Living with Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome

i just found this site tonight, i’t 2am and i’m up as usual watching my favorite tv shows, knowing i have to be up at 7am. i’ve read all the stories submitted here and you all have lived my life. i’ve had problems since i was very young staying up way late and sleeping until noon, now it’s later. i sleep 12-14 hrs a day when i can, which is often. i’ve changed jobs 3 times in the last year because of my sleep problem. i also have Rheumatoid arthritis with pain in my feet and my hips that i have to deal with daily. i’ve taken sleeping pills and xanax for years to be able to relax and sleep without waking up frequently in pain.

i finally bought a new mattress, a dormia - which is just like tempurpedic but much cheaper and has a longer warranty period. that mattress made a world of difference in the quality of my sleep, after 9 yrs i quit taking the sleeping pills. but nothing has changed my late nights!! every female in my family has been the same way, my mother, sister, grandmother. i’ve tried to keep my daughter on a pretty routine schedule, since you can’t go to school at night! i’m hoping she won’t become as bad as me. i have slept through work several times, i mean a whole day of work.

i woke up once at 5pm and called my boss, i was honest but she wasn’t very understanding. the 2nd time i blamed it on my arthritis, now i’m job looking again. i don’t know if my sleep problem is worsening because of my RA or just getting older, i’m 49. i’m an RN, so i do have the ability to work nights and make more than a day job, and that may be just what i do. i worked nights when i was younger and i loved it. i quit working nights when my daughter was born.

well, now that i have found you all, i feel better about my self and my life. i’m going to ask my rheumatologist about this disorder and see what he knows about it, and i’m going to ask my family doctor. wow, i’ve always thought i was just as weird as everyone has told me i am, i can’t believe there is a world of people just like me!! i’ll come back often to read what everyone has to say. Good luck to you all…melanie