Autistic spectrum and comorbidity - sleep issues

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I've been having an increasingly difficult time in all aspects of sleeping, which is unfortunate because I've had chronic insomnia since I was a kid. it's gotten to the point where I'm lucky if I get two or three hours of sleep a night.

I have inflexible routines and transitions when it comes to falling asleep and waking up, but I generally fall sleep for at least 10 hours during the autumn/winter seasons, whereas I sleep between 7 and 9 hours during the warmer seasons as I found it troubling to feel comfortable when it's unbearably warm. I sometimes experienced nocturnal awakenings (Middle-of-the-night insomnia) until adolescence, presumably because I had slight difficulties returning to sleep afterwards during early mornings. Although I love sleeping (and I never snore), I rarely perceive or recall myself undergoing the subliminal transition to falling asleep, and it can be exasperating when I do exhibit a nocturnal awakening.

I've never been aware of trouble sleeping except when in states of extreme anxiety/panic when I have had classic insomnia with agitated thoughts chasing around my mind. Except for those rare instances, I never had a problem falling asleep.

My wife has often told me of signs of sleep problems though--mumbling in my sleep, moving about, etc. so there were always issues.

Lately I have had a hard time sleeping through the night, often waking up at 4 or 5 am and doing household chores until the alarm goes off at 6:15.

This may be connected with anti-anxiety meds and my psychiatrist prescribed something to help me sleep. I have not taken it yet. But if I have too many nights like the last two, I will.

My son (also dx'd AS) wakes up during the night almost every night.

I've always had sleep trouble. No matter how exhausted I get, I can't get sleepy. I have a very full, physically active lifestyle but this doesn't help me sleep.

When I'm in bed I stay up for at least an hour or two running make-believe stories in my head...I always thought this was normal use of imagination but I found out NO it's not. If I wake up during the night to use the bathroom, it's the same thing over again.

I have no problem staying up all night either. When I was a teenager I had severe insomnia.

I seem to quit processing, emotionally, during stressful situations.

I understand that I come across as cold or reserved. I see pictures of myself, and, to me, my face looks awkward or confused.

These emotions surface when I try to unwind, sometimes at unusal hours.

I realize that I can't completely isolate myself from these situations, but I would like to try.

I believe I can improve upon my outlook, by being more selective in the things I watch during the day and taking better care of myself.

I like the idea of being able to take a pill, but am frankly a little paranoid of chemicals.

Sleep and me have never got along together .

The earliest I have ever got to sleep is around 3am . I have also never been able to take a nap my whole life.

I used to have a recurring nightmare of drowning every night till I was sixteen , that is when I stopped remembering my dreams . I do wonder if they never stopped though as every night it is always a fight between the part of me that knows I need to sleep and a part that hates even the thought of sleeping .
The other thing is my brain jumps in to action when I shut my eyes and it is when most of my ideas come to me .
I suppose the closed eye hallucinations and my inability to block out sound doesn't really help things .

The biggest problem though is how much I can lose track of time on a night as people are asleep so there are no distractions . Last night I was watching sitcoms , looked at the clock at 2am , the next time I looked at the clock it was 7 30 and it seemed to be as if no real time had past .I can lose entire days watching sitcomes.

Hormonal changes associated with pregnancy and childbirth improved the quality of my sleep. I am sure that information helps nobody at all!

Prior to trying to conceive my daughter, I took a small dose of klonopin each night to help me sleep. I might be trying to get that RX renewed soon, because I am starting to have frequent wakings again. I know difficulty falling back asleep will likely follow.

seeing as I am a 6'9" almost 300 pound male gorilla... I don't think that a) the pregnancy thing would take for me and b) that there would be anyone willing to impregnate me if I were able or so inclined

Wow, Feraluce! You're a big dude! I hope you use your size for good rather than evil.

I have a terrible time sleeping. I almost never sleep through the night. I wake up several times during the night, and have since I was a kid. I remember as a teen getting up in the middle of the night a couple of times to clean my closet, which is crazy since I never cleaned it under normal circumstances. I always assumed that the reason I didn't sleep well is an insecurity about not hearing my alarm go off. So I wake up every couple of hours to see what time it is. This is probably the reason that no matter how many or few hours I sleep, it takes me forever to wake up. I can sleep 4 hours or 7 hours or 10 hours -- I still take at least 20 minutes to wake up, and then I'm still draggy all day.

I wish I could fall asleep right away when I go to bed. But my brain won't shut up. It doesn't even have to be about anything important. I might just be running dialogue from a Seinfeld episode through my head or thinking about rearranging the living room. But the thing is that all my thoughts are going around my head at one time. It's like I'm sitting on a remote control that controls my thoughts and every time I move, it changes topics. The only way I can stop it and get to sleep is to concentrate on something that will hold my attention but is still boring enough that I won't get too involved in it. I'll do something like count slowly backwards from 100, or try to name a city in my state that corresponds to every letter of the alphabet. Usually one of those works. If I'm particularly wide awake, I'll do a crossword puzzle -- another boring activity that still kinda holds my attention.

Did I mention that I'm also afraid of the dark?

I sleep very well most of the time. There are a few exceptions though which are hardly autism related:
- I have a cold. It is very uncomfortable lying. The cold is less tedious when I am standing or sitting;
- It is very hot. But since the last summer I have measures to drive the warmth out by means of an airco;
- when something traumatic happened (and the affection on the sleep is pretty short). A while ago I broke my elbow. I was very out of balance. I don't have sleeping medication generally but I got Lorazepam (meds against anxiety and sleeplessness) but with that I slept about 3 or 4 hours a night. A week later the trauma was gone and I hadn't Lorazepam anymore. Then I slept about 8 or 9 hours a night (which I usually sleep).

I don't have trouble falling asleep, I have trouble staying asleep. the klonopin I'm on tends to help with that, though. It relaxes my brain enough so I don't keep myself up at night. However, I have a different problem. When I do fall asleep, I go directly to REM sleep, which should be a much later phase. So I may sleep all night, but my phases are so thrown off that sometimes I still feel drained the next day. I've been known to fall asleep at work. No good! And every time I fall asleep, I "do not pass Go," I go directly to REM. Sometimes I swear I start dreaming even before I'm completely asleep! It's freaky! My wife seems to think I may have a mild form of narcolepsy, or some other idiopathic hypersomnia. IDK

The way I have trouble sleeping might take awhile to explain so I'll try to hit on the main points: It takes a long time for me to fall asleep, even when I'm sleepy. I can be sleepy one minute and awake the next, and oddly, when I get past midnight, I seem to be more awake. I tend to wake up at least once during the night, way before I want to get up or have had enough rest. I can hardly sleep in a place besides my bed. (Oddly, I seem to sleep better at camp, in a sleeping bag, in a tent, feeling the twigs underneath me, than I do in a nice hotel. The couch also isn't too bad.)

I'm tired all the time. I go to bed tired and I wake up tired. No matter how long or short I sleep.
Often a small impulse can pull me out of my falling asleep process.

My biggest problem is I can't sleep well on a warm pillow, unless I'm truly exhausted. It's so bad I have to put my pillow in the fridge to cool it down. It's one of those weird things about me that provide me the most stress if I have to explain to people.