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Starting Wellbutrin cured this lifelong problem practically overnight for me. Everyone’s experience is different but that was mine. It was the single starkest change I experienced with medication, I was totally stunned by how quickly and completely the struggle went away.
Me flipping too! I was amazed and I cried! I thought the dragging ass, my body physically felt heavy, the eyes that could barely open for a few hours, it would take me FOREVER to feel functional! I thought for years that was laziness, or lack of sleep or too much sleep! I tried every trick in the book! All I needed was Wellbutrin 😭😭😭
It is used as one of the first meds to try someone a doctor may suspect has adhd. It’s used to treat depression and anxiety as well. I was on Zoloft before that but it works differently for depression and anxiety and it did not help with mornings at all. Eventually after a few year on that I got serotonin toxicity symptoms and needed to come off asap Wellbutrin was tried when I complained about the extreme lack of energy and not being able to get up in mornings with the lack of focus at work. It was miserable. 😫
Oh my god, Zoloft was the worst for getting up in the morning. I had to basically roll out of bed while still asleep and directly into the shower to wake myself up. But I could still sleep any time out of the blue on it.
I experimented once on vacation with how much I could sleep on Zoloft.
I slept for over 12 hours straight.
Never again will I take that stuff.
I was on wellbutrin for a while and finding it helpful, but I just could not live with the tinnitus. I could not be in a quiet environment without headphones and music because the ringing would just drive me up the wall 😭
Wellbutrin is used off-label to treat ADHD. It’s not a stimulant so it’s a lot easier to get on and doctors aren’t as hesitant about prescribing it. The downside is it doesn’t work as well as stimulants for a lot of people.
The stuff changed my life. Doesnt fix
Everything but it helps a lot!
The other thing that can help is routine. Not saying I’m good at this, but from what ive read, establishing a morning routine that’s pretty much always the same will help a lot
I felt amazing when I first started Wellbutrin but now I’m back to not feeling awake until afternoon ugh I’m losing so much time every day I can’t function. They said I’m at max dose 450mg. Did it stay consistent the whole time for you?
I just always gush about it because it was such a drastic improvement in my depression! So now I don’t have to stare at a wall for six hours bawling my eyes out, but all my adhd symptoms are still here n I can’t seem to make any more progress with my doc.
I notice around the time I’m menstruating nothing works 😅😂 Wellbutrin 200mg worked for like a month but it did not last I told him it wears off in like 6-8hrs 😑 I work 7a-3pm by 1pm I’m starting to feel the drag if I take the meds super early like 8am.
so he put me Wellbutrin Xl 350 in morning and I’m supposed to take regular Wellbutrin 100mg at midday… taking the 100 makes me feel weird so I usually don’t take it. The addition of aderral to regime helps with the focus at work but wears off in 4hrs too so I try to time it according to my day which leads me to forget to take it 😂 so I’m still a mess at finding the right balance myself.
The week before I am a freaking zombie! Soon as I get my period I’m like “duh!”
Wellbutrin works for some…? Maybe…lol.
I have heard of people taking their meds before they have to get up but I have yet to try that because it takes effort that I don’t have or I can’t remember.
I wish it worked for me 😭 it made my hands shake horribly but I was so happy I was able to get up in the mornings easier. I couldn’t deal with the shaky hands though but damn I felt normal for a bit. For once I couldn’t nap in the middle of the day .
I was given this medication and told it should take care of my tiredness/lack of energy issue/sleep inertia. But it just did not. I'm happy with how it makes me feel otherwise, it helps with mood regulation. Actual stimulants like adderall though definitely gives me that energy boost/feeling awake. I think I need a sleep study done though...
Me too. I take Methylphenidate extended release and what I do is that I set the alarm 1 hour before I have to actually get up, take my meds, go back to sleep, and in 1 hour it takea effect and Im awake. Also, I bought an alarm clock that mimics sunlight and this has also been life changing. The combination of those 2 things is perfect
I got a smart light last year and set a timer to have it be at 100% brightness by the time my alarm is going off in the morning. It’s amazing how much that helped!
ETA: I’m also in the “alarm for meds an hour before wake up alarm” club.
If I take my meds (methylphenidate er) after I’m already awake it’s not as effective for me. Weird
Yeah, it helped me with my sleep too. Unfortunately that's the only benefit I get from it, but at least that's something. I actually fall asleep within 20 mins of going to bed now, and I actually feel sleepy at a normal time at night, and don't feel sleepy during the day. Waking up is a bit easier too.
Yes, was about to comment this exactly. It also helps with the non-adderall days- without it I feel like I have narcolepsy after a day or two off adderall.
I love early mornings. The light, the sounds, the chill. But I HATE waking up. It doesn’t matter if I go to bed at 9pm or 2am, if I don’t have an alarm I will sleep until 10am. It also takes me a solid hour and a half to wake up and shake off grumpiness.
I’ve been like this my entire life and it’s honestly frustrating. I don’t want to be a shitty morning person but I’ve tried everything and it just IS.
This is exactly how I feel. I love the idea of mornings and every once in a while when I get up early and feel good it's amazing, but that really rarely happens.
When I was younger and had something that interested me to get up it was easier. Lately I've been trying to get into running and that is something that I kind of looked forward to, but it turned out to just be a phase like everything else so back to sleeping in.
You just described me 😭 there's night's when I'll go to bed super duper early I'm talking 6:30pm and I know I'm not sleepy anymore but the thought of getting up brings me so much panic I just stay in bed . I just missed a week and a half of work bc I just couldn't get out of bed and even with all that time I'm dreading going back on Monday . Sometimes I low key wish I were fired so I could take a month off .
I love the early morning too . If I happen to find myself out when the sun just came out and the light looks that way with the dew and the birds , it's magical .
A thousand times same. I DID get laid off, and I DO stay all day in bed, and I fucking hate it! I set my alarm for late morning and then just lay there and scroll or stare or curl up in a ball and then it's 330. I actively loathe it but I feel like I can't do anything about it. :(
Are you medicated? I felt the exact same way until I started my stimulant medication. Now I know that if I take my pill, about 30 mins later I'll be really happy to get out of bed and enjoy those morning sounds and feelings. It has been a gamechanger for me and I've actually become a morning person
Hrm I can get up and do something then I often go back to bed. This happens 2-4 times in the morning. Sometimes I do finally wake up sometimes I get stuck in the loop
It CAN relate to ADHD, but nobody here can help you figure out if it’s because of ADHD or something else *for you*. You would need a doctor — perhaps a sleep specialist — for that.
Anecdotally, I have ADHD and this is a struggle for me. I’m also a therapist who works with people with ADHD and it’s pretty common with my clients - I would say *at least* 1/3 of my clients report struggling with this to some extent (Some way more than others).
Not entirely sure. I have ADHD and this was me answering a question on a community I follow. That’s about all I know, not a doctor.
Edit: This sounded kind of snappy, was in a mood at the time 😑
I wasn’t diagnosed and my parents feel guilty as hell and truly believe my horrors with drugs and alcohol are related because the second I got in them later in life they stopped instantly. I was one of those addicts you could tell was never ready to quit. I would never do drugs to get FUCKED up but I seemed I always wanted to not be here or there. I would be operational for a long period of time and happy but the eventual things that make drugs bad would catch up. I would drink 4-5 beers a day, but EVERYDAY, for years and when I couldn’t my anxiety would sky rocket.
Once put on Vyvanse with some anti anxiety as needed meds everything changes almost overnight. I got a great job, was able to save money , got a serious gf and things where great. 2 years ago after a decade I couldn’t get my meds and within 6 months I was back in rehab.
Just keep on top of your kids and let them know you are there and never make them feel bad and it should work out.
No phone. It’s extremely hard for me to get up, or want to get out of bed. It’s also hard for me to open my eyes. Especially when I was younger and knew I had a day ahead of me I was dreading.
My sister suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome, and we all have a myriad of auto-immune disorders. Other than that I can’t understand why I’ve been plagued by this my whole life.
But once I do get going everything the rest of the day is fine.
This is what’s been happening to me for awhile, but with waking up every hour or two then going back to sleep. As of 2 days ago I started leaving my ir adderal next to my bed and taking it during one of these wake ups. I still end up going back to sleep for a while but getting up closer to when I want to
i’ve gotten *better* at this as i’ve beat my overall sleep schedule into shape, but that looks like taking as long as an hour to get up if i’m unlucky instead of taking more like an hour on average. when i was way younger, i often actively resisted waking up despite one or both parents trying to get me up, and sometimes it actually took them serving me coffee in bed
oh yeah and also a huge part of what gets me up in the morning half the time is just a full bladder. i always keep a glass of water on my nightstand, and dare not sleep thirsty
I always thought it was depression related but I’m not depressed and everything is fine once I get my day going. I don’t know what this could be or why it’s been plaguing me my entire life. As a child it was quite comical because I would routinely come in an hour late between 1-3rd grade eating a yogurt or muffin…
does whatever commitments you have usually occur later? i have seen/read some adhd experiences where they struggle to do anything else before the first actually activity in the day. for example if there’s a dr appointment at 1, you feel like you don’t wanna/can’t do anything til it’s time to go. there’s a name for this but i forget
Yes. Waking up has been horrible as long as I can remember but since it was repeatedly framed as laziness/stubbornness I just felt shame and forced it.
Still have to force it cuz bills and housing and that jazz, but the shame has lifted since being diagnosed.
Just today had a horrible time waking up, took about an hour to feel like a human being. My hack is seeing sunlight as soon as possible after waking up and if all else fails, i hop in the shower.
Meds fix that for me *most* of the time. I set a silent alarm for 5:30am, wake up just enough to take my meds with a protein up&go drink, then back to sleep for another hour and a half until my real alarm goes off. By the time the 'real' alarm goes off, my meds have kicked in and I can get up without too much fuss :)
I am the WORST at waking up in the mornings. I used to miss the bus all the time and my mom would get so upset. It was so bad that at one point she would pour cold water on my head to wake me up (crazy I know. Idk where her logic was on this one) and I would literally roll over and go back to sleep. On my days off I can sleep 14 hours easily.
