Struggling to Sleep with ADHD? Watch This!
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- Опубліковано 26 лис 2024
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Hello, Brains! Having trouble sleeping with ADHD? Same. In this video, I talk about why it can be so hard to get to sleep when you have ADHD-like executive function struggles and common sleep disorders like insomnia and restless leg syndrome. Sleep is super important for managing ADHD, but it’s not always easy to get. Let’s break down what’s really going on so we can learn strategies for our sleep difficulties.
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Jessica McCabe is not a licensed mental health provider, but information presented on How to ADHD is reviewed by researchers and approved by licensed clinical psychologist Patrick LaCount, PhD (practicalpsych...). While information presented on How to ADHD has historically been built in consultation with researchers and licensed providers, videos posted prior to April 2023 were not subjected to the same formal approval process required by the UA-cam Health program.
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"The Show Must Be Go”
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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Thank you so much! It would mean so much if you or those experts you talk with have additional information for military personnel with ADHD trying to sleep in combat zones!
I saw your book at Barnes and Noble in Iowa!!! Jessica is my personal hero! Her, and my mom! ❤🎉 bad ass women working hard, resting up, and trying creative approaches until something sticks!
Please do. I'd especially like to see something about Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome... I can never get to sleep at a decent hour and am always exhausted during most of the day. But then I'm wide awake before it's reasonable to go to sleep again. And, by some miracle I do get to sleep on time, I wake up a few hours later and CANNOT get back to sleep. And this is me, in my late Thirties, who has only recently found out I've had Inattentive ADHD my whole life.
It's nice to see someone acknowledge Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome. I never see it mentioned when topics of sleep issues are discussed!
Yes, so much yes. Yesterday I was gaming with a friend up until like 2am and I was tired. Then we quit the session, I just wanted to look at another video for a couple of minutes... and suddenly I was wide awake again. Wasn't feeling tired anymore until 5am and even then it took me more than 30 minutes to fall asleep. This is so frustrating sometimes. It's not like I can do anything with that sudden burst of energy, because I'm mentally exhausted then and not motivated to do something
Yes. If I'm asleep on time, my body betrays me by waking up way too early.
@@KiraFriede Same.
Omg - are you me?!
I'm pretty sure I have Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome. THANK YOU for mentioning it. It's so frustrating that most people treat it like a self-discipline or moral issue. I've always been like thissss.
One Easter morning when I was a little kid, my mom couldn't even get me out of bed to see what the Easter Bunny brought until 11am. And my parents pretty much gave up on trying to make me have a bedtime.
I still just fall asleep when I fall asleep. Usually that's around midnight-2am, and I feel awful all day if I get up before 8am, even if I got enough sleep beforehand and actually really WANT to do it.
It used to take me at least an hour to fall asleep. I NEVER thought listening to something to fall asleep would work. TV, music, and even white noise keep me awake so hard. However, I discovered sleep stories on the Calm app (lots on youtube too), tried them out, and suddenly I could sleep. I think it's because sleep stories are meant to take you on a visual journey, so it keeps your visual imagination engaged without giving you any plot to follow or any very exciting thoughts. So basically anything that paints a picture but isn't TOO interesting, like an audiobook you already know well. Erik Braa has a podcast called The SleepyTime Braacast that I like a lot because his voice is so calming.
Yesss I recently discovered Calm and had thought exactly the same, there's no way I can fall asleep listening to something. Even if I don't fall asleep listening to the story, I find it a lot quicker to fall asleep afterwards so have ended up going to be earlier to use the sleep stories to calm down!
For me, it's a hit or miss strategy.
If the story is too exiting, I stay awake.
If the story is too boring, I get annoyed and stay awake.
It works when it's juuuuust at the right spot between not boring and not exciting.
@@KiraFriede Yeah, it's not a 100% thing for me. I've had to turn many off and try another. The reader's voice or how slow/fast they read can bother me too. I've found about 3-4 stories that I have a lot of success with and tend to stick to them. There's one in particular that I've listened to a TON and after listening to it so many times, I'm basically powerless to it putting me right to sleep. 😄 And this is after a lifetime of not being able to sleep from like age 7 to 35+
I do something similar with music. I have a Fitbit, and in the app, there is a "Coach" page with exercise videos and other things you can just listen to. One of the pages is called Mindfulness. There, they have various categories to help you be more be more mindful of yourself. There are sections for foundational practice for learning meditation. there are also sleep meditations that help you focus on something other than berating yourself for not being able to sleep. Some are stories, some are guided meditations to help you get to sleep, and some are simply music. They vary in length. The music is soothing and relaxing. There's one that's an hour long and others around 4 minutes. One I listen to is 30 min long. Sometimes, I can get to sleep in 30 min, but then there are days when it takes longer than a half hour to get to sleep. And then I have to restart. Some sessions are sleep stories in the mix as well. There's even one meditation that helps with getting back to sleep after bad dreams. Once you find the sessions that appeal, you can add them to the "Favorites" tab so you don't have to search for them. Calm has partnered with Fitbit, so many of their sessions are also on the app.
