Insomniac--anyone else up at this hour?

I am in another insomniac phase so I got up at 2:00 local time.  Wondering if there are any other insomniacs out there?

Eric

Just heading to bed.

Kind of ironic Marco--you go to bed just as I wake up.  I have been an early riser most of my life, but today I set the bar high.

Eric

There have been many times when I might have  been up at 2am but for awhile now, it's been more rare and I sleep in until 3:30 or 4am I go to bed at 8pm so am getting a wonderful solid 7 or 8 hours of good rest.  
Going to sleep has never been a problem unless I drink something caffeinated past noon, it's always been waking up too early and not being able to go back to sleep.

Magnesium made a huge difference in my sleep habits.
I think I remember you saying it didn't work for you?

For about 20+ years, I woke up about 2 am every night.  I would read a book for about 30 minutes then go back to sleep.  I got up at 4 am, watched some TV, drank coffee, and was at the office by 7 am.

That really helped when we were volunteering on weekends at the state park because I saw people sneaking in and when they came to the office to pay, they had to pay for an overnight stay.

I finally found the key to breaking the 2 am waking up by staying up until 11 pm.  I am happy to say I have no more insomnia.

As it happens I do have sleep problems.  For example, parasomnias. Not ghosts, but weird stuff. Like sometimes I don't have the GABA and glycine muscle inhibition that prevents me from acting out my nightmares.   That's real bad.

Did you know that the word nightmare comes from paralysis that sometimes comes when one wakes up? You can't move anything except your eyes.  Its terrifying.  People assumed that an invisible horse was sitting on them to keep them still.   Anyway, I've had that too.  And sleepwalking, sleeptalking, sleep driving.  

But the worst is circadian rhythm disorder.  Left to my own natural schedule I'd go to bed around 6am and wake up around 3 in the afternoon.  That doesn't fit too well with modern society and has led to a whole host of problems.  Ive compromised and I go to sleep at 2am and wake up at 9am.  

But im not here to talk about that.  Rather, to discuss bifurcated sleep.  In preindustrial times it was common to have tea and snacks around 1am.  Neighbors would light a candle to let others know it was ok to come over.  You'd stop by for a chat in your nightdress, have some tea and a chat, then amble on back home for the rest of your sleep.  This is also a brain chemistry thing called hypnagogic  state.  It is where your alpha and beta patterns are both active so you oscillate between wake and sleep states.  If you surge past hypnagogia into wakefulness, you go out for tea or read a book or something. Get out of bed.   Low lights. In a half hour or so your beta waves will assert themselves again and you can fall back asleep.  It's a thing.  Normal.   So hop out of bed and wait for the next sleep train.