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Taking Its Toll On Me At 50

by Jooper
(U.P.)

I've had my sleep issue since college. I tried everything back then and gave up. It wasn't too, too bad - I was tired all the time, but able to function normally every day. Now that I'm 50, it's catching up with me big time.


Everyone is talking about light therapy and sleeping medications.
My melatonin level peaks at 8am. Normal people peak more like 9pm.

I can actually feel my melatonin "kick in" about 6am. My alarm goes off at 6:45. I've tried melatonin supplements with no luck, but will try again. Knowing it's the melatonin signal that has bad timing, you'd think the scientists could come up with something better than light therapy. That's torture to do that to someone like me at 7am. Does anyone know of studies happening with the melatonin cycle?

I went to a sleep doc once, did not do the overnight lab because they pretty much ignored me on the melatonin issue. They wanted to rule out restless legs and apnea. You'd think I'd know if I had that. I don't want to waste $2000? on this type of testing. I have nowhere to turn for the right kind of help.

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Welcome! This site is continuously being created by students of Dr. William C. Dement's Sleep And Dreams course at Stanford University.

We made this site as a call to action for people all over the world to live healthier, happier, safer, and more productive lives by learning about their own sleep. We have faith that reading the information provided on this site will motivate you to be smart about your sleep deprivation and strategic about your alertness in order to live life to your fullest, most energetic potential.

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Sleep Paralysis: A Dreamer's Guide

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