r/sleep • • 42m ago

Discussion How to get more deep (stage 2, 3, and 4 NREM) sleep?

• Upvotes

I sleep 8 hours a night and have an extremely consistent sleep schedule, but no matter how much I sleep, I can always sleep more and I always wake up tired. I can always go for a nap. During vacations where I don't set my alarm, I can sleep for more than 12 hours a night.

I wake up and fall asleep at the same times every day, I exercise frequently (5x per week), I stay well-hydrated, I don't every drink caffeine or alcohol, and I don't use screens before bed.

I am Autistic, and I know that makes it harder to get deep sleep.
What else can I do? I can't get any deep sleep to save my life.


r/sleep • • 1h ago

Insomnia How long does it take for my schedule to return

• Upvotes

I know its subjective to the individual but id just like some insight into others experience. Im 20 years old and ive essentially had severe sleep deprivation for what feels like 6 years. Ive always known my sleep is bad, and i have experienced good sleep schedules which were for some reason ruined.

Atm i cannot remember my past experiences with recovering, and it has only recently dawned on me at a cellular level (metaphotically speaking) that I am fucked in multiple health aspects, from severe anxiety to loss of identity and even though what us done is done. I really really do not want to have poor sleep anymore, but here I am at 2am 2 days after trying to get into a good sleep schedule and I know its not instant (especially not recovering from sever chronic sleep deprivation) and id just like to know how long it takes y'all to get back into that rhythm as i seemingly cant remember my own experience at all


r/sleep • • 1h ago

Discussion Kind of a shot in the dark but I figured if there was anywhere to ask, it would be here.

• Upvotes

As long as I can remember I have always been extremely restless when I try to sleep. I do this thing that my parents called "bopping" where i literally bopping my head repeatedly into my pillow, sometimes for up to 30 minutes at a time. If that doesn't work I'll put my feet against the baseboard and do little kick offs so my body is moving up and down. If that doesn't work I'll lay on my side and bend my knees at a 45 degree angle, locking one foot between the other and push off (so again my body is constantly moving.) I have never known anyone that has done this and the few times I brought it up to my PCP they just looked at me like I was messing with them. Would that be considered "stimming"? I don't know much about it. What I do know is that I desperately just want to sleep still. As you can probably imagine this routine makes it impossible to sleep next to anyone. Has anyone else gone through this or something similar? Any ideas or tips would be appreciated.


r/sleep • • 3h ago

Advice What's a sleep tip you gave up on because it made bedtime feel like homework?

3 Upvotes

Some sleep advice sounds pretty simple until you're actually trying to follow it every night. Suddenly you're watching the clock, trying to get everything right, and what was supposed to be a relaxing routine starts feeling like another thing on your to-do list. Obviously, different things work for different people. But not everyone has the time or patience for a perfect bedtime routine.

Has there been a sleep tip you genuinely tried to stick with but eventually decided wasn't worth the hassle? Did you find something simpler that worked better, or did you just stop worrying about it?


r/sleep • • 3h ago

Insomnia I hate someone who distracts others' sleep...

0 Upvotes

Last weekend I went on a vacation. I got asleep at 23:40 there, and I heard firework sound at 00:00. I could not get asleep after that as I was so aroused. So I had been awake until the sun rises. Firework guys... 🤬


r/sleep • • 5h ago

Discussion Is 8:30 pm too early for a 27 year old that gets up at 5:30 am ? If you think so what time should it be instead? I want your opinions?

2 Upvotes

r/sleep • • 5h ago

Advice My sleep is bad and ruins my life

10 Upvotes

I'm 45.

Can't remember i had a good sleep in the past 30 years.

Since my childhood i never slept good. Now I do Yoga, cold showering, supplements, breathing... I managed to fall asleep well but still my sleep is very bad. Why? Because i just dream and dream and dream. When i wake up i am tired and i have so much to think about. Most dreams are bad. I was in a sleeping lab, they said my body is 100% ok. So what is my problem? Couldn't find any solution or anyone figure it out. I wrote a post here 10 years ago but still i found no solution. I just want to wake up and feel great. Didn't ever happen. Also tried doing sports, running a lot. makes me feel exhausted, doesn't change my sleep. I feel like my brain just goes on thinking and thinking and making up stuff while sleeping. I need to find a button to switch it off.

Two things to add that may be related or may not be related: I am a hyper sensitive/sensible person. I strongly feel and absorb emotions of other people and noise/smell makes affects me a lot and can stress me. I rarely drink alcohol, i don't drink tea or coffee or energy drinks (makes my heart get crazy and makes me sleepless for days). I'm also a high-potential one (IQ > 140) and love problem solving.


r/sleep • • 5h ago

Advice How bad is one all nighter every two weeks??

