I have this issue where I'll be genuinely tired like I could probably fall asleep in 5 minutes if I closed my eyes but for some reason my brain insists on staying awake. I end up watching some very specific documentary about what kind of food the Babylonians ate what was it like for the child of the pyramid workers or just like anything really and I mean sometimes its fun I do like documentaries and stuff but why sacrifice sleep for these things that you can absolutely do during the day??

It's weird because I want to sleep but somehow I keep putting it off like I'm missing out on something. And on top of that I'm ridiculously picky about being comfortable in bed. Like if the temperature is slightly off or my bedding doesn't feel right, I somehow use that as another excuse to postpone sleeping. It's like my brain is actively looking for reasons to stay awake . How do you convince yourself to go to bed? I think I forgot how to go to sleep and just stay there until I wake up and realize I did fall asleep last night.

I have been dealing with this weird cycle where I'm tired during the day but once I get in bed my brain decides it's time to think about everything.

I've been trying to cut back on caffeine later in the day but I still struggle to wind down at night.

Curious what you guys do to switch your brain off before bed. Do sleep mints or other stuff help or is fixing your routine the only way?

So for a few months now i have been sleeping 12+ hours daily but even with that much sleep i feel exhausted and i dont know why.

I feel like I never actually get good rest because im so physically and mentally drained when i wake up. Waking up is also a struggle. its not like pressing snooze twelve times or anything its just that my body wont wake up on its own. The only reason i used to wake up is because i got flash banged by the sun but that would just give me headaches so i use blackouts now.

Like 2-3 times a week as well i will stay up fro 20-30+ hours because sleeping now feels tiring and like a hassle because I dont even wake up feeling rested. I end up drinking 140mg of caffeine and just stay up through the night on my laptop reading or watching tv.

(I try to go ot bed by 12:30-1:30AM and i wake up at like 1:30-2PM because of someone else waking me)

One thing to note is that i never feel exsessivly tired i actually feel more rested when i dont sleep. What the hell should i do? because i know this isnt healthy and i dont want to waste my life in bed.

hi! I am a newly college freshmana nd all of a sudden i have began having problems sleeping. There are nights 1-2x a week where i cant fall asleep until 6 am and i end up only sleeping for three hours which really stresses me out. I do drink heavily 3-4x a week and smoke occasionally but i dont know how to fix this

Im a light sleeper & lately ive been getting no more than 5 hours of sleep most nights, sometimes sudden sounds like footsteps from upstairs wake me up & i cant go back to sleep at all for at least an hour or more..

I've tried melatonin pills and they seemed to help a bit what else can i do?

Do i go to a doctor?

What kind of doctor should i go to?

Hey, so I got this bad habit for a few months to go to sleep late around 4-6 am because I just spend time on my computer. With the first year uni it was barely correct with an aimed wake up time of 7 am. But due to the protest in france I haven't had class in two weeks and it completely killed my sleep schedule. Right now I need to wake up at 7am even thought it's already 5:39 am, and I genuinely don't know how to fix this situation.

And on top of that, it kinda made me feel numb to my alarm because I sometimes miss time on only hear it after an hour. What can I do please ?

I don't really expect a responde right now. I'll try to run on an hour of sleep then proceed after that

Hi there (24f) I am wondering if this is normal or is there something I can do to help? I will be on the couch or in bed watching a movie or tv show at night time with friends or family and I can never stay awake through the whole thing. Even if I go out to a movie theater if it’s after like 5 I fall asleep. Last night I tried to watch a halloween movie with my boyfriend and I even drank cold brew and still fell asleep. It doesn’t matter the content, I’ll even fall asleep playing video games if it’s after 7pm. Typically I sleep every night from 10pm-6:20am. I try to sleep in on the weekends but I will usually wake up at 7:30 without an alarm. I usually have caffeine but try not to drink it after 2pm and I am not a regular drinker. If I drink alcohol it’s almost a guarantee I will fall asleep in the next two hours. Nobody else wakes up at the same time as me no matter where I’m staying so I’m always up way earlier than everybody else. I have had this issue since probably age 20. The only reason I’m asking is because none of my friends have this issue or my family really.

