Can't wake up on time!

[MD2b20004]

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Help-- this is bad, bad, bad because I just started on clinical rotations (and an easy rotation at that) and have run into the problem of not being able to wake up on time. The first time I was post-call, but had still gotten 6 hours of sleep or so, and just didn't hear my several alarm clocks-- or turned them off without realizing it (though I have 2, and one is all the way across the room)-- and I was several hours late.

The second time was this morning-- this time I had also set up my PDA to give an alarm, but apparently missed that as well. But fortunately some construction workers started hammering pretty much near my head and woke me up just in time! I thought I hated the construction until now-- but I was very grateful.

I'm not sure what to do-- I am sleepy and worn out no matter how much sleep I get, and I do get to bed at a reasonable hour usually. And I don't think adding more alarm clocks would necessarily help, since apparently I don't hear them or turn them off without realizing it (even getting up to do it).

But I know being late will be the end of me in terms of looking like a semi-decent clinical student...and this is actually a rotation I'm interested in pursuing. The one day I was late, I did stay several hours past my usual time to make up for it, but I don't think that is enough. So any ideas?

Oh, and I can add, this past weekend I tried to "catch up" on any sleep deficit I might have, so I feel like I should be more than caught up by now...

Tell the doctor of that your rotating with the truth, and that it is not laziness,etc... Also see if you are normal healthwise, get a check-up, never hurts.

 

[closertofine]

how come you don't like coffee is your av is... coffee

I was just waiting for someone to point that out! 😛 I love coffee shops and the smell of coffee...and drinking hot chocolate...and yet I still can't stand the taste of it. Should I change my av now as punishment for being a hypocrite?

 

[nosugrefneb]

The problem for me, inevitably, is, even if my alarm is "super loud," after a few days to weeks I will start to incorporate its sound into my dreams and it doesn't register as an alarm anymore, just a harmless sound in my sleep.

 

[Jedix123]

maybe something along the lines of Jimmy John's free smells. :-D

 

[Gardenia]

Im the kind of person that does not wake up to any alarms placed anywhere, nor phone calls. One thing I have found to work is exercising. I jog right before dinner and find that it not only helps me fall asleep, I also wake up easier (even to alarms) and quite refreshed. I dont recommend exercising too late at night though as thatll make it harder to go to sleep and only make the problem of getting up even worse. Try it for a week! 🙂 Just a suggestion.

 

[Willow]

The problem for me, inevitably, is, even if my alarm is "super loud," after a few days to weeks I will start to incorporate its sound into my dreams and it doesn't register as an alarm anymore, just a harmless sound in my sleep.

I'm the same way, and also a horribly deep sleeper (once I actually fall asleep.)

What has helped me soooo much is the Wake Assure (may have been linked upthread, I dunno.) It has a bed shaker, and you can plug in a lamp so it will flash on and off as well. But the best part is that the tone of the alarm can be adjusted from low to high . . . just change the tone every few days and it's like getting a new alarm. Also, the top volume is horrifically loud. Another good thing is that the snooze button is so big that I invariably hit it instead of turning the alarm off.

It's pricey, but has been worth every penny to me. 🙂

 

[youngbuc]

i just started my 3rd year...and i too sleep like an animal

obviously u need to get at least 6 or more hours of sleep a night...but even when i get 7-8 hrs, at the end of the day i feel beat

so sometimes what i'll do is during lunch i'll take 30 minute naps and if i dont have time to do that, i'll even take an hour nap after getting out of work for the day...although this limits the amount of free time u have before going to sleep which is kinda depressing but i guess thats the cost we take...


and let me just say this: i love sleep.

 

[Requiem]

OK, I can't stand the taste of coffee or black tea (I like green, though, but that doesn't have much caffeine, I don't think!), but I may force myself to try it anyway.

And I'll work on getting to bed earlier too. It just doesn't seem so simple when you're a total night owl like I am...my ideal sleep schedule would seriously be from 4 AM to noon! But somehow I've got to adjust...so I'll just go to bed, rinse and repeat until I (hopefully) get used to it...

(Edit: but this doesn't mean I've been going to bed at 4 AM...that would just be stupid...more like 11 PM or so (occasionally with pharmacological help)...or sometimes 1 AM, I admit...)

Here's several options to get some caffeine:

Iced Cappucinos and the like all have caffeine.
Energy Drinks a la Redbull, SoBe, etc have equivalents of ~1 cup of coffee in caffeine
Take a caffeine pill - they're available in pharmacies and contain from 100mg (about a cup of coffee) to 200mg, so you could either just take the tablet or grind it up into a cup of green tea if you like drinking a hot beverage.

That should fix you up no problem.

 

[akpete]

I have 3 alarm clocks too! I used a wakeup service during undergrad because I kept sleeping through lectures..

