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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Dinah on April 17, 2003, at 3:58:58
Why do I always bolt awake at that time. It went to 4 am with the change to daylight savings time, but is now inching back. Tonight was 3:30.
Then at six I'm ready to go back to bed while the rest of the world is waking.
Ruthie (my OCD) wanted to tell me something. And darned if she wasn't right. But couldn't she have done it in the daytime when I would have politely listened? And without all the theatrics, too?
Posted by Eddie Sylvano on April 17, 2003, at 9:24:17
In reply to What the heck is it about 3 am?, posted by Dinah on April 17, 2003, at 3:58:58
> Why do I always bolt awake at that time. It went to 4 am with the change to daylight savings time, but is now inching back. Tonight was 3:30.
---------------That's the time that the aliens have placed you back in your bed, and the sedatives have worn off.
Posted by Dinah on April 17, 2003, at 9:58:25
In reply to Re: What the heck is it about 3 am?, posted by Eddie Sylvano on April 17, 2003, at 9:24:17
Posted by Dinah on April 17, 2003, at 10:08:37
In reply to Re: What the heck is it about 3 am?, posted by Eddie Sylvano on April 17, 2003, at 9:24:17
Don't let any meds board happenings keep you away.
Posted by BekkaH on April 17, 2003, at 22:12:00
In reply to What the heck is it about 3 am?, posted by Dinah on April 17, 2003, at 3:58:58
In THE CRACKUP, F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote: "In the real dark night of the soul it is always three o'clock in the morning." And Napoleon spoke of that rare "two o'clock in the morning courage." For me, however, three o'clock requires more courage than two o'clock.
On the other hand, it could be something as simple as the blood levels of your medication peaking at that time. When I was on Celexa, I used to wake up every single night, exactly four hours after I'd taken it, and I would toss and turn, prowl around the house, eat cookies and drink warm milk, and nothing, absolutely nothing, would put me back to sleep except the passage of time -- exactly two hours. Unless you have the luxury of sleeping several hours later every morning, to make up for the drug's inconvenient pharmacokinetics, this does not work in the real world. That's one of many reasons I stopped taking that medication.
Posted by ayuda on April 18, 2003, at 14:54:17
In reply to Ask F. Scott Fitzgerald or your pharmacologist, posted by BekkaH on April 17, 2003, at 22:12:00
> In THE CRACKUP, F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote: "In the real dark night of the soul it is always three o'clock in the morning." And Napoleon spoke of that rare "two o'clock in the morning courage." For me, however, three o'clock requires more courage than two o'clock.
>
> On the other hand, it could be something as simple as the blood levels of your medication peaking at that time. When I was on Celexa, I used to wake up every single night, exactly four hours after I'd taken it, and I would toss and turn, prowl around the house, eat cookies and drink warm milk, and nothing, absolutely nothing, would put me back to sleep except the passage of time -- exactly two hours. Unless you have the luxury of sleeping several hours later every morning, to make up for the drug's inconvenient pharmacokinetics, this does not work in the real world. That's one of many reasons I stopped >taking that medication.
I've had the 3 a.m. problem for decades now -- no matter what meds I'm on or not, no matter what my life situation (working, going to school full time, unemployed, on vacation, etc.), and regardless of how much sleep I've had or not. I've also wondered at it -- it's always 3, sometimes 3:30, and like Dinah, it's not until about 5:30-6 that I can get back to sleep. Even now that I'm taking Ativan for sleeping, it's rare that I sleep through the night.I've often wondered something kind of along the lines of what Eddie said, only not aliens, but other spirits, and I've also entertained the idea that it's just around 3 a.m. that I've gotten enough sleep to not be exhausted anymore and all those things that I didn't get a chance to obsess about during the day because I was too busy "doing" than thinking just come rushing at me.
And like Dinah, I keep asking my mind, why in the heck can't we deal with this during a normal waking hour? Most decisions or conclusions I come to at 3 a.m. are not very good anyhow, so why not just wait until noon or something to obsess? Oh, it's nice to know it's not just me.
Posted by Dinah on April 18, 2003, at 21:13:38
In reply to Re: 3am » BekkaH, posted by ayuda on April 18, 2003, at 14:54:17
Well, I'm sorry so many people share my trouble. But it'd oddly reassuring to know that there is probably some biological reason for 3 am. The only meds I'm on is klonopin and depakote, and this started before i was on any meds. In fact it was the major reason I sought therapy.
Posted by leeran on April 18, 2003, at 23:50:28
In reply to Re: 3am, posted by Dinah on April 18, 2003, at 21:13:38
When I used to live in the midwest (up until the last four years) I would hit this weird wall at 3:00 p.m., nearly every weekday (and sometimes on weekends).
Additionally, Wednesdays were always my "worst" days (well known with family/friends) and I'm starting to realize that March is my cruelest month (and as I get older that can extend into April if I don't really watch myself - which I haven't this year).
I wonder if all this has something to do with individual biorhythms? Someone did a biorhythm chart for me back in college when those were all the rage (I think that fad fell somewhere between mood rings and pet rocks).
I don't have the 3:00 p.m. "thing" since moving here, nor do I have the bad Wednesdays.
I've also wondered about S.A.D. and if living in a different climate has changed those two factors.
On the rare occasion when I do wake up in the middle of the night (and can't go back to sleep) it feels so draining, waiting for morning (or sleep). I can't imagine what it would be like to deal with that nightly.
Does it leave you tired during the day - or do you eventually get used to it?
Posted by noa on April 19, 2003, at 6:07:25
In reply to Re: 3am, posted by leeran on April 18, 2003, at 23:50:28
Have you read Bob Arnot's "The Biology of Success"?
This is the end of the thread.
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