[Double_O_Dani]

I used to not sleep when I was younger, probably between the ages of 9-16, I got maybe 4-5 hours of sleep a night, max. For a long time I thought that everybody lay awake in bed for four or so hours. At any rate, at sixteen I was diagnosed with depression, and in addition to anti-depressants, they gave me something for sleeping, that made me sleep alot and have crazy dreams. After sometime, they took me off that medication, and then put me on something that was just supposed to help me keep good sleep patterns, and eventually I was able to sleep without medical help.

However, for the last 4 or so years, pretty much since they took me off the pattern medicine (which I believe is the *scientific term*. lol) I have been oversleeping. Like, hardcore. I regularly sleep for 12-14, sometimes even 16 hours straight without waking up. I still have average wakeful hours, usually 14-16 hours until I feel sleepy again. I usually wake up with headaches, but I think that's probably because of the antidepressants I'm on; I get headaches if i don't have a dose every 24ish hours.

This is really and truly screwing up my schedule. I can turn off my alarm in my sleep if I don't constantly move it around the room. I'm forever missing classes, and if I have somewhere I need to be at a certain time like doctor's appointments, in addition to two alarms I have to make arrangements for someone to come to my room and wake me up in order to have a fighting chance of being on time.

I'm hesitant to have doctors tinker with my head again to fix this. I'm wondering if there are any other oversleepers out there, and if so how do you handle this problem?

[Goodbye Chubby]

I used to be a very sound sleeper, and would notoriously hit the snooze button for hours. However, I seem to have become a lighter sleeper with age (although I still am a bit of a snooze fiend). The only suggestion I can offer is to drink a lot of water before going to sleep. That way, you'll be forced to wake up to visit the restroom. Other than that, a doctor may be the only person who can provide any real help. Best of luck to you.

[willmakeit]

You should try to put yourself into a habit of sleeping about 7-8 hours a night and maybe a half hour nap in the afternoon if you need it. You can use the alarm trick for few weeks until you are into a habit of waking at 7 EVERYDAY! Just keep a loud alarm far from your bed and may be buy one without a snooze button!

Drinking 2 full glasses of water before sleeping is a good trick too as said by goodbye chubby! It will make you wake up in the morning to go pee! Drink coffee as soon as you wake up (but do not drink more than 3 cups in a day). also have a light snack like milk or crackers before sleeping as nightime hypoglycemia can cause nightmares and headaches.

You could also keep your blinds slighly open at night so that the room lits up in the morning with natural sunlight...