Yeah, I need something to listen to to go to sleep, but it has to be just right. Not too boring, not too exciting. But it can vary from day to day. Something that worked yesterday might not be right today
The fact that this showed up at 1:46am😅😂😂
True
For me at 22:46 🤦🏻♂️😅 Rrrright before sleep.
1:06 for me :D
1:17 am...
1:21am for me.
Sleep is the struggle of my life. When i was a kid it was typical to lay in bed wide awake and finally doze when the sun came up. Just to be woken up for school shortly after. Struggle to stay awake all day, and then ten at night hits and do the struggle all over again.
I've always been a night owl when it came to sleep scheduling. Retirement years makes it a lot easier to deal with a 3 ~ 4 AM bedtime; though it does put me out-of-sync with the rest of the populace.
This is something that has plagued me since my teen years. Even doing decades of office work with having conventional hours didn't break me of my night owl habit.
When I was employed, 10 or 11 PM bedtime was a deadline I had to keep. But when unemployed when a 6 AM awakening was not needed, I found myself getting to bed around midnight. Weeks later it was 1 AM; then it got to be 2 AM.
In my retirement years, rarely do I get to bed prior to midnight. When I had cats and I stayed up till 3 AM, my cats loved it, as I kept the hours that were agreeable with them, as cats are predominantly nocturnal creatures.
I was once tested for sleep apnea due to restless nights. I had to go to the hospital to get wired up to take my pulse as well as record my breathing and then go home on the London Underground. I was so nervous going on public transport covered in hidden wires!
Turned out I didn't have sleep apnea and just 13 short years later, I was diagnosed with ADHD.
I do so much better these days because I’m self employed and have the luxury of going to bed when I’m actually sleepy-somewhere between 12:30 am and 2 am usually. The delayed sleep thing is very real. Now that I can keep a schedule that conforms to what my body wants, I have no problem going to sleep or staying asleep generally. I wish this was an option for more people. I do sometimes have a problem with sleep revenge procrastination when I have too many things on my calendar as an ineffective way of trying to regain control of my schedule, but staying up too late just because you don’t want to do what you have to do is not helpful. Anyway, I do so much better with focus and all of the ADHD challenges when I can keep my natural schedule, therefore I get enough sleep consistently. I’d love to see more information on the delayed sleep thing. It is treated as a disorder, but it really isn’t if you don’t have to keep a neurotypical schedule.
Yoooo this is one major reason I want to be self employed
Goddamnit. I literally couldn't get to sleep until 3:30 on Sunday night and called out sick on Monday. I was literally angry for 2 hours while in bed staring at my screen...
Graveyard worker here. Sleep and schedule do not exist in the same sentence for me! I will say that silicone ear plugs and the Manta eye mask have been priceless to my ability to be able to sleep when I do/can.
Loving the manta sleep mask for side sleepers. ❤️ I've got to be picky about types of earplugs because of a daith piercing (got it to try to help with migraines, it didn't, but I scored major cool points with my sister, so I'll keep it), so that complicates things a bit. Considering getting the new manta sleep mask with Bluetooth integrated for sleepy podcasts tho.
Love this! My circadian rhythm is definitely set for "night watch" mode lol
I'd enjoy seeing a video testing or giivng opinions on products that supposedly help you sleep, like weighted blankets, sunlight lamps, etc. I'm sure we've all heard the well-meaning recommendations, but I've not seen anything looking into it from an ADHD perspective.
Oh I love this idea! Thank you!
I have been trying to regulate my sleep schedule this fall and it's so hard! My spouse and I both work from home, so there's no specific time that I HAVE to get up. It seems like I can usually get 7-9 hours, but it's not always uninterrupted -- I often wake up between 3 and 5am (like, 1-2 times a week) and might have trouble getting back to sleep and then end up sleeping later to make up for the lost hours. It's so frustrating. I also have such a hard time with morning and evening routines. Most mornings, I just want to do the bare minimum so I can start my day -- especially if I slept later than I planned. In the evenings, I have a really hard time recognizing when it's time to get ready for bed and stopping whatever I'm doing to go do that and transition into the non-thinking part of the day. If I expose myself to any work, planning, or social related tasks in the hour before I go to bed, I feel like I have a harder time getting to sleep and am more likely to wake up in the middle of the night, probably thinking about that stuff. Gah! Sleeping is so hard! But I'm completely useless without it!
You might find it interesting to know that sleeping in two smaller chunks was the norm for human beings prior to electric lighting. Needing to get all our sleep in one uninterrupted block is a byproduct of the modern age and the work schedules that came with it.
