possible sleeping disorder or something else?

it takes time to shift your sleep cycles. having the same schedule every day helps.

that sort of sleep pattern must really screw up your running

You need to see a sleep disorders specialist. it is likely he will have you take a polysomnogram- an overnight sleep test where you are have various brain activity,breathing rates,heart and other vital signs monitored.

There are various types of sleep disorders but what you describe does not fit neatly into any Dx that I've read about while learning about my central sleep apnea.

Do you often wake up with a start or often awaken breathless?

See a MD ASAP

I'm kinda like that, I'll sleep six hours for a few days in a row and easily sleep for 12 one day and not be able to get up no matter what. I guess it depends on the amount you run. This has been a lot worse for me in college than high school, i used to sleep 5 hours a night in high school and only sleep for 9 on the weekend, but now I'm always tired. I can't function on 4 hours a night, it might be accumulated sleep debt.

wineturtle wrote:

You need to see a sleep disorders specialist.

um, no. what he needs to do is get on a more normal and healthy sleep schedule. the "disorder" he has is not giving his body enough sleep on a daily basis.

chuck d wrote:

um, no. what he needs to do is get on a more normal and healthy sleep schedule. the "disorder" he has is not giving his body enough sleep on a daily basis.

I'm not saying your wrong, cause frankly I've got no idea what's going on. But from just advice from friends...I've tried getting onto a normal sleep cycle. For a few weeks on a couple occassions I've tried things like going to bed before 11 every night and no long sleeping sessions or caffeine during the day. None of them seem to help, as randomly I'll still get "super sleep days".

My friends even recommended being prescribed some medication to "help me sleep". I don't see what good that'll do, I don't have trouble falling asleep, I'm often just to busy to do it. I don't have an issue with going to sleep, it's just that randomly 1/7 or 2/7 days a week I can't get up. It's physically impossible for me to get up. Sometimes I sleep through alarms, or wake up and turn them off, idk, but I get up and it's 4 or 5 hours later than it should be. I even have dreams where I'm waking up, but really I'm still sleeping. Sorta creeps me out sometimes.

I've fallen (asleep) and I can't get up!

bumpbump

You're experiencing "sleep debt". Four hours of sleep is a lot less than you need, especially if you're a distance runner. Let's say you need eight hours of sleep a night (this estimate is pretty conservative, especially if you're running even 40mpw). Then every night you get only four hours is four more hours you owe yourself. So after six days of getting four hours a night, you owe yourself 24 hours. Some of that is eaten up by being at less than peak performance throughout the week, but you still end up crashing for 16+ hours when the sleep debt gets too high.

So yeah, the problem could probably be solved by sleeping more. You say you've tried getting to bed at 11 every night, and still get "super sleep days"...I'd say that's leftover sleep debt. Get in the routine of getting those nine hours a night, and allow yourself 12+ whenever you can, and I'd bet you have less and less "super sleep days". Of course, sleeping for over a third of your life might be more than you're willing to give up...it might come down to a decision; do you want to sleep healthily or do you want to actually do stuff 18 hours a day?

I used to sleep similar to that when I was in the military. Four hours a night, every third or fourth night I'd just stay up all night, but every week or two it would catch up to me and I would just be out for a full day. You need to set a schedule in stone and then use an alarm. Start extending your four hours to four hours and fifteen minutes, then to four hours and thirty minutes and so on. I loved the fact that I lived on four hours of sleep, but emotionally and physically I've been much MUCH better on six hours of sleep or more. I didn't realize how worse off I was until I started sleeping more. As for the alarms with the catchup day of sleep...well...good luck with that. Just worry about your regular days and your catchup day with fix itself.

1) What do you do during 10pm-4am instead of getting ready for bed?

2) What time of the day do you normally eat and exercise?

3) How are your eating habits? Do you get enough combination of protein, carbs, fats? Do you feel you get enough vitamins and minerals? Do you take a multivitamins or supplements?

4) Are you overweight? Do you tend to pack pounds in your gut and love handles?

5) Do you take any prescription drugs or over the counter medication?

6) How often do you have sex or masturbate?

7) Do you live alone? Are you generally lonely or depressed?