Why Are You Up At 2 and 3 AM?

[saturneptune]

There is a small core of us that post at this time everyday. I worked a midnight shift for over 30 years until I retired 4 years ago, and have never established or gone back to a normal sleep pattern of going to bed at 10 and sleeping through until 6.

When I did work the shift, it seems I ended up sleeping twice during the day, maybe an average of 2-3 hours each time. There was never a time I slept all the way through. Since retiring, the night goes something like this. I can hardly keep my eyes open by 8, then am wide awake by 1 am. Sometimes, finally around 4 am, I go back to sleep for a couple of hours until time to get up for work. So this is why I post at this time.

What about the rest of you, why are you up at this hour? In addition, any ideas of how to learn to sleep all night would be appreciated. I am not going to start the sleeping pill routine or hook myself up to a machine. I had rather keep this pattern. Thanks for your response.

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

There is a small core of us that post at this time everyday. I worked a midnight shift for over 30 years until I retired 4 years ago, and have never established or gone back to a normal sleep pattern of going to bed at 10 and sleeping through until 6.

When I did work the shift, it seems I ended up sleeping twice during the day, maybe an average of 2-3 hours each time. There was never a time I slept all the way through. Since retiring, the night goes something like this. I can hardly keep my eyes open by 8, then am wide awake by 1 am. Sometimes, finally around 4 am, I go back to sleep for a couple of hours until time to get up for work. So this is why I post at this time.

What about the rest of you, why are you up at this hour? In addition, any ideas of how to learn to sleep all night would be appreciated. I am not going to start the sleeping pill routine or hook myself up to a machine. I had rather keep this pattern. Thanks for your response.

My dog and I both have to pee...then I have to read to get back to sleep.

 

[Iconoclast]

Most nights I drive until 2,3, 4 am...then I sit and unwind until I let down and burn out.Then fall asleep.

 

[saturneptune]

My dog and I both have to pee...then I have to read to get back to sleep.

So how did everything come out?

 

[saturneptune]

Most nights I drive until 2,3, 4 am...then I sit and unwind until I let down and burn out.Then fall asleep.

That is understandable. I will bet you if you switched to a day shift job, you would immediately fall into a pattern of sleeping all night.

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

So how did everything come out?

The flow is well :laugh:

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

I up because what is 2-3 for you is somewhere between 7-11 for me.

 

[abcgrad94]

I'm up in the night often, and sometimes get online because I can't sleep. My reasons?
1. Drank caffeine too late in the day
2. Pain keeping me from sleep
3. The dog woke me up--this happens especially in the winter if a mouse comes in the house and dog hears/sees/smells it
4. The coyotes woke me up--especially in the fall when young pups are learning to hunt.
5. I'm a light sleeper and heard a leaf fall in the backyard, so I have to get up and check it out. . .

 

[Salty]

I up because what is 2-3 for you is somewhere between 7-11 for me.

I had a GI at Ft Hood, who did not want to go to Germany, beacuse he didnt want to have to work in the middle of the night. He did not fully understand time zones!

As for myself, I also work graveyard shifts - and the days I dont work - well .....

 

[Gina B]

I struggle to sleep at what people call "normal" times, and always have.
If you see me on during those hours, that's why, but generally, I'm outside or trying to be quiet for everyone else's sake.
I really wish more people understood true night owls. It's not insomnia or depression, some people just are in that rhythm. First thing I did after high school was start working third shift. It was beautiful and refreshing while that phase of my life lasted!

 

[SaggyWoman]

If I am up at that time posting, it is because:
1. I am off and don't need to go to bed. Which is rare.
2. I can't sleep. Which is rare.

 

[righteousdude2]

Well. I live on the graveyard shift (hahaha)

There is a small core of us that post at this time everyday. I worked a midnight shift for over 30 years until I retired 4 years ago, and have never established or gone back to a normal sleep pattern of going to bed at 10 and sleeping through until 6.

When I did work the shift, it seems I ended up sleeping twice during the day, maybe an average of 2-3 hours each time. There was never a time I slept all the way through. Since retiring, the night goes something like this. I can hardly keep my eyes open by 8, then am wide awake by 1 am. Sometimes, finally around 4 am, I go back to sleep for a couple of hours until time to get up for work. So this is why I post at this time.

What about the rest of you, why are you up at this hour? In addition, any ideas of how to learn to sleep all night would be appreciated. I am not going to start the sleeping pill routine or hook myself up to a machine. I had rather keep this pattern. Thanks for your response.

