HELP! I have gone nocturnal.

[MountainEM]

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So...I always stayed up late in MS1-2, maybe 2-2.30 most nights. I went to class at 8.

Now that all I have to do is study for a few weeks, the natural stress/feeling of unproductivness during the day as pushed me to stay up later, but I wake up later too. I am now going to be at 4am and waking at 11am. I end up starting anything productive at 1-2 it seems and I take a break to workout, hang with the lady and dogs, along the way...

all in all, I feel like a lot of time is devoted to studying but that my productivity is low and I am distracted easily.

I like the night studying, no cars going by, everyone asleep, relaxed studying, no sunlight to distract but it dawned on me today...

how the f@ck I am going to take the Comlex and USMLE at 8 in the morning! I really need to start working on this sleep schedule thing.

Any other nocturnal studiers?
Any advice?
Anyone else's attention span nil?

cheers

 

[ENThopeful]

I have almost the exact same sleep scehdule. But I am taking my test at 12. Try to find a center that allows you to. I found that most of the centers around me cleared up way more times about a month out from the test date

 

[SnowTown]

or if that is not possible, wake up one hour earlier each day with an alarm...

 

[psychforme]

better go to bed one hour later each day.

 

[harrypotter]

haha... i'm a member of the vampire club too! I tried doing the "go to bed at 12, wake up at 8" but it failed. I did it 2 days in a row and all that great sleep kept me wide awake the 3rd nite - did an all nighter...ack!

Try going to bed at 3 and not 4 - then 2 and not 3. Baby steps. I wish they had a test at 8pm. That'd be the best for me..lol

It's 4 now - I'm going to try to sleep now..Hope I fall asleep!

 

[metallo]

I'm generally a nocturnal person. Unless I'm actively trying to maintain a "normal" sleep schedule, I usually slip into the 4AM-noon routine, or sometimes even worse like 6AM-2PM if I really have nothing to wake up for. Trying to wake up earlier never works for me, I just feel exhausted and end up taking a nap, which means I might end up going to bed even later than usual. However, I have found two ways to get back on track...

1. Go to sleep 1-2 hours later each night (and then wake up 1-2 hours later) each day until you're on the schedule you want. Of course, this could take a week or more depending on how much adjustment you need. You'll also have a few days where the schedule is really strange, like going to bed at 4 PM and waking up at midnight. As I said, though, I've always found it easier to shift my sleep schedule back an hour or two than to wake up earlier.

2. The other option is to just stay up one morning instead of going to bed at 4 AM or 6 AM or whenever. Try to make it until at least the next afternoon/early evening. Then, at say 5 PM, go to sleep. You'll be so tired that you'll probably sleep 10 hours, in which case you'd be waking up at 3 AM. Then, you try to stay up a regular amount of time or maybe one hour more than usual the next day and also sleep either the regular amount or one hour more, and you'll be back on track in just a couple of days.

By the way, if you've never checked it out, google "Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome." It pretty much describes me perfectly. The prevalence is supposedly less than 1% overall, although it's much higher in adolescents and young adults. I know several medical students in my class of <100 with a similar problem (and I've seen posts on SDN about this before), so it's not as uncommon as some people might think.

 

[MountainEM]

Thanks to all the vampires that have responded...good to know not everyone is up at 6am and a smile with their little cup of coffee ready to study for the USMLE like a freakin' folgers commercial.

Metallo, sounds like u got the real deal, I am sort of a poser in this whole vampire role. I could go to bed at 10-11pm and wake a 6 or 7 am just fine, it seems like I have just shifted my schedule. I can get up early, I just feel my mind is sharper at night. I hope you can get through your rotations (mostly a 7am deal, at least at our school) ok with your schedule. If you go into EM, I know they pay premium and groups love to have partners that just work nights!

anyhow, I think I will try and go to bed at 12.30 tonight. I know I can once I get my head on a pillow as I can sleep whenever I want...just a matter of saying "I am going to bed" I guess...
cheers

I'm generally a nocturnal person. Unless I'm actively trying to maintain a "normal" sleep schedule, I usually slip into the 4AM-noon routine, or sometimes even worse like 6AM-2PM if I really have nothing to wake up for. Trying to wake up earlier never works for me, I just feel exhausted and end up taking a nap, which means I might end up going to bed even later than usual. However, I have found two ways to get back on track...

1. Go to sleep 1-2 hours later each night (and then wake up 1-2 hours later) each day until you're on the schedule you want. Of course, this could take a week or more depending on how much adjustment you need. You'll also have a few days where the schedule is really strange, like going to bed at 4 PM and waking up at midnight. As I said, though, I've always found it easier to shift my sleep schedule back an hour or two than to wake up earlier.

2. The other option is to just stay up one morning instead of going to bed at 4 AM or 6 AM or whenever. Try to make it until at least the next afternoon/early evening. Then, at say 5 PM, go to sleep. You'll be so tired that you'll probably sleep 10 hours, in which case you'd be waking up at 3 AM. Then, you try to stay up a regular amount of time or maybe one hour more than usual the next day and also sleep either the regular amount or one hour more, and you'll be back on track in just a couple of days.

By the way, if you've never checked it out, google "Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome." It pretty much describes me perfectly. The prevalence is supposedly less than 1% overall, although it's much higher in adolescents and young adults. I know several medical students in my class of <100 with a similar problem (and I've seen posts on SDN about this before), so it's not as uncommon as some people might think.

 

[sprinkibrio]

As a 6 am girl I would have to say that you people are crazy 😀

But really, I've seen SO MANY facebook posts about this going on with my classmates that I have to say you are not alone. They are crazy too 😀

They plan to stay up for 30 hrs straight and start going to bed at 10 PM. That way is quicker but more painful I'm sure.

 

[confuse]

Oh dude. I'm exactly the same way. My test is next week at 8 so I'm trying to go to bed at midnight now to get accustomed to the early hours. It hasn't really worked because I would go to bed then wake up in the middle of the night and stay awake for hours in bed. One thing that has helped put me to sleep in these circumstances is to listen to Goljan audio. Besides getting quality info during otherwise wasted time, his voice knocked me out. 😴

 

[TMP-SMX]

I've been nocturnal for two years. It's not going to change now. I guess it will be good for when I'm on call but starting with surgery in a month should be great fun. I'll adjust pretty quickly most likely.

 

[Knicks]

Thanks to all the vampires that have responded...good to know not everyone is up at 6am and a smile with their little cup of coffee ready to study for the USMLE like a freakin' folgers commercial...........

Couldn't agree more! (the bolded text particularly makes me sick and angry).

 

[Sislo]

I'm thinking about any 1st gen ani H1 otherwise i will be so awake the night before my test and be so dysfunctional on test day like MCAT.What do you guys think?Anybody ever try?

 

[rahulb]

I'm thinking about any 1st gen ani H1 otherwise i will be so awake the night before my test and be so dysfunctional on test day like MCAT.What do you guys think?Anybody ever try?

try ethanol

 

[Sislo]

try ethanol

wanna keep my hyppocampus intact cause i'll need it the next day..remember korsakoff??