[Blindtlk] ernestly seeking advice about sleep irregularities

[Michael]

Hi Robert
I lost my sight a couple of years ago and for a  time I woke up in the 
middle of the night wide awake.  This is clinically called nocturnal 
awakenings.  I am a retired pharmacist and knew that melatonin doesn't last 
long in the body. It only has a half life of thirty to forty minutes, 
meaning that the body gets rid of half  of what is in the blood during that 
time. So this prompted me to look for an extended release melatonin product 
that would last long enough for me to sleep soundly.  I found one on 
drugstore.com.  It did help too.  Before, I would take melatonin during the 
middle of the night only if I woke up and I can take the sustained release 
product now when I go to bed.  I do hope this helps and if you would like a 
bunch of scientific details about melatonin that might put some people to 
sleep let me know.

Michael
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert J Smith" <rsmith247 at csc.com>
To: <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, May 24, 2010 3:11 PM
Subject: [Blindtlk] ernestly seeking advice about sleep irregularities


> Hi all.  I am a person who is totally blind with prosthetic eyes.  You
> will see why I mention this right at the beginning later in this message.
> I am ernestly seeking advice from other totally blind persons who suffer,
> or have suffered from sleep irregularities.  I take Melatonin which helps
> the problem somewhat but it could be better.  Without Melatonin, I would
> sleep for two maybe three hours per night, wake up, and stay awake the
> rest of the night.  With Melatonin, I sleep about five hours a night but
> still get sleepy sometimes during the day.  Any ideas as to how I can
> improve my alertness during the entire day?  Cafinated coffee doesn't do
> it.  I can sit and yawn and get drowsy while drinking it.  I take one
> Melatonin tablet at night.  Should I possibly take two?  Should I take
> something to keep me alert during the day instead of focusing on the
> night?  I am open to all suggestions!  Of course I know that nobody can
> prescribe anything on this list.  I have heard that blind persons who have
> no light perception have been known to have sleep irregularity problems.
> This seems to follow with me because when I was a kid I had light
> perception.  I would sit in front of a lamp in my bedroom when doing my
> homework first to be just like my sighted younger brother when he did his
> homework, second because I liked actually seeing something since I had
> both real eyes at that point.  When I was a kid, I did not have sleep and
> alertness troubles.
>
> Thanks much in advance,
>
> Robert Smith
>
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