DSPS sleep disorder

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OK, I figured out today that I have DSPS (Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder) and it had make having a normal schedule very difficult, in addition to my AS. I am just curious whether any other aspies have it and whether it might be a common thing among aspies.
here are some links about it:

Sleep Disorder Channel
wikipedia
there is also more about it in my blog.

For several years I had this really wacky sleep disorder. I don't remember what it's called, but basically, my day was 25-26 hours. Every day I would go to sleep 1-2 hours later than the previous day, and wake up 1-2 hours later.

Once I got a job and had to work regular hours, this gradually went away. I'd end up really tired on some days because of lack of sleep, but I'd just go to sleep early the next day and be fine. The weekends were tough since the pattern continued, and frequently on Mondays I would have to go on 0-4 hours of sleep.

After working for 4 years now this has almost gone away completely, though I do take sleeping pills maybe twice a week to help out.

Oh, if I could only hug you!! ! Thank you SO MUCH!! ! I suffer from this, but I didn't know what it was!! !

Wow I think I have that too, I didn't know there was an actual name to it. I would just say I had insomnia.

That's the first I've heard of it, but I definitely fit the profile. Good thing I work the night shift. I had a morning job once and I was late literally every day. I'm not usually late to my night job, and if I am it's not due to oversleeping.

Yes, I have it too; this planet rotates too quickly!

Try Melatonin, its a hormone that promotes sleep. If you take it at say 10 pm you will be tired enough to fall asleep by 11 pm.

Theory: they say Aspie is an extreme male personality. What would we be doing in the stone age, given our tenancy to insomnia? We would be awake guarding the Cave at night!

my sleep schedule is affected by light...

im in the north west USA now so when it's super dark early in the afternoon (pitch black by 4:30pm) i am super tired before dinner

and in the spring/summer... it gets light before 6am and i wake up round 5-something.... i am thrown off all morning and can't get back to sleep

it's rediculous

That sounds like me, except it's never gone away. It's like there's too few hours in the day or something. I tend to go on too little sleep most nights, and then every once in a while need to sleep way in (on a weekend)...and then I get further messed up on weekends.



Me too. I always just assumed it was insomnia...but I guess that's actually something different?

I found out what it is called again. Non-24-hour sleep-wake syndrome: Link

I go into work at 10pm!

Ever since I was a child I seem to have gone through 2 month phases.

I'll have one phase where I sleep right through the night, a phase where I will wake up once or twice at the same times every morning, a phase of insomnia, a phase of needing the bathroom in the middle of the night (despite no change in diet or liquid intake levels), one phase where I have really weird dreams etc.

It seems to be a constant cycle, but I have pretty much got used to it - and I'm sure my body knows what it's doing.....

The relationship between autism and sleep disorder ought to be thoroughly researched. Judging from the experiences of members on this forum (including my own), there appears to be a strong link between autism and sleep disorders. The running mind problem, which leads ultimately to meltdowns, also has strong connections to sleep deprivation; at least in my case.

When I was working, I put the sleep disorders I suffered from (and they were varied) down to the stress at work. The higher the stress, the more likely I was to not get to sleep. But now that I am not working and thus no longer under the same kind of stress, I find that a good night's sleep does not always come to me. There have been instances when I woke up at 3-4 o'clock in the morning suddenly. It was as if the sleep center in my brain malfunctioned and I instantaneously awoke even though the rest of my brain was still "asleep". When this happens, I know that I am on my way to a meltdown and it is my consuming passion to make sure that it does not happen. I have also had difficulties getting to sleep but it is not as disturbing as "waking up" in the dead of the night.

These episodes also seem to impact my autonomic system the most. I am certain that there is a link as I can feel the effects - increased heart rate, higher blood pressure, an autoimmune response, and fatigue. One possible trigger for the meltdowns is the exhaustion that the body and mind experiences from heightened levels of adrenaline pumped out over an extended period of time by a malfunctioning autonomic nervous system. And the high levels of adrenaline might actually make it harder for the brain to shut down and sleep; which sets off a positive feedback cycle that terminates only when the system breaks down.

Does anyone have any research on this? Email me at [email protected] if you do.

That's a good idea about doing research on this. Tony Attwood's Complete Guide to... mentions trouble falling asleep as yet another AS related thing, so obviously it's common!

Years ago I did wonder if I was supposed to be on another planet with 26-28 hours in the day

Same here pretty much.
Also when i was unemployed my night/day pattern kept rotating.
I couldn't get to sleep at night so it became later and later every night.
Whilst every morning i'd wake up later.
Every so many weeks it switched around completely.

For 9-5 jobs this sleeping disorder generally wrecks me.
I usually need some days to catch up on sleep badly.
The 4 hours every night simply is something my body couldn't for long periods on time on end.
At the moment my shifts start at 10 or 12.
Generally seen my work also pysically exhausts me enough that i can sleep better at night.
Like if i got home i'd be so tired i could barely walk straight.

This may be some advice to people who also suffer from it.
Make sure you are physically exhausted at the end of the day.
It may not make you sleep at 10-11 pm.
But you'l usually be able to sleep around 1 am or earlyer.

You know I learned in psych that humans biological clock really prefers to run on a 25 hour cycle. Like when they took away normal 24-hour schedule demands people always tended to shift towards a 25-hour biological cycle. Maybe this disorder just makes it harder to adapt to a 24-hour cycle versus a 25-hour cycle?

Now that you mention it, I think I remember learning about that too. It seems like I need at least a 25 hour day