Why does alcohol affect your sleep so much? I had a drink with tequila last night before bed and I was tossing and turning all night. Same thing the night before.

Will wine do the same thing? I want to have a drink to relax at the end of the day every once in a while but if it affects my sleep like this every time I definitely won’t. Just looking for some advice and curious about the science behind it.

Thanks in advance

It's 4:17, I have to be up at 7 for uni and my heart keeps racing because I can't sleep. My brain literally won't shut up even though I am tired, and I keep thinking "it's 4 am, I'll get two hours or so if I fall asleep now" and so on, I'm so tired.

Ughhhh so tired of being tired and looking at my Apple Watch the next morning, seeing that I was awake 16 times!! So tired of these micro-wake ups! At first, I thought it was hormones, but HRT isn't improving anything. The hot weather lately certainly hasn't helped either. I've tried every supplement, and maybe I'm overdoing it and causing paradoxical arousal reactions. I'm already super tired when I go to bed and can barely keep my eyes open so maybe all the supplements are making it worse because I'm already tired, so it's having the opposite effect. Maybe I shouldn't take anything before I go to bed. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I've been taking 1000 mg of L-Tryptophan, 400 mg of magnesium glycinate, and an herbal sleep supplement with Valerian, vervain, passionflower, lemon balm, and ashwaganda. It still takes me forever to fall asleep then when I finally do, I wake up 2 hours later for a few minutes then go back to sleep and a repeat of that until my alarm goes off. Anywhere from 8-16 times a night. This started in August and hasn't stopped since. Last year for 8 weeks I was waking up at 3/4 wide awake ready for the day and couldn't fall back to sleep until my alarm went off at 7:15 so I was sleeping about 2/4 hours a night and was not sleepy at all the entire day when I should've been!!

Then that stopped and went away, and I was sleeping through the night again but super tired in the daytime even after 7/8 hours of sleep. Now, it's just these stupid, micro wake ups for less than 5 minutes. Maybe I just shouldn't take anything before I go to bed. I even sleep with ice packs inside my pillowcase on hot nights. I'm at a loss... I used to get 6/7 hours during the week and 8/9 hours on the weekends now I can't even get close to that. Insane 🤦🏻‍♀️

Just wanted to share this in case it helps anyone like me who wakes up a lot in the night. I started to take a teaspoon of glycine mixed with a tiny bit of warm water before bed each night and noticed I was sleeping better. I used to wake up once a night to pee, like clockwork, and now I don't wake up at all. My Garmin says my REM has gone from 40-50mins per night to 1 hour 20-40 mins each night.

I recommended it to my mum who has also always struggled to sleep deeply and she has said the same thing.

Some research apparently backs it as "promoting restful sleep" but honestly I haven't read it or looked into it much, it just seems to work for me. I don't sell glycine or get anything out of this, just hoping to help some people out there.

I have school in the morning i have to wake up at 5am its nearly midnight. I have a headache blocked nostrils its too hot in my room and my pillows are warm

Help meeeee

Hey everyone,

I'm a first-year medical student studying in Europe, and I started medical school about two weeks ago. It's been pretty intense from the very first day, and we started studying anatomy in the second week itself.

Over the past few days, I've been studying a LOT of anatomy, particularly osteology. I've spent hours learning the bones of the lower limb, their landmarks, and all the associated terminology. I know medical school is supposed to be demanding, and I'm not necessarily complaining about having to study. I'm willing to put in the work.

The problem is what's been happening when I try to sleep.

For the past two or three nights, I've been having extremely vivid dreams about studying. It's not just a passing image of a textbook or something. In these dreams, I'm genuinely sitting there studying anatomy, opening slides, naming bones, and trying to memorise everything. It feels like an actual study session, and I'm constantly worried about the syllabus and how much I still have to learn.

