Help Exhausted since I fixed my sleep schedule

[Proteus]

When younger, I used to wake up and go bed whenever I felt like. I fixed that not too long ago, and my body never got used to it.

I can naturally wake up at 6:00 A.M., it supposes no effort to me, it took tons of effort to move my waking hour to there. The problem is I get tired proportionally early, being tired most of the day, with my only active hours being at morning. At midday, I already feel exhausted, and I'll like to use my day more. I normally go bed at 9:00 P.M., sometimes before, when I can't stand on my feet anymore, and I feel I'll drop dead at any moment.

Exercise doesn't help much, or getting outside and engaging in activities. I took a look at the sleep mega-thread, and some of the tips helped a bit, like never using my bed before the sleep hour, but I feel generally tired most of the day.

Also, I don't consume caffeine or energy drinks since I used to and they destabilize my schedule a lot. I rather not go back to them.

Forgot to say I'm not eating less than before, but now I'm tired.

 

[Life_and_Death]

are you eating enough to support the energy youre using?
i know my anorexia has shown me that even the most basic of things like breathing takes a fair bit of energy.

 

[Life_and_Death]

saw this and thought of you/your situation
"delayed sleep phase syndrome"

 

[Proteus]

"delayed sleep phase syndrome"

Damn, I can't have good things, can I? :(

 

[Proteus]

Bump, because this gets worse by the day, and it's affecting me severely.

 

[ForgottenAgain]

I'm always tired and similarly to you, I wake up at 6am. However, I go to sleep at around midnight, I should sleep until later but for some reason I don't.

Some things about sleep hygiene that I've learned and helped me:

1) A good pillow does miracles.
I had bought a pair of sleeping pillows from TK Maxx that were amazing. Just laying my head on it would make me relax like never before and just drift to sleep. For some months I had very good sleep, then they became flat and now I use a pillow that supposedly doesn't flatten but is uncomfortable. Getting a good pillow is trial and error but such a difference when you get the right one.

2) Complete darkness is your ally.
If you don't have your room in complete darkness, you won't sleep as well. I had to ask the landlord to drill into the wall a rod so we could have curtains besides the blinds because it was still too light in the room. I deeply miss outside blinds that are so common in my home country but not in England. That's some premium darkness.

3) Try to have the bedroom as cool as possible.
A cool bedroom helps to induce sleep and keep you asleep. There is nothing worse than feeling hot in the bed.

4) A pillow mist can help to relax.
I use a pillow mist spray every night, it has a lavender scent which is very pleasant and sleep inducing. This tip is not a miracle, just a nice add-on.

There are more but you've read the sleep megathread so I'm sure you know them. These are my personal tips and in the order I deem most important for me.

I'm not sleeping great, need to change that pillow and potentially the mattress...they say mattresses should be changed every 5 years, not sure how true that is but mine is 5 years old and getting uncomfortable.

I hope you can start having better sleep soon...