Hey there!

I'm a 27 y/o man struggling with intense fatigue and insane sleeping lengths. I've always been a big sleeper, needing 9-10 hours each day to feel refreshed. However, in the last 5-10 years, it has picked up dramatically. Despite countless trips to different health professionals, I'm still left empty-handed.

An example of a day for me: go to bed at 11PM, wake up between 2-6PM, do a few tasks, nap for an hour, intermittently take care of the house and get any work done I can, back to sleep.

Every now and again (I call it "having my will-power meter full"), I'll have a day where I can grit my teeth and force myself awake on 10-12 hours of sleep, though I'm still napping.

The issue for me is that this isn't a problem I've been able to fix through will-power and discipline. I can force myself out of bed and sloppily walk around at random intervals to make sure things are taken care of, but then I find myself back asleep almost as if I don't remember laying back down. I'm able to live because I am a content creator, so I can get away with 3-4 hours of work in a given day. I am very fortunate in that regard, but really wish I could put more time into my career and set myself up better. The fatigue when awake is so intense that it feels like I am manually forcing my eyelids open, and that my body weighs 10x what it actually does. I am constantly dissociated.

If it matters, I am 5'9" and around 170 pounds. I was a high-level athlete and still retain that sort of stocky "football player" build with visible abs and vasculature. Though I've noticed muscle atrophy from lack of exercise lately.

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Things I've tried:
- Bloodwork: every lab a doctor and I could think of, from vitamins to thyroid, hormones, etc. All levels come back normal besides slightly elevated blood sugar, and testosterone in the upper 300s which seems a bit low for someone my age. Doctors have started shrugging me off and ceased bloodwork orders, telling me to go to bed earlier and talk to a therapist. This really makes me feel weak and broken, but this issue is sincerely something I can't control anymore.
- Regulating sleep/wake times: going to bed at the same time and "waking up" at the same time. It was never fruitful because the waking fatigue was too intense that I'd find myself randomly waking up in weird places. The initial getting out of bed required every ounce of will-power I could muster, and I couldn't win that battle every day.
- Stimulants: I was prescribed Vyvanse for ADHD with the dual-purpose of promoting wakefulness, the stimulant does not help me stay awake at all.
- CPAP: diagnosed with "mild" sleep apnea, at the minimum amount of episodes to be considered a diagnosis. Used a CPAP for several months with no improvement. It has been a few years since this, though.
- Psychiatric assistance: my PCP pushed me to do counseling/therapy siting that my mental health is the likely trigger for my fatigue. I have been seeing a psychiatrist and a therapist for 3 years now and actively implementing their ideas, no improvement in physical symptoms, but headway on my mental health.
- Morning routines/sleep hacks/"health hacks": all of the classics of cold showers, lights and exercise in the mornings, caffeine/l-theanine and other nootropics, all the "bro science" approaches as well. I also have tried blacking out my room, optimizing sleep temperatures, putting more light in my room to wake me up, etc.

Known health conditions:
- ADHD, major depressive disorder, PTSD, DPDR disorder, tachycardia, Crohn's disease, psoriasis

Things I've noticed from journaling/introspection:
- I feel "better" at night time than any daytime hour.
- If I front-load my day with an obligation involving another person, my success rate of waking up is higher as to not disappoint that person. I do not last very long in that social setting though, and become even more fatigued afterward.
- There is definitely some sort of dopamine issue. I can't do anything most days besides drag myself to a screen of some sort.

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I'm not posting today for the internet to replace my doctor or anything like that. I'm simply reaching out to see if there is anyone out there that has an idea for a solution to this problem that myself and my health professionals have not yet considered.

I am mentally spiraling and beginning to lose hope that things will get better. I feel incredibly guilty that I'm wasting the prime years of my life, and all I want is to be able to enjoy the same amount of time that most other people do each day.

If you have any ideas, please throw them my way. I also can clarify any additional details that may be needed.

Thank you so much for your time.

TL;DR: I sleep 12-20 hours a day, and have tried every conventional method of promoting/achieving wakefulness. What should I do next?

I'll start by saying that my subconscious has always been a really strange place, and I've always had vivid dreams. I've maybe had three dreams my whole life where I actually knew I was dreaming before I woke up.