Granted that knowledge doesn't do much to actually fix the problem, but maybe knowing that will help it feel less stressful when it happens and that will improve your sleep quality. 🙂
anger: when I need to sleep or wake up from sleep, petty things make me angry. I know they don't matter, I know if i was not trying to sleep they would seem pointless, I know not having sleep makes everything worse, But they gnaw at me. At that point it becomes very difficult/impossible to go to sleep. It would be nice to have ways to cope with this.
That sounds so frustrating and tough. Just to be clear, is it that if something small happens at bedtime it makes you angry? Or is it more like you're laying there trying to sleep and end up ruminating on things that make you angry? Because I suspect the solutions are quite different for each.
I have the first one. Once I hit a certain point of tiredness, anything that gets in the way of my going to bed is rage fuel. But then of course the anger stops me from sleeping and/or turns into anxiety about not being able to fall asleep because my nervous system is all amped up. Letting my partner know when I have hit that level of tired and that I can't handle talking helps some. Trying to be in bed long before I hit that point is best. Once it happens though, the only thing I've found so far that helps me is propranolol, a beta blocker that kind of helps turn down the fight/flight response. I don't like taking meds, but this one can be used only as needed and it sure beats not sleeping. I hope you find something that helps you!
My brain won't shut up, so I have trouble sleeping. Thanks for this. ❤
Thank you Jessica you have help my ADHD since my i known my ADHD was there im only 10 . I did project on ADHD and you have helped me and my friends with it. Thanks so much Graciexx
Insomnia was a biggie with me -- especially when I feel pressured to fall asleep. As someone with sleep apnea, I found the CPAP helpful for restful sleep, partly because the oxygen goes directly to the brain.
Yesssssssss, oxygen is so so so so so important to brain and body function. I know some people who have it but struggle sleeping with the cpap... did you find any difficulty with the cpap at all? If so what did you do to get used to it and be able to sleep? :) (If not that's cool too!)
@@HowtoADHD The CPAP takes getting used to. (Especially fitting it inside my nostrils!) But now I can't imagine sleeping without it. What a difference it makes!
However, I still have a problem with distractions, an overactive mind. When you have ADHD, you're forever fighting.
A really helpful video I think would be discussing strategies to help with sleep since it’s been an obstacle I’ve faced since I was young!
Always had issues with sleep, and it only got worse when I started taking stimulants. Another impactful and helpful video, thanks, Jess!
Same, got insomnia with stimulants which nullifies the meds effects the day after a poor night of sleep
I take my Adderall in the morning and about an hour later I start yawning and can go back to sleep for an hour or two. Usually about 3 or 4 hours before bedtime I eat an edible and sleep fantastically. If not I roll around for more than an hour until I either fall asleep or just say screw it and get up lol
I'm the opposite. Slept decently for the first time ever after starting Ritalin. So, it's hard to predict. Just depends on the individual and the medication.
@Oredraven Long release or immediate release?
Delayed sleep phase syndrome here...the ONLY thing I've found actually gets me to fall asleep when I need to is 3-5mg of melatonin about 30 minutes before i go to bed and listening to a familiesr podcast while going to sleep. My body doesn't create melatonin at the time that it should so jumpstarting that process helps a lot. The familiar podcast give me enough input to quiet the racing thoughts, but its not interesting enough that i stay awake to listen.
I stayed up at 4:20 AM last night watching YT, but atleast I'm watching this at 5:49 PM today, I'm a die hard night person but would like to become a day person again!
It's 3:40 AM here in Finland right now and I'm watching YT. I have no problem falling asleep when I eventually go to bed. I have ADD.
Hyperfocusing on the back of my eyelids! 😂😂😂 I love that so much!
Your videos are the perfect blend of entertaining and educational. I’m so impressed with how accurate you are. So often there are Influencers who just spout off what they think is true like it’s fact, but you really take the time and have the research to back up your statements. ❤❤❤❤
I would love to know more about the different sleep disorders that are common with adhd and strategies to combat those and strategies for sleep and adhd in general
I've learned over the years as someone with ADHD that sometimes to get to sleep, you may need to just shift your hyperfocus from one thing to another. Sometimes on nights when I have difficulty shutting off my brain when trying to sleep, I take out my telescope and look at stars and galaxies or planets, and concentrate on trying to see what details I can pick out that night. Usually a 45-minute observing session is all I need to de-clutter my brain. The thing is, for this method to work, it has to be something that takes a lot of mental effort but is something that you enjoy. For some, it could be drawing.
This is great timing considering I fell asleep near 1am last night and woke up at 4am only to not be able to fall back asleep. I've accepted my fate of tiredness for today :D I'm glad this is being addressed since I remember having trouble falling asleep for ages ever since I was little since my mind never quiets.
same. laat few days a woke up at 3~4 although having slept at 22~1 .. and then the extreme tiredness at 13~16 and the unavoidable nap between 16 and 20. It's brocken as of yet. And the goal remains.. sleeping at 23~1 and waking up at around 8. I dunno, but cant the heck get there, even after having tried so for alnost 2 years straight.
