Sleep, or lack thereof.

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A recent post about sleep problems inspired me to post about my own sleep story.

I've struggled terribly since my late teens with sleep problems. I find it next to impossible to get to sleep, even if I've been up for 50+ hours, which happens occasionally, and I have a wicked hard time getting out of bed whenever it is I wake up. I used to think I had insomnia, but I'm told now that it's a symptom of Asperger's - I just happen to have it pretty bad.

I'm sorry to say that I've never been able to establish a "regular" sleep schedule and have suffered all sorts of health problems from 20+ years of chronic sleep deprivation: rampant memory loss - especially short term memory, difficulty vocalizing thoughts, facial tics, hand trembles, slow word recall, clinical exhaustion, out of body moments, and, a few times, hallucinations. Joy! Sleep deprivation is a form of torture for a reason.

Luckily, I had a complete mental breakdown when I was diagnosed (long story) and was put on short term disability and now long term disability so that I wouldn't off myself - they were on to me. Effectively, I don't work anymore and so can, in theory, sleep when I want and for however long I want. In reality, however, I still can't always fall asleep when I want, but now I don't have much reason to stress out about it. If I don't sleep for 48+ hours, it's ok cause eventually I'll fall asleep and can sleep as long as it takes to recoup.

Case in point: it's 4:36 AM, I'm about to see my second sunrise since I last woke up, I'm SO beat and yet I can't sleep. So instead I'm flooding WrongPlanet with posts.

The one and only thing I've found that helps me is weed, but it's easy to get psychologically dependent on it and it'll start to lose its effectiveness as sleep aid if that happens. BTW, I get it legally (cause my back is pretty well wankered).

Story of my life. Got to go back into work here shortly. I usually can make it to 72 hours when I need to. Any more than that and I am completely ineffective. Physical work and exercise helps wear me down. I actually seem to relate with people better when I am chronically tired. It doesn't help with my procrastination though.

I used to have problems sleeping, until I got myself on that sleeping tea. I might want to read the ingredients a little more closely. There might be hemp, in there.

Yep. Got 3 hours last night. Nothing works on me to knock me out. Tried opiates, melatonin (boy is THAT a joke), ambien (shotgun an entire bottle and nothing happens), alcohol, benzodiazepines, benadryl...

NOTHING shuts my brain off. I'll take a handful of percocet with a fifth of jack and still be awake 18 hours later just thinking about the most inane BS.

I've tried exercise, light therapy, yoga...

Ready to hit the doc up for some barbiturates but I'm pretty sure A: They wouldn't work B: I wouldn't be given any

EDIT: I had surgery recently and had to confer with the anesthesiologist to make sure what I was being given would actually work. It did, but not fast enough. I should have fallen asleep when they gave me the fentanyl/midazolam combination, not the propofol. Wide awake for that.

Huh...

Guess it's true. No matter how bad off you think you are someone else has got it worse than you.

I have these problems...Too muddled and busy to go into it...I have a freakishly adverse reaction to Melatonin...I also battle with difficulty in having my brain and body not always wanting to fall asleep at the same time...So I half awake auditory dreams, sleep paralysis and so-on...fun stuff...good times...

I need this to go to sleep:

Melatonin
Liquid Calcium + Magnesium
Herbal Tea
Lavender (lotion, spray, whatever...)

It's no guarantee though. I think there was a study showing that autistic individuals do not produce melatonin in the way others do. That's where the melatonin helps. The magneisum and calming tea help calm you down so it's easier to sleep (I imagine that's probably a problem we share as well.) Lavender helps calm.

Melatonin makes me very sleepy, which can be nice, but it doesn't guarantee actual sleep. I always have some Sweet Dreams liquid melatonin handy, though.