It's been a while but it's not unusual for me to get out of bed in the wee hours instead of

[abqtommy]

lying/laying (choose one) in bed while one thought after another distracts me. So here I am with
my puter fired up ready to meet the day with my usual schedule.

Then as I started reading the Latest Threads I remembered that it's a full moon today, last one
of 2020 unless we count views of tRUMP's enormous ass. But I digress... I'm not sure if what I'm
seeing here on DU is a normal level of activity. Maybe some of us are just Moon Struck (one of
my favorite movies) but there are worse things. And there's always the nap to come!

[elleng]

1. Good morning!

Been concentrating on the Full Cold Moon,

Here in it's fullness:



and here preparing to set, @ 7:55 a.m.



LOVE that movie!

[yankeepants]

2. Crazy sleep patterns are my regular MO! Good day DUers!

[Skeptical Thomas]

7. Same Here

Part-time Morning Glory, Part-time Night Owl. Currently the latter!

[peacefreak2.0]

3. I've given in to my sleep pattern.

Sleep for a few hours, wake up at 3:00. The world is mine and quiet. Read, stitch, DU. Grab a couple more hours of sleep. Retirement and COVID allows me to do this.

[wnylib]

4. Ah, so I'm not the only one.

It"s become a regular pattern with me. Wake up after a few hours, stay up a couple hours, and go back to bed again. Or, stay up after waking in the middle of the night and later take a mid morning or afternoon nap.

Sometimes I even sleep through the night and wake up early, like today.

[murielm99]

6. A lot of us are doing this.

I will be going back to sleep in a half-hour or so. I woke up at 3:00 a.m.

My cat loves the middle of the night attention.

[wnylib]

14. My cat loves it, too.

She was used to getting more food in her dish in the morning when I would get up for the day. Now the little mischief maker tries to con me that it's feeding time when I wake up at 2 or 3 am. From her perspective, it must be since I am up and around.

[chia]

5. It's 3:40 am Pacific time where I live and I'm here with my coffee.. the 3 am waking started for me

about 12 years or so ago, and it wasn't until I'd been doing it (too often) for years that I learned about early morning insomnia and how it's commonly linked with depression. I was eventually diagnosed and treated for depression for the first time in my life and as I've been better on and off since, so then has the 3 am wake time ebbed and flowed. I was so exhausted in the years I had to stay up once I was awake because my schedule didn't allow me the luxury of going back to bed for a couple more hours.

Now, I'm at a place where I can, and often, do go back to bed and will be doing that shortly. Those extra couple hours are a privilege and a balm to me now, so when the early wake times come anymore, I've learned to embrace them, they're some of the best hours of the day for me and when I've done some of my best thinking.

It may be important to consider whether depression could be a cause of one's early morning insomnia - and whether waking early is a help or a hindrance or simply just neutral - an acceptable part of one's natural rhythm.

[abqtommy]

11. You're probably onto something there. I was diagnosed manic-depressive/Bipolar1 many years ago

and the treatment I relied on for years (anti-depressants/Major Tranquilizers and minor tranquilizers
like temazepam/part of the valium family always helped me sleep and relax and minimized my
overactive mind. Now that I'm older and my prostate and bladder are conspiring against me I
can't lie/lay in bed for more than two hours since I have to get up to have a bathroom break. I've
always been one to take naps but these days they're a real lifesaver!

But as has been pointed out, it's better to wake up than not to wake up! And I enjoy the view of
the full moon out of my bedroom window...

[chia]

15. I'm glad the meds were/are helpful for you, it seems to me the key is if you can go right

back to sleep after your bathroom breaks. If so, then go with the flow, so to speak (haha sorry) and enjoy those naps! If you wake up refreshed, or feeling relaxed or peaceful, they're a really nice perk of getting older. Sometimes people fall into such a deep sleep during their naps they wake up groggy, but whether or not to nap is a really personal decision, taking into account many different facets of how your body and mind work in your environment, and whether the naps have any effect on the quality of your nighttime sleep.

I love a good nap, myself. And yes, I've enjoyed many a moon view, and am glad to wake up, that's a very good point.

[abqtommy]

20. Never apologize for making a good pun! It does all seem to even out.

[grantcart]

12. I have started to wake up at 3:30 too

Sometimes I eat some oatmeal and go back to sleep.

I am 6 months into taking insulin and wonder if that isn't the culprit.

I still work 10 hours a day so I need that second sleep to make through the day.

I had never heard of early morning insomnia before.

[chia]

16. Wouldn't hurt to check with your doctor about the insulin effects, and I can understand how much

you need your sleep working 10 hours a day! I'm really glad you can get a second sleep. There are multiple kinds of insomnia, including trouble getting to sleep, trouble staying asleep, waking up too early. I learned that anxiety is commonly correlated with trouble falling asleep and depression is commonly correlated with early morning awakening. Having said that, I'm not forgetting that correlation is not causation, and checking with your doctor is a good idea, so you can rule out other contributing factors like medication.

[grantcart]

18. Right

The problem is when I wake or could be momentary or can't get back to sleep kind.

As. I am trying to get back to sleep I will remember something Trump (or Barr et al) said and I get a jolt of adrenaline as I picture myself going Tyson on one of them in an elevator and now I am fully awake.

Now the upside is when I am starting to drag at 3 in the afternoon I calmly pull the car to.the side of the road and gather my thoughts and picture myself one on one with Mitch McConnell (or whoever) and as I feel my fist flattening his larynx I get a substantial dose of adrenaline and am good for another couple of high energy hours. This is how I get the Republicans to work for me.

[chia]

19. Yeah letting your mind go there is great for daytime, not so great for nighttime...

[twodogsbarking]

8. Waking up early sure beats

not waking up. Greetings.

[abqtommy]

9. Ya sure got that right!

[dameatball]

10. Same here with odd sleep patterns. I have been that way for several years, but worse the past four.

Gee, wonder why.
Anyway, there are probably a good many of us lurking, sometimes posting, during the wee hours.

[ariadne0614]

13. It's nice to know I'm not alone.

Is 3am what they mean by "the witching hour"? For me, it's an interesting time of day. I enjoy the quiet darkness that doesn't feel like either night or day. My usual pattern is to follow my thoughts wherever they may lead, and eventually drift back to sleep until around five, turn on MSNBC, scroll through DU, and make tea around six.

[Earthshine2]

17. Funny you should refer to them as the "wee" hours.

It's amazing how often I have to get up and go wee wee during that time.

[abqtommy]

21. I never noticed my pun. It was unintentional but maybe subconscious. Anyway, if I wasn't sleeping

alone they could also be the "whee" hours! It sure appears the we are all together in this.