Definitely more reliable than family or friends 😉 It used to be free but now I think it's something like $5 a month http://www.iping.com/mrwakeup_menu.asp

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!! 😍

I think I may have been saved by this service. I was one of those that would sleepwalk across the room to the alarm clock, hit it several times, and not remember. $5 is a small price to pay for being able to wake up on time for stuff. Just started my 5-day trial period, but I'm pretty certain that this is gonna work for me. And I'm only about to start 2nd year. Hopefully by 3rd year, my body will be trained for those early mornings.

 

[Hai]

closertofine, you do not have to drink coffee or anything that contains caffeine if you do not like it. Do not force yourself into drinking it. In fact it is not good to mess up with our body chemicals. Try Russian scientist Pavlov's technique:
http://tipskey.com/self_help/wake_up_on_time.htm

 

[brianmartin]

nobody has mentioned radio yet. I set my alarm to AirAmerica radio in the morning....but REALLy quiet. After 8 hours of sleep, you are attuned to the faintest sounds. Make it just loud enough to hear, but no louder. When it comes on I stay asleep for ten minutes, but then I begin to hear the people talking. Inevitably, my brain wakes up because I have to focus on what they are saying.

An extreme solution would be to get a prescription for some kind of amphetamine. Some docs will prescribe you 5mg dexedrine tabs for chronic fatigue and inability to wake up. Just keep them next to your bed. Set your alarm an hour earlier than you need to actually get out of bed. When the alarm goes off, pop a dexedrine, then go back to sleep. 45 minutes later, you'll jump out of bed.

 

[samenewme]

Definitely see a doctor. If you're waking up still exhausted, you may have sleep apnea or another sleep disorder and you're not getting deep enough sleep to begin with.

 

[DrDrew]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!! 😍

I think I may have been saved by this service. I was one of those that would sleepwalk across the room to the alarm clock, hit it several times, and not remember. $5 is a small price to pay for being able to wake up on time for stuff. Just started my 5-day trial period, but I'm pretty certain that this is gonna work for me. And I'm only about to start 2nd year. Hopefully by 3rd year, my body will be trained for those early mornings.

Since the website is a little lacking....how do you set up the time they will call you? Do you have to go online to set it up or can you do it from your phone?

 

[lilnoelle]

Way to bump up an old thread.
I have trouble getting up in the morning too. Its mostly laziness though, cuz when I really have to get up, I can do it.
My kids are great alarm clocks. They tend to go off irregularly though. I end up getting up once a night to calm one of them down, am woken up once more when one climbs into bed and then woken up in the morning by my daughter telling me that its light out and therefore I have to get up and give her a drink.
I have no trouble getting up when my kids force me too. I just have trouble waking up before they force me too (makes it difficult to get anything done in the a.m.)

 

[deuist]

One trick that I learned from watching The Simpsons involves drinking lots of water just before going to sleep. You'll wake up a few hours later with an incredible desire to pee. In contrast to your alarm clock, you can't ignore your bladder.

 

[megadon]

true story, another junior officer I was in the Navy with couldn't wake up. We both went submarines, and another one my JO buddies who was on the boat with him told me this story. He had like ten alarm clocks, and roomed with the engineer and my buddy. A couple of times he wasn't in the room when these ten alarms would go off, waking up the eng (we were on rotating shift work), so the eng made him get rid of them. So then he rigged up one of those thermal lamps to a clock. They had just started a six month deployment, this sun lamp goes off, he throws his arm over his eyes and sleeps for around another thirty minutes. Keep in mind, submarines operate UNDERwater, and this guy is walking around with a sunburn and racoon eyes. This is not by any means the last story about this guy, but the most pertinent.

 

[akpete]

Since the website is a little lacking....how do you set up the time they will call you? Do you have to go online to set it up or can you do it from your phone?

It's all online.

 

[SuziQ]

haha love the simpsons suggestion

 

[pballa24]

Its easy, do like I've done for the past 8 yrs. alarm = highest volume 80% static + 20% country music station. i literally fly out of bed every morning to turn that **** off. downside = mini heart attacks every morning.

 

[Suprachiasmatik]

Good to know I'm not the only one that has trouble waking up...even with an alarm blaring in my ear.

I will probably have sleep studies done soon because no matter what I do, I feel like hell when I wake up...it sucks to never, ever, ever feel rested.

Did you even get this figured out? You can PM if you want.

 

[kb1900]

Did you even get this figured out? You can PM if you want.

Some say he fell asleep only to never be heard from again...even decades later by PM

 

[WingedOx]

You know this is an epic necrobump when the first post references a Palm Pilot.

 

[Suprachiasmatik]

You know this is an epic necrobump when the first post references a Palm Pilot.

I couldn't help myself.

As a premed, I read a lot of fellow students discuss rising at the ass crack of dawn, saving 3 babies, training for a triathlon, and busting out a 525 mcat practice test all before I even roll out of bed!

