out of my diet entirely. I just won't do a "gradual" cut.
And I'm merely in general, a hobbit... happy in my hole. That stems from a social anxiety thing. I don't like to be the person people laugh at when they see running\biking. hence why im going to do my biking thing early in the morning. I do not like guys staring because my chest is bouncing, and i don't like skinny people looking and say "ooh there goes a fat one.."

Thats all fears that come from getting abused all through my school years, and by my father. I'll get over them in time, bit by bit. It's not gonna happen in an instant.

Sorry I can't work at your pace.

~Storm

[StormChaser]

no, i don't sit at the comp all day, despite it being on all day. I dance most of the day. I just happen to do that INSIDE.

[Myst]

Originally posted by StormChaser
Sorry I can't work at your pace.

You asked for opinions and I gave them and I'm sorry if that offends you, I had no intention of being rude; just to clear it up if there was a misunderstanding about that.

NO ONE here said you need to pop pills, no one, what was said was that drugs are a possible answer you might want to rethink along with many other ideas. You are more then welcome to go by your own feelings there.

And that's nice you dance all day, now maybe you should think about what I suggested and do it OUTSIDE or get a natural light lamp. That's my opinion and you are more then welcome to take it and think about it or ignore it.

[Danustouch]

Okay...well....first of all, you could also be manic depressive. Manic depressives often go in wild cycles of sleep deprivation, and then an amount of sleep that is like your..."hibernation" thing. If you want to try natural remedies, first, that's your right. Might I reccomend St. Johns Wort? To help with the sleep thing, you should really discipline yourself to take a cup of chamomile tea, skullcap, valerian, or some other sleep inducing herbal tea, and set a specific sleep pattern down. STICK TO IT. Say you want to go to bed at 11 pm. Well..start drinking your tea around 10. If the herbal teas don't help...milk is known to have L-triptophen (a sleep inducing chemichal) in it. As does turkey. Sometimes, we just start getting OUT of the natural sleep cycle, and it is very hard to get back into one.

But..the other people in this thread are correct. Part of your problem, I'd suggest, is inactivity. I have the same problem. Regardless of whether or not you dance in your apartment, you should try to get outside, for a small walk, or just do some yard work, Or go out to a mall, and walk around (without your credit card in your pocket), or to a park, or something. It doesn't have to be bike riding, just a nice simple little stroll. If it is out of doors, it's even better. The sunshine will really help you, and your bodies endorphines will kick in as well. Endorphines are the hormone which produces a feeling of well being. Not to mention, I think sometimes our problems seem more overwhelming, So going outdoors, into a much bigger arena than our small apartments, and the same four walls we see all the time, actually helps us to know that life goes on.

Being hobbitlike is not necessarily a good thing. Social Anxiety disorder, if not taken care of through professional therapy *or* drugs (or in some cases both), can escalate to dangerous proportions. It is not healthy to be like that. Not for your physical, nor your mental health. Often, people who are very depressed, don't even know that they are very depressed, because the situation becomes so familiar to them....like second nature.

Good luck.

[StormChaser]

Myst the At your pace wasnt directed to you.
Sorry you took it that way, i hadnt even seen your post when i typed that.

[Myst]

Originally posted by StormChaser
Myst the At your pace wasnt directed to you.
Sorry you took it that way, i hadnt even seen your post when i typed that.

Ok, good, I was just like ACK have I offended someone already :eyebrow:

[Sequoia]

Stormchaser - I know EXACTLY what you're talking about. You're describing me when I was 12-15. Life in generall was sucky, there wasn't a whole lot special out there, at least it seemed. I kept wild hours, was in my room most of my time, kept shutters over my windows, basically did the hermit thing.

I'm gettin gout of it. I'm currently starting St. John's Wort, because I know I"m depressed, but I REALLY don't want to take some chemical that's been over-processed. I prefer to try the herbs first.

Sunlight can help (but I still tend to be vampiric ^_~ no sunny for the beth! Lots'a rain, would be nice, ne?), walking around and excersizing DEFINATELY helps (-_-; curses, my friends were right), and changing diet helps (*guilty look* heh heh. . . I just have a fondness for sweets!). I know that right now, it seems that how you're living is just fine, ne? I mean. . . it's your life, you can live it however you want to. . . you live how you feel. But from experience, there are a lot more things out there. Very special things. Very special people. It's a hard thing to do. But I know that when you're ready, you'll do it. And getting started is the hardest part. Belive me, I completely understand.

I wish you the best of luck!! And you can ALWAYS pm me if you need to. ^_^ been there, done that, found something better hehe

[StormChaser]

Actually after my last post i took a bike ride... and umm.. got lost *laughs*

I really don't know this neighborhood well, even though i've lived here a year, i mainly travel on the main roads and highways, so whats in the 10 block radius.. i don't have a clue about unless it goes to a main road.

So i have more reason to walk and bike now.. so i can figure out this place.