Last night was particularly disturbing.

I went to bed at around 9:30 PM because I wanted to wake up at 3 AM and study. Instead, I woke up at around 12:15 AM, feeling as though I'd been studying for hours.

In the dream, I was naming the bones of the lower limb, and I could actually recall them quite well. But as the dream progressed, the syllabus and the slides kept getting bigger and bigger. Eventually, I felt as though I was becoming physically smaller and smaller in comparison to them. It got to the point where the blanket covering me in real life seemed to become part of the dream, like a giant slide wrapping around me. I became genuinely frightened and woke up.

The entire experience felt incredibly real. Throughout the dream, I was anxious about studying and the amount of material I had to cover. It wasn't a restful or pleasant dream at all. It felt like I couldn't escape studying, even while asleep.

When I woke up, I felt awful. I was frightened, exhausted, and felt as though I hadn't slept at all, despite having been asleep for almost three hours. I've also experienced some physical discomfort when waking up on these occasions, particularly around my throat and stomach, although I'm not sure whether that might be reflux or something else.

What's worrying me most is that I'm starting to dread going to sleep.

I'm beginning to associate sleep with these horrible experiences, and right now, I genuinely feel like I don't want to sleep because I don't want to experience this again. I know that avoiding sleep isn't a solution, but it's difficult to explain how unpleasant and unsettling these dreams feel. I just want to be able to lie down, fall asleep, and wake up feeling rested, without my brain turning the entire night into another anatomy session.

I've studied a lot over the past week, but I haven't even studied anatomy today or yesterday, so it's not as though I've been studying immediately before bed every single night. And yet, my brain seems to be doing it anyway.

Has anyone else experienced something similar during medical school, particularly during the first few weeks when everything is new and overwhelming?

I'd especially appreciate hearing from people who have experienced extremely vivid, realistic dreams about studying, recurring academic nightmares, or dreams that leave them feeling anxious and exhausted after waking up.

If you've experienced this, did it eventually settle down? Was there anything specific that helped you sleep more peacefully?

I'm also interested in practical suggestions for dealing with the anxiety surrounding sleep itself, because I'm starting to feel reluctant to go to bed.

And just to clarify something: I understand that I'm a first-year medical student, that this is the first semester, and that I need to find a sustainable way to study. I understand that I shouldn't sacrifice my health for anatomy, and I'm not looking for someone to tell me that I don't need to study so much or that I should simply relax because it's only first year.

I genuinely understand those points already. They aren't what I'm asking about.

I'm looking for advice from people who have actually experienced something similar, or who have useful suggestions for managing these dreams and getting proper sleep while adjusting to medical school.

Please be kind. I'm already feeling pretty shaken by the experience, and I'm not looking for judgment or generic reassurance. If you have something practical that might help, I'd genuinely appreciate hearing it.

Thank you.

I keep waking up in the middle of the night and can't fall back asleep and I don't know what to do.

For the record I:

-go to bed at the same time every night

-don't nap

-one cup of coffee in the morning

-exercise 4x a week

-don't drink

-don't smoke

-listen to audiobook to before bed

-shower before bed

-clean sheets

Medication helps but if I don't take it then this happens. I just want it to stop. Anyone been through this? :(

So for years I've had all kinds of issues with sleeping before it was bad nightmares or sleeping too much.

My issue now is not being able to fall asleep easily even if I'm exhausted which because of this I end up either giving up and staying up or I laid there for 2 hours or more just laying there.

Some months ago I was getting such good sleep but I screwed up one night and now it's like sleeping has been really hard for me.

I'll give an example so yesterday I was hanging out with friends at a Halloween party and it lasted 10 hours and by the end of the night after the party I was exhausted and I felt like I could sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow but that didn't happen.

I laid there got comfortable and as soon as I closed my eyes it was like I couldn't sleep every little sound kept me up which I think I have a reason why I might be this way.