And sleep problems are rotating. it's not a fixed thing. currently it's the delayed sleep phase though and i do hope that the open window will help get it fixed enough till this sunday, because i wanna play great chess and not some tired blunderfest
Yes! Please more videos about sleep. Learning that insomnia and sleep apnea was associated with this was so helpful for making me not feel so much like a failure or lazy because sleep was hard for me
Thank you for this video on ADHD sleep struggles. Yes, strategies on how to get to bed and fall sleep and stay asleep would be so helpful.
👍👍 I'm constantly tired but often can't get to sleep or stay asleep 👍😭 Insomnia sucks but it doesn't usually stay unbearable for very long, eventually you'll get through the worst of it 💛👍!
Yeah, it can be a cycle for some people! If it doesn't cycles or it cycles too slowly deeeeefinitely talk to our dooooctor. But if it's manageable, woooooo! Cool! yay!
I have a sleep study in just a couple weeks, so yesss for more videos on this! I only have a vague idea of sleep disorders, and it's always hard to articular to doctors that "tired" is not "sleepy". I'm tired all the time, even right when I wake up, but I'm not about to fall asleep when I'm talking to someone. I'm not *sleepy*, I'm so mentally exhausted from using my brain that I'm *tired* because I feel like my brain has been running on fumes for years and not even sleeping is enough to rest my brain and recover.
But yeah I can definitely take a nap in the middle of the day, if I am allowed to sneak off to a quiet room and I am not stimulated by anything and I'm able to hide under covers in the dark. Which is a useful thing, given migraines are also a common occurrence for me. We love migraines and sleep issues going hand in hand, and adhd and sleep issues going hand in hand...
OMG the tired and exhausted but not sleepy thing. . . that was my life for years.
(Maybe take a look into MCAS? That was the problem for me, it's more common with ADHDers, and if you have migraines it makes me extra suspicious.)
Interesting timing on this video for me. I have a sleep study consultation next week. Apparently, Obstructive Sleep Apnea has a lesser known brother called Central Sleep Apnea where your brain stops sending your lungs the signal to breathe. Like Obstructive Sleep Apnea it causes headaches, daytime sleepiness, nighttime awakeness, and brain fog. Unlike OSA, CSA does not cause snoring. You can have both kinds at once too. Eventually sleep apnea can lead to heart failure and death if left untreated. I found out about this because I had some lab work done by a hospital and they saw that I had an elevated red blood cell/hemoglobin count, which is often a symptom of sleep apnea. Apparently people with ADHD are at a higher risk of developing both types of sleep apnea.
Please do a video on each disorder!! I struggle with multiple.
Thank you for this video! Yes. Please more sleep information.
I started working (at Walmart) a couple of months ago. Sleep has been one of the biggest problems (even when I manage to get to bed "on time" to wake up at a "reasonable" hour FOR work).
Anecdotal Information FWIW: Adult (44m), severe ADHD-c. I will swing back and forth between be capable of sleeping 12+ hours easily and getting 2hours max with most of the time in bed staring at a wall listening to my brain go full speed. Diagnosed with off-the-charts sleep apnea (after a vacation with friends where my room buddy said he was regularly worried that i had just stopped breathing altogether) the CPAP helps out a lot. If i DO manage to go to sleep and gte to the deep stages, im not awoken by my lack of working lungs.
Man I'd love some sort of regularity in my sleep. but alas, its just the price i pay for this particular superpower i suppose. Sweet Dreams fellow Brains
I've been a new Mom now for 6 months, my ADHD kicks in the most at night. I would greatly appreciate more videos/ deep dives into sleep. Lately, it feels like I'm more awake when I try to sleep than I am awake. My eyes are closed, dim light coming from the hallway, feels like there is a light in my face.
Sleep inertia is a good topic. It feels horrible getting out of bed.
For restless leg syndrome I recently discovered cold showers. When my legs go crazy and I can't sleep I go shower my legs with the coldest water possible. At first my nervous system is shocked but when I go back to bed, my legs are calm and I can sleep
COLD SHOWERS ACTUALLY MOTIVATE ME TO….DO THINGS! Sometimes it still fails, but most of the time it WORKS! (Relieves anxiety too!)
AuDHD here. After my first cold shower, I started writing color coded to-do lists and since then I’ve been checking the items off. (Slower than a neurotypical would, but they ARE getting done!) It’s been 4 months of cold showers and I can’t believe they’re still working.
I was telling my friends about it and they were like “wow, it sounds like how I feel when I take my ADHD meds”
Another boost is that cold showers have INCREASED my already super-active imagination and my creativity, as well as my drive to sit down and write, draw, take notes, research.
This is great because actual ADHD medication heightens my Autistic traits so much that I feel like a different person. It also kills my creativity and my love of music which is sad. (Don’t need the dopamine anymore I guess 😢) I had to get off meds.