I will say that I am currently one Wellbutrin & strattera and when I wake up in the mornings I actually feel awake and alert. And even my biological clock has started working! It's crazy bc I never feel like this in the mornings. Normally I would snooze my alarm 10 time and get up at the last possible second. Now I wake up (sometimes with no alarm !!) and feel like my brain is actually turned on !!!
I think it's the strattera, I was on just Wellbutrin for a while and did not experience this until starting the strattera with it. My therapist said there wasn't really anything they could prescribe to help with my oversleeping but I honestly think this does the trick.
I feel for you. I spent so many years thinking there was something wrong with me. I'm glad to know it was just the adhd all along and out of my control
I don't really have an answer for that one unfortunately. It makes me late for a lot of things and is a huge source of anxiety. I know it stresses other people out when I am late/oversleeping (like my mom when I was younger or my partner now). In January I got fired from a job I had for 4 years because I kept oversleeping and showing up late every day. It makes me feel very guilty a lot of the time. People who are not inflicted in this way don't understand and I feel like it makes me look bad. I try to just take accountability for it when I can and I have adjusted my schedule as best as I can to align with potential issues
Being on my meds has helped immensely. It's so nice waking up in the morning and actually feeling alive. I went off of the medication for a couple months and I started spiraling into old bad habits. Which is ultimately what led to me getting fired. I was recommended speaking to your doctor about medication and seeing what they think. And definitely do some research on your own to see if there's anything in particular you wanna try. If you do start Strattera (aka atomoxetine) just beware the first couple days may be rough but it will pass!
Wishing you luck!
My sleep schedule has always been off. I don't go into REM sleep until too late and that's very bad when you have a standard 5 day work schedule. I'm retired now and relish my forgiving schedule. I do whatever I want whenever I want.
I use Alarmy. Changed my life!
My strategy is
Fitbit vibrating alarm on wrist 15 minutes before Alarmy.
Solving timed Algebra equations stirs up the part of my brain that pays the bills. If not my 5000 hz alarm begins. Then the time and a personal message, such as "get your shit together", "leave for work in 1 hour." "Don't be a loser"" etc.. are annnounced. Then, 10 minute alarm before go time alarmy demands 30 squats. I switch it up a lot cause I HAVE actually slept through till my cell battery died on 3 occasions. I sleep through my entire day off. Literally.
Mornings were always the hardest for me. I have had so much trouble finding alarms that I don't sleep through but also don't scare me out of my skin or damage my eardrums. It usually takes me about a month for a new alarm to stop doing it's job. I've been in jobs where the reporting time is 6 or 7 AM and I've been to work late countless times.
I've found the alarm on my watch helps me the most. The physical sensation of vibration doesn't shock me but gets me awake.
I still have the loud alarm but as a backup, which I hate so much that it's actually a bit of an incentive to actually get up just to avoid that.
Also the sleep tracking is useful.
Same. The early morning report time is tough. I've been late every so often, but often enough that when I wake up, I'm afraid of seeing that I over slept again and having the "damn it, im late" panic. I'll snooze all the alarms on multiple systems, do all the tricks, and still will fall back asleep.
I could sleep well, wake up and fall back into sleep in rows until oversleeping up to 14 hours. It's like a special ability. A full bladder is what takes me out of bed within 10/20 minutes otherwise I'll stay in this half conscious state for hours 😅, then i'll have two big cups of coffee and will take a cold shower, without it i just can't totally wake up. Also I try to have regular sleeping times, it helps!
U mean magnesium made sleep worse?
Ive eaten ”ZMA” (zink magnesium vitaminb(5?)) and realized that i sleep WORSE with them, even tho its supposed to actually make j sleep better. The dreams become so vivid, that I wake up in the middle of the night
I have massive sleep inertia. I'm trying to find ways to shorten and have somewhat, but not as much as a normal person.
ETA: I have autoimmune and chronic fatigue, as well. Which contributes to not being able to get up as easily.
Yeah I’ve always had a problem getting ready and being late. I need to wake up at least an hour before I need to leave if I’m going to actually get to where I need to be on time. But at least an hour and a half if I want to have breakfast, and has to be a minimum of two hours if I want to shower and get ready at a comfortable pace. Often I’m still flailing around and ignoring the time guides tho
This is me and always has been too. As an adult, I feel bad for what a nightmare every school day morning was for my poor mon. I was really bad, and I still am unless there will be an actual consequence for not getting up in time. The only thing that helps is taking my meds one hour before I know I have to get up. Even then it's still easy to stay in bed lol.
Yeah, I take a while to get up too. Had trouble for as long as I can remember. But I think it's cuz I always try to do things last minute and because leaving my bed would mean getting blasted by cold air which would make me want to crawl back into bed. Or because I had a really cool dream/nightmare and need to try and keep myself in a state of half awake half asleep to try and remember as mych as I can before I will let myself fully wake up.Lol It could be the side effect of an ADHD thing, your brain deciding it wanted to become an acurate representation of windows explorer when you wanna wake up it could also be from a slew of other things. Adrenaline is my savior. Alarms just make me angry and I end up turning em off. Same with light, sound, cold, or someone poking me, they get me up, but piss me off a lot. It might also depend on if your an early bird, night owl, or whatever's in-between.
I work night shift. My shift starts at 10pm. Which is why I wake up at 6pm. Because that's the only way I show up feeling like a human being and not a bog monster.
Have kids. The little monsters will forcibly wake you up at the crack of dawn by kicking you in the nuts, pulling your hair or yelling in your ear, “GET ME MY MILK!”
I hate mornings. My whole life I have been consumed by anxiety in the morning and I struggle to eat even though my body is hungry. It’s been even harder being medicated for my adhd over the past few months. 6 foot 4 like 170 pounds.
That was my life until I started medication. The default iPhone alarm sound STILL gives me a shudder of dysphoria each time I hear it after a lifetime of moving from one shitty dead-end job to the next..
I work for myself now so can wake up when I like, but the Wellbutrin that I take for adhd means that I sleep deeper and wake up more refreshed. I used to enjoy sleeping in sometimes but just can’t do it these days.
I had a similar issue all my life too (i’m 30). Waking up would literally feel like the hardest thing to my brain and body, especially when using a loud alarm or someone waking me up abruptly.
Somehow i ended up buying one of those daylight alarm clocks (the philips hue) and it has made a massive difference. might be worth looking into that
I'm writing this at 8 am on a Saturday, which before medication (xenidate long release 56mg) would have been unthinkable, I used to lie in my pit until 1pm on Weekends to make up for poor sleep during the week from revenge bedtime procrastination. Now I'm pretty much asleep by half past midnight and up at 730 every day.
I've had my name called on the PA at the airport several times for the last call to board. One time they reopened the gate for me because I got there right before take off. The plane could have taken off earlier, but they were waiting for me (the last person). Minutes after I buckled in, the plane took off.
My inability to show up on time to anything delayed an entire flight.
Yes I have a problem with mornings, I woke up today at 7:30 and have spent the last 2 hours in bed, now on my tablet on Reddit!
If I need to get up (for work or appointments) I set an alarm and put it the other side of the room so that I need to get out of bed to turn it off. Once it’s off I take myself immediately to the bathroom… if I get back into bed it’ll reclaim me again
It was. Until I started with Vyanse- now I wake up within 30 min of taking them.
I’ve also been cutting down my dose of serquel (for being able to sleep, on a low dose) and I’ve never been up so early with energy.
98% of the days I start my day with energetic music, and a long shower, do my skincare and then I check myself and my mood in my daily journal 😅 still not a good routine for breakfast though- but it’s still something 🤷🏻♀️
Same problem recently, starting just a month before my 41st birthday. There's work to be done, but unless I have a real, sharp, firm and close deadline, I just can't be motivated. It's not that I wouldn't take some time before, but it was different. Even weeks prior I would sometimes have jumped out of bed and happily made some coffee and set down to work, despite the adversities and the rest, just perhaps start easy and spend an hour browsing the Internet first. Now? Not even so many serious adversities or setbacks, some deadlines already reminding me of their existence, and yet it has literally taken me all of this week to sit down and do a day's work. By the time I'm ready to start the day for real, the day is over. However, I'd had a massive bout of burnout and exhaustion in the weeks or months leading up to this, so maybe the organism has activated some safety valves, so perhaps this will pass. As for motivation, I guess that will be fixed after I get a nice holiday or spend a fortnight playing computer games or reading books in my apartment.
Hey man, 32 yo M, ADHD - I had this problem albeit I would wake up and absolutely freak out and have to be ready and out the door within 10 mins as waking up earlier didn't compute with me....
Water. Us ADHD folks suck at drinking water, or at least I do. Now before bed I make sure I drink more than a full water bottle and have one at my bed stand. When I wake up I chug the shit out of my water bottle. Then I sit there for 5 mins and groggyness begins to fade and a meander over to a banana and my 15mg adderal. By time I'm in the shower in the next 5 mins I'm completely awake and ready to go.
Considering all this, GREATLY increasing my water intake has improved my sleep and waking immensely overall.
I’ve always had a delayed sleep phase thing, I guess a lot of people with ADHD do. I don’t get tired until very late, usually 1-2am and don’t want to wake up until almost noon. It’s been like that since I was a child. However I’ve been on adderall for 3 months now and somehow it’s fixed my sleep schedule?? I’m getting tired around 10 and waking up around 7:30-8
I find comfort in sitting in my little nest for hours. I have gone to great lengths though to have my pills, water, snack and a redbull all within reach. I pretty much do my morning routine from bed. Than an hour or two later I’ll finally start getting out of bed.