I used to have this really loud fan and it would block out most of the noises in my house and it helped me sleep some months ago it broke and now I just have a small little fan just so I can have some noise instead of nothing.

This could be the cause but again I'm not sure because I've randomly had some form of sleeping problems all my life but I'm not sure what could help me.

If you have this issue or just have advice please let me know I'll try anything at this point because I just wanna sleep.

Age 42. Hour for hour, creatine gives me more bang for my sleeping buck and I can wake up and go back to sleep with ease.

I take 5g during the day on my work days. And, I take just one 750mg capsule before bedtime every day.

Just this much plus not eating after 8pm, has made my sleep so easy.

It's like something I can voluntarily control.

I fall asleep at 10PM and wake up at 6-6:30am with the alarm and remember or have nothing going on in between. Close eyes and open eyes near-instantly.

If I want biphasic sleep, I can pull that off as well.

People are confusing creatine's effects on sleep as causing insomnia. I do not believe that's what happening. I could not previously sleep for 5 hours and not sense fatigue. With creatine, I can.

I believe this is happening because Creatine plus not eating before bed, leaves me with more energy to complete the sleeping cycle as fast as possible.

Where it won't help is if you are exercising intensely. Then, you can expect your sleep requirements to remain high.

I wake up tired everyday like my eyes can barely open and very heavy and my body feels like I wrestled someone and everytime I want to go back to sleep I just can’t for some reason. Does anyone go through this, if so can you please tell me in detail how to fix this and tell me in detail how you are going through it because I like to listen to people’s stories 😁

Hello this is my first time posting here

On saturday morning, I was using my old phone and I even introduced its password(just how did i remember?!), I was thinking ‘I should get up now’ but I just couldn’t. I insisted and insisted my body to get up and when i did that, my legs felt so heavy but I still tried to reach the door. Here comes the strange loop part, just when I try to open it I find myself lying on bed again. This action was repeated many times and I gave up. I started thinking I might be in a dream.

Yeah lel I was indeed dreaming. But I wanted to wake up soon!!! that’s why i wanted to get out of my bedroom!!

I rarely have dreams and when I do they are mostly nightmares and I’m aware it is a dream, that it is not reality. When I reach this conclusion is when I usually wake up but not this time 😭 Strangely enough, I could see my blurry surroundings (i use glasses but wasn’t wearing them) it was my exact bedroom. I was wondering if I died or if i was having a so called sleep paralysis, it also came to my mind if I should sleep in my dream and when I woke up it would all return to normal. However, I found it dangerous...Double sleep?!?! What if it makes waking up harder?!

Then I tried to move my body again and I saw I didn’t have my pajamas pants on 🗿 and I was like ‘Yo why am I naked’ That’s when I FINALLY wake up. It was almost 1PM… Scary experience, stupid brain at least let me be trapped in a good dream😭

Anyway the password in the dream to my old phone was right…I haven’t used it for years lel

Yesterday night I couldn’t really sleep, I closed my eyes for 1-2 hours but nothing. Then I think I slept for a few hours??? I don’t remember being awake but I don’t feel that I got a rest. I guess my whole body got scared…I have a slight headache but that’s another problem of mine🥲

I usually sleep 7-8 hours. I don’t even consume a lot of caffeine( Honestly, it makes me sleepier). I never feel refreshed after sleeping no matter how many hours I get of sleep, even if it’s 11 or 5 hours. I don’t feel tired but I know I didn’t get a good rest.

Does anyone have tips to stop this or nightmares in general? Or falling asleep without waking up in the middle of the night? Anything is welcome🥲 I don’t want to let it happen often 🥲

I’m 23 F. I take Prozac 30mg, iron 65mg, Adderall ir 30mg, seroquel 75mg, ambien 7.5mg.

I am 5’7 165lbs

I have POTs, BED, borderline, anxiety, depression, tmj, bruxism, panic disorder, OCD, insomnia, ADD/ADHD, chronic migraines, deviated septum, pmdd, fatty liver disease, low iron saturation, fatigue, hypermoblity, high LDL but the “good cholesterol” evens it out? Idk, and ibs c. honestly prob more I am forgetting about rn.