But yeah, cold showers are a freakin’ miracle. My nervous system has never been happier. I also sleep better at night! (Though still go to sleep at 2am)
I had huge troubles in waking up in the morning, then I got prescribed the vitamine B12 supplements (vegetarian) and it got a lot better.
Then I got my official ADHD diagnosis and the stimulants are great but caused me insomnia or bad quality sleep so I have to skip meds every other day.
My body shape and health worsened a lot during the pandemic and I believe that's why the stimulants accumulates over time in my body (and fat), in fact if I do some exercise after lunch I can experience the crash in the evening (which is a good thing) and have a higher quality sleep to have the full meds effect and avoid skipping 2 days in a row.
Still very unfortunate not being able to take meds every day, but yea I need to work on my physical health I guess which is a good thing in general
Edit: And after a poor quality sleep, if I take the meds in the morning they do absolutely nothing, zero effect
Interesting. I think they accumulate with me as well. I tried to tell my doc, but she seemed to not believe me and told me they don't stay in the system that long. But it kept getting worse and worse and additionally began disturbing my moods, so I stopped meds altogether. The meds would help IF I could sleep on them, but without sleep there's nothing that cuts through. I'd rather sleep and struggle with ADHD than not sleep and struggle with ADHD lol.
@tiptapkey Yeah it's a real struggle, my advice are: 1 take care of your digestive system, 2 try to do some workout, 3 Make sure the temperature, light, noise, etc. are minimized during sleep.
Also, you may try different brands of meds, both long release and immediate release or even the non-stimulants.
You may also eventually look for a psychiatrist change because that lack of trust and respect is a very bad sign
Hi Jess, great video as always. My partner (also an ADHD brain) has big problems with restless leg syndrome, so I would love to hear more about your experience with it and what helps you. Loved your video as always.
Seconding that request. I have RLS. It sucks. Has your partner gotten their ferritin level checked? My sleep specialist checked mine and found it was suboptimal. She told me to take an iron supplement to try to get it closer to 100 ng/ml as getting it to that level tends to help reduce symptoms. Even though my level is still on it's way to ideal, taking iron has already helped tremendously. I've actually slept through the night, which never happened before. Plus my knees stopped hurting all the time (cause I stopped kicking and locking them in my sleep). Don't take iron without having levels checked and monitored though, as it can be harmful if it isn't needed. Full spectrum CBD, 400mg magnesium glycinate and 400mg L-theanine at bedtime have been very helpful as well. Hope your partner finds some relief!
I have severe ADHD and i couldnt sleep as a kid/teen. My mom wouldn't let me stay up or watch tv. so i laid WIDE awake in the dark, in my bed thinking about why god would not answer me or how the universe could be infinite, or other really deep thoughts kids shouldnt be thinking. Then i started smoking Cannabis and it fixes my insomnia and helps me focus. the school gave me the most improved student award after.
I was diagnosed with sever sleep apnea before I found out that I had ADHD. I just slowly stop breathing (My brain woke me up 58 times an hour). Honestly my biggest issue now a days. is that I sometimes have issues trying to get my brain to STOP long enough to sleep. so, CPAP, no caffeine starting at noon(well ish), and two melatonin each night and that sometimes won't do it. sigh
You’re a gem and I shared your channel and site with my ADHD therapist!😀👍🌎🌍🌏💙🇨🇦
Yes, please. More sleep videos. I had to switch to working the night shift just so that I could be awake while I'm at work. Its an extreme example, but it was the only thing I've done that worked.
Actually, I usually don't watch ADHD videos anymore because I don't want to feel worse about myself, but I don't know. I just clicked on this one and it was just engaging. I was just engaged the whole way. It was a really good watch. Thank you.
My RLS went away after I sobered up. No judgment, just a thought to those who drink.
Thank you for making this video and any subsequent videos on sleep. I have had problems with sleeping on a normal schedule since I was about 13 years old and did not realize until my 30s that it was a serious issue. I feel like there also is not enough attention on the wake cycle of people with ADHD. Yeah, I struggle to fall asleep and stay asleep, but also waking up and getting out of bed is a two hour ordeal. Every day. I've been struggling with this for so long (since middle school) and it seems to have only gotten worse as I have gotten older. Too often do I get asked about my sleep habits and it usually gets boiled down to "you just need better sleep hygiene" and that is such an unhelpful way to find a solution. There's a lot more going on in the ADHD brain than the general public (and often people with ADHD) realize. I have been to so many doctors over the years and still have yet to come to a solid long-term solution.
I definitely did not choose to have these sleep problems and I definitely did not choose to sleep 17 hours on average a couple years ago -- this occurred while I was unmedicated. I have been tracking my sleep for a couple years now and I can pinpoint the day that I started taking my medicine. My sleep pattern compressed from 17 hours on average of intermittent sleep to about 8 hours with few interruptions. ADHD medication certainly did help shift my sleep cycle to a more manageable and healthy pattern, but it didn't fix it completely. Falling asleep is still a challenge sometimes and waking up continues to be a monumental task. I do not feel awake and alert until about mid-afternoon and I do not get tired until about 3-4am. This has caused so much frustration and stress for me, my family, my friends, and has definitely made it way more difficult to find employment and just be an active participant in society.