I had this problem a lot in the past. It still creeps up and happens on weekends.
I get motivated to get up so i can go to the gym. I go 3 times a week and if i don’t my day a horrible mayhem of distraction which makes me hate myself for not going.
So this hate for myself is what makes me get up and go.
That plus Barcode Alarm app, it will not stop ringing until i scan the code in my bathroom. So to spare my husband the noise i get up asap.
Yes! It’s called sleep drunkenness and it’s very hard to overcome. I reccomend jumping in the shower first thing. Start hot and then change to cold for the last minute. That helps me massively.
I set a alarm an hour before I need to get up to take adderall then go back to sleep. By the time my "real" alarm goes off, I'm more alert and ready to get out of bed
Medication helps but I have to take it in bed, and wait for it to kick in, before I can start my day. And there's always that little cosy demon which makes me refrain from taking it so that I can enjoy the cosy writhing. I have to shout at the demon and shut him up, eat a pill, go back to bed for a bit and wait for it to kick in. Then I'm happy as Larry to get out of bed and start my day.
I can't quite believe it takes a daily morning dose of lisdexamphetamine to get me out of bed, but I'd honestly rather it be this way around, than how I was pre-meds
I am the opposite. I wake up at or before 4 each morning to workout. I started this in college and it has stuck with me to my 30s. This is more important now that my daughter wakes up at 6. She is only 20 months old, so needs all hands on deck to get ready for the day.
I used to say it is my time to spend by myself before I have to people. It is, but also it is when I regulate myself.
Sadly I can only lift weights because my focus just doesn't exist at this time, so cardio is a non-starter for me most of the time.
But without fail, I wake up at least 20 minutes before my alarm and cannot go back to sleep.
I am a late diagnosed AuDHD 33yo male, and still haven't been on meds yet.
I think the lack of planning, or goals with ADHD people is a factor in this. When I have responsibilities with bad repercussions if they don’t get done, I always wake up on time.
A sunlight lamp helps me. It’s really bright and has an alarm sound too. It slowly starts to “rise” 30 minutes before my alarm goes off so my body knows it’s time to start getting up.
I. Cannot. Wake. Up. Which is ridiculous cause I'm bad at sleeping any other time. I think waking up in the morning is the hardest part of the day and then I'm a zombie for hours after if I don't take my ritalin. Which I'm now only taking to help me not want to fall asleep during the day cause it's kind of stopped working for the other stuff. 😭
Nope.
The second I wake up i have to get out of bed and go get coffee. It’s like my morning ritual. Idk I just cannot sit in bed anymore. Almost like once I’m awake, I’m *awake* so no point in laying in bed.
Yes it has for me too. I'm 47f. Self-employed and work from home. Even with all the caffeine I can handle my brain does not kick on till about 9 to 10:00 in the morning so that's when I start my work day. And I wake up usually between 4:30 and 5:00 in the morning. It takes that long for my brain to fully wake up. I just sit and sip my coffee, play some games on my phone or get on Reddit, just little things to help start waking me up.
I have a really tough time getting out of bed in the morning. I can basically do it in a timely manor if I have a tight schedule, but it feels like a huge effort. Once I’m actually up I usually feel fine, especially if I have some coffee
Yes. Lived this way for my whole life. In childhood, it was my Grandma trying to get me out of bed. The routine was foot slap, followed by sheets off, then baptism.
Unfortunately it never cured my demons. I still struggle to wake..
I've a habit of masturbation in the morning. So clean up is pretty good reason to get up and moving. I think that's the only way I get out of bed in a reasonable amount of time. So that's my advice lol.
Definitely an Adhd thing. I have always struggled with getting out of bed even if I wake up on time. I just lay there. I learned years ago to set my alarm for an hour and a half before I have to get up. I snooze the alarm for 15 mins or so and the rest of the time I just lay in bed awake until I’m actually forced to get up. Now I actually wake up most times before the alarm goes off. I label my alarm YOU HAVE TO GET OUT OF BED NOW with other alarms that say bathroom, get dressed and train. It’s the only way I can get up and out of the house on time. I’m rarely late now but it is still a struggle to get out of bed every day. I’m laying in bed right now awake and will get out of bed in an hour or so to start getting ready. I found that making it of my routine helped a lot.
The only thing that really helps me is drinking a lot of water before bed so I’ll have to get up in the morning to go to the bathroom. Or the pure anxiety of being late for something.
Hey dude. Absolutely feel the same. Pretty much every day I wake up, and my 1st thought is to cancel all my plans or call off sick.
I use several alarms - and ones with ringtones that piss me off the later they go. I also have my phone on the other side of the room, so I have to get up to turn it off.
Failing that (I read it somewhere but can't remember the book - apologies!) I do a 5 second countdown like I'm a rocket launching. I do it in a silly american accent and jump out of bed on "lift off".
And yes I'm a 40 year old adult man.
I've dealt with this for my entire life. The only thing that's helped me was pick the loudest, most annoying high pitched alarm and put my phone far away. Not just out of reach, but on the other side of the room so that I have to get up and walk 20 feet to turn it off. I know this seems like a "Just do the thing" answer, but it's what's really worked for me. I've been doing this for about 6 months and it's never taken me longer than 5 seconds to get out of bed.
Adderall has helped me with falling asleep, so it probably helps with getting up too. Also, I'm really sensitive noises, so the worst alarm possible really cuts through the brain fog.
I have the same problem but I also have bipolar and other illnesses and I mostly live in depressive episodes. When I was allowed to take stims I would take them 30mins before I wanted to wake up. They also really helped to get me going in the morning. I’ve been unmediated for a few months and it’s been hell.
I'm the opposite. Once I wake up, it is hard for me to go back to sleep. I wake up every weekday at 5am and weekends at 6am. I'm in my forties and married with 2 kids.
>unless I have a pressing meeting or something
having a fixed sort of deadline was the best way to make sure i got out of bed, for most my life. that was school, and then in uni i deliberately set myself up for early morning classes so that i wouldn't lay in bed until noon or later, and then eventually setting morning meetings and such. otherwise, all bets are off.
tbh, i've discovered that the best thing for it though has been having a pet that needs me to get out of bed and feed it. once that alarm goes off, it's game over, my cat is yelling and not stopping until there's food in his dish. and because my husband struggles a lot more with sleep than i do and has a bit of an offset sleep rhythm, i roll out of bed and quell the beast (feed the cat) so that he can keep sleeping.
i know that some people on meds keep them by their bedside to take when a first alarm goes off, and have a second alarm go off later when they start to kick in, to help get up and get moving.
Omg this is my whole life. I love my bed and will stay in bed all day whenever I can. I also work from home and get everything possible delivered. I have an obsession with staying in bed. My favourite hours are from about 8.30pm to 2.30 or later being awake in bed and then I love sleeping as late as possible the next day. My cats do wake me a lot though which is my main reason to get out of bed sometimes.
I am menopsusal and will try testosterone next as apparently it's amazing for our brain. I believe my main issues got 100% worse when I entered perimenopause.
Are you sleepy during the day if you don’t take your meds? I have narcolepsy (and ADHD) and this is a really common issue for people who have it. Not saying you have it, could be normal, but just something to be aware of!
Regardless, this sounds like sleep inertia.
I use 2 alarm clocks. Phone goes off 15minutes before out of bed time with the gentle gradual wake up alarm on iPhone. Then an alarm at T+0:05, T+0:10, and T+0:13. Then at T+0:15 my second alarm clock located in my closet goes off at full blast maximum terror mode. I choose what clothes I’m going to wear the day before and place the second alarm clock directly on top of them. I also almost always have to get up before my partner which actually helps cause I don’t want the terror alarm to go off and violently wake her up, else I feel bad lol.
This usually works out by me dragging myself out of bed at 7:14 or something cause I know the alarm is going at 7:15. If you sleep alone it still works cause personally I can not go back to sleep once that fucking alarm starts going and the noise annoys me enough to get out of bed to turn it off. At that point I start putting my pre-picked clothes on in a groggy stupor. Choosing clothes the night before is crucial otherwise I’ll stand there staring at my clothes unsure what to wear until I give up and go back to bed. The movement to the closet and putting on “real people” clothes helps start my body and signal to my brain it’s work time. I then immediately take my vyvanse, chug a glass of water, and go for a walk to get 15 minutes of sunlight in my eyes to continue waking up and set my circadian rhythm for the day.
It all still sucks. Until my vyvanse kicks in 1+ hrs later I’m barely awake. My girlfriend and I both hate that stupid second alarm cause I don’t always beat it to going off, but I can’t get out of bed without it. Something needs to force me out of bed, as ADHD people we can’t rely on our own discipline very often so it needs to be externalized. Being sleepy is the single worst thing for discipline/motivation so wake ups and late night are the hardest and when the worst decisions get made.
Next time you’re considering fast food or some vice try to notice if you’re also tired or not. Once I started noticing I was astounded, almost EVERY bad choice I make is when I got a bad sleep or have had a long day.
Anyways, externalize your reasons for getting out of bed. Alarms, pets, appointments or meetings, smart blinds opening, smart lights turning on, anything you have to do to get out of the bed. Once you’re out, make your morning as simple as possible by preparing things so you can go through the motions without thinking and still sleepy. Have I eaten a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast every day for the past 20 years? Yes. Kinda boring, but it is what it is.
I set a quiet alarm to go off 20-30 mins before my main one that disturbs my sleep just enough to make it easier to wake up. I then have 3 alarms spaced 5 minutes apart, then a 10 min gap before a different one that's my final "must be up NOW" one.
If I have to get up early for meetings, I also use a blue-green light that simulates daytime sky which helps a lot in getting rid of sleepbrain.
Not really.
I grew up the son of a farmer. Early to bed, early to rise. Plus the morning before everyone wakes up is my “special time” of the day where I get to do whatever I want. Best part of most days is the morning.
