Good Sleep: Habit I Need But Fail to Develop

I am simply not taking care of myself with consistent, healthy habits like getting to bed on time. To unwind after crammed days and evenings I watch a movie or surf the web after everyone heads to bed, but the lack of sleep leaves me in a fog or, worse, hypomanic, and it exacerbates Parkinson's symptoms like muscle stiffness and tremor.  I get 5-6 hours of sleep when 7.5 is optimal.

Yes, I understand I should just grow up and take care of myself, but self-recrimination doesn't work. A result of my manic depression and guilt-ridden upbringing are decades of brutally putting myself down, which does me no good.

I see a renowned sleep specialist, and he has said, "I can help with the CPAP and medicine to alleviate your REM movement disorder, but I can't give you the discipline to sleep enough."  He's right.  This really is a question of just going to bed at the same time each night.  I sleep well once I'm asleep.

I've vowed for three months to get seven hours of sleep a night for seven days in a row.  I tried rewarding myself with writing, which is my greatest joy, if I went to bed on time and woke up at 5 a.m. I have ideas for books I could write, but I mismanage my time and therefore fail.

So:

1. Is anyone else unable to maintain a simple habit like proper sleep, which they know is essential? I feel alone in this compared to everyone else in my life.

2. Has anyone had success in changing this sort of ill behavior? How can I begin to change this?  

I do not want to simply accept this shortcoming and fail to achieve health and contentment, but I'm quite discouraged.

Thank you for any advice or support.

[Xila31]

I am a night owl so I dont' like going to bed but then I have to get up for work. I do sleep and I try to be in bed before midnight on work days if I can. But, I don't rest when I sleep. Even when I sleep in on my days off I wake up not rested. I think when I'm sleeping my mind is still half awake and I'm not getting that good sleep.

I don't have a sleep routine except I take my birth control pill right before bed. I feel very aggitated before going to bed every night. There are times when I fele both dead exhausted but full of energy at the same time the next day and it drives me crazy. I hate that.

But, I just say I have this rule I need to be in bed before midnight. It doesn't always work out. BUt I try.

[BP2PROFESSIONAL]

I hear you, I've just checked my sleep tracker and I've been averaging 5.7 to 6hours sleep for the past 90 days.  Crikey!  I'm only just starting to get a handle on this as well. Was tested recently to find out my body isn't producing enough melatonin these days which makes it only harder, so I'm taking a supplement at bedtime.

I've been unemployed also which hasn't helped as I've been stressed about this as well and can't get a routine.

Like Xila I too am a big Night Owl, but I'm hoping to change my sleep habits to hopefully be able to get up at 5:30am each day so I can go to Triathlon training was able to do it for the first time today.

Sleeep! If only I could get some decent sleep, have hit a wall this afternoon am completely exhausted.  Need to get this under control as well so I certainly feel your pain on this one.

Good luck lets get there together :0)

[ILADVOCATE]

I have advanced tardive dyskinesia (which is clinically similar to Parkinsons) so my sleep is off and on throughout the night. However even when I had standard temporary movement disorders such as akathesia, the motor restlessness of that if unchecked would easily keep me awake at night and make it difficult to go to sleep and sleep steadily. I went to a sleep study (where they first found out about this, they discovered continuous nocturnal myoclonic spasms) and they did discuss sleep hygiene which I agree is essential but sometimes there are physical disabilities that disrupt sleep. This would be more of a question for the neurology forum but if you could speak to your neurologist (and perhaps obtain a referral to a movement disorders specialist) and find a way to have physical treatments adjusted so that they could reduce the motor restlessness (and also they could make sure any psych. medications would be evaluated so they were sure it wasn't contributing to this) then perhaps it would be easily to go to sleep in the first place as physical tension can over ride the standards of sleep hygiene.

[BP2PROFESSIONAL]

Apparently you can get an iPhone App where you put your iPhone next to you as you sleep and it tells you how long you have slept and how you have slept.  I haven't got an iPhone yet but I'm keen to give it a go as thats the hardest thing for me to measure for my tracker.  Can never know when I fall asleep and who's knows what happens when you are there.

In fact if anyone can let me know how I fell asleep one night at a beach party wearing blue underwear and woke up wearing pink underwear I'd really appreciate it!  But I guess thats another story, it did happen though, ah things that happens to you at parties.

[Seph1212]

Good sleep hygiene is important for everyone. Don't eat for about 3 hours before going to bed. Go to bed at the same time every night. Exercise for at least 15 minutes upon awakening. Avoid caffeine. You have probably learned all of this already.

Don't beat yourself up, but just do it. Harder said than done? I don't know if I accept that. To your specific questions (1 and 2) I'm much better than I was.

Another trick is if you have a cat or dog to set their feeding time to early in the morning. They'll remind you to get up. I also don't feed my cat anymore than is suggested on the bag...all in the morning. It seems like a small amount, and she balked at first, but she's healthy...lost a pound she needed to. And she's quite vocal about her feeding time.

[Seph1212]

If you're brave enough, ask those who were at the party, but you might learn more than you wanted to.

[BP2PROFESSIONAL]

Ah it was years ago, just a funny prank, no-one got hurt.  :0)