Sleep Patterns

[Guest guest]

Regarding sleeping patterns, my 11 year old, Leigh, has always had problems

sleeping at night. When she was real little (3 or 4) she heard voices or

groaning at night that kept her awake (turned out to be the gutter moving in

the wind), but now she just stays awake, then she can't wake up for school,

or stay awake during the school day. Her occupational therapist recommended

having her do " heavy work " to keep her more aroused (awake) so I try chewing

gum, riding bike, things like this, but its still hard to keep her awake

during the day. Some of this is due to the tranquilizer she takes

(Loxapine). But she takes twice the dose of loxapine at night and happily

plays into the wee hours. I wake up in the morning to find out she has

reconfigured the computer or completely cleaned her room, or some such. At

least she stays productive while she's awake at night!!

Hang in there,

Jay in Colorado

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 4/24/02 9:45:30 PM Pacific Daylight Time,

writes:

> he snores like an elephant or maybe a bear, (never heard an elephant

> snore,lol) no matter what of the 1001 directions he chooses to sleep in

too, no matter if he's sideways, back, stomach, or on the floor!!!

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 3/25/2006 12:33:39 PM Eastern Standard Time, kbtoni@... writes:

Do you sleep regular hours? have difficulty sleeping? sleep too much? Toni

That depends. If I have an external schedule that I have to adhere to, such as classes or work, then my sleep pattern tends to be fairly regular. If not, I tend to sleep when I get tired or put off sleep if I am doing something I don't want to interrupt. In general though, My sleep pattern tends to wrap around the clock by about an hour per week or so.

[Guest guest]

On average, I sleep four hours a night. That's enough for me. When

I'm in overload mode and managing multiple projects at a time, I will

power down for a number of hours all at one time and then return to

the four hours per night schedule.

Raven

>

> Do you sleep regular hours? have difficulty sleeping? sleep too

much?

> Toni

>

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 3/25/2006 4:00:15 PM Eastern Standard Time, kbtoni@... writes:

what exactly do you mean ?My sleep pattern tends to wrap around the clock by about an hour per week or so.Toni

That means that if one week I am going to sleep around 11:00 PM, the next week that might 12:00 AM before going to sleep. The following week it might be 1:00 AM and so on. Eventually the pattern will wrap back around to 11:00 PM again.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 3/25/2006 4:00:15 PM Eastern Standard Time, kbtoni@... writes:

what exactly do you mean ?My sleep pattern tends to wrap around the clock by about an hour per week or so.Toni

That means that if one week I am going to sleep around 11:00 PM, the next week that might 12:00 AM before going to sleep. The following week it might be 1:00 AM and so on. Eventually the pattern will wrap back around to 11:00 PM again.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 3/25/2006 8:57:23 PM Eastern Standard Time, inglori@... writes:

For me it is the same.

I have described it more in detail on my site (where I have quoted and others - hope that was OK, ): http://www.creative-minds.info/Lorelei/Sleep.htm

I don't mind if you quote from on here, so long as it isn't something copyrighted like a poem or a story. General comments though are OK.

[Guest guest]

For me it is the same.

I have described it more in detail on my site (where I have quoted and others - hope that was OK, ): http://www.creative-minds.info/Lorelei/Sleep.htm

Re: Sleep patterns

In a message dated 3/25/2006 4:00:15 PM Eastern Standard Time, kbtoni@... writes:

what exactly do you mean ?My sleep pattern tends to wrap around the clock by about an hour per week or so.Toni

That means that if one week I am going to sleep around 11:00 PM, the next week that might 12:00 AM before going to sleep. The following week it might be 1:00 AM and so on. Eventually the pattern will wrap back around to 11:00 PM again.

[Guest guest]

Great. Thanks. I've only used general comments that I think may help others understand AS better, and to save a few of the many pearls that I've found here.