Possible DX that I have appointments to be tested for : sleep apena, endometriosis PCOS

I DO NOT SMOKE NOR DRINK.
HX OF ASTHMA BUT NOT ANYMORE.

I got wrongly DX with bipolar 2 in 2024 and the meds they gave me gave me like some severe reaction and k developed insomnia from it. I do have symptom of sleep apnea and I’m getting a sleep test soon. I’ve been on ambien and seroquel for a while now. I currently do 75mg seroquel and 7.5 ambien. I’ll take 5mg of ambien wait 30mins then take 2.5.

I tried getting off of it and the withdrawals are so bad that I get intense symptoms if I only take seroquel at night

My symptoms:
-fatigue during the day
-weakness
-racing heart and palpitations as I’m trying to fall asleep
-jolting awake when trying to sleep
- feeling like I’m hallucinating/ having some flashing lights
-sweating
-panic
Etc.

through the day I’ll get
-tired
-dizzy
-extremely weak (it feels impossible to fully move without extreme effort)
-unable to drive
-feeling of passing out
-half asleep on 30mg of Adderall and Prozac and iron
-confusion
-memory issues
-unable to focus
- and weight gain
-constipation

I’ve had cardiac testing done it’s normal, blood work is all normal, mri is normal, ct is normal, 50+ er visits in the past 3 years for multiple issues are somewhat resolved, neurologist says I’m good

I tired in the psychward to take higher dosages of seroquel with 2.5 of ambien but I felt like I couldn’t breathe/ it was hard to get my body to breathe.

I tried going without the ambien in there and jsut 100mg of seroquel after throwing up 2x that day but drinking lots of water : and my blood pressure dropped so much they said they might have to take me to the ER. I literally kept blacking out and had to eat and drink.

Withdrawals from ambien are so so intense for me. Seroquel makes me hyper and weak as well. In the ward I was on 150 and I felt like I couldn’t move hardly and everything was 1000lbs.

Idk what to do.

Also, I have great sleep hygiene.

Bed same time nightly

Ambient glasses 1-2 hrs b4 bed
Ear plugs
Showering
Less water consumption 4 hours b4 bed
No heavy meals ar night
Exercise at least 5 hrs before bed (I won’t workout past 4:30pm
Retainers
Nose strip.

Also, I have great sleep hygiene.

Bed same time nightly

Ambient glasses 1-2 hrs b4 bed
Ear plugs
Showering
Less water consumption 4 hours b4 bed
No heavy meals ar night
Exercise at least 5 hrs before bed (I won’t workout past 4:30pm
Retainers
Nose strip.

Yes I’ve tried magnesium glyc, magnesium and melatonin.

Yes I’ve tried trazadone, lunesta, and hydroxizne

Also, two years ago one of my heart monitors said I had a wenchebach motiz

I recently started taking 200 mg of magnesium glycinate (Natural Elements) before bed to improve my sleep.

Since starting about 5 days ago, I've been experiencing extremely vivid, realistic dreams and sometimes nightmares. I rarely had dreams like this before, so I suspect the magnesium might be causing it.

Has anyone experienced something similar?

Did the vivid dreams eventually go away?

How long did it take for things to return to normal?

Should I continue taking it and see if my body adjusts, or stop?

Would appreciate hearing your experiences!

Hey Sleep Sub! I'm very new to sleep inertia and man I absolutely despise it and the hold it has on me every single morning the past several months.

Was curious on what your experience with it has been and what you did to overcome and/or minimize it?

For context: I'm a 31M - healthy, athlete that watches what he eats and eats generally healthy.

I have no issues with sleep. Always 8-10 hours and never wake up during the night. Usually wake up rested but the sleep inertia hits as soon as I get up and get moving.

