Is this a form of insomnia?

I've been on a strange sleep schedule for quite some time now. It's not like I have a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep, not all the time. My sleep schedule does change all the time. I have a flexible, work at home job so I never need to obey a schedule. But this is how my sleep schedule works out--

First of all, I've always been a night owl. A normal bed time for me is 5-6am. But I never seem to go to bed at that time anymore. Every night, if I'm still awake after midnight, I seem to "wake up" even more. Even if I was already tired. If I stayed up all the previous night and I'm dead tired throughout the day, by midnight I'd wake up and feel more energized. Even if I try to sleep, I am unable to fall asleep anytime between 12am-7am. I've laid in bed, trying to fall asleep for five hours before. Just laying there staring at the ceiling for five hours. There are no disturbances and no thoughts. Just trying to fall asleep and unable to. I'd be dead tired but unable to fall asleep. I haven't been able to fall asleep between the hours of 12am and 7am in years now. Most of the time I stay up until 9am or 10am. But when I fall asleep, I will be asleep for ten hours or longer.

Now, right now it is a little after 6am, my time. This case is very different and opposite of what I've mentioned above. Last night I went to bed at 11:30 pm. I just fell asleep. Half of the week I'll go to bed before midnight while the other half I can't sleep until its light outside. Now on nights like last night, since I fell asleep before midnight, it seems I always have a problem staying asleep. I woke up at 3am and haven't been able to fall back to sleep. I've been on this pattern for a few days now too. If I go to bed early, I can only stay asleep for a few hours. While if I go to bed very late, I sleep for 10-12 hrs.

So my sleeping patterns go one of two different ways. Is this some kind of insomnia? If so, does anyone know if there are any dangers of long term insomnia? Do I need to be prescribed medication? What helps with insomnia? I don't think prescription pills help me. In the past, I've tried my share of "downers" just to help me sleep. I've been offered pills like valuum and xanax in the past because I have had issues falling asleep. I guess kids today like to get high off xanax and it's supposed to knock you out. I've taken my share and surprised many people because I never got high from it and I never would get tired. Ever. That has surprised many people. I've had friends who take that stuff recreationally but "downer" pills do nothing for me. Not even weed makes me tired even though I will happily accept a bowl of some good marijuana.

 

You have just described me there. I have been an insomniac for years. It can get wearing but my doc knocks me out for a while every now and then. The only long term effect that I have noticed is that after a while I get very forgetful, lose things, etc. A good sleep tends to put that right though.

 

Quality sleep for me involves the following

Consistant time period each day
Zero light
Not too warm air
In a place I cannot associate with activity (besides sex and snacks) This includes reading, computers, work. A bed room is just that, a room with a bed in it.

 

Well, insomnia can be many things, and I guess yours is a form of it. I'm sort of like you, except when I'm lying down on my bed my mind is FULL of thoughts, sounds, images, whatever. I also COULD sleep for many, many hours, but that tends to happen only when my brain decides I absolutely need it. Other than that, if I doze off any earlier than three or four in the morning, I wake up an hour or two later. Then I'm fucked because I can't go back to sleep until afternoon.

Right now for instance, I'm supposed to be really tired because I only had a few hours of alcohol-induced sleep the previous night/morning, and yet I'm still wired awake. I'm thinking of pulling an all nighter... Sorry, I already pulled and all nighter since it's already morning here. But I'm planning on staying awake because I've got some stuff to do later during the day. I know I won't be able to fall asleep for another couple of hours, and if I fall asleeps then, I won't be able to wake up in time. Five hour sleep is about the average for me, by the way.

I know some doctors/scientists have said lack of sleep could promote a whole bunch of shit, like heart attacks, strokes, cancer, what-have-you. But I find FORCING yourself to sleep never works. I just tend to stay up if I can't sleep, and when I'm really tired, I sleep. Unless I actually NEED to sleep, then... Well, shit happens, right?

 

It's your circadian rhythm. Your body needs a regular sleep schedule other wise it'll throw everything out of order.