Inger

Re: Re: Sleep patterns

In a message dated 3/25/2006 8:57:23 PM Eastern Standard Time, inglori@... writes:

For me it is the same.

I have described it more in detail on my site (where I have quoted and others - hope that was OK, ): http://www.creative-minds.info/Lorelei/Sleep.htm

I don't mind if you quote from on here, so long as it isn't something copyrighted like a poem or a story. General comments though are OK.

[Guest guest]

Every since removing dairy from my diet I've been waking up at 7-8 in the morning, dont feel irritable and feel more clear minded.New Songhttp://www.aspergershosting.com/audio/Onwah.wma

New Messenger with Voice. Call regular phones from your PC and save big.

[Guest guest]

Glad to hear that this is having a positive effect for you.

Perhaps many have food intolerances without knowing it? Such are known to cause all sorts of physical and mental imbalances. How does one find out? Did you do a test, , or did you just figure it out by yourself?

Inger

Re: Re: Sleep patterns

Every since removing dairy from my diet I've been waking up at 7-8 in the morning, dont feel irritable and feel more clear minded.New Songhttp://www.aspergershosting.com/audio/Onwah.wma

New Messenger with Voice. Call regular phones from your PC and save big.

[Guest guest]

I figured out myself, howeven when I was very young the dctors said I had an intolerance towards it anyways. As for cognitive functioning, it is increased as when I changed my diet on my own while attenting private school I got all A's.There are also other issues relating to it, mostly with personality...Has to do with general cognative functioning, but I intend to get a test for it.every = ever, in the last post.Inger Lorelei <inglori@...> wrote: Glad to hear that this is having a positive effect for you. Perhaps many

have food intolerances without knowing it? Such are known to cause all sorts of physical and mental imbalances. How does one find out? Did you do a test, , or did you just figure it out by yourself? Inger New Songhttp://www.aspergershosting.com/audio/Onwah.wma

Messenger with Voice. PC-to-Phone calls for ridiculously low rates.

[Guest guest]

Cool!

Inger

Re: Re: Sleep patterns

I figured out myself, howeven when I was very young the dctors said I had an intolerance towards it anyways. As for cognitive functioning, it is increased as when I changed my diet on my own while attenting private school I got all A's.There are also other issues relating to it, mostly with personality...Has to do with general cognative functioning, but I intend to get a test for it.every = ever, in the last post.Inger Lorelei <inglori@...> wrote:

Glad to hear that this is having a positive effect for you.

Perhaps many have food intolerances without knowing it? Such are known to cause all sorts of physical and mental imbalances. How does one find out? Did you do a test, , or did you just figure it out by yourself?

Inger

New Songhttp://www.aspergershosting.com/audio/Onwah.wma

Messenger with Voice. PC-to-Phone calls for ridiculously low rates.

[Guest guest]

--- Oh, ok. That makes sense. Thanks.

Toni

In , VISIGOTH@... wrote:

>

>

> In a message dated 3/25/2006 4:00:15 PM Eastern Standard Time,

> kbtoni@... writes:

>

> what exactly do you mean ?My sleep pattern tends to wrap around

the

> clock by about an hour per week or so.

> Toni

>

>

>

> That means that if one week I am going to sleep around 11:00 PM,

the next

> week that might 12:00 AM before going to sleep. The following week

it might be

> 1:00 AM and so on. Eventually the pattern will wrap back around to

11:00 PM

> again.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Let's see: No to the first. To #2- As a "reporter" for a website, I review two television shows on a regular basis. My mind is visual then, and the show stays with me. It has to, since I need to reference past episodes where necessary, find an Amazon item to accompany my article, and predict future events when warranted. My mind tends to race with the details. so it takes me a while to fall asleep. #3-I'm a night owl. Stay up until 1 am, easy. If I get on the computer or start reading after, though, I get in trouble because I can easily sleep the whole morning away. Mostly, I wake between 10 am and noon. When called for, I get up earlier. My alarm goes off at 6am but then I will rest in stages until I am ready to start walking around. tsbthatsme <kbtoni@...> wrote: Do you sleep regular hours? have difficulty

sleeping? sleep too much? Toni If you love something, set it free! So it is with books. See what I mean atwww.bookcrossing.com/friend/nheckoblogcritics.orghttp://notesfromnancy.blogspot.com Heckofreelance proofreadernancygailus@...

