Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorder

Rachel Salas, M.D., Johns Hopkins neurology sleep specialist and assistant medical director practicing at the Johns Hopkins Center for Sleep at Howard County explains how sleep specialists can diagnose and treat circadian rhythm disorder. Appointments: 410-740-7944

In June 2023, the hospital was renamed Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center.

[camillacars]

I’m so tired of sleeping late. Ruins my day

[UnbeatedNoob]

Dude...I go to sleep between 4 am to 6 am... Then wake up at 12pm to 3pm... Lets just say my days are short.

[InnannasRainbow]

I have always gone to sleep late, even as a child. I do not function well in mornings. My normal sleep cycle starts at about 4-5 am and waking up at around 12-1 pm. My meds, however, cause me to fall asleep much earlier but I still lag in the mornings. I hate mornings, absolutely hate them. As I said, it has been this way for as long as I can remember.

[rubycat]

You make it sound so simple. I have severe delayed sleep phase disorder coupled with hypersomnia. Even when I am doing well I can go to sleep at midnight and still wake up late. As a previous commenter said, mornings are torture. I am not productive at all. I have been known to fall asleep at the kitchen table, on buses, at work and in classes. I too have tried light boxes, medication etc. even timed sockets rigged to electric blankets and vibrators to cook myself awake! If I allow my body to naturally sleep, I can go right around the clock within a week. It really screws up your life and I have lost countless jobs because of it. It is a tragic disorder for anybody to suffer.

[abdullhm]

I know for a FACT that I have delayed sleep phase syndrome. It started when I got my period and never stopped. If not for work, I fall asleep anywhere from midnight to 1:30am, wake up around 10 am. I am wide awake at 9:00 pm and can't fall aseep. No matter how early I got to bed, I cant fall asleep at the early time and I struggle waking up at 6:30 am. I am so sick of people telling me I'm lazy. I am so sleepy in the early morning. glad I found this!! i'm seeing a sleep doctor soon.

[aditibisht]

It's 5am and im lying in my bed for past 7hours trying to sleep..

[burgundypoint]

It's 3am and I'm watching this

[pananta]

I always sleep at like 4 AM or 3 AM. I believe it’s usually my fault because I’m on my phone 24/7.. This has been a problem starting at second grade.. I started sleeping more later cause I always procrastinated and didn’t do my homework so I pushed my time to do my homework at nighttime. And then I always got sleepy in class and today I even fell asleep in class..

[RealRaven]

Stupid morning people, deciding the world’s schedule while we were all asleep...
jokes aside, I guess I’m lucky. I’m definitely a night owl. Past midnight is my prime. But with classes, I constantly have to get up at about 7. Not that early, I know, but I’ve had to do earlier before. Have and can. I usually run on around six hours of sleep, which I know isn’t ideal but it’s workable. And my sleep schedule is super flexible. I can spend a week going to bed at four in the morning then go to bed at midnight the next night and be back on my school schedule. I guess it’s a good thing I can change my schedule so quickly, since it makes it less damaging to be on my severe night schedule one weekends.

[stephenkaake]

my 'sleep chemicals' go off all day so I feel like absolute S#%t, then when its 'bedtime' I feel wide awake, and takes hours to fall alseep

[ousider]

Sometimes I stay up till morning, sometimes I stay up all day and night, sometimes I sleep through the day, but I can never sleep through the night. I always wake up at 2am if I do sleep at night

[daniloleggio]

Ok so I'm not crazy. I've just realized that this is a thing, I've been doing chrono therapy and I was completely sure that I invented it... Currently going to sleep at 10 AM wish me good luck

[swaggyyoutuber]

I have had a crappy sleeping schedule since I was a toddler. Daycare I never did nap time and always got out of bed after being tucked in. Now, I stay up really late and my “bedtime” differs each night. I’ll fall asleep at 9:00pm, then 11:00pm, then 1:00am, then 3:00am, then 6:00am, they 11:00am, , then 4pm, and so on.

[Betoruffo]

At this time, 3pm, I’d wake up. I’m fixing this because i want to be more productive even in this quarantine (April 1st 2020). I gotta stay hungry man whatever it takes.

[runningsrage]

Right now I’m sleeping at 8 in the morning and waking up at 7 or 8 at night. So the middle of the night is my peak.

[klounpound]

During the day. My body just demands sleep. I don't get much energy till around 4pm. Naturally I go to bed between 3-6am and wake up 12-2pm.

[chickennoodlesoup]

I’m suffering so badly right now from living nocturnally every time I wake up at 3pm from falling asleep at 9am I have a panic attack and scream and kick my walls for hours because it means i have to go another 30 hours without sleep and most likely fail like I have been for weeks

[fuzzylogics]

Trying to fix my cycle throughout my life has been not far away from certain forms of torture. I was beyond happy one neurologist finally said “ you have DSPD, you better start adjusting your life around your natural sleep cycle instead of continuing this fight to adjust your sleep to what comes unnatural to your body”. I couldn’t at that time because my daughter was too young to go to school by herself etc so I had to hold out for some years still. But I felt HEARD and validated finally. Finally someone who understood I wasn’t talking out of my rear-end, being dramatic..
So when I finally could take up an evening job and let my body sleep when it wanted, my life improved so much in so many ways. No more depression no more muscle spasms from sleep deprivation for a longg time.
Things are not ideal still because everybody outside gets up and becomes noisy when I want to sleep haha.. But once I fall asleep I do get a full rest overall.
So happy that this issue is finally getting some more serious recognition for what it is. It’s horrible when you’re being shamed for something you can not help.
I wish anyone who’s been struggling with sleep the best nights or days rest ever and may you find ways to adjust your life to your needs soonest 😘

[umerbinshabir]

From reading one chapter in gyton on sleep to become sleep specialist she had come a long way😍

[jimmylander]

I’ve always gone to bed late but the limit kept being pushed overtime until it got to a point where I used to go to bed at 7am and fall asleep at 8, waking at about 5pm. One day my body just snapped and since then I’ve been starting to feel sleepy since 6pm and usually try to holdout til at least 9 before going to bed, then I wake up at 7:30-8 am the next day. I really hope I get to fix my pattern. I want it to be flexible like before where I could stay up til 4 am but still not screw up my entire being.