So I'd like to hear from some medical professionals who fall more on the "low energy" side...

 

[libertyyne]

I couldn't help myself.

As a premed, I read a lot of fellow students discuss rising at the ass crack of dawn, saving 3 babies, training for a triathlon, and busting out a 525 mcat practice test all before I even roll out of bed!

So I'd like to hear from some medical professionals who fall more on the "low energy" side...

Stay away from this stuff.

 

[WingedOx]

I couldn't help myself.

As a premed, I read a lot of fellow students discuss rising at the ass crack of dawn, saving 3 babies, training for a triathlon, and busting out a 525 mcat practice test all before I even roll out of bed!

So I'd like to hear from some medical professionals who fall more on the "low energy" side...

Fair enough.

I was a night owl. I would study until 12-1, go to bed at 2AM and sleep in until 10 or 11 on most non-test days. The transition to clinicals was rough to say the least. I don't recommend it.

Even today my clinic starts at 8AM and I have a ~40 min commute to work and I sleep in until the last possible minute, though playing beer league hockey with game times 10PM or later don't really help me kick this habit.

 

[Ismet]

I have had major issues getting out of bed starting at 5-6 some days its still hard. The first step's to figure out why. Is it purely somatic or is there a mental component to it as well? If you ever feel like you're suffering from morning anxiety/depression or bipolar, seek help because both these conditions will lead to further damage if not dealt with. Since this is a rotation you're looking forward to, I'm guessing it's mainly somatic. In that case, you need to develop proper sleep hygiene. Go to bed at around (10-11 pm), and wake up at the same time (6-7 am). Avoid caffeine past 1 PM. Some days if you're just not feeling it, get up and go eat an apple and watch a bit of TV because lying in bed will only make it worse. That will make your sleep more efficient. If that doesn't fix this, then you need to set an alarm that's audible, doesn't turn off, and is in a location you can't easily reach. If you don't hear them, your roommate will. By the way, post-call is actually kind of rough because during your call you've activated your second wind and won't feel like sleeping right away when you get home take care of anything urgent and then right after read something in bed and before you know it you'll be out and just wake up before work the next morning.

The person you're replying to is likely an attending right now.

 

[Redpancreas]

The person you're replying to is likely an attending right now.

😳😛

 

[neoevolution]

Can you still buy ephedrine pills easily or did they crack down on them? I love to snooze for 5-10m, and the ephedrine pill idea sounds pretty interesting. I think caffeine takes longer to kick in?

 

[mistafab]

Ephedrine was made illegal in the USA because it was found to be dangerous. Stop trying to find the magic pill for your problems.

Can you still buy ephedrine pills easily or did they crack down on them? I love to snooze for 5-10m, and the ephedrine pill idea sounds pretty interesting. I think caffeine takes longer to kick in?

 

[neoevolution]

Ephedrine was made illegal in the USA because it was found to be dangerous. Stop trying to find the magic pill for your problems.

I think the ban is largely driven by concerns over meth manufacturing. The OTC pills are still legal in a few other countries, and a lot of the health concerns were from diet pills and medication abuse.

 

[SunsFun]

How about sleeping with someone that does not have the same difficulty? Then they can push you out of bed when you are suppose to be up.
😉 😉

Ding ding ding!

Seriously though this was a fun read. Thanks for a bump

 

[Dr. Souk]

Get a cat. Nothing will wake you up as effectively as a furry paw pushing into your face at 3am, 4am, 5am, 6am ... well anytime you are asleep and they are awake - which is all the time 🙂

 

[EleanorAbernathyMD]

Get a cat. Nothing will wake you up as effectively as a furry paw pushing into your face at 3am, 4am, 5am, 6am ... well anytime you are asleep and they are awake - which is all the time 🙂

THIS. My cat will literally stare at me sleeping while banging stuff around on the desk, just waiting for me to yell at him-clearly an indication I am awake and ready to play. He then jumps into bed so I pet him until falling asleep again and the process repeats. My life is like Groundhog Day.

 

[SteyrFWB]

Get a LIGHT alarm.

Set it to 30 minutes before you wake up. Light up room slow x 30 minutes, woke up fully ready for the day.

Nobel prize was awarded for this circadian rhythm timing.

Get a Light alarm from Phillips. Get it from Amazon.com

 

[mehc012]

It sounds odd, but try a light-based alarm clock to supplement your loud ones. I set mine for before my sound alarm goes off, so I have a backup, but can wake up early without my roommates noticing. I didn't want to shell out for the expensive clock-based ones, so I just bought a programmable LED lightbulb for a reasonable price and installed it in my overhead light fixture.
I also keep caffeine pills by my bed, and if I know I'm going to have trouble, or need to function WELL right when I awake (say on exam day) I wake up, snooze my alarm 20min, take a caffeine pill, and let myself doze back off. Usually get up on my own, fully alert, before the snoozed alarm goes off.