Blab-away for as little as 1¢/min. Make PC-to-Phone Calls using Messenger with Voice.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 3/26/2006 3:59:11 PM Eastern Standard Time, no_reply writes:

I have lost many whole nights of sleep due to being unable to get mymind off of something. Whether this was anintellectual/problem-solving thing or not, the net result was I had amuch harder time trying to sleep than to think about it and (ifpossible) figure it out until I was satisfied.

I've had this happen many times as well. It can also happen if I am reading something interesting or playing a game or something else. A lot of the time I simply loose track of the time. On other occasions I'm simply too stubborn to quit and keep going regardless of feeling sleepy. Often that is because I know that if I do try to go to sleep, I won't be able to because my mind won't calm down, so I just stick to it.

[Guest guest]

This is an interesting question for me right now, thank you for

asking it. For the last 22 or so years, I've been taken the anti-

epileptic medication Depakote. In highschool, I was on two drugs

which had the effect of making me sleep anywhere from 10 - 14 hours a

day (honestly don't know how I managed to graduate). My sleep

patterns evened out in my twenties so that I got a steady 8 hours a

night. So, here I am at age 36 taking a new drug and finally giving

up the Depakote (it's been three days now). Wow, I can't believe it!

I feel like my brain is clearing itself of a massive fogbank! But at

the same time attempting to find a balance again so last night

couldn't go to sleep AT ALL. Hopefully this is going to work out, I

do enjoy sleeping...

BTW, is there a particular reason you ask? Sorry if I missed it, been

trying to catch up with all the posts...

Jill

>

> Do you sleep regular hours? have difficulty sleeping? sleep too

much?

> Toni

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the link, Inger. I had looked at your website but I guess I

missed this part. Very well done, the whole website. I'm going to put it

in my favorites so I can go back and look at it. Toni

Inger Lorelei wrote:

> For me it is the same.

>

> I have described it more in detail on my site (where I have quoted

> and others - hope that was OK, ):

> http://www.creative-minds.info/Lorelei/Sleep.htm

>

>

>

> * Re: Sleep patterns

>

> In a message dated 3/25/2006 4:00:15 PM Eastern Standard Time,

> kbtoni@... <mailto:kbtoni@...> writes:

>

> what exactly do you mean ?My sleep pattern tends to wrap around the

> clock by about an hour per week or so.

> Toni

>

> That means that if one week I am going to sleep around 11:00 PM, the

> next week that might 12:00 AM before going to sleep. The following

> week it might be 1:00 AM and so on. Eventually the pattern will wrap

> back around to 11:00 PM again.

>

>

>

>

> FAM Secret Society is a community based on respect, friendship,

> support and acceptance. Everyone is valued.

>

> Check the Links section for more FAM forums.

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I have lost many whole nights of sleep due to being unable to get my

mind off of something. Whether this was an

intellectual/problem-solving thing or not, the net result was I had a

much harder time trying to sleep than to think about it and (if

possible) figure it out until I was satisfied. I think that where it

is an intellectual type of problem that has your mind not being able

to shut down for the night, it can relieve a bit of anxiety or at

least perhaps lead towards solving the problem if instead of saying " I

need to go to sleep! " to get up and actively try to figure it out.

Depending on the person, such prolonged thinking might be quite

natural; I'm one of those that calculates my car's gas mileage in my

head to a decimal place or two as I'm driving away from the gas

station, so I can definitely go into some deep-thought modes if I

don't have external things to worry about

What might help him is if he's thinking about something, to record it

on the computer (my preferred method) or on paper: there's a lot to be

said for recording your thoughts beyond the most obvious thing in

terms of benefits.