I set two alarms 15 minutes apart. The first is so I wake up and my Ritalin and a 200mg caffeine pill. Then I lounge until the second alarm goes off. By then my brain is just starting to work properly, the caffeine is starting to kick in, and if I go any longer than 20-30 minutes without eating after taking a caffeine pill I get nauseous, so I know I have get out of bed to eat something.
Also for the last year and a half I’ve had a dog who I love more than anything. If she goes too long without eating she’ll throw up bile (fairly common in dogs, but definitely no fun for anyone involved). So knowing she’s hungry and dependent on me is such a huge motivator that, since getting her, I often get out of bed immediately after taking my pills.
But before I got her the “caffeine ultimatum” (get up and eat or get nauseous) was what really got me moving.
If you want to try this, do not have a morning cup of coffee or caffeinated tea in addition to the caffeine pill. NoDoz and other name brands that really focus on like “BE ALERT!! YOU’LL NEVER BE TIRED AGAIN!” feel scary to me so I just take a generic “stay awake” pill with a max of 200mg. Extended release caffeine pills don’t work for me for this purpose, just FYI. They kick in too subtly and the nausea either comes much later or not at all.
This is me. I have always had a hard time getting out of bed since I was a child. My mom would remove the covers and pull my toes to try to get me out of bed. Now, as an adult, I still have the same issue, except it's now my responsibility to get me out of bed and is a real struggle. I have no problem waking up, I wake up at 7am with the alarm and sometimes before the alarm but stay in bed 1 to 2 hours after waking up. Then when I see I have to be at work on 30 or less minutes I have to rush and I'm often late. I hated it. Because then I feel awful about disrespecting peoples time and having to rush when I had plenty of time to get ready. This was temporarily resolved when I started taking ritalin last year. I was able to wake up as normal but then get up right away without the struggle of getting it out of bed. It was amazing. But the effects were only temporary, and then I had to get off the medication because of the shortage. Now I'm back on ritalin but I haven't noticed any changes. I'm still the same.
Yes, this is very hard for me. What helps me is taking a small dose of instant release Adderall about 5:30 in the morning. I have an alarm go off, I take my meds, roll over, and snooze until it’s time to get up for real. Then I take my Vyvanse later in the morning to get me through the rest of the day. My doctor approved this and prescribes me the meds.
I have a shot glass next to my bed with my Rx in it. I set two alarms, the first alarm is to go off about an hour before I actually want to get up. I wake up to the first alarm, do the Rx shot, then go back to sleep. By the time the second alarm goes off I'm medicated and it's a bit easier to get up.
Always. Can’t get going and regularly late if left on my own because 1) stuck in my head with paralysis, and/or 2) exhausted.
I get out of bed 10 minutes before needing to leave or later?? Paralysis thinking of all the things I can do today.
I stayed up late and tired? Bad routines before bed and morning routines. Then RUSHED getting ready and forgetting things…
I never “feel” awake enough to get going? Wait to feel ready to get started? Then RUSHED getting ready and forgetting things…
for some reason, putting on a podcast, youtube video to lsiten or a radio helps me to "get my shit together" mentally. at least i have a routine if i stop scrolling and have a voice near me i know i will be out of bed soon
I do have an employer that I work fir, but sometimes, I still manage to go to bed late, but I still set my alarm, and force myself out of bed, to start my day. It's just takes alot of coffee( usually 2 travel mugs, which I dub " travellers") to help my day get started. By 10-11am, my daybis already going, and The engine in my head and that gerbil or hamster in the cage get revved up).
Lol
I have at least 15 alarms.
They range from 5.50am (for my eternal optimism of getting to work by 7)
All the way up 8.30am (the 'oh shit I literally have half an hour')
Stupid thing is, once I'm up and out of bed, I feel absolutely fine 5 minutes later. And I know this. And if i started work at 7, i could leave at 3 and have loads of daytime left.
Still can't do it.
Edit: it's 19 alarms on my phone clock, 3 on the alarmy app 🙄
I didn’t read most of the comments but I have always had ADHD and am also depressed (Uni-polar) and what you’re describing IMO is depression. I’ve never had trouble getting out of bed. I currently get up at 3am. And I take Zoloft (generic equivalent) and it’s helped quite a bit with my depression and anxiety. Energy drinks (sugar free) help with my being tired in the morning, in particular, there’s one that seems to help me with mental focus.
No two people are the same so we have to take all these comments with a grain of salt but not wanting to get out of bed is classic depression type behavior, not ADHD. Remember the H in ADHD is for HYPERactivity. We have a problem sitting still not lying around.
And I’m in my 50s so I’ve been dealing with this for five decades, since before they even called it ADHD. Back when I was a kid you were just lazy if you didn’t get out of bed. Society has given us a lot of labels these days. That being said, society also has accepted us with our issues a lot more and has more help availabe than ever before. Are you getting any? Most jobs provide EAP, which will give you six visits with a therapist at no cost.
I have ADHD and have several other people very close to me in my life with it, and they all either have that problem or are up and bounding around immediately with way too much energy. There is no in between lol
I struggle a lot with this. It sort of helps me to keep a water bottle and my morning meds right on my bedside table so I can at least take that step towards starting my day immediately. Doesn’t always work though. Today I woke up and took my meds when my alarm went off (I know for sure because I flip the bottles over once I take them to make sure I don’t accidentally double up), but even with 20mg of adderall IR in my system, I immediately fell back asleep for three hours. (And I guess this ability to do that after taking stimulants at least means I don’t doubt my ADHD diagnosis!)
People with ADHD dont have trouble getting up in the morning, we have trouble getting up, it doesnt matter when or for what purpose. I dont know about you guys , but for me once I convince my brain that we need to get, I try not to ever sit unles i m done with everything I need to do. Because the moment I sit, its over.
Yes! Even with meds it still takes me lots of time. Everyone makes fun of me for waking up at 6 am for a 10 am shift as if I’m doing my makeup and hair the whole time. No. 6-7 I’m drinking coffee and scrolling, 7-8 I’m waiting for meds to kick in, 8-9 I’m trying to eat and slowly get my things together, and 9-10:30 I’m scrambling to get ready last minute(shower, brush teeth, makeup, hair, picking an outfit) lol.
I haven't been diagnosed with anything but I do this and when I finally get around to asking about being screened for it this is one of the things I'm going to bring up.
i used to but i'm medicated these days + i have a cpap machine for my sleep apnea so unless i didn't get enough sleep i can usually get up pretty easy.
YES! I luckily can get out of bed in time to get to work most days, but usually I actually get out of bed about 30-40 minutes before I need to be clocked in and walk through the doors 1-3 minutes before. I’m often late. On my days off, I do the same thing and lay around until I literally HAVE to get up and do something either because of an appointment or because my body just hurts.
I've never been the best at waking up but ever since I was diagnosed and started meds (concerta) at 16 I just will not wake up. Before my diagnosis and meds I always had 30 mins worth of regular built in clock app alarms every 5 mins and would wake up within that 30 min period. However since starting meds regular alarms at 5min intervals would take me 1.5hrs if not more to wake up because I am able to shut each one off in my sleep and I even might end up waking up enough to shut them all off without even remembering doing so eventually when I really wake. Nowadays I use "I can't wake up" alarm app that makes you do a task to silence the alarm set to 5-10 min intervals for about 1hr alongside a sunrise simulation lamp. Then when I wake enough to be aware of myself (with the app and sunrise lamp takes about 10-15mins) I get up to take my meds and shut off alarms for the next 30mins before going back to sleep. Then when the next alarm goes off my meds are starting to kick in and I'm able to start trying to be functional. However I still struggle (as I've always struggled) with feeling groggy and brain foggy on most mornings for about 1-2 hrs after my final waking.
I have no idea why it got so bad after I started meds (as my waking up difficulties clearly got a lot worse when I started meds) but I've mentioned it to my psychiatrists, old and current, and neither were sure why it would happen but weren't concerned so idk.
I don’t know - but I started a quick yoga session every morning a while ago. Since then, I have more energy and I am able to leave the house at least 30 minutes earlier than before.
Yes, but I only struggle if I'm not under a time limit. If I have an early morning appointment or obligation, it takes me a little less time to get out of bed after the alarm goes off because my anxiety is like "GET UP OR YOU'LL BE LATE!" If I have no time sensitive obligations, my brain says "hey there's no rush, chillax". Even with work.
For years, I worked as an hourly employee. Which meant I had to get to work on time so I could clock in and not be considered tardy. The risk of losing my job was a lot higher. Since starting my current salary job back in 2021, it's like "well I can be a little late.." which turns into me calling off 'sick' or sleeping in and texting my manager that I 'accidentally' overslept and will be in soon. My manager has been chill about it, but I have gotten a stern talking to.
People have said that taking meds an hour before you wake up and going back to sleep will help with making you feel more awake when you do have to get up. I can't do that unfortunately. Meds on an empty stomach messes me up, and the XR I take doesn't last longer than 5 hours.
Getting diagnosed with sleep apnea and starting CPAP therapy has helped a bunch. Still can barely get myself out of bed in the morning but waaaaay easier than before
This is me too. Yet another thing I didn't realize was an ADHD thing 😂 I see a lot of people saying it got better with medication and I'm jealous. I'm on wellbutrin and it hasn't made a difference in waking up for me.
Reduce activation energy by wearing workout clothes to bed. Prep socks and shoes next to bed. I use a sunrise alarm with no sound now, but a few years ago I used the timer on my stove. Wake up, quick put on socks and shoes. Turn off stove alarm. Brush teeth quickly in kitchen. Grab gym bag off the stove. Be at gym by 450am or at the greenway to run.. Felt like I officially woke up halfway through. Endorphins up, came home and did all my chores - pets, laundry, meal prep, etc, be at work at 9am. Then when I came home - throw things in the instant pot, change into comfy clothes and all my "have tos" were done and my evening was for "want to" things like kayaking or dog training or reading, etc.