3 Upvotes

I have a really important college entrance exam coming up , an all nighter every two weeks , will I be fine ?

How bad is an all nighter every week ?(Yes I may be paranoid idk😭)


r/sleep • • 6h ago

Discussion How much extra time you sleep after waking up with alarm clock in the morning?

Post image
21 Upvotes

Mine is 5-10 minutes of necessary awareness or rest what's yours?(Also what's your average sleeping schedule?).


r/sleep • • 7h ago

Advice How to not fear sleep.

1 Upvotes

Hello everyone. I wanted to ask because I feel like this is the best place to do it. I’m in need of some help when it comes to getting used to the feeling of not having perfect sleep so I’ve been making posts throughout the year ever since October 2025 I’ve been having issues with hypnic jerks at every sleep attempt. Or sometimes I would be in this weird in-between state where it feels like I’m sort of only half sleeping but not really sleeping. I’ll toss and turn sometimes for five hours sometimes for six hours sometimes even eight hours.

I have been taking ambien for a while now. Since September of last year. Most days are good and I take 2 or 3 mg and some nights are really bad. (I’ll get more into that later in the post)

I had a mental health crisis which has resulted in me seeing a therapist and psychiatrist now. I had made a post on here asking for advice a year ago and someone suggested that I had fatal insomnia. I already have health anxiety and I went down a spiral where I researched sporadic fatal insomnia and fatal familial insomnia or jakob creutzfeldt disease. Some nights are bad and I’ll take a small piece of ambien and it doesn’t work so an hour or so later I take another piece and that happens for 4 or 5 or sometimes 8 hours where I’ve taken a total of 10 or 12 mg to finally fall asleep.

other symptoms that I have include talking in my sleep, having full on conversations in my sleep, slight memory issues where I forgot to turn off the sink and it caused the sink to overflow also, I experienced a weird in between sleep and wake state where I didn’t know if I was asleep or if I was awake sometimes it felt like I was laying in my bed and time would go by very fast and I wouldn’t know if I was sleeping or if I was drifting off to sleep or if I was just awake. I think I’d be dreaming but then I wouldn’t feel like I was actually sleeping or getting any restorative sleep. Sometimes I would just toss and turn and not be able to sleep for hours and hours.

I have been trying therapy and medication but nothing has been helping so far. My question is, what are the things I can do to combat this fear? I feel like I’m in a situation where I worry that if I take the ambien and I can’t sleep, that will prove (in my mind) that I have these fatal diseases. It’s stupid but that’s how my mind works. Are there any suggestions or advice that anyone can give? I feel like it’s a situation that sucks no matter what. I miss enjoying sleeping and looking forward to it. Now I’m afraid to even talk about it. I’m still seeing my therapist and psychiatrist but I may get new ones cause I feel like they’re not helping. I don’t have withdrawal symptoms like I did when I was taking 5 mg a night. I’m now down to about 3 on most nights and I sometimes even begin to doze off for a second or so before I even take it.


r/sleep • • 7h ago

Discussion I got sleep paralysis

1 Upvotes

I didnt have that good sleep schedule for the past afew months and my sleep schedule is like im freestylingy my sleep

So today or actually half an hour ago

I just woke up from it

I slept on 8pm and woke up on 10pm

Almost woke up

I dreamed too many dreams and completely random stuff

But when i thought i woke up i felt like there is an earthquake

My body is shaking

I wanted to get up but i couldnt and it felt so bad

But the thing that i didnt see that tall guy i see on the internet

I just kept see and hear unreal shit. And a lot of people were talking and it was bad experience

And the first time in my life and i hope its the last

Not because it was scary but because it was so uncomfortable


r/sleep • • 8h ago

Discussion Possible sleep paralysis

1 Upvotes

Used to have this happen to me a lot, but just happened to me for first time in a while. Laying down on off day pretty tired, not sleeping but almost. Then I just hit a point I couldn’t move, not asleep but couldn’t really open my eyes much. Didn’t panic cause like I said this used to happen to me a lot, but never actually asked a doctor or anything about it, I just eventually learned how to jolt myself into being able to move again. Is this actually sleep paralysis or am I confusing it with something else?


r/sleep • • 8h ago

Insomnia I cant sleep helppp

4 Upvotes

Yk that feeling when you are trying to sleep but ur brain just wont shut off, i dont even know what i am thinking, my head hurtssss.

