Thread: I can only sleep for 3 hours when tired

I have quite a complex condition that my doctor cannot understand (or isn't listening properly). Sorry for the length of this comment but this is the only way I can explain it;

I'll start during my (UK) college years age 16-18. I was in 9-4 so it was regular hours. I had no problems sleeping. I would go to bed around 11pm and get up 7.30am and not feel particularly tired to the extent that I could function. Weekends I would go to bed any time between 12-2 and would sleep for anything from 10-12 hours.

When I started university (18) I would be waking closer to 7am and working till around 5. After uni I'd be really tiredso go have a nap. I'd have to set my alarm otherwise I'd sleep through to am and mess up my sleeping pattern. So I'd always set my alarm for around 3 hours later. So I'd be going to bed around 6pm and waking at 9pm whenever I was in uni (around 3 days a week). The other days of the week I would go to bed around 11pm and sleep 10-12 hours no problem as I didn't have to get up early for anything. I did this throughout my 3 years at uni From here a condition has developed which I cannot shake.

At 21 I started a job, 9-5. After work I'm shattered but as my evenings are my only time to do stuff I don't go to bed for a nap after work as it would keep me awake into the a.m which would just have a knock on effect on the next days work. So after work I'll wait till 9-10 and go to bed. (I have however in my efforts to resolve this I tried having an hour nap to see if that works but it doesn't)

My problem is that now when I go to bed feeling tired my mind thinks it only having a nap so I can only sleep for 3 hours. I wake up and then I don't sleep. So I wake up at around 1am and then stay awake and got to work. This then perpetuates itself. I am exhausted again the next day. Fail to function and feel rough. By Thursday its like a hangover, I become completely unsociable, unable to read or do anything that requires concentration. Any slight inconvenience sends me into a rage.

When it gets to Friday I'm in sleep arrears so at 9pm-10pm I go to bed then wake up as usual at 1am. Then I'll fall back to sleep at around 7am on Saturday morning as I don't need to be up for work. Now I'll sleep till around 5pm so completely lose my Saturday. Saturday night around 1am I'm not very tired, so perplexingly this helps me sleep better, I'll sleep for 10-12 hours into Sunday. Sunday night I sleep fine but then it all begins again on Monday.

I have tried every variable and its conclusive that my mind is preset to sleeping 3 hours when I feel exhausted. I've tried every method, get up when I can't sleep, didn't work, stay in bed when can't sleep, doesn't work.

I have seen my doctor who is baffled by this though he is too impatient/busy to listen to the full backstory that explains WHY my mind is set to 3 hours. He has given me Temazapam and an alternative which do not work. My problem is not getting to sleep it is staying asleep. He cannot figure out how these pills do not knock me out. I got so angry/ desperate that I exceeded the stated dose, from 1 pill gradually up to 4 which still didn't work. His only thoughts on it are that is could be depression, but the only depressing part of my life is the fact I can't sleep. I don't think it is depression at all. It is an auto response that I cannot get out of. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to sleep altogether, but it is only when I am exhausted. Naturally he cannot understand my theory as I am effectively saying that I am too tired to sleep. But this is the case. When I'm not particularly tired I sleep without any problems.

Firstly my question is does anybody recognise this condition? Does it have any name or a derivative of any other condition. I hope being able to pigeonhole the condition will make my doctor understand.

Secondly is there any recommended treatment? By this I mean actual treatment and not the generic advice that SO many people patronise me with. My mother being the worst "Its because you are getting angry that you are waking up." No I'm not. Its a regular part of life to me. I don't wake up and think what is happening here then? Then I get others telling me no you just need to stick to a regualr sleep pattern. Even though I do have a regular sleep pattern (just not their exact hours). In fact the only depression I could get from this is arguing from the number of people that either tell me that its not a problem, or somehow interpret it that I am somehow consciously participating in keeping this condition.

I rarely drink, don't do drugs etc. I have no vices. My lifestyle is not a factor in this.

I have been awake since 4am. I'll go back to bed after posting this at 6.30am. I have to be up for work for 7.30am so I'll lie awake for an hour then go to work absolutely exhausted as normal and have another day utterly p'd off.