Due to the agony of de-feet (peripheral neuropathy), I do not get to sleep until 7 or 8 in the morning, so I am up on the PC in the late PM, and into the early AM!

This is not by choice, but by the result of a debilitating neurological disease! I use morphine and gabapentin with ativan, to help me get some rest, but all in all, since the pain storms hit in the wee hours of the morning, I have adjusted and now live and play on the graveyard shift! :smilewinkgrin:

It taint fun, but, it is livin' to the best of my abilities! lucky for me my wife has severe insomnia, and is adjusted to my schedule. So we are both night owls, and love it!

However, many friends and family don't as we usually don't start moving until 3 or 4 PM each day! But hey! It's our life, and we love it!:thumbs:

 

[righteousdude2]

You have my vote!

I struggle to sleep at what people call "normal" times, and always have.
If you see me on during those hours, that's why, but generally, I'm outside or trying to be quiet for everyone else's sake.
I really wish more people understood true night owls. It's not insomnia or depression, some people just are in that rhythm. First thing I did after high school was start working third shift. It was beautiful and refreshing while that phase of my life lasted!

:wavey::thumbs::applause:

 

[ktn4eg]

Sometimes the Lord wakes me up at different times to call me to pray for certain folks/things.

Sometimes He wakes me up so that I'll hear what some preacher(s) have to say over the radio (I leave mine on at night tuned to Bott Radio Network -- www.bottradionetwork.com ).

And then sometimes I just wake up to answer the effectual call of my enlarged prostate to go to the porcelain throne!! :smilewinkgrin:

 

[Revmitchell]

I struggle to sleep at what people call "normal" times, and always have.
If you see me on during those hours, that's why, but generally, I'm outside or trying to be quiet for everyone else's sake.
I really wish more people understood true night owls. It's not insomnia or depression, some people just are in that rhythm. First thing I did after high school was start working third shift. It was beautiful and refreshing while that phase of my life lasted!

I am a night owl. And Sometimes the pain form an old back injury can keep me up or get me up. Although what is 2 & 3 in the morning for some is much earlier for me being out west.

 

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

I'm not, unless it's to go to the bathroom. (EW&F, I sympathize. :smilewinkgrin: )

 

[Salty]

On Sundays, I may be up at 330 am or 5 am (EST) to watch a live streaming of Faith Baptist Church (English Speaking) from K-town, Germany

 

[TC]

When I work the afternoon shift, it takes a few hours to wind down so I can go to sleep. If I try to go to bed as soon as I get home, I will not be able to go to sleep for hours.

 

[salzer mtn]

I also worked on the grave yard shift before retirement and hardly got any sleep at all during the day but since retirement I sleep good of the night. I am a very active person and since my youth I have worked out. I work on my farm plus I run and train rabbit dogs which keeps me in shape. I have always hiked, and amaze people by some of the strength moves I am able to pull off. But I know that this is all a blessing from the Lord and I do thank him for that as I go about my daily routine.

 

[saturneptune]

I also worked on the grave yard shift before retirement and hardly got any sleep at all during the day but since retirement I sleep good of the night. I am a very active person and since my youth I have worked out. I work on my farm plus I run and train rabbit dogs which keeps me in shape. I have always hiked, and amaze people by some of the strength moves I am able to pull off. But I know that this is all a blessing from the Lord and I do thank him for that as I go about my daily routine.

I know as a Christian I should not be jealous, but that post makes me jealous. LOL. No, I worked a midnight shift for 36+ years as a mechanic and electronics technician. (networking in later years). I would come home about 8 when I did not get stuck on OT, do some chores and go to bed about 11 or 12. By 3 pm, I was wide awake. I did some more things around the house and cooked supper for us because my wife got off late. At 8 pm, I would go back to bed and get up about 10:30 to get to work on time. I never learned to sleep all at once during the day.

I am not as active as you (maybe that is part of the problem), but I do work part time at an adult day care, and do my church work. I stay fairly active with chores like push mowing our one acre yard. Also, about four months after I retired four years ago, I had a six way heart bypass, which is going fine. The thing is, by 8 or 9, I go to bed. My wife stays up till 11. At 2 am, I am wide awake, so I do various things like post here. Then about 4:30, I will go back to be for a couple of hours. I salute you for making the smooth transition. It does not bother me that much, but it is not the norm.

Thanks for your response.