Need my sleep

As much as we can say that sleep is for the weak, unless you have some medical problem, we need sleep. I posed a question to some of my buddies back in '08, and this is how they responded (names are ommited):

Me: Maybe someone can help me out. My sleep has been messed up and sporadic. I've been sleeping for like 3 hours 3 different times a day. Any ideas to get my sleep out of whack and get it to be normal also while I go out till 3am.

Cool dude 1: yup, get on some energy drinks to get you through the day and help you pass over those nap times. make sure to take sugar-free drinks, so that you don't get the extra crash from the sugar. stop taking them about 5 hours before you'd like to go to bed. if you want to go more natural, then drink green tea instead of the energy drinks.

take some melatonin about an hour before you'd like to go to bed. it's natural and can be picked up at a health food store for a few bucks. walmart might even have it.

Cool dude 2: The 2 things that help you reset your biological clock:

1. Melatonin (as Elev8 mentioned) - this is what tells your body "it's time to sleep"
2. Natural sunlight - when sunlight enters your eyes, it stimulates your pineal gland and triggers the release of hormones that tell your body "it's time to wake up". (Artificial light will not work because it doesn't contain the full spectrum.)

By using the above combination you can reprogram your biological clock, and it's totally natural so there's no side effects.

Take melatonin before you sleep. Melatonin usually comes in 3mg tablets. However, this is usually around 4-8 times the required dose for most people. So people who take this dose often find that the melatonin loses effect over time (the body gets desensitized to it because the dosage is too high). It's a good idea to take the minimum dose that works. I recommend starting out by breaking the tablet into quarters and just take a quarter-tablet before you sleep.

Sleep in total darkness (or, as close to it as possible) - turn off all lights, put shades on the windows if necessary.

Then, the first thing once you wake up, go outside and get some sunlight. Don't wear any glasses or shades, let the sunlight enter your eyes for a couple minutes.

If you find yourself sleeping poorly (e.g. waking up in the middle of your sleep and unable to get back to sleep), taking some Zinc (~30mg) plus Magnesium (~400mg) before bedtime can help you sleep deeper and increase the quality of your sleep. You may find that you get very vivid dreams too. If you take Zinc+Magnesium, take it on an empty stomach and don't take it with milk (because calcium from milk reduces the absorption of zinc).

Good post huh?