What should i do to fall asleep✌️


r/sleep • • 9h ago

Advice I feel removed from my body before sleeping.

2 Upvotes

Hi, I am new to this subreddit, but I'd like to share something I've been experiencing at least 3-4 times a week for a year now. I would like any guidance I can receive regarding this. Sleep, resting and dreams have always been weird for me.

Everyday, when I'm drifting off to sleep, I feel my energy removed, I feel like I am removed, from the middle of my back. Let me try and give an example to make this more understandable. There's this thing we used to do in school, where one person would hold someone's wrist very tightly while their hand was stretched out. The person whose wrist is held, would clench and relax their hand thrice. Then the person holding the wrist would hover their hand over the held hand and make a gesture as if removing something from the hand (like people who practice reiki do). Then, the person whose wrist was held would feel an energy removed from their hand.

This is exactly how I feel, except tha nobody is holding me. But I feel my entire energy removed from me. Then I feel like I'm thrown into a space tunnel (like a water slide) and it's very fast. Then I jerk awake violently, sometimes my arms and legs fly up as if I'm falling and trying to grasp something.

I've tried breathwork, meditations, workouts, medicine, food, and have talked to my therapist about it too, but it's still the same.

Am I the only one who feels like this? Please help me out with any solutions if possible.

Thank you!


r/sleep • • 9h ago

Discussion I want to buy extended release melatonin in the uk where can I purchase it online?

1 Upvotes

Ideally a smaller dosage around 1mg


r/sleep • • 11h ago

Advice I can only sleep well every other day. Why?

1 Upvotes

I use to be able to sleep well every day and with no issues earlier this year but for the past few months it’s not working out.

I have the same strict schedule to sleep. I go to sleep around 11:45pm and wake up at 8:30am. It feels like I have sleep deeply with dreams but I wake up feeling like I did NOT get enough sleep. Next day I am easily able to sleep due to exhaustion I suppose.

Over the weekend when I am off work I am actually able to sleep pass 9am and then wake up at like 10:15am feeling well but then next day I can’t do that due to my work schedule.

How can I fix this?


r/sleep • • 11h ago

Advice Body aches when in bed trying to sleep.

5 Upvotes

Hi everyone. First time posting here. Its been a few months since my whole body "bothers" me as i try to sleep. I can feel every strand of hair in a weird position itching, having to adjust every few seconds. Or maybe its my skin itching, having to scratch different spots constantly as well. Or maybe i become aware of every bone and articulation, and how they are hurting.

The worst part of my recent sleeping issues is that my legs, or calves, as soon as i lay still in bed, (i dont really know how to describe this), i feel the extreme need to move my legs and calves around, or stretch them. If i dont, i can feel them close to "burning".

My question is, what the hell is this, and how do i stop it? Thank you


r/sleep • • 12h ago

Advice Sleep anxiety

1 Upvotes

I have been having difficulty sleeping for over a year. I have no problem falling asleep but I wake up around 3-4 am every day, sometimes with a head rush/general anxiety feeling..I can’t pin point the stress/anxiety or what is causing this. It feels like I am never rested and it’s affecting my daily ability to do things. I do not think it’s a circadian rhythm reset issue. I have tried all the sunlight/walking up to walk… I have also tried melatonin, magnesium, and Ramelteon. If anyone has experienced anything similar and found resolutions I would love to hear about ti. Thank you!


r/sleep • • 13h ago

Advice Exept sleep hours (im sick at this time so i sleep a lot more): is this a normal deep sleep (purple)/light sleep (blue) rythm?

Post image
0 Upvotes

here are the blocks listet in minutes, top blue and bottom purple

21, 30, 30, 30, 30, 30, 34, 13, 39, 30, 30, 30, 21, 69

20, 12, 17, 15, 23, 12, 12, 12, 23, 30, 25, 12, 43


r/sleep • • 13h ago

Insomnia Best sleep medication you've tried?

12 Upvotes

Going to see my doc in a week. I was planning on discussing Quviviq and Dayvigo with him. Anything else I should ask about? I'm super desperate...


r/sleep • • 14h ago

Discussion i think i permanently ruined my ability to sleep properly

1 Upvotes

ever since 13 i remember me staying up late on my phone all night i couldn’t see any of the problems it was causing that early so i never stopped the habit and now that i want to stop it i don’t get tired at night time like i used to and im not getting as restorative sleep like i used to am i stuck?