I do not expect this channel to have the answers to fix my malady, but I do appreciate that this channel conjures up the discussions of the struggles that people with ADHD often face on a daily basis with resources and some tools that may help us cope. We need voices in these spaces so that we can also learn to advocate for ourselves and others that may be struggling with similar problems.
Keep up the great work! 💙
Hello, Brains & Hearts!
Holy crap, I never thought I would click on this video so fast, this is one of the things I suffer with so much.
There is one thing I'm not sure was covered or not, but please correct me if I'm wrong: I sometimes suffer from my mind occasionally racing or spiraling when I'm trying to sleep. Like, I've winded down, I've turned down my phone's brightness to the lowest possible setting, I have white noise playing, I took my sleep aid, all of the step I'd take on a daily basis to make sure I get some shut eye. Unfortunately, there are nights where I have a barrage of thoughts hit me, almost like my mind is having a loud conversation with itself, and I just can't find the moment to just ease my mind and rest. Sometimes it gets so severe that I would lay down by 12 or 1a, but don't actually clear the buffer until somewhere around 5am because thoughts wanted to go brrr for some apparent reason.
I don't know who else deals with this, but I just wanted to share this with you because it is one of the common things that would bother me, and I wonder if this is one of those things where my adhd brain somehow came with RNG for brainstorming ideas and thoughts. ^^;
Could I please request a video on sleep apnea + ADHD specifically?
Strategies that can help with sleep would be lovely! 💖
Honestly, better sleep is what helped me the most, so I was surprised you didn’t have much to say about that until now. Finally its here 🎉
My baffling disorder is not falling asleep, but staying asleep. I will go to bed without problem then wake up 5 hours later too restless to fall back asleep then I'm just restless for the rest of the day.
I would love to hear more from you about sleep and ADHD!! I have struggled with sleep my entire life! (All of 29 years) I would really love to hear some different ways to start a bedtime routine (I’m thinking timers/gentle sounding alarms could really help with this) and what those routines may look like for different people! Thank you so much for sharing! 💖
This is fascinating. I'm a medical assistant that helps treat sleep disorders (Mainly Obstructive Sleep Apnea). I had no clue there was a correlation between OSA and ADHD.
Yes please! More about sleep disorders, please. I wake up ten to fifteen times a night when it's time to change position. Waking up a few times a night is normal. But I just seem to nap all night long. I've been like this for decades.
seeing this at 4am is very on the nose lol
I'd love to know some practical strategies for getting to sleep!!
Awesome now what's the button to share this with all the doctors in the US who think my ADHD is just my lack of sleep and not the other way around?
This is so helpful, this channel is a lifeline 🥰
I remember in my late 20s, I was complaining to my therapist about my sleeping issues and how I've always had them since I could remember.
and then my therapist mentioned that it is likely do to my ADHD, since it's common for that to happen. I had never put the two of them together!
I feel kind of guilty that I can only watch your videos at 2x speed and skip through the ad, but I still really appreciate your content and how it helps me deal with stuff, 100%.
Yes please - more videos about ADHD and sleep! Thank you!!
Memo: Obstructive Sleep Abnea, often in adults but also in children with ADHD
Always wanting to know more about ADHD and all the little things it does.
0:10 2 13 in the morning but close enough.
You are from India, right 😅
Me to watching this at 2:16
@dhruba5849 yea 😂
@@peterparker1262 Can't sleep bro.... waiting for the sun then I can sleep and I have to go for work tomorrow morning so best of luck to me 😂😅
And Good Night 👍
@@dhruba5849 goodluck dude, hopefully everyone goes alright at work.
@@dhruba5849goodluck dude, hoping everything goes alright at work.
I would love a 3-noon sleep friendly society.
That is like, my preferred day:
wake up at noon
maybe snooze a bit, eventually shower
have a late lunch, maybe brunch it up
do some work for a few hours
take a break, have dinner, I'm thinking a nice curry.
Then maybe a couple more hours of work, if you're up to it
Some down time to play video games, catch up on series, read a book or four.
A midnight snack, some good youtube vids, a focus on relaxation.
Repeat forever, or at least until you decide it's a five-day-weekend.
I went to bed without having some random video in the background. I guess that's why I am watching this video right now with no hope of falling asleep. It's going to be a great productive day today!
I legit naturally sleep from 3am-11am and did not know there was a name for that until this video. I now feel like less of a weirdo.