I feel pain in my dreams that's unrelated to how my body feels in the waking world. I have always had varying levels of control over what happens my dreams, though usually the standard ability I have is waking myself up. And while I don't have recurring dreams, there are definitely recurring themes that are tied to real-world stressors and/or my fears in general that pop up.

Earlier this year, I was afraid to go to sleep because my dreams were essentially an exercise in emotional torture and were full of family drama and trauma. Day after day, I was waking up emotionally burnt out and sometimes even crying, because I had spent the night arguing with my family over the same things I had actually argued with them about during the day, and there was no break anywhere.

I haven't been in that place for months now, but somehow even though I'm a lot less stressed than I was then, my dreams are taking up more mental energy than ever. But these aren't trauma-fuled dreams. They're weird, even for my dreams, which is saying a lot since I sometimes have dreams where something is trying to eat me ALIVE!

I'm searching my brain to recall real quotes from TV shows I've seen, I'm using my critical thinking skills to make definitive action plans for scenarios I don't know are real, and when I checked the stats from my smartwatch I haven't been getting much REM sleep (usually less than an hour).I haven't had any recent medication changes, and I'm taking better care of myself now than I was before these energy siphoning dreams started (even though the bar is really low for that).

I'm thinking of going to a dispensary for some sleep gummies in the hopes that CBD and CBN help, but the problem isn't that I can't fall sleep. My dreams are draining my brain's battery life, I'm waking up tired and with emotional whiplash, and my ADHD symptoms are on the fritz because my brain isn't rested enough to work right, which then sends my anxiety into a tailspin. I'm going to ask my psychiatrist, but since we've spent the last few months focusing on the trauma related symptoms, I have no idea where we'll even begin to try to fix this...

Hey guys, I (female, 22years old) kind of really need your help figuring this out.

Here's the situation: I need to sleep 12h every night. If I sleep anything less than that I feel absolutly aweful. If I have had an exhausting week I might sleep even more (up to 15h). Even if I have nothing to do for weeks I will sleep 12h every day.

Why does it bother me?: It's not like I can sleep that much if I want to - I HAVE to sleep that much to feel like a normal human. On top of that I am quite a night owl, so if possible I usually sleep from midnight to 12. Working 40h every week leaves me feeling absolutly sick every morning. Multiple people have suggested just going to bed earlier but that only works to a certain degree and I would have to go straight to bed after coming home from work. I also just have really bad FOMO because of it because I am literally missing so many hours every day.

What I have tried: I’ve been to my GP, a sleep clinic, and an endocrinologist, but all the results came back normal. They all said I seem perfectly healthy.

Medical background: I have endometriosis und I struggle with really really bad fatigue at the moment. Nonetheless I have slept 12h a day since me teenage years - way before I had these two things, so I don't think the have anything to do with it.

Do you have any explanation for that? Is there something one can do to sleep less (and not feel miserable)? Or do you have any ideas on how I could make my life a little more bearable even though I need that much sleep?

Thanks so much in advance!! :)

PS: I am not a native speaker so please excuse any mistakes.

My roommate sometimes keep lights on until 11 or 12 pm but I have to sleep in 9-10 pm... How do I sleep early with lights on

21f, I’ve had trouble with my sleep since the beginning of this year when I started my first job. I’ve never been a morning person but I’ve never had trouble sleeping before this year, I could fall asleep anywhere anytime no trouble before. But as I’ve started my first job where I have to get up at 7am, I’ve had trouble staying asleep at night and I would wake up multiple times throughout the night. I have been exhausted physically almost everyday this year. I mentioned this to my family doctor in the beginning of the year, he told me the total number of hours is enough so I am okay. This has not gotten better this year, I feel my cognitive function is declining and my body getting weaker plus the number of hours I sleep a day is decreasing so I tried to ask for 5 prescription sleeping pill today and he just tells me to stop looking at my phone before bed and he will not even prescribe me one pill for temporary relief. I feel like I am loosing my mind, do I need to have a heart attack or seizure before a doctor take me seriously? I feel miserable and I don’t know how much longer I can take living like this

Might be worth experimenting with if you suffer from needing to wake-up to go pee--I have noticed an extremely strong correlation between not getting enough fiber with dinner and having my sleep interrupted because of the need to go pee (and that other guy side-effect related to that).

