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Dr. Andrew Rynne

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Recommend Treatment For Uneven Sleep Patterns

hi ive gotton into the habbit of going to bed at 2 or 3am and then sleeping till 1pm next day. when i get up im tired most of the day. now im finding i cant sleep till sometimes 4am and then not getting up till 1 or 2pm and still tired. Im i sleeping too much
Thu, 16 Jul 2015
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Psychiatrist 's  Response
Hi, welcome to health care magic.
Thanks for asking your query here.
I am Dr Alok Sinha, MD psychiatry from India. I will try my best to answer your question.

The problem you are having is called reversal of sleep wake cycle. I will explain it in details.
There are many causes of this kind of sleep pattern. Most common of them is irregular routine.

I will educate you a little about physiology of sleep. When our mind is awake our body produces a sleep promoting substance which gradually accumulates and induces sleep after many hours when its level reaches optimum. During sleep in our body accumulates another substance known as sleep inhibiting substance. After 6-8 hours, the level of this sleep inhibiting substance is so much that it wakes us up and maintains awakening for next many hours. Again gradually the sleep promoting substance accumulates and this cycle goes on. Thus a period of time is required to accumulate this substance and switch from sleep to wakeful state.

Light is one of the important factors affecting sleep. At evening due to low light in environment, a substance called melatonin is secreted. This substance has property of inducing sleep, thus by next 3-4 hrs of sunset a normal person goes to sleep. But with change of culture and advancement in technology we have created artificial light everywhere. This artificial light includes light from tube light, CFL, LED lamp, TV, Mobile screen etc. Due to exposure to this artificial light, our body fails to recognize the natural light clues and melatonin secretion is hampered. As a result sleep onset gets delayed.

Apparently due to your lifestyle you indulged in other nocturnal activities and gradually delayed your sleep onset.

Then question comes what to do. If a person like you comes to my clinic I suggest those following things:-
1. On day one wake-up at 7 am, no matter at what time you slept. May be you slept at 2 am in night and could not complete your sleep, but still wake up at 7. May be you feel sleepy at day time because of incomplete sleep but delay going to bed till 7 pm in evening. At this point you may have sound sleep for 6-8 hrs, and you may wake up say at around 2 am in night. Thereafter you may not get sleep. Keep awake and indulge in some fruitful activity.
2. In morning leave bed at 6 am. Maintain wakefulness during entire day. By evening of second day you may again feel sleepy. Go to sleep at 7.30 pm. Again you will sleep till say 2.30 am in night. do the same activity and leave bed 5.30 am. Keep awake entire day and retire to bed at 8 pm. next day morning leave bed at 5.30 am again. This way you fix the morning awakening time to 5.30 am and gradually increase the evening sleep onset time to reach upto your desired time say 10 pm. Thereafter maintain the cycle.

3. Follow sleep hygiene measures like dim your all lights gradually after 7 pm, avoid mobile, computer, TV etc and switch to soothing music at evening, avoid caffeine, nicotine, alcohol etc, have regular meals, yoga, meditation and exercise, take a relaxing bath at evening, wear comfortable and loose clothing at night, make a comfortable bed free of mosquito and other disturbances.

You may try the above mentioned technique and if needed consult a psychiatrist in your locality who may further help you.

I hope it answers your question. I wish you all the best.
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Recommend Treatment For Uneven Sleep Patterns

Hi, welcome to health care magic. Thanks for asking your query here. I am Dr Alok Sinha, MD psychiatry from India. I will try my best to answer your question. The problem you are having is called reversal of sleep wake cycle. I will explain it in details. There are many causes of this kind of sleep pattern. Most common of them is irregular routine. I will educate you a little about physiology of sleep. When our mind is awake our body produces a sleep promoting substance which gradually accumulates and induces sleep after many hours when its level reaches optimum. During sleep in our body accumulates another substance known as sleep inhibiting substance. After 6-8 hours, the level of this sleep inhibiting substance is so much that it wakes us up and maintains awakening for next many hours. Again gradually the sleep promoting substance accumulates and this cycle goes on. Thus a period of time is required to accumulate this substance and switch from sleep to wakeful state. Light is one of the important factors affecting sleep. At evening due to low light in environment, a substance called melatonin is secreted. This substance has property of inducing sleep, thus by next 3-4 hrs of sunset a normal person goes to sleep. But with change of culture and advancement in technology we have created artificial light everywhere. This artificial light includes light from tube light, CFL, LED lamp, TV, Mobile screen etc. Due to exposure to this artificial light, our body fails to recognize the natural light clues and melatonin secretion is hampered. As a result sleep onset gets delayed. Apparently due to your lifestyle you indulged in other nocturnal activities and gradually delayed your sleep onset. Then question comes what to do. If a person like you comes to my clinic I suggest those following things:- 1. On day one wake-up at 7 am, no matter at what time you slept. May be you slept at 2 am in night and could not complete your sleep, but still wake up at 7. May be you feel sleepy at day time because of incomplete sleep but delay going to bed till 7 pm in evening. At this point you may have sound sleep for 6-8 hrs, and you may wake up say at around 2 am in night. Thereafter you may not get sleep. Keep awake and indulge in some fruitful activity. 2. In morning leave bed at 6 am. Maintain wakefulness during entire day. By evening of second day you may again feel sleepy. Go to sleep at 7.30 pm. Again you will sleep till say 2.30 am in night. do the same activity and leave bed 5.30 am. Keep awake entire day and retire to bed at 8 pm. next day morning leave bed at 5.30 am again. This way you fix the morning awakening time to 5.30 am and gradually increase the evening sleep onset time to reach upto your desired time say 10 pm. Thereafter maintain the cycle. 3. Follow sleep hygiene measures like dim your all lights gradually after 7 pm, avoid mobile, computer, TV etc and switch to soothing music at evening, avoid caffeine, nicotine, alcohol etc, have regular meals, yoga, meditation and exercise, take a relaxing bath at evening, wear comfortable and loose clothing at night, make a comfortable bed free of mosquito and other disturbances. You may try the above mentioned technique and if needed consult a psychiatrist in your locality who may further help you. I hope it answers your question. I wish you all the best.