SheldonDec 8, 2022

I woke up at 7pm today. Tomorrow I'll probably get up at 9pm. Around this time next week, I'll be waking up at 7am.

This is normal for me. I have a rare-ish circadian rhythm disorder known as #Non24. My sleep cycle doesn't track with the sun. It's not at all rare amongst people who are blind, but it's rare amongst sighted people.

I also suspect it's actually more common than believed & there are people out there reputed to be lazy, immature, or erratic when they just can't sleep normally.

Show threadIrvin LinDec 8, 2022

@sysop408 I was just chatting with @OldUncleMike about this! He also has a Non24 circadian rhythm.

I have a delayed sleep syndrome that shifts my circadian cycle back so I normally go to sleep at 2-3am and wake up 9-10am.

But it’s mostly a 24-25 hour cycle that I can keep in check. I just have a hard time syncing with most folks during regular biz hours. I think non24 and delayed/skewed circadian cycles are definitely more common, but as you said, people just get called lazy or whatever…

Show threadOldandCrankyDec 11, 2022
@eatthelove @sysop408 @OldUncleMike Interesting. I've always had odd sleeping habits that I've always just called insomnia. As a young woman, I fell asleep around 2:00 AM and woke around 9:00 AM. Normal hours were hard for me, as well. It affected my life in odd ways. I tended to work second shift a lot when I worked in hospitals. That was fine, business hours were impossible for me.
Show threadIrvin LinDec 11, 2022

@Oldandcranky YES. A lot of folks think they have insomnia, when it just a different circadian rhythm.

When I discovered the term "delayed sleep phase syndrome" everything clicked. I had been going through life as if I was permanently jet-lagged.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delayed_sleep_phase_disorder

Shifting to a freelance work-at-home lifestyle and allowing myself to sleep my body's natural rhythm was life changing. I was no longer mentally and physically exhausted all the time.

@sysop408 @OldUncleMike

Delayed sleep phase disorder - Wikipedia

Show threadMadame XimonDec 11, 2022

@eatthelove @Oldandcranky @sysop408 @OldUncleMike

DSPS/N24 person here. If anything disrupts my natural sleep pattern (3am to 11am/noon), especially trying to get up early to sync w/ diurnal folks' expectations, it sends my sleep cycle wildly out of control. My sleep cycle tends to creep forward a little on its own, and if I just let myself "free run" it can have me in completely N24 mode. But my body & mind seem happiest and healthiest when I'm sleeping in that 3am to 11am/noon sweet spot.

Show threadSheldonDec 12, 2022

@madameximon how did you figure out that you bounce between DSPS & #Non24 & how'd you figure out your ideal sleep times?

Have any tricks that help you figure out how to get back on track once you've started to free run?

I wear a Fitbit to track my sleep & HR. It helps with minor deviations, but once I go off course it's sometimes months of trying to find it again. Seeing my resting HR creep up & up is a giveaway that I'm off track. Fitbit body temp tracking hasn't been as helpful.

Show threadMadame Ximon
@sysop408 The first time I started free-running was during winter break in college, and my sleep cycle ran forward for an entire month. Thankfully I got it back to something sort of stable by the time the semester started, but it did negatively impact my grades that semester. That's when I started paying attention to the possibility that my nocturnal cycle could turn into something even harder to manage.
Dec 12, 2022 at 8:12pmWeb
Show threadMadame XimonDec 12, 2022
@sysop408 Figuring out my ideal sleep times has been the result of doing a lot of gig work over the course of 3 decades, and having severe struggles any time I got a "normal" job. I can push through a day schedule on a temporary (1-2 day) basis, but the older I get, the less that works. I've also had chronic sleep deprivation for much of that time, and I'm certain that contributed to my cancer battle (I'm in remission now).
Show threadMadame XimonDec 12, 2022

@sysop408 Since I don't want cancer to come back, I am protective about my sleep, but of course the diurnal world does not respect that. So, I have an assortment of herbal sleep aids that I cycle through to avoid dependence on any one.

Getting back on track during a free run is tough. Finding physical activities to wear myself out with is the only thing that consistently helps, though monitoring caffeine & sugar intake to maximize the crash can sometime be useful too.