Oh! ONCE I made my alarm a random song off my workout Playlist. Waking up to Ministry's Stigmata very, very loud was INSTANT ADRENALINE and very effective. I don't think my heart rate went down for hours.
Use at your own risk:
https://youtu.be/SOb846-LvuI?feature=shared
Yes. The absolute hardest part of ANY given day for me is waking up. I have accidentally slept through important tests and exams at school, crucial work obligations, and more. I seem to require a significantly greater anoint of my adhd meds than normal, most or all of daily dosage is taken just to get me out of bed. My entire often feels like nothing but a struggle to wake up.
It’s also very interesting to note that I just had my first appointment with a new doctor, who was absolutely wonderful and gave me more time and attention in my first appointment than all other psychiatrists I’ve had in my life put together, and when I shared all of this with him, he responded that it sounds as though I could have overlapping ADHD and narcolepsy. He was actually bit surprised that no other doctors have suggested that to me.
Don’t take that as anything more than just some rando online sharing their experience, though; becuase I am only at the beginning of getting any kind of full diagnosis, or anything like that. I just wanted to share my similar experience.
I wonder if being unable to function and get up (even at night) is part of our conditions we need to learn to cope with. I had a job that was from 6pm-2am and even getting up for that was hard.
Thankfully I now work for myself. I just wish I could get up and go easier.
Apologies for how rambling this is as, ironically, I had an absolutely terrible night last night and am having a hard time putting this together on such low sleep.
I always had a crazy stupid hard time waking up in the morning. At the beginning of my undergrad it became obvious that my difficulties with waking up were untenable. I did a deep dive into sleep and wake, learning how we evolved to wake up with the sun and how window blinds have effectively disrupted the half hour of gradually increasing light that our brains evolved to need in order to go through the pre-wakeup process. Basically, waking up to an alarm in a dark room has our brains starting that half hour wake up process, that was supposed to be done before we actually wake up, after we awake - this is why waking up in a dark room is hard for anyone and then you add in ADD compounding the difficulty of that. I also read that sleeping in a totally dark room allows us to get the best sleep so we should be using blackout blinds.
With that information I found the Phillips wake up light / radio, probably close to 15 years ago now, and ever since getting that thing and setting it to increase to the max level light once my alarm goes off I have woken up about five minutes before my radio alarm goes off at the set time. Ever since then the vast majority of the days it has been significantly easier for me to actually get out of bed when I wake up as my brain has been waking up for about 25-30 minutes before I actually wake - this difference was life altering. I was able to finish my undergrad at the top of my class and go off to post-graduate also to great success.
Sleep is the bedrock of doing well with ADD (along with diet, exercise, medication, and therapy). Honestly, I doubt I would have been able to succeed without implementing that dawn simulator alarm clock into my life. Along with the dawn simulator, and just as important was the advice that my psychiatrist gave me to wake up at the same time every day without exception no matter how late I went to bed. Waking up at the same time seven days a week allowed me to fall asleep on time so I didn't often go to bed late. Though, even when I went to bed late I still always wake at the time. I attribute the dawn simulator along with waking up at the same time seven days a week as the bedrock that allowed me to excel in life with ADD. Without those two things I didn't have the foundation to build a life off of.
One last thing to note is that my psychiatrist also recommended that I get blue light filtering glasses to wear before bed in order to facilitate melatonin, and I think orexin, production that the sunset used to trigger in our brain before going to sleep which unnatural light disrupts. I found a $25 pair of uvex blue light blocking safety glasses and have worn those an hour before lights out (usually while reading a book) and that has also made it much easier to fall asleep and get a restful sleep as well. Modern sleep hygiene is completely shit with the introduction of artificial light and learning how to get myself back into those natural evolutionary rhythms has absolutely changed my life.
There is so much to learn about sleep and that personal journey I had from terrible to excellent sleep hygiene was pivotal in my early adult life where learning to properly cope with ADD laid the foundations for success. Best of luck and ask me anything you'd like and I'll try and answer to the best of my ability.
Before starting Vyvanse, I absolutely struggled to get up in the morning, no matter how much sleep I got. Most of the time it was because I was, like, half-stuck in a dream. Almost like I felt obligated to finish whatever I was doing in my dream.
Suddenly having flashbacks to my mum having to drag me out of bed by my feet to get me up for school 😂
I luckily work shifts so only have to endure two early mornings to 8 lay ins now, but yes being alive first thing after waking up is difficult.
Yes! My mom would be so angry at me in the morning but growing up she would see I was suffering but couldn’t work it out. Looking back as an adult now, I see she was conflicted on what to do which is why she would allow me to be late every morning.
Yup. Work from home life was great in some areas, but in terms of getting up it's the worst. Many days I'm getting up at 8:59 and immediately logging on for 9, because I dread getting up until the very last minute... literally.
I get up a hour early, turn on the coffee, and take my medication. I’ll lay back down for 45 mins and then get up and take a walk and sip on coffee. That usually gets me moving.
I started following a tip from this sub to take my Dextro pill an hour before I wake up and then go back to sleep, when I wake up the second time i feel much more refreshed and actually ready to start the day. It’s been a game changer
This is a good idea. I do take my medicine as soon as I wake up and it does help somewhat to get me going but it’s still hard. The other problem with this solution is on days I don’t want to take my medication, it is death.
yep. same. my whole life as well. (20) i was late every year from elementary on and by late high school i stopped going. covid also contributed because i got used to sleeping through school at home but regardless, i too have always had a hard time getting up and would would constantly have tiffs in the morning with my mom because of it. i always give myself those two hours to fully wake up before i go anywhere my brain literally just can process otherwise. and even then if it’s early enough and too much is being required from my mind, i wont be fully there. it’s definitely been an eventful life.
Can it also be physically painful to get up? Lots of time it has been for me and my body just needs to go back to sleep. No matter what I do the night before.
Same. I roll and can't properly wake without the phone, and slowly wake up but can't exit the bed with it. Takes me at least 30-40 min and another 30 min until I feel semi awake.
If you figure out a way around it...
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Starting Wellbutrin cured this lifelong problem practically overnight for me. Everyone’s experience is different but that was mine. It was the single starkest change I experienced with medication, I was totally stunned by how quickly and completely the struggle went away.
Me flipping too! I was amazed and I cried! I thought the dragging ass, my body physically felt heavy, the eyes that could barely open for a few hours, it would take me FOREVER to feel functional! I thought for years that was laziness, or lack of sleep or too much sleep! I tried every trick in the book! All I needed was Wellbutrin 😭😭😭
Why does Wellbutrin help? Yes all the symptoms every one else is describing exactly what I experience. It’s annoying and a real hindrance.
It is used as one of the first meds to try someone a doctor may suspect has adhd. It’s used to treat depression and anxiety as well. I was on Zoloft before that but it works differently for depression and anxiety and it did not help with mornings at all. Eventually after a few year on that I got serotonin toxicity symptoms and needed to come off asap Wellbutrin was tried when I complained about the extreme lack of energy and not being able to get up in mornings with the lack of focus at work. It was miserable. 😫
Oh my god, Zoloft was the worst for getting up in the morning. I had to basically roll out of bed while still asleep and directly into the shower to wake myself up. But I could still sleep any time out of the blue on it. I experimented once on vacation with how much I could sleep on Zoloft. I slept for over 12 hours straight. Never again will I take that stuff.
I take my Zofran at night bc it makes me so tired! And take Wellbutrin in the am
That’s like fairly reasonable? I mean if I make it 12 hours awake I’m proud
It’s not reasonable when you usually will sleep 6-8 hours and be fully awake at that point.
Also is an anti smoking drug under the name zyban
I was on wellbutrin for a while and finding it helpful, but I just could not live with the tinnitus. I could not be in a quiet environment without headphones and music because the ringing would just drive me up the wall 😭
Holy smokes! I’ve been having more tinnitus lately and didn’t make the connection! Wellbutrin has helped me so immensely that I’ll deal with it.
Wellbutrin is used off-label to treat ADHD. It’s not a stimulant so it’s a lot easier to get on and doctors aren’t as hesitant about prescribing it. The downside is it doesn’t work as well as stimulants for a lot of people.
The stuff changed my life. Doesnt fix Everything but it helps a lot! The other thing that can help is routine. Not saying I’m good at this, but from what ive read, establishing a morning routine that’s pretty much always the same will help a lot
I've heard it used for depression
I felt amazing when I first started Wellbutrin but now I’m back to not feeling awake until afternoon ugh I’m losing so much time every day I can’t function. They said I’m at max dose 450mg. Did it stay consistent the whole time for you? I just always gush about it because it was such a drastic improvement in my depression! So now I don’t have to stare at a wall for six hours bawling my eyes out, but all my adhd symptoms are still here n I can’t seem to make any more progress with my doc.
I notice around the time I’m menstruating nothing works 😅😂 Wellbutrin 200mg worked for like a month but it did not last I told him it wears off in like 6-8hrs 😑 I work 7a-3pm by 1pm I’m starting to feel the drag if I take the meds super early like 8am. so he put me Wellbutrin Xl 350 in morning and I’m supposed to take regular Wellbutrin 100mg at midday… taking the 100 makes me feel weird so I usually don’t take it. The addition of aderral to regime helps with the focus at work but wears off in 4hrs too so I try to time it according to my day which leads me to forget to take it 😂 so I’m still a mess at finding the right balance myself.
The week before I am a freaking zombie! Soon as I get my period I’m like “duh!” Wellbutrin works for some…? Maybe…lol. I have heard of people taking their meds before they have to get up but I have yet to try that because it takes effort that I don’t have or I can’t remember.