Barring all that, perhaps he should go and do some aerobic exercise

for long enough to use up that energy, so he'll sleep better because

his body will tell his mind " Sleep! I will sleep NOW! " and it will be

a much deeper sleep.

> > >

> > > Do you sleep regular hours? have difficulty sleeping? sleep too

> > much?

> > > Toni

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

I can get by on four hours of sleep a night, but lately I have been

deliberately going to bed early one or two nights during the weekdays

and getting eight to ten hours of sleep. That seems to go a long way

towards getting rid of depression. Plus, I am not eating during that

time and so not gaining weight that way.

On weekends I get anywhere from 7 to 9 hours of sleep each day.

I find that if I perseverate on a topic I may go days without sleep and

be perfectly alert the whole time. But the second I finish the project,

I am both hungry and tired. So I will eat a ravenous meal and sleep

four twelve to sixteen hours straight.

Personally, I do not like light and am more alert nights than during

the day. I would much rather sleep during the day and work at night.

In the summers, if I have a day off, I will often sit in the backyard

between one and three o'clock in the morning. The darkness at that time

is beautiful, and there are hardly any people out.

(Lots of animals though. One night I saw fgoing through my backyard:

Rabbits, opossums, skunks, and raccoons.)

Tom

Administrator

---I was just wondering if other aspies had irregular sleep patterns

because my boys do, especially n. He will come home from

school and sleep an hour or 2 or more (if I let him) and some nights

he will get up and eat supper then go back to bed around 8 or 9 pm

then some nights he can't sleep at all and will be up til 2 or 3 am

which makes getting up for school difficult which then means he has

to come home and go directly to bed and there goes the cycle.

Sometimes he says he can't sleep because he can't 'turn his mind

off.' I was curious to know if this was aspergers, depression or

both or neither. I appreciate everyone answering my questions.

Toni

[Guest guest]

My sleep pattern is really off now. I stayed up all night because I just

wasn't tired, then I finally fell asleep in the afternoon and woke up 10 in

the evening over here. Don't know how I'm going to manage to get my sleep

cycle right now... :-(

Inger

[Guest guest]

--- strict> What might help him is if he's thinking about something,

to record it

on the computer (my preferred method) or on paper: there's a lot to

be

said for recording your thoughts beyond the most obvious thing in

terms of benefits.

Great idea, I showed this to him and he agreed that it would be a

good thing to try.Thanks, Toni

In , strictnon_conformist

<no_reply@...> wrote:

>

> I have lost many whole nights of sleep due to being unable to get

my

> mind off of something. Whether this was an

> intellectual/problem-solving thing or not, the net result was I

had a

> much harder time trying to sleep than to think about it and (if

> possible) figure it out until I was satisfied. I think that where

it

> is an intellectual type of problem that has your mind not being

able

> to shut down for the night, it can relieve a bit of anxiety or at

> least perhaps lead towards solving the problem if instead of

saying " I

> need to go to sleep! " to get up and actively try to figure it out.

>

> Depending on the person, such prolonged thinking might be quite

> natural; I'm one of those that calculates my car's gas mileage in

my

> head to a decimal place or two as I'm driving away from the gas

> station, so I can definitely go into some deep-thought modes if I

> don't have external things to worry about

>

> What might help him is if he's thinking about something, to record

it

> on the computer (my preferred method) or on paper: there's a lot

to be

> said for recording your thoughts beyond the most obvious thing in

> terms of benefits.

>

> Barring all that, perhaps he should go and do some aerobic exercise

> for long enough to use up that energy, so he'll sleep better

because

> his body will tell his mind " Sleep! I will sleep NOW! " and it

will be

> a much deeper sleep.

>

>

> > > >

> > > > Do you sleep regular hours? have difficulty sleeping? sleep

too

> > > much?