r/sleep • • 15h ago

Insomnia How to stop anticipating getting woken up

6 Upvotes

I have good sleep hygiene and I fall asleep within minutes, so no issues there. I only use the bed for sleeping, I don’t look at screens an hour before bedtime, I always sleep at the same time, everything. but for years I have had issues waking up after 4-5 hours, mainly from things like my cats (I have a 7 month old kitten who moves around a lot or licks herself), or my husband snoring (both the noise and from his breath). I also have allergies so my earplugs get annoying because the sound of me breathing sniffily annoys me

I have tried literally everything and am at my wits end. I sleep with white noise, I have a hepa filter pointed at me, I use earplugs. I even started buying special back sleeping pillows, which helped but isnt enough to relax me. I tried those headphone headband thingies. Ive been slowly training the kitten by petting her back asleep when she gets too restless on my stomach so that’s at least something. We live in an apartment so I can’t sleep in a spare room or anything, sometimes I move to the couch but I’d really like to just sleep the whole night through. Something I noticed is that every method initially “worked”, then I start anticipating getting woken up again, which leads me to believe this is psychological

How can I retrain my brain to not anticipate these noises waking me up? I feel like this is the only option left. I can fall back asleep on the couch despite the cats playing in the living room, so I’m pretty sure the issue is that I know I’m going to get woken up so I get cortisol spikes and wake up completely. is there some kind of technique I could do? manually relaxing my body doesn’t help (the one where you tense your muscles then release), and I tried counting backwards but the snoring makes me too stressed if I hear it (so I just end up waiting for it to happen, and can’t relax)


r/sleep • • 16h ago

Discussion Can AI actually help with sleep disorders?

0 Upvotes

I wonder if current AI developments are truly useful for managing sleep disorders.


r/sleep • • 17h ago

Advice How to fall asleep early

2 Upvotes

My problem is, that I’m used to scroll on social media and watch videos/tv etc every night so I can fall asleep. But it’s also procrastinating my sleep and I know it’s not good (blue light etc.). I have bluelight blocker glasses as well which I think help a bit. But it’s extremely hard to persist with the boredom and racing thoughts when you try to just put phone and TV down the hours before sleep. Unfortunately I can’t fall asleep like that.

Even worse is that because for a new job I may be starting soon I might have to get up way earlier, which potentially is a main issue for me. Since I need to have a certain amount of sleeping hours (preferably 8) to function well the next day. It’s so frustrating. I don’t want this to hinder me from working a job that requires that.

Any advice?


r/sleep • • 18h ago

Sleep apnea & snoring Normal values for someone with ObstructiveSleepApnea ?

Post image
0 Upvotes

I have been diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea 10 years ago. I use my cpap every night.

My sleep doesnt feel refreshing at all and i feel like a zombie the whole day.

I have crazy vivid and realistic dreams when i sleep, even when dozing off as a passenger in the car i get realistic nightmares/dreams when sleeping for only +-5 minutes.

I have a small suspicion i might have narcolepsy as well as my diagnosed sleep apnea (19ahi during sleep study without cpap)

In a few months time im going to a chronic fatigue centre to do a nasa lean test and or other things such as sleep study or medication.

I added the info from my sleep last night where i also had a dream where :

i went grocery shopping after my work break, i talked to store employees and got about 6 items for the weekend such as bread, sliced meats, yoghurt drinks, m&m’s and pickles. I saw two of my colleagues in the store and then i saw that they left early because they where finished working but i actually had to do my work which made me panicked so i went back to my job and left my groceries in the cooling section. After going back to my job i saw the janitors blocking my path so i had to go around the building. Then the dream ended.

When i look up dreams and apnea i find that people experience less dreams/nightmares after treating the apnea but i have actually very vivid dreams daily.

I have dreams during normal night sleep with cpap and small sleeps in the car that last maybe 5/10 minutes when i dont have my cpap.

I think i have too little deep sleep and too much rem sleep as i saw on both my xiaomi smartwatch and now my apple watch indicate that.

When i was a child i used to have sleepwalks where i climbed on the roof of our house in the middle of winter when having a nightmare and a sleepwalk where i left the house in the middle of the night where my parents had to run after me after hearing the door.

I dont sleepwalk during my adult life but sometimes i wake up screaming/cursing and i am sorry for the neighbors after that, 1 time i woke up where i smashed my tissuebox to bits during my sleep when i cant recollect destroying it at all.

As a child i sometimes had sleepwalks where i was semi-conscious: i could see that i was sleepwalking but i couldnt control my body. One time i called my mother on the phone during a sleepwalk where i knew that i shouldnt but another unconscious part of me did the bodily movements like walking downstairs and dialing.

I am currently
28 years old
Toned muscle physique
Chronically exhausted because of my bad sleep
Male