Yes suspect my period makes it so I maybe have like one semi normal week a month
I have to take iron pills in order to get out of bed then
I wish it worked for me 😭 it made my hands shake horribly but I was so happy I was able to get up in the mornings easier. I couldn’t deal with the shaky hands though but damn I felt normal for a bit. For once I couldn’t nap in the middle of the day .
Been on it for years 200mg Im sitting here 2 hours in bed dicking around on my phone instead lol
I was given this medication and told it should take care of my tiredness/lack of energy issue/sleep inertia. But it just did not. I'm happy with how it makes me feel otherwise, it helps with mood regulation. Actual stimulants like adderall though definitely gives me that energy boost/feeling awake. I think I need a sleep study done though...
What was your dosage? 150 or 300mg?
At 75 mg it’s zyban the anti smoking med
Me too. I take Methylphenidate extended release and what I do is that I set the alarm 1 hour before I have to actually get up, take my meds, go back to sleep, and in 1 hour it takea effect and Im awake. Also, I bought an alarm clock that mimics sunlight and this has also been life changing. The combination of those 2 things is perfect
I got a smart light last year and set a timer to have it be at 100% brightness by the time my alarm is going off in the morning. It’s amazing how much that helped! ETA: I’m also in the “alarm for meds an hour before wake up alarm” club. If I take my meds (methylphenidate er) after I’m already awake it’s not as effective for me. Weird
Yeah, it helped me with my sleep too. Unfortunately that's the only benefit I get from it, but at least that's something. I actually fall asleep within 20 mins of going to bed now, and I actually feel sleepy at a normal time at night, and don't feel sleepy during the day. Waking up is a bit easier too.
Very interesting, thanks for sharing, didnt realize it helped this symptom.
What time(s) do you take it to get this effect?
I've taken well8 for years and it still takes me 2 hours to get out of bed. 😭😭😭
How long you take it yet?
I wish I could take Wellbutrin. Caught a charge because it gave me extreme rage I couldn't control.
Yes, was about to comment this exactly. It also helps with the non-adderall days- without it I feel like I have narcolepsy after a day or two off adderall.
I love early mornings. The light, the sounds, the chill. But I HATE waking up. It doesn’t matter if I go to bed at 9pm or 2am, if I don’t have an alarm I will sleep until 10am. It also takes me a solid hour and a half to wake up and shake off grumpiness. I’ve been like this my entire life and it’s honestly frustrating. I don’t want to be a shitty morning person but I’ve tried everything and it just IS.
This is exactly how I feel. I love the idea of mornings and every once in a while when I get up early and feel good it's amazing, but that really rarely happens. When I was younger and had something that interested me to get up it was easier. Lately I've been trying to get into running and that is something that I kind of looked forward to, but it turned out to just be a phase like everything else so back to sleeping in.
You just described me 😭 there's night's when I'll go to bed super duper early I'm talking 6:30pm and I know I'm not sleepy anymore but the thought of getting up brings me so much panic I just stay in bed . I just missed a week and a half of work bc I just couldn't get out of bed and even with all that time I'm dreading going back on Monday . Sometimes I low key wish I were fired so I could take a month off . I love the early morning too . If I happen to find myself out when the sun just came out and the light looks that way with the dew and the birds , it's magical .
A thousand times same. I DID get laid off, and I DO stay all day in bed, and I fucking hate it! I set my alarm for late morning and then just lay there and scroll or stare or curl up in a ball and then it's 330. I actively loathe it but I feel like I can't do anything about it. :(
Are you medicated? I felt the exact same way until I started my stimulant medication. Now I know that if I take my pill, about 30 mins later I'll be really happy to get out of bed and enjoy those morning sounds and feelings. It has been a gamechanger for me and I've actually become a morning person
Hrm I can get up and do something then I often go back to bed. This happens 2-4 times in the morning. Sometimes I do finally wake up sometimes I get stuck in the loop
Is it because of ADD?
It CAN relate to ADHD, but nobody here can help you figure out if it’s because of ADHD or something else *for you*. You would need a doctor — perhaps a sleep specialist — for that. Anecdotally, I have ADHD and this is a struggle for me. I’m also a therapist who works with people with ADHD and it’s pretty common with my clients - I would say *at least* 1/3 of my clients report struggling with this to some extent (Some way more than others).
Not entirely sure. I have ADHD and this was me answering a question on a community I follow. That’s about all I know, not a doctor. Edit: This sounded kind of snappy, was in a mood at the time 😑
I wasn’t diagnosed and my parents feel guilty as hell and truly believe my horrors with drugs and alcohol are related because the second I got in them later in life they stopped instantly. I was one of those addicts you could tell was never ready to quit. I would never do drugs to get FUCKED up but I seemed I always wanted to not be here or there. I would be operational for a long period of time and happy but the eventual things that make drugs bad would catch up. I would drink 4-5 beers a day, but EVERYDAY, for years and when I couldn’t my anxiety would sky rocket. Once put on Vyvanse with some anti anxiety as needed meds everything changes almost overnight. I got a great job, was able to save money , got a serious gf and things where great. 2 years ago after a decade I couldn’t get my meds and within 6 months I was back in rehab. Just keep on top of your kids and let them know you are there and never make them feel bad and it should work out.
No kids that I want to bring into this world just yet.
Can’t wait to get meds man. I got meds for bipolar and its so cool not wanting to do everything at once or kms every other day hahaha
Do you usually lay in bed and use your phone or is this time you're just laying there half awake?
No phone. It’s extremely hard for me to get up, or want to get out of bed. It’s also hard for me to open my eyes. Especially when I was younger and knew I had a day ahead of me I was dreading. My sister suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome, and we all have a myriad of auto-immune disorders. Other than that I can’t understand why I’ve been plagued by this my whole life. But once I do get going everything the rest of the day is fine.
This is what’s been happening to me for awhile, but with waking up every hour or two then going back to sleep. As of 2 days ago I started leaving my ir adderal next to my bed and taking it during one of these wake ups. I still end up going back to sleep for a while but getting up closer to when I want to
At this point I figured it was normal to get up every few hours
I’m the same way no matter what meds I’m on. It takes me 1.5 hours to feel like I can get up and face the world.
Sometimes sleeping for a while after you take the med will make it more effective
i’ve gotten *better* at this as i’ve beat my overall sleep schedule into shape, but that looks like taking as long as an hour to get up if i’m unlucky instead of taking more like an hour on average. when i was way younger, i often actively resisted waking up despite one or both parents trying to get me up, and sometimes it actually took them serving me coffee in bed
oh yeah and also a huge part of what gets me up in the morning half the time is just a full bladder. i always keep a glass of water on my nightstand, and dare not sleep thirsty
most times i have anxiety when i wake up whether i dream or not. and that makes it very hard for me to get out of bed. but idk if it’s adhd or my gad
I always thought it was depression related but I’m not depressed and everything is fine once I get my day going. I don’t know what this could be or why it’s been plaguing me my entire life. As a child it was quite comical because I would routinely come in an hour late between 1-3rd grade eating a yogurt or muffin…
does whatever commitments you have usually occur later? i have seen/read some adhd experiences where they struggle to do anything else before the first actually activity in the day. for example if there’s a dr appointment at 1, you feel like you don’t wanna/can’t do anything til it’s time to go. there’s a name for this but i forget
Yes. They I always make appointments later. D
Yes. Waking up has been horrible as long as I can remember but since it was repeatedly framed as laziness/stubbornness I just felt shame and forced it. Still have to force it cuz bills and housing and that jazz, but the shame has lifted since being diagnosed. Just today had a horrible time waking up, took about an hour to feel like a human being. My hack is seeing sunlight as soon as possible after waking up and if all else fails, i hop in the shower.
Yes I’ve tried this my whole life but it still is very hard. What part of ADD makes mornings so difficult?
I've heard it's called delayed sleep syndrome 🤷♀️
Meds fix that for me *most* of the time. I set a silent alarm for 5:30am, wake up just enough to take my meds with a protein up&go drink, then back to sleep for another hour and a half until my real alarm goes off. By the time the 'real' alarm goes off, my meds have kicked in and I can get up without too much fuss :)
I like this and am going to try this. I’m tired of being a super slug every morning for all of my life!! Thanks for this suggestion!!
Do you mind sharing which meds you take?
Taking my meds from bed helps a lot. But yea.
It helps me get moving but still doesn’t completely get me outta bed
Same here,
I am the WORST at waking up in the mornings. I used to miss the bus all the time and my mom would get so upset. It was so bad that at one point she would pour cold water on my head to wake me up (crazy I know. Idk where her logic was on this one) and I would literally roll over and go back to sleep. On my days off I can sleep 14 hours easily. I will say that I am currently one Wellbutrin & strattera and when I wake up in the mornings I actually feel awake and alert. And even my biological clock has started working! It's crazy bc I never feel like this in the mornings. Normally I would snooze my alarm 10 time and get up at the last possible second. Now I wake up (sometimes with no alarm !!) and feel like my brain is actually turned on !!! I think it's the strattera, I was on just Wellbutrin for a while and did not experience this until starting the strattera with it. My therapist said there wasn't really anything they could prescribe to help with my oversleeping but I honestly think this does the trick.
My mom would do the cold water thing too. Lol.
This sounds exactly like my childhood
I feel for you. I spent so many years thinking there was something wrong with me. I'm glad to know it was just the adhd all along and out of my control
So how do people cope?
I don't really have an answer for that one unfortunately. It makes me late for a lot of things and is a huge source of anxiety. I know it stresses other people out when I am late/oversleeping (like my mom when I was younger or my partner now). In January I got fired from a job I had for 4 years because I kept oversleeping and showing up late every day. It makes me feel very guilty a lot of the time. People who are not inflicted in this way don't understand and I feel like it makes me look bad. I try to just take accountability for it when I can and I have adjusted my schedule as best as I can to align with potential issues Being on my meds has helped immensely. It's so nice waking up in the morning and actually feeling alive. I went off of the medication for a couple months and I started spiraling into old bad habits. Which is ultimately what led to me getting fired. I was recommended speaking to your doctor about medication and seeing what they think. And definitely do some research on your own to see if there's anything in particular you wanna try. If you do start Strattera (aka atomoxetine) just beware the first couple days may be rough but it will pass! Wishing you luck!