For years I've been fine-tuning sleep related stuff because I suffer from wakefulness insomnia. I've found that what I eat for dinner (and when) is one of the strongest contributing factors. Mostly I've been focusing on heavy foods. As such, what I eat for dinner is VERY consistent. However, I have been inconsistent on the fiber part.

My dinner is essentially a coconut milk curry with steak and sweet potatoes, but the fiber comes from lentil beans that I have to remember to add to it... and sometimes I forget, as I did last night.

This has happened before and the correlation is extremely consistent. When I forget the fiber, sleep quality drops off drastically and it's most likely because I wake up 1-2 times needing to go pee. Lately, if I stick to my schedule/diet (along with not drinking too much water in the last 2 hours before bed), I don't wake-up at all, at least not because I need to go to the bathroom.

So... if you suffer from that issue, I recommend trying out the fiber idea (and perhaps reducing water intake before bed). On that note, I've never used the powdered fiber mixes so I can't say whether or not they address this issue.

So today I was sleeping with my bf, and we haven’t ever slept together before, so it was a weird little night. Here’s a quick summary.

I get in bed, and it’s nice. I mean, it’s like sleeping with your sister at a hotel becase theres not enough beds, but way hotter (in both ways). Anyway, it’s like 12 p.m. I fall asleep and wake up to him giggling at his phone while looking at me because I sleep like this. (The arms are normally tighter than the image its like a streamline at swim-team but a h, so they block my nose and keep my head up, and my legs are never flat on the bed because I kick in my sleep.)

Anyway, is this fine, or am I insane like my bf thinks? (oh yea and the drawing was made in like 6 minutes with my finge cuz i dont wanna get my whole drawing tablet out for this

I’ve spent the last three years basically convincing myself that being exhausted 24/7 is just what happens when you’re an adult with a mortgage and a screen-heavy job. I drank more cold brew and kept going. lately, though, it’s gone from “normal tired” to “something is definitely wrong.”

And the worst part is waking up in the middle of the night. I mean that specific gross feeling when you wake up at 4 AM and your pillowcase is actually damp. I’m not sick no fever, no cough but I keep sweating through my clothes at night. then my sleep is interrupted, my body seems to be working overtime for no reason, and the next-day fatigue is just brutal. It’s a vicious cycle where I’m too tired to exercise, which probably makes my sleep worse, and then it starts all over again.

I’ve tried the usual stuff: no caffeine after noon, magnesium supplements, and blue light filters. Nothing has helped. what actually causes night sweats in a healthy-ish 30-year-old? could it be cortisol spikes from stress? or have I reached the age where my body forgets how to regulate temperature? I’ve wondered about my mattress and my diet too, but it feels more internal than that. has anyone else dealt with this combo of constant brain fog and waking up in a pool? And tbh I’m scared to go to a doctor because I don’t want to hear that it’s “just stress,” but I can’t keep living like a damp zombie. If you found a way to stop the overheating and get deep, restorative sleep again, what worked for you?

So I have essentially figured out that I have a deep rem cycle between 6:45 and 7:25 every day, regardless of when I go to bed. Would it be more restful to get up after this period, or does it not matter?

I want to start waking up earlier but if I set my alarm for 7 o am always interrupting dreams and feel extremely groggy. Does this last period of rem make a huge difference in energy levels, or can I set my alarm/get up at 6:30 without causing issue?

Since sunday night i have been having trouble sleeping, any time i try to sleep i feel like i am not getting enough oxygen and then i have to distract myself with a phone. First three days i somehow managed to sleep it through but yesterday it was just hell. It didnt use to happen during day time or afternoon naps but now even during day time i can feel it while staying awake. I do have a bit of bloating due to gas but i do not thats it. I am now terrified to sleep. Wht should i do??

And my sleep has never been the same.

I can barely get 6 hours on most nights.

But recently I found my go to routine.

Walking. Walking. Walking.

I walk in the morning and walk in the evening. 30 minutes fo both.

I have only 1 hour of doom scrolling time throughout the day.

I was truly sleepy at 915 last night...and I just cut out the light and crashed. I woke up naturally around 530 but I feel wonderful.

