r/DSPD • u/ktfarrier • 6d ago

Preparing for the morning?

I've had dspd all of my life. My mom tells me when I was a baby, I'd never sleep at night - only in the day. Well, I'm almost 40 now and despite trying to be 'normal', if left unchecked, I revert back to my bed by 5-6am, wake up noon-2pm. That's my sweet spot. Obviously it doesn't work if I want to be a functioning member of society.

I have a dentist appointment in a few days at 10am. What are some of your methods to 'reset'? Pull an all lighter the night before? Prepare a few days prior? What I find I revert to is nap the day before from 8pm to 12-1am, and then stay up until my appointment, come home and sleep. It messes me up even more. I was just wondering if anyone had any insight?

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u/ZoyaZhivago 4d ago

A. I try not to schedule early appointments.

B. If it can’t be helped (or on the days I work earlier), I just go to bed around my usual time & get 4 hours of solid REM sleep.

C. If it’s SO EARLY I can’t even squeeze in 4 hours, I might nap on the couch for 2-3 hours or pull an all-nighter and sleep when I get home.

But I’m fine with less sleep than most people can function on, since I’ve had to work enough “day jobs” to where my body forced itself to adjust. As long as I hit 4 hours I’m good for the day.

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u/ktfarrier 3d ago

Can you go multiple days on 4 hrs sleep? If I get a full week of somewhat decent sleep, I can do a day on 4 hrs sleep, but if I have to do it again the next day, I'm a ripe zombie.

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u/ZoyaZhivago 3d ago

Yes. I average 4-5 hours all week (my work week is Sun-Thurs), so that’s kinda my default… on my days off, I might get 6-7 instead.