Please produce more videos on this. May I suggest 2 or 3 different videos for you to produce? If so... 1) More on the types of sleep disorders we face. Maybe you can do multiple episodes on this -- I don't know. You seem to have a lot more experience at producing ADHD videos than I do. :-) 2) Strategies for dealing with the most common types of sleep disorders; again, may be multiple videos because multiple sleep disorders are themselves going to have multiple solutions... 3) Your slice of life. Please talk about any of your own issues you are comfortable with sharing; 0 is always a comfortable number... And sleep disorder examples in your orbit -- friends, acquaintances, health professionals, etc. And their success and failures in dealing with these sleeping issues. Whenever I advise people about ADHD and getting help, I remind them that it is much more an art than a science to successfully treat ADHD. That they should expect multiple failures before they achieve success. If you have examples of this in these videos, I think you will reach even more people. Knowing you aren't a failure when you just aren't successful yet is SO uplifting. It's just like what your channel has been doing since day 1: Reminding us we aren't alone, and we aren't failures simply because we aren't "typical". Thank you for all you do. I wish that I could help you achieve your goals by shouting from the rooftops -- you are so WORTHY of that kind of recognition. And if you have any doubts as to the veracity of my compliments of you, go back and look at all my comments on your videos. The historical perspective might make it easier for you to believe. PS: Consider this encouragement to have more babies. The world would be a brighter place with mor of your progeny in it.
Yes please, I REALLY need it right now...
I have your book in both digital and audio, so I can enjoy it wherever I am.
If you have delayed sleep syndrome, melatonin (up to 5mg- start with 3mg if its available where you live) is extreamly effective. Its used to treat jetlag which, essentially, is what it is- only, just randomly.
I been on 4 different sleep meds untill i was recommended by a friend and asked my doctor (who was my 3rd doctor treating me since i started sleep meds) and he was like, wait you never tried that?...
So long story short i no longer take other sleep meds
Its very easy to find 10 and 15mg of melatonin. You are likely dont need it, if 5mg not help its likely NOT delayed sleep (or, not JUST delayed sleep). Dont start using it unless instructed by doctor as you will build tolerance to normal levels. Keep double dose for "i gotta sleep super early today cause i gotta wake up at 4am tmw" emergencies.
Also, i know for people tend to wake up theres a slow release version, didn't try it as i tend to have issue falling asleep, not staying asleep.
Could you talk about Bedtime procrastination please? Not just ‘Revenge’ bedtime procrastination but general procrastination (I get it on days I’ve been relaxing on a beach too).
Also techniques to stop your mind spinning at night and to avoid using your phone
When I was a kid, I clearly remember having issues falling asleep. My brain would just be too busy even when I wasn't hyperfocusing on a book that I was in the middle of reading. My mom would be deep asleep and snoring and I'd be stuck having to imagine being a character that is stuck in the hospital just to fall asleep.
Awesome video Jessica 🙂; what about sleep paralysis? is there any correlation with ADHD?
I am not diagnosed with ADHD but I relate to this videos on a deep level. I tried to consult a psychiatrist but he said I don’t have ADHD because my symptoms weren’t evident at childhood. Maybe it’s not ADHD but I know something is wrong and I struggle a lot everyday. I plan to consult a different specialist before this year ends.
I watched this video after waking up at 12 noon because I couldn’t sleep last night. I think I slept at around 4am. 😕
I, whom isn’t a Doctor use light blocking glasses 1 hour before bed every night. I take 400mg of theinine, 750mg gaba, 350mg magnesium clycinate, and 10mg of melatonin as a 200 pound 5’8 bodybuilder. I got a resmed airsense 10 auto cpap that im trying to get used to, but the nights ive worn it beyond 2 hours have been noticeably better.
But try my sleep stack, just back off the dose and titrate up weekly to find your minimum effective dose. And, do your own research before taking medical advice from meatheads on the internet.
Sharp 2:00 am Exam Deadline tmr so far tonight I learnt waltz dance steps play printed playing the violine with a pen ، and studied for 30 mins
Yes please! Restless leg is my thing, and for me acupuncture works! But I'd love to get tips and tricks. Even just hearing that it's not me helped...I have never seen a major difference between screens vs no screens, so I'm glad to hear I'm not crazy.
I have had sleep issues my entire life, and I recently did an at-home sleep study. Ironically, my anxiety due to life stressors didn't let me sleep long enough for the doctor to get enough data to draw any sort of conclusions. 😂 I'll be doing a sleep study in the clinic in the next few weeks, so we can hopefully get my baseline to be something other than "tired".
All the details on sleep disorders please! Especially restless legs and excessive daytime sleep, but also all of them. Between three of us in this house I think we have every single one covered 😅
I found out, after years of drinking coffee and sodas, that I am a slow metabolizer of caffeine. It takes 10-12 hours for any caffeine to process through us who have the genetics for slow metabolizing of caffeine.