I noticed everyone keeps saying apartment. By god do i wish i lived in one of those *laughs*
I live in a room in the basement.. there is NO sun.. the windows face shrubs *laughs* I can see, animals and roots. I really meant what i said.. Hobbit.

Fresh air was nice.. a bit cold. But nice heh.

Do i want to stay in my coccoon? No. I don't. If I did.. i wouldn't ask for suggestions or leave my house ever.

Theres a lot that goes into my depression. Suffice it to say, i wasn't born with it. It was something someone instilled in me. I don't say that out of melodrama or the necessity to blame. There are more than enough people out there who saw how I was raised to know that my ex-stepfather to be was a creep and a jerk and an abusive manipulative beast.

I have been, and not alone, undoing the damage he has done for the past 4 years, slowly. About every 6-8 months I have a breakthrough or a breakdown that leads to a more positive, happy me. In the past 5 months theres been one of those about every two or three weeks. Because I'm facing things head on, and I've built up, and built new relationships that are good, and strong, and healthy. I face problems head on, and don't deny my feelings or beat my head on the wall trying to tell myself what he told me.. which was that i didn't have the right to feel that way, or the ability to feel those things. I know I have the right, and I definitely have the ability to feel.

I've done this all, made all these realizations etc.. without drugs, or pyschiatrists or councelors. I've done it in my own time, at my own pace.. with the help of my family, my friends who are as dear to me as family, my faith, and my eternal, unsinkable, disney saturated optimisim.
hehe.

Experiences will come in time. For now i focus on the day to day fixing the very general and working my way up to the bigger things. Start inside and work your way outward.. saves you from having to back track or skipping around.

Not that theres anything wrong with skipping *chuckles*

~Storm Chaser

[talamh]

Caffine is a drug. Why differentiate? bb talamh

[StormChaser]

i know it's a drug. But i don't drink for the drug.
I just drink because I'm thirsty and i like the taste of soda.
Drinking decaf or lowering the intake of caffiene won't kill me it will help me, therefore.

[Sequoia]

decaf sodas are pretty good. You can't really taste much of a difference. I had to change because my stomache decided to mimic that scene from Aliens every time I drank caffine.

[StormChaser]

I like a lot of sodas that are naturally caffiene free anyway.. like orang soda, sprite, dr.pepper

[Lavender]

Word of caution: cut down on the caffine gradually. If you quit straight out, you'll get major headaches!

Actually, Stormchaser, those sodas are fairly high in caffine as well. It's not just in colas.

[Sequoia]

umm. . . speaking from physical experience (lol) sprite and orange soda do NOT have caffine in them. I think Dr. Pepper does, though. But things like root beer, lemon-limes, orange, grape, etc don't have caffine. UNLESS you're drinking that caffinated lemon-lime. . what's it called? Also, AVOID MOUNTAIN DEW AT ALL COSTS!! HORRIBLE STUFF!! it'll chew your stomache out and spit it up your esophegus. BAD BAD thing to drink. Plus it has about as much caffine in one can as an entire pot of strongly brewed coffee.

if you don't belive me, look in the ingredients. It tells you if there's caffine in it or not.

[Illuminatus]

Originally posted by Puma Hime
umm. . . speaking from physical experience (lol) sprite and orange soda do NOT have caffine in them. I think Dr. Pepper does, though. But things like root beer, lemon-limes, orange, grape, etc don't have caffine. UNLESS you're drinking that caffinated lemon-lime. . what's it called? Also, AVOID MOUNTAIN DEW AT ALL COSTS!! HORRIBLE STUFF!! it'll chew your stomache out and spit it up your esophegus. BAD BAD thing to drink. Plus it has about as much caffine in one can as an entire pot of strongly brewed coffee.

if you don't belive me, look in the ingredients. It tells you if there's caffine in it or not.

Ginger ale is caffene free too.

[Myst]

Actually, root beers, ginger ales, and orange sodas can and sometimes DO have caffeine in them. It depends on the brand name AND what country the soda is produced in (for instance, mountain dew in canada does not have caffeine in it, but it does in the U.S.), not the type of soda.

http://www.wilstar.com/caffeine.htm
http://www.cs.unb.ca/~alopez-o/Coffee/caffaq.html#HowMuchCaff

[flar7]

in Canada doesnt have caffeine? Could you tell me why? Just curious.

[UnSolon]

ummm, why no Caffine in that pop (not soda) in Canada. Who knows. Just because. Mind you there are lots of things here different than down south. "Cherry" Coke?!?! What the hell kind of evil invention is this? The first time I saw it, I tried it... its a horrible, HORRIBLE monstrosity.

[StormChaser]

i like cherry coke!

[Myst]

Maybe you could ask the manufacturer?

I have no idea, but I knew that, because I have an American friend who has moved to Canada and we've all discussed this.. :)

I love cherry coke. In fact I'm drinking it now.