Messed up sleeping patterns - anyone else/any suggestions?

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I've never really been great at sleeping. My sleep schedule has just become worse and worse as I've grown older, especially when about a year ago I became really depressed, then took antidepressants for a while. Recently my sleep is really interrupted - I sleep 2 hours in a night, then 12+ the next night (not waking up until 5pm), then five hours, two hours again...often on the nights I sleep less I wake up really regularly, as in every hour or so. On those I sleep more, it's usually in the daytime rather than at night. My sleeping schedule wasn't so bad (just somewhat irregular/sleeping in the day rather than night) a while ago but now I guess I'm stressed out and running on nervous energy so sleep has become a lot more difficult.

Does anyone have any suggestions, or has anyone else experienced having such a messed up sleeping schedule for no reason?

I'm afraid that you have to force yourself to get up at the same time every day. If you have not already done so, look into what is called "sleep hygiene". As is often the case, wikipedia is good place to start, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_hygiene (note the external links, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_hygi ... rnal_links ). Another informative website, "BBC: Science & Nature - How to sleep better", http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/sleep/ . Please be aware that it can take a considerable amount of time before improvements in one's sleep hygiene result in improvements in one's sleep.

If, after all of that, you are finding it difficult to either fall asleep or stay asleep, then try taking melatonin ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melatonin ). Note that it is sold in both a regular form (which is useful for problems with falling asleep) and a time-release formulation (which is useful for problems with staying asleep). As with any substance, people vary in how they respond to melatonin, so I recommend starting with a very small dose of about 0.5mg to 1.0mg. (Melatonin is regularly sold in tablets and capsules ranging from 1mg to 10mgs.) As an alternative, some people take amino acid precursors, such as tryptophan ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tryptophan ) and/or 5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5-Hydroxytryptophan ), but I have found those to be less effective than melatonin.

Sweet dreams.

If you try a 10mg melatonin, likely a faster dissolving outer shell with a time-release core, do it when you don't have to get up the next day. I slept a few hours, maybe 3, then leapt to my feet wide awake. Dead tired by sunrise. Never had a problem with the 2 or 5 mg. Do get f.lux or twilight apps for your pc, phone, or tablet, to red-shift the screen colors at night. The discipline of sleep hygiene is worth sticking to. You'll feel better. If you're up in the wee hours, keep trying every hour; go lay down. Read an ebook on your red-shifted device (dimmed too which twilight on android has a slider for). Speaking of which....