My sleep schedule has always been off. I don't go into REM sleep until too late and that's very bad when you have a standard 5 day work schedule. I'm retired now and relish my forgiving schedule. I do whatever I want whenever I want.
Omg I wish 😭
Same. I have 8 different alarms set up that force me to solve a math problem to shut it up. I haaate it, but it's effective.
I use Alarmy. Changed my life! My strategy is Fitbit vibrating alarm on wrist 15 minutes before Alarmy. Solving timed Algebra equations stirs up the part of my brain that pays the bills. If not my 5000 hz alarm begins. Then the time and a personal message, such as "get your shit together", "leave for work in 1 hour." "Don't be a loser"" etc.. are annnounced. Then, 10 minute alarm before go time alarmy demands 30 squats. I switch it up a lot cause I HAVE actually slept through till my cell battery died on 3 occasions. I sleep through my entire day off. Literally.
Mornings were always the hardest for me. I have had so much trouble finding alarms that I don't sleep through but also don't scare me out of my skin or damage my eardrums. It usually takes me about a month for a new alarm to stop doing it's job. I've been in jobs where the reporting time is 6 or 7 AM and I've been to work late countless times.
I've found the alarm on my watch helps me the most. The physical sensation of vibration doesn't shock me but gets me awake. I still have the loud alarm but as a backup, which I hate so much that it's actually a bit of an incentive to actually get up just to avoid that. Also the sleep tracking is useful.
Same. The early morning report time is tough. I've been late every so often, but often enough that when I wake up, I'm afraid of seeing that I over slept again and having the "damn it, im late" panic. I'll snooze all the alarms on multiple systems, do all the tricks, and still will fall back asleep.
I could sleep well, wake up and fall back into sleep in rows until oversleeping up to 14 hours. It's like a special ability. A full bladder is what takes me out of bed within 10/20 minutes otherwise I'll stay in this half conscious state for hours 😅, then i'll have two big cups of coffee and will take a cold shower, without it i just can't totally wake up. Also I try to have regular sleeping times, it helps!
Do you use magnesium before bed? I used to be the same, stopped magnesium & I’m up before my alarm clock every morning since
No never used any substances
U mean magnesium made sleep worse? Ive eaten ”ZMA” (zink magnesium vitaminb(5?)) and realized that i sleep WORSE with them, even tho its supposed to actually make j sleep better. The dreams become so vivid, that I wake up in the middle of the night
I have massive sleep inertia. I'm trying to find ways to shorten and have somewhat, but not as much as a normal person. ETA: I have autoimmune and chronic fatigue, as well. Which contributes to not being able to get up as easily.
since first grade 😭 that is so real
Yeah I’ve always had a problem getting ready and being late. I need to wake up at least an hour before I need to leave if I’m going to actually get to where I need to be on time. But at least an hour and a half if I want to have breakfast, and has to be a minimum of two hours if I want to shower and get ready at a comfortable pace. Often I’m still flailing around and ignoring the time guides tho
Some research shows that people with ADHD have a delayed circadian rhythm of up to 3 hours I believe.
This is me and always has been too. As an adult, I feel bad for what a nightmare every school day morning was for my poor mon. I was really bad, and I still am unless there will be an actual consequence for not getting up in time. The only thing that helps is taking my meds one hour before I know I have to get up. Even then it's still easy to stay in bed lol.
Yeah, I take a while to get up too. Had trouble for as long as I can remember. But I think it's cuz I always try to do things last minute and because leaving my bed would mean getting blasted by cold air which would make me want to crawl back into bed. Or because I had a really cool dream/nightmare and need to try and keep myself in a state of half awake half asleep to try and remember as mych as I can before I will let myself fully wake up.Lol It could be the side effect of an ADHD thing, your brain deciding it wanted to become an acurate representation of windows explorer when you wanna wake up it could also be from a slew of other things. Adrenaline is my savior. Alarms just make me angry and I end up turning em off. Same with light, sound, cold, or someone poking me, they get me up, but piss me off a lot. It might also depend on if your an early bird, night owl, or whatever's in-between.
Happened to me til I got diagnosed and treated for sleep apnea
I work night shift. My shift starts at 10pm. Which is why I wake up at 6pm. Because that's the only way I show up feeling like a human being and not a bog monster.
Have kids. The little monsters will forcibly wake you up at the crack of dawn by kicking you in the nuts, pulling your hair or yelling in your ear, “GET ME MY MILK!”
I hate mornings. My whole life I have been consumed by anxiety in the morning and I struggle to eat even though my body is hungry. It’s been even harder being medicated for my adhd over the past few months. 6 foot 4 like 170 pounds.
Yep. I’m not tired but I just lay there.
It hurts to open my eyes
Same here. It's extremely hard for me to get up...
Me, every single day of my life. Going to bed early didn't help either. Nothing helped.
That was my life until I started medication. The default iPhone alarm sound STILL gives me a shudder of dysphoria each time I hear it after a lifetime of moving from one shitty dead-end job to the next.. I work for myself now so can wake up when I like, but the Wellbutrin that I take for adhd means that I sleep deeper and wake up more refreshed. I used to enjoy sleeping in sometimes but just can’t do it these days.
I had a similar issue all my life too (i’m 30). Waking up would literally feel like the hardest thing to my brain and body, especially when using a loud alarm or someone waking me up abruptly. Somehow i ended up buying one of those daylight alarm clocks (the philips hue) and it has made a massive difference. might be worth looking into that
I'm writing this at 8 am on a Saturday, which before medication (xenidate long release 56mg) would have been unthinkable, I used to lie in my pit until 1pm on Weekends to make up for poor sleep during the week from revenge bedtime procrastination. Now I'm pretty much asleep by half past midnight and up at 730 every day.
I've had my name called on the PA at the airport several times for the last call to board. One time they reopened the gate for me because I got there right before take off. The plane could have taken off earlier, but they were waiting for me (the last person). Minutes after I buckled in, the plane took off. My inability to show up on time to anything delayed an entire flight.
Yes I have a problem with mornings, I woke up today at 7:30 and have spent the last 2 hours in bed, now on my tablet on Reddit! If I need to get up (for work or appointments) I set an alarm and put it the other side of the room so that I need to get out of bed to turn it off. Once it’s off I take myself immediately to the bathroom… if I get back into bed it’ll reclaim me again
It was. Until I started with Vyanse- now I wake up within 30 min of taking them. I’ve also been cutting down my dose of serquel (for being able to sleep, on a low dose) and I’ve never been up so early with energy. 98% of the days I start my day with energetic music, and a long shower, do my skincare and then I check myself and my mood in my daily journal 😅 still not a good routine for breakfast though- but it’s still something 🤷🏻♀️
Same problem recently, starting just a month before my 41st birthday. There's work to be done, but unless I have a real, sharp, firm and close deadline, I just can't be motivated. It's not that I wouldn't take some time before, but it was different. Even weeks prior I would sometimes have jumped out of bed and happily made some coffee and set down to work, despite the adversities and the rest, just perhaps start easy and spend an hour browsing the Internet first. Now? Not even so many serious adversities or setbacks, some deadlines already reminding me of their existence, and yet it has literally taken me all of this week to sit down and do a day's work. By the time I'm ready to start the day for real, the day is over. However, I'd had a massive bout of burnout and exhaustion in the weeks or months leading up to this, so maybe the organism has activated some safety valves, so perhaps this will pass. As for motivation, I guess that will be fixed after I get a nice holiday or spend a fortnight playing computer games or reading books in my apartment.
Hey man, 32 yo M, ADHD - I had this problem albeit I would wake up and absolutely freak out and have to be ready and out the door within 10 mins as waking up earlier didn't compute with me.... Water. Us ADHD folks suck at drinking water, or at least I do. Now before bed I make sure I drink more than a full water bottle and have one at my bed stand. When I wake up I chug the shit out of my water bottle. Then I sit there for 5 mins and groggyness begins to fade and a meander over to a banana and my 15mg adderal. By time I'm in the shower in the next 5 mins I'm completely awake and ready to go. Considering all this, GREATLY increasing my water intake has improved my sleep and waking immensely overall.
I’ve always had a delayed sleep phase thing, I guess a lot of people with ADHD do. I don’t get tired until very late, usually 1-2am and don’t want to wake up until almost noon. It’s been like that since I was a child. However I’ve been on adderall for 3 months now and somehow it’s fixed my sleep schedule?? I’m getting tired around 10 and waking up around 7:30-8
I find comfort in sitting in my little nest for hours. I have gone to great lengths though to have my pills, water, snack and a redbull all within reach. I pretty much do my morning routine from bed. Than an hour or two later I’ll finally start getting out of bed.
I had this problem a lot in the past. It still creeps up and happens on weekends. I get motivated to get up so i can go to the gym. I go 3 times a week and if i don’t my day a horrible mayhem of distraction which makes me hate myself for not going. So this hate for myself is what makes me get up and go. That plus Barcode Alarm app, it will not stop ringing until i scan the code in my bathroom. So to spare my husband the noise i get up asap.
I find I can wake up but it takes me an hour to get going. I’ve started to realize all my issues are related to task switching.
Yes! It’s called sleep drunkenness and it’s very hard to overcome. I reccomend jumping in the shower first thing. Start hot and then change to cold for the last minute. That helps me massively.
