Hi everyone, I was wondering if anyone has DSPS. I try not to say "suffer from" because I think society (and psychology) labels anything against the norms as a disease. I am not working now and probably won't for a while (I'm on permanent disability for serious health problems), so I don't have a problem with work interference right now. I did work for a couple months in the summer as a live-in home health aide and had major issues falling asleep and waking up early. I also tried working a 9 am-6pm job around this time last year and lasted about 9 days. I attend an online college because I can't expect myself to wake up at the crack of dawn (to take the train and busses to school) and sit through classes during the day. I do have a great deal of doctors appointments and tests during the day and though I try my best to make them after 2 pm, sometimes it's nearly impossible or I would have to wait longer for a follow-up appt.
I currently go to sleep between 6-7:30 am and usually wake up around 12-1 pm, sometimes a little earlier or later. There are also days when I don't go to sleep at all. This happens mostly when I have to be up early and stay up all day. At those times I crash around 11 pm to 1:30 am the next night or two later. There are occasions when I'll stay up past 7 am and watch morning shows until Noon or later. Usually when that happens, I nap for a while in the afternoon and sleep a couple hours at night, wake up around 2 am at the latest and go back to my normal sleep times. I used to fall asleep around 3-4 am when I was on Lunesta, but my insurance doesn't cover any sedative-hypnotics after 6 months. I've also tried everything known to creation as far as sleep medicines go. I am on strong medications that at my dose would make most anyone else go into a coma for days. They either don't work at all or make my sleep more erratic. I just want to go to sleep a few hours earlier so I can be up early if I have to without staying up over 48 hours after. Any suggestions or can anyone relate? I have another sleep study on Jan. 31st and I'll see what they reccommend, but I value help from others with the same condition. Help from experts in the forum is welcome too.