My unique caveat and why sleep inertia is a concern for me:

I have partial aphantasia which is the inability to voluntarily create or see mental images in your "mind's eye." It's a wide spectrum for how one experiences their inner world, memories, imagination etc. Everyone's is different and layered.

I acquired it from a traumatic event/depression in 2021 and before this event, I had the opposite brain type which is called hyperphantasia, the ability to voluntary generate images, sounds, textures etc in extreme detail and sensation.

Navigating and adjusting to this change has been very difficult and honestly debilitating.

It affects how I experience memories, my sense of self, how I imagine, conceptualize and experience my inner world.

For the most part I'm able to live a normal life but whenever I undergo anything moderately stressful like starting a new demanding job or relationship issues, my aphantasia becomes worse.

To be fair, recently my car got stolen, sold to someone and that person tried to sell it back to me lol. SO yes stressful shit like that.

Here's where my aphantasia fits in:

It's absolutely terrible in the morning. Things feels very present and almost like raw perception.

I still know who I am, where I am, what I have to do for the day but the internal experience of me and my life in continuity is very muted. Typically only external cues help generate the sensation of me rather than me doing it on my own.

Ultimately my sleep inertia is making my aphantasia worse for the first few 3-4 hours of the day.

Like I said, the sleep inertia feels like it only begins once executive thinking starts. Like making my bed, showering, getting ready, taking my meds and heading out the door.

It's feels like I'm treading through mud. I purposely take cold showers to wake myself up more and that helps a little.

I don't really start to feel like myself until after my morning cappuccino or two.

After caffeine and a dopamine boost, I start feel like myself again, sorta.

As the day progresses, things start to feel more like me and fluid but it feels like my sense of self goes in and out throughout the day.

I'm a bit lost on what to do

Aphantasia is distressing enough and sleep inertia is making it worse and I'm desperate to find some relief.

What have you done to personally overcome or minimize the affects of it?

Where do you think aphantasia fits into this?

Is there a larger issue here that's tied to fatigue? But where do I start with that?

I've looked into extended release caffeine/b12 supplements that you take before bed to help with sleep inertia but I'm skeptical because I do sleep very well otherwise.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks so much in advance!

I didn't think this was too weird but my friends seemed pretty weirded, out but basically the last few times I've stayed in my aunts house in the countryside just as I'm falling asleep instead of the falling sensation you sometimes get, I hear this screaming or like a loud hum getting closer to me like someone's running up behind me, and then its like I've been pushed in the back so much so I can feel the hand (or at least the impact rather) push me on my shoulder and its so realistic that i end up sitting bolt upright as if someone really has pushed me up. I didn't think this was so weird the first time but then it happened a few more times on different visits and I was kinda like this is strange. the first time it happened I even though I sleep on my back I even turned to look at the mattress. I've heard of exploding head syndrome, and I'm familiar with that falling feeling when you almost fall asleep, but its almost like the inverse of that, and I only find it very odd because it never happens to me at home just my aunts house. it would just be cool to have an explanation if anyone has an idea or experienced something similar.

So I started my first job ever in November 2025. It's hybrid WFH and it was fine for a while but now it's really taking its toll on me. I fell into the trap of psychologically connecting my home with the workplace so now I cannot relax while on my computer at home. It's not even a hard job but I've never had any concept of stress before I started working, even if I had previously experienced it, so I never learned management strategies.

My sleep has been getting continuously worse since April. It basically feels like I've downed a can of red bull: I'm totally wired all night and my heart is pounding out of my chest.

I take 5mg melatonin but it doesn't help whatsoever. I also take propanolol, and it reduces my pulse but the strength of my heartbeat doesn't change and I'm still on high alert. I also make sure not to take caffeine after 5pm. No good. I exercise regularly, and while it helps during the day, my stress response comes back at night. Needless to say this is totally ruining my life.

I think my sleep quality may be somewhat iffy as anything less than a solid 8 hours usually makes me feel pretty tired the next day, on days where i can actually sleep. It's getting to the point where I'm getting chest pains (I'm 28.)

Any advice would be appreciated