SO I tried de-caffeinated coffee and, after finding some good ones (some are AWFUL) I now enjoy coffee most days and have almost ZERO insomnia. I also now have less nighttime trips to the bathroom. I often only get up once in the night without caffeine consumption. IF I find myself awake too late now, it's almost always because I had some form of caffeine that day, even dark chocolate(!). So sometimes I have some chocolate, but never when I don't have some nap time built into the next day (not working). I'm 58.
Thanks and yes please to more focus on sleep. I've struggled for over 30 years and the delayed phase sleep is a huge issue for me.
I've gotten better at this thankfully. Though the blue light is something I'm retraining my brain to obstain from. I've gotten into a routine thankfully were I usually get 8 hrs of sleep uninterrupted.
Learning Spanish currently through Duolingo, am progressing quite well. 😊
Diet and exercise are a huge part of it.
Hi 👋 I would love to learn more about sleep in ur videos. I have a huge problem w/ keeping my sleep consistent. I know part of that problem is switching from what I'm doing during the day. & winding down at night for sleep. I've been working on this. & I've gotten some things set up like how I organize my bathroom supplies by the sink w/ my tooth brush. To make it easier to get to anytime I need to quickly brush my teeth or grab other things. This is my biggest struggle right now. & I would absolutely love to hear more about this in ur videos. 💙
Hello mom of the brains! Could you please do videos on *all* of the mentioned sleep-related things? And have an invited talk from your fabulous AuDHD partner about sleep problems for AuDHDers (like me) too? And what to do about it? (Techniques, meds, anything that helps.) That would really hit the spot for me. Thank you, MOTB! 😊
I've had trouble sleeping since I was a kid, nightmares was the biggest issue back then, but I still struggle. Both with going to sleep at a reasonable hour (it's 1:20 am atm) and actually falling asleep.
The worst thing? Waking up... That literally hurts, no matter how many hours I get to sleep.
Thankfully sleep is the one thing in live i have absolutely no problem with whatsoever. I just get into bed, lay down my head close my eyes and I'm gone.
Definitely would like strategies for restless leg, cramps, or moving around a lot. I know some of it is pain related but even when my pain is managed I move around in my sleep.
00:09 “If you're watching this at three in the morning”
Me: *checks clock* “Ha, I'm not one of those losers! 2:55 AM... but now I have to watch this...”
Your channel has been so helpful. I have shared it with my students since before 2018 now that I have been diagnosed with adult ADHD and suffered through various traumas during Covid I am viewing the videos for myself. Thank you for sticking with this endeavor and I wish you well with your book. I have some read along’s on my channel. Feel free to check them out!
Thank you! For me personally this video is very timely. A potential topic could be how to discuss ADHD and sleep issues with medical professionals? I've spent thousands on specialists this year for fatigue and not one has referred me to a sleep study!! They don't want to investigate/diagnose (which would be helpful), only medicate over and over.
I have a small tablet that I use to watch in bed to help me get to sleep. I only watch videos on youtube from a couple different creators in this setting. In a somewhat Pavlovs dog kind of way it helps me turn off my overactive brain and when I watch videos from the preferred creators I find that I get tired enough to sleep much faster.
That thankfully is the one thing I never have problems with. I simply close my eyes and daydream till my mind wanders off. 3 minutes tops I'd say.
This is extreme relevant and timely! And a much needed deeper explanation! But also, having a late coffee that seals the deal of no-sleep!
We go to bed between 9 and 9:30pm. My big hurdle is that if I don't fall asleep and stay asleep before 11, I'll probably be up until midnight or 1am. But also sometimes I wake up between midnight and 2am and I'm awake until 4am or so. My point is my sleep is a mess. I did just learn about delayed sleep phase syndrome at C.H.A.D.D the other week and that was eye-opening.
I used to make up fantasy stories in my head where I was the main character to fall asleep. Nowadays I put on some UA-cam playlist with a UA-camr with a monotone voice that doesn’t put in music or video clips. It doesn’t really matter what the subject is, it just can’t be too interesting, so often I listen to a playlist I’ve heard before. But it can’t be too boring neither, then my brain starts thinking about other stuff
Yes, more please, this was helpful - molte grazie
Thank you very much for this video.
Can you talk more find details about each of the more common sleep disorders when we have ADHD, please?
Like the Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome.
Thank youuuuu
This explains sooo much!!! Just trying to get my exhausted body to work after being wide awake til 5am 😭
It's the time blindness and poor working memory for me 😭 my bedtime alarm goes off at 10:30, and I fully intend to go to bed juuuuust as soon as I finish this step in the craft I'm working on! Next thing I know it's midnight and I still need to clean up my craft and get ready for bed!
Had an academic sleep physician tell me that almost everyone she had ultimately diagnosed with Narcolepsy (1 or 2) was first diagnosed with ADHD (often many years prior). Would love to hear experts discuss for those with narcolepsy/ sleep disorders if ADHD is better understood in that case as a co-morbidity, a manifestation of the sleep disorder, or a potential mixture of the two