> > > > Toni

> > > >

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Oh, boy that's terrible. I am a night owl myself, and hate any

light when I'm trying to sleep. I sleep with one of those masks on

that Kerry gets for me when people leave the 'goodies' in first

class. Light wakes me up, he looks over at me in bed and laughs

because he's in bed with 'zorro' again.

Toni

" Inger Lorelei " <inglori@...> wrote:

>

> My sleep pattern is really off now. I stayed up all night because

I just

> wasn't tired, then I finally fell asleep in the afternoon and woke

up 10 in

> the evening over here. Don't know how I'm going to manage to get

my sleep

> cycle right now... :-(

>

> Inger

>

[Guest guest]

Zorro, LOL!!

I have a hard time sleeping in daylight too, but if I'm tired enough my

brain doesn't care. I think it's a nuisance to have to sleep away so much of

one's time, but not being able to sleep is worse! I'm happy that I sleep so

soundly once I go to sleep.

Don't understand those who can get by on 4 hours a night, like Tom and

Raven. To be able to function on that little sleep on a regular basis is

superhuman to me. If I didn't get my 8 hours every night (or day) I'd be a

total wreck!

Inger

Re: Sleep patterns

Oh, boy that's terrible. I am a night owl myself, and hate any

light when I'm trying to sleep. I sleep with one of those masks on

that Kerry gets for me when people leave the 'goodies' in first

class. Light wakes me up, he looks over at me in bed and laughs

because he's in bed with 'zorro' again.

Toni

" Inger Lorelei " <inglori@...> wrote:

>

> My sleep pattern is really off now. I stayed up all night because

I just

> wasn't tired, then I finally fell asleep in the afternoon and woke

up 10 in

> the evening over here. Don't know how I'm going to manage to get

my sleep

> cycle right now... :-(

>

> Inger

>

FAM Secret Society is a community based on respect, friendship, support and

acceptance. Everyone is valued.

Check the Links section for more FAM forums.

[Guest guest]

Toni:

---I was just wondering if other aspies had irregular sleep patterns

because my boys do, especially n.

Though SOME Aspies have a regular 24-hour sleep pattern it seems more common

than not to have an irregular one.

> He will come home from school and sleep an hour or 2 or more (if I let

> him) and some nights he will get up and eat supper then go back to bed

> around 8 or 9 pm

I used to need to sleep to recover after school. When my half-Aspie mom got

home from work, she used to need to sleep for an hour or so too. Then one

wake up and feel refreshed, all the stress of the day sort of washed out of

one's body and brain so that one can think clearly and feel good again.

> then some nights he can't sleep at all and will be up til 2 or 3 am

which makes getting up for school difficult which then means he has

to come home and go directly to bed and there goes the cycle.

That's how it was for me in school. I was sent to the psychologist for

falling asleep in class. Some of us would do better in school -or at work -

if it started after lunch.

In Spain, everyone has a long siesta after lunch and work longer in the

evening instead (and then stay up most of the night) so traditions may vary

between culturs. Always unfortuante when one's own needs clashes with those

of one's culture. I think Aspies in particular may be physically designed to

have an even harder time going against one's innate unique biological needs,

and that this may be ONE big reason for mood swings etc.

> Sometimes he says he can't sleep because he can't 'turn his mind

off.' I was curious to know if this was aspergers, depression or

both or neither.

This feature is especially common in AS. For many of us, THINKING is our

favorite hobby and nowhere does one think better than in the darkness and

comfort of ones bed.

When I was a kid I used to lay awake for hours, designing houses or making

up stories in my head. When I have a job or project going on, I tend to

think about that and visualize what to do the next day.

It's gotten better since I started following my natural sleep cycle - I

simply stay up until I'm so tired that I fall asleep right away. Not

everyone has that luxury, of course.

Reading a book may also help (I usually fall asleep after only a page or

so).

Strict's idea I think was a good one as well. :-)

Inger