Diet is no caffeine or sugary treats anywhere after 4pm.

Y'all, it's the ROUTINE. The diet and the excercise.

It helps.

I'm 17, pretty healthy, I do cardio minimum 3 times a week, eat as clean as I can, go to gym, etc. I did use to vape very often for 6 ish years, but over the past 1-2 months I've cut down significantly. I don't drink coffee, and I stopped drinking energy drinks a long time ago. I don't drink alcohol thay often either, only really at special occasions. Despite this, my sleep is horrible. My symptoms are:

-waking up tired even after 12 hours sleeping

-dry mouth

-my friends told me I snore, although it doesn't sound to me like it's every night

-I have difficulty falling asleep in general, gotta listen to asmr to get tired

-sometimes jerk awake right as I'm falling asleep as if my body forgot it had to breathe and I gotta manually take a breath before it goes back to normal.

- I move around a lot in my sleep, as I've been informed from a few sleepovers

Currently writing this at 2:30am after jerking awake and having to manually take a breath. It's honestly making me very anxious, as I've gone down a rabbit hole (health anxiety). Could this just be the anxiety, or could it be sleep apnea, or even something else?

Something else that seems important to note is that today when I did try go to sleep, I was very confused? Like, it took me a moment to realise I was in my room, but this was a few minutes before the whole manual breath thing

So I’ve been getting a consistent 8-9 hours of sleep for the past two weeks, falling asleep and waking up around the same time each of those days. Previously I was only getting about 5-6 hours of sleep.

Now I feel so tired by 2pm and fighting for my life not to take a nap and my eye bags are noticeably worse now for some reason. Is there anything in particular causing this?

I’ve kept exercise and diet the same for both.

People who feel exhausted as soon as you wake up and throughout the day. I’m looking for advice on getting yourself up in the mornings. I have a few mental health bits which do not help but a big thing for me is the exhaustion I feel as soon as I wake up. I’m trying to get into a routine. Waking up even when I don’t have a particular place to be. But those days I just can’t get myself up and go back to sleep due to how tired I feel. Even though I know that sleep won’t make a difference to how I feel.
What ways have helped you?

26F. I feel like I’ve always had a problem with falling asleep even when I was a kid but it has since then amplified. The past few weeks, I’ve been taking Pure Form Magnesium + Ashwaganda with melatonin + an eye mask and it usually works but I’m worried that I’m relying on it too much to fall asleep. Whenever I decide to not take it or forget, I can’t seem to get myself to sleep. Though I also have fallen asleep with just an eye mask on rare occasions. I’ve had times when I was awake for more than 24hrs, hiked and still couldn’t sleep. My husband would say that I should just keep my eyes closed but sometimes I keep my eyes closed for 4+ hours and I do not feel like I slept at all.

I’m starting to think whether I should get one of those sleep study done.

I appreciate any advice or tricks I can try out. I just want to sleep regularly and wake up relatively early…

Okay, I finally gave in and bought cooling sheets. I’d seen pretty mixed reviews, but as a longtime hot sleeper, I figured they were worth trying. I’ve done everything from freezing my pillow to sticking one leg out from under the blanket, so after seeing cooling sheets everywhere, I wanted to find out for myself if they made any difference.

First impression: they felt noticeably softer than my usual sheets, which was a nice surprise. They didn’t have the “ice-cold” feeling I’d pictured, but that made more sense once I actually slept on them. Instead of feeling dramatically cold, they stayed more comfortable through the night and made it easier for me to settle in and relax.

I noticed the biggest difference in the morning. Of all the sheet sets I’ve used, these made the most noticeable improvement in how comfortable I felt overnight. I still warmed up here and there, but I didn’t wake up feeling as sticky or overheated as usual. They seemed to handle warmth better and kept the bed feeling fresher for longer.

That said, they’re not magic and didn’t suddenly turn me from a hot sleeper into a cold sleeper. For me, they were just a practical upgrade: I woke up more comfortable, less sweaty, and a lot less frustrated. Honestly, that’s the kind of progress I was hoping for.

Unable to sleep since 2 nights. Can someone please help me here?

Anyone else? When I lay down to sleep I can feel my heart beating hard and this is causing insomnia. Only happens when I lay down.