I had such a bad night last night that I called off from work today. I've already missed at least 9 days since January because I'm so exhausted in the morning that I can hardly think, let alone get ready for work. All I think about in the morning is going back to sleep. When I do allow myself to call off, I crawl back in bed for at least 5 hours and wake up better. Today I slept till 10am and then went back for a 3 hour nap later in the day. I feel much better than I usually do.
I've read that RLS follows a circadian rhythm and I'm wondering if getting up later in the day would help. I usually start at 9am. Does anyone work a later shift - say 2pm to 10pm - and does it help with your quality of sleep? Or are you less tired in the daytime or when you wake up?
Thanks!
coping with everyday life
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ViewsAskew
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Hi sleepless,
There is some evidence to suggest that going to bed after 2 AM will make it better for mild or moderate cases. It appears that for this type of RLS it is at its worse between 10 PM and 2 AM. If you can stay up that late, it often will stop by then. For years I've been a night owl, always preferring to stay up late and sleep in. Now I know why! Unfortunately, it doesn't help the PLMD as far as I know. I would avoid the RLS by staying up, but the PLMD was always active, no matter what time I slept. After years of it, I was sleeping up to 13 hours and still feeling exhausted. I thought I was sleeping (except the 20-30 times I awoke thinking I needed to pee!).
If you have both, and an estimated 80% of RLSers also have PLMD, then changing your sleeping schedule won't help much as far as I have read. But if you just need to avoid the RLS and can change your schedule, go for it!
Ann
There is some evidence to suggest that going to bed after 2 AM will make it better for mild or moderate cases. It appears that for this type of RLS it is at its worse between 10 PM and 2 AM. If you can stay up that late, it often will stop by then. For years I've been a night owl, always preferring to stay up late and sleep in. Now I know why! Unfortunately, it doesn't help the PLMD as far as I know. I would avoid the RLS by staying up, but the PLMD was always active, no matter what time I slept. After years of it, I was sleeping up to 13 hours and still feeling exhausted. I thought I was sleeping (except the 20-30 times I awoke thinking I needed to pee!).
If you have both, and an estimated 80% of RLSers also have PLMD, then changing your sleeping schedule won't help much as far as I have read. But if you just need to avoid the RLS and can change your schedule, go for it!
Ann
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sleepless in pa
so I guess that won't work for me.
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Penguinrocks
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