How do I fix my sleep schedule

[Aeronaut]

so due to certain circumstances, I've been staying up later and later the last few weeks; the last couple of days, it's been exactly the opposite of a normal person's sleep schedule. I wake up around 7PM, and go to bed around 9AM.

It's really bizarre, because I never know what day it is or really have any sort of body-clock. I've been telling myself it's fine, because my classes will be over in ~3 weeks, and then it's summer and it doesn't really matter (this isn't entirely true, but it will effect my life less).

But yea, I missed an exam today, because I just could not physically fix my schedule. Fortunately, my professor is awesome and let me postpone, but i'd really not like anything like that to happen again.

Does anyone have tips/tricks for fixing a botched sleep schedule?

[Majiffy]

Try Melatonin or Valerian root extract, maybe (check pharmacological interactions first!) both together. It will help you get to sleep on time and regulate your sleep cycle.

Takes roughly a week.

[Majiffy]

If you need a quicker result then there are over-the-counter sleep aids like ZzzQuil that are relatively affordable and will knock you out.

[Cheetory6]

Try Melatonin

Have had some success with this personally.
Sorry to hear man. Hope you can get it on track and stuff.

[Plotinus]

when that happens to me, i push myself to stay up later and later until i'm back to normal. try to stay up until 10 or 11am, then try for 2pm, then 4pm, etc. when you hit 8pm or so try to stay there for a while: you'll naturally end up still slipping back a bit but if you start trying to stay put at 8pm then you'll probably stick around 9 or 10pm bedtime.

[Psyche]

Does anyone have tips/tricks for fixing a botched sleep schedule?

sleep medicine!

[Psyche]

If you need a quicker result then there are over-the-counter sleep aids like ZzzQuil that are relatively affordable and will knock you out.

yeah zzzquil is what i use when my sleep patterns are out of whack

i used to use it to get to to sleep more generally, but it leaves you groggy when you wake up and so is not a great strategy for catching zzz's the night before a big test for example

now i just use it when i need to re-orient the ol' circadian after a pattern of bad decisions

[Rob14]

I find that naps are the easiest way, personally, with no need for medicine.

Wake up at 7PM, catch like 2 hours of zzzz's around 4am, and then go to bed at 1pm or so. Rinse and repeat until you're on the right schedule.

[Aeronaut]

My fix-it solution for now is to drink a 5 hour energy today, and then hopefully tonight when I'm inebriated, i'll be able to get to sleep a bit better.

Yes I know, I treat my body right!

[Aeronaut]

But thanks for the advice, everyone! This is a habitual problem of mine, so all of this really helps

[CooLDoG]

step one: stay up till normal folks go to bed
step two: down a nyquil shot
done.

[zoraster]

Alcohol isn't great. It'll help you fall asleep better, but makes the sleep worse. Benadryl works well. Melatonin I had a lot of success with when trying to prevent jet lag going east. Harder to tell if it was the melatonin though.

[Psyche]

zzzzzquil

[Shiro]

Being someone tgat regularly has this problem because I tend to sleep later and later best solution is to push yourself a little each day till it fixes itself.

I have done wacky stuff like waking up at 1am and going yo sleep around 12-3pm

Basically what I did was sleep at 3 wake at midnight then at 4 and wake 1am etc etc till it gets fixed.

[PJ.]

Instead of going to bed at 9am, stay up. Coffee redbull w/e. Stay up until a reasonable time to sleep. Then pass out. Take medicine if necessary.

[AniX]

Do people really have trouble with staying up?

I mean it's certainly not pleasant if my sleep schedule gets off track but I just stay up for whatever period of time I need to get it back on track and then I'm good to go.\

Also how on earth are you sleeping more than you are awake?

[Flubbernugget]

Supposedly an 18 hr fast can fix your sleep schedule but I would have to do some Google-fu on that one

[Kison]

I dunno, I think some people are wired differently. The only time I could ever maintain a 24 hour schedule was when I was landscaping, or when I was consistently getting 5 hours of sleep during high school. I haven't woken up before noon in like a month. I've tried doing the whole staying up all night and resetting sleep schedule the next day thing. Doesn't work. I can be exhausted all day, but around 8PM it's like a switch is flipped and I'm wide awake.

Exercise(unless extreme like landscaping was), caffeine avoidance, diet, etc may help, but if you're like me, they won't fix the underlying problem.

I've read that the best way to resolve this is simply forcing yourself to get up at the same time for a week or two, no matter how painful it is. Unfortunately since I don't have the luxury of going two weeks with that level of mental impairment, I haven't had the opportunity to try that one out yet.

[PJ.]

When I was a kid, we had a 9am wake up time on weekends. So that typically took care of any issue with ruining the sleep because at the latest, we were up by 9am.

[Cheery Dog]

Move to a country that has a timezone had suits your sleep pattern

[BNL]

Someone told me today that not eating for sixteen hours straight then having breakfast will fix your sleep schedule immediately.

(Only what I heard, never tried this)

[Kison]

Nope.

[Psyche]

Someone told me today that not eating for sixteen hours straight then having breakfast will fix your sleep schedule immediately.

(Only what I heard, never tried this)

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