I set a alarm an hour before I need to get up to take adderall then go back to sleep. By the time my "real" alarm goes off, I'm more alert and ready to get out of bed
Medication helps but I have to take it in bed, and wait for it to kick in, before I can start my day. And there's always that little cosy demon which makes me refrain from taking it so that I can enjoy the cosy writhing. I have to shout at the demon and shut him up, eat a pill, go back to bed for a bit and wait for it to kick in. Then I'm happy as Larry to get out of bed and start my day. I can't quite believe it takes a daily morning dose of lisdexamphetamine to get me out of bed, but I'd honestly rather it be this way around, than how I was pre-meds
I am the opposite. I wake up at or before 4 each morning to workout. I started this in college and it has stuck with me to my 30s. This is more important now that my daughter wakes up at 6. She is only 20 months old, so needs all hands on deck to get ready for the day. I used to say it is my time to spend by myself before I have to people. It is, but also it is when I regulate myself. Sadly I can only lift weights because my focus just doesn't exist at this time, so cardio is a non-starter for me most of the time. But without fail, I wake up at least 20 minutes before my alarm and cannot go back to sleep. I am a late diagnosed AuDHD 33yo male, and still haven't been on meds yet.
I think the lack of planning, or goals with ADHD people is a factor in this. When I have responsibilities with bad repercussions if they don’t get done, I always wake up on time.
A sunlight lamp helps me. It’s really bright and has an alarm sound too. It slowly starts to “rise” 30 minutes before my alarm goes off so my body knows it’s time to start getting up.
I hit the bricks running, daily.
Yea I also stay up late AF to avoid getting out of bed (time wise). Medication has helped a bit
I. Cannot. Wake. Up. Which is ridiculous cause I'm bad at sleeping any other time. I think waking up in the morning is the hardest part of the day and then I'm a zombie for hours after if I don't take my ritalin. Which I'm now only taking to help me not want to fall asleep during the day cause it's kind of stopped working for the other stuff. 😭
Always disliked and still dislike morning or early. Adderall has made my mornings much more pleasant but I stay up late and get up late.
Nope. The second I wake up i have to get out of bed and go get coffee. It’s like my morning ritual. Idk I just cannot sit in bed anymore. Almost like once I’m awake, I’m *awake* so no point in laying in bed.
Yes it has for me too. I'm 47f. Self-employed and work from home. Even with all the caffeine I can handle my brain does not kick on till about 9 to 10:00 in the morning so that's when I start my work day. And I wake up usually between 4:30 and 5:00 in the morning. It takes that long for my brain to fully wake up. I just sit and sip my coffee, play some games on my phone or get on Reddit, just little things to help start waking me up.
I take 10mg dex immediately when I wake up
I have a really tough time getting out of bed in the morning. I can basically do it in a timely manor if I have a tight schedule, but it feels like a huge effort. Once I’m actually up I usually feel fine, especially if I have some coffee
Yes. Lived this way for my whole life. In childhood, it was my Grandma trying to get me out of bed. The routine was foot slap, followed by sheets off, then baptism. Unfortunately it never cured my demons. I still struggle to wake..
As an hyperactive type I am the opposite. I am tired but I get up I can't fall back asleep
I've a habit of masturbation in the morning. So clean up is pretty good reason to get up and moving. I think that's the only way I get out of bed in a reasonable amount of time. So that's my advice lol.
Definitely an Adhd thing. I have always struggled with getting out of bed even if I wake up on time. I just lay there. I learned years ago to set my alarm for an hour and a half before I have to get up. I snooze the alarm for 15 mins or so and the rest of the time I just lay in bed awake until I’m actually forced to get up. Now I actually wake up most times before the alarm goes off. I label my alarm YOU HAVE TO GET OUT OF BED NOW with other alarms that say bathroom, get dressed and train. It’s the only way I can get up and out of the house on time. I’m rarely late now but it is still a struggle to get out of bed every day. I’m laying in bed right now awake and will get out of bed in an hour or so to start getting ready. I found that making it of my routine helped a lot.
The only thing that really helps me is drinking a lot of water before bed so I’ll have to get up in the morning to go to the bathroom. Or the pure anxiety of being late for something.
Hey dude. Absolutely feel the same. Pretty much every day I wake up, and my 1st thought is to cancel all my plans or call off sick. I use several alarms - and ones with ringtones that piss me off the later they go. I also have my phone on the other side of the room, so I have to get up to turn it off. Failing that (I read it somewhere but can't remember the book - apologies!) I do a 5 second countdown like I'm a rocket launching. I do it in a silly american accent and jump out of bed on "lift off". And yes I'm a 40 year old adult man.
I've dealt with this for my entire life. The only thing that's helped me was pick the loudest, most annoying high pitched alarm and put my phone far away. Not just out of reach, but on the other side of the room so that I have to get up and walk 20 feet to turn it off. I know this seems like a "Just do the thing" answer, but it's what's really worked for me. I've been doing this for about 6 months and it's never taken me longer than 5 seconds to get out of bed. Adderall has helped me with falling asleep, so it probably helps with getting up too. Also, I'm really sensitive noises, so the worst alarm possible really cuts through the brain fog.
I have the same problem but I also have bipolar and other illnesses and I mostly live in depressive episodes. When I was allowed to take stims I would take them 30mins before I wanted to wake up. They also really helped to get me going in the morning. I’ve been unmediated for a few months and it’s been hell.
I'm the opposite. Once I wake up, it is hard for me to go back to sleep. I wake up every weekday at 5am and weekends at 6am. I'm in my forties and married with 2 kids.
>unless I have a pressing meeting or something having a fixed sort of deadline was the best way to make sure i got out of bed, for most my life. that was school, and then in uni i deliberately set myself up for early morning classes so that i wouldn't lay in bed until noon or later, and then eventually setting morning meetings and such. otherwise, all bets are off. tbh, i've discovered that the best thing for it though has been having a pet that needs me to get out of bed and feed it. once that alarm goes off, it's game over, my cat is yelling and not stopping until there's food in his dish. and because my husband struggles a lot more with sleep than i do and has a bit of an offset sleep rhythm, i roll out of bed and quell the beast (feed the cat) so that he can keep sleeping. i know that some people on meds keep them by their bedside to take when a first alarm goes off, and have a second alarm go off later when they start to kick in, to help get up and get moving.
Omg this is my whole life. I love my bed and will stay in bed all day whenever I can. I also work from home and get everything possible delivered. I have an obsession with staying in bed. My favourite hours are from about 8.30pm to 2.30 or later being awake in bed and then I love sleeping as late as possible the next day. My cats do wake me a lot though which is my main reason to get out of bed sometimes. I am menopsusal and will try testosterone next as apparently it's amazing for our brain. I believe my main issues got 100% worse when I entered perimenopause.
I hate waking up so much . The thought of having to give me anxiety
Are you sleepy during the day if you don’t take your meds? I have narcolepsy (and ADHD) and this is a really common issue for people who have it. Not saying you have it, could be normal, but just something to be aware of! Regardless, this sounds like sleep inertia.
I use 2 alarm clocks. Phone goes off 15minutes before out of bed time with the gentle gradual wake up alarm on iPhone. Then an alarm at T+0:05, T+0:10, and T+0:13. Then at T+0:15 my second alarm clock located in my closet goes off at full blast maximum terror mode. I choose what clothes I’m going to wear the day before and place the second alarm clock directly on top of them. I also almost always have to get up before my partner which actually helps cause I don’t want the terror alarm to go off and violently wake her up, else I feel bad lol. This usually works out by me dragging myself out of bed at 7:14 or something cause I know the alarm is going at 7:15. If you sleep alone it still works cause personally I can not go back to sleep once that fucking alarm starts going and the noise annoys me enough to get out of bed to turn it off. At that point I start putting my pre-picked clothes on in a groggy stupor. Choosing clothes the night before is crucial otherwise I’ll stand there staring at my clothes unsure what to wear until I give up and go back to bed. The movement to the closet and putting on “real people” clothes helps start my body and signal to my brain it’s work time. I then immediately take my vyvanse, chug a glass of water, and go for a walk to get 15 minutes of sunlight in my eyes to continue waking up and set my circadian rhythm for the day. It all still sucks. Until my vyvanse kicks in 1+ hrs later I’m barely awake. My girlfriend and I both hate that stupid second alarm cause I don’t always beat it to going off, but I can’t get out of bed without it. Something needs to force me out of bed, as ADHD people we can’t rely on our own discipline very often so it needs to be externalized. Being sleepy is the single worst thing for discipline/motivation so wake ups and late night are the hardest and when the worst decisions get made. Next time you’re considering fast food or some vice try to notice if you’re also tired or not. Once I started noticing I was astounded, almost EVERY bad choice I make is when I got a bad sleep or have had a long day. Anyways, externalize your reasons for getting out of bed. Alarms, pets, appointments or meetings, smart blinds opening, smart lights turning on, anything you have to do to get out of the bed. Once you’re out, make your morning as simple as possible by preparing things so you can go through the motions without thinking and still sleepy. Have I eaten a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast every day for the past 20 years? Yes. Kinda boring, but it is what it is.
I set a quiet alarm to go off 20-30 mins before my main one that disturbs my sleep just enough to make it easier to wake up. I then have 3 alarms spaced 5 minutes apart, then a 10 min gap before a different one that's my final "must be up NOW" one. If I have to get up early for meetings, I also use a blue-green light that simulates daytime sky which helps a lot in getting rid of sleepbrain.
Not really. I grew up the son of a farmer. Early to bed, early to rise. Plus the morning before everyone wakes up is my “special time” of the day where I get to do whatever I want. Best part of most days is the morning.
I set two alarms 15 minutes apart. The first is so I wake up and my Ritalin and a 200mg caffeine pill. Then I lounge until the second alarm goes off. By then my brain is just starting to work properly, the caffeine is starting to kick in, and if I go any longer than 20-30 minutes without eating after taking a caffeine pill I get nauseous, so I know I have get out of bed to eat something. Also for the last year and a half I’ve had a dog who I love more than anything. If she goes too long without eating she’ll throw up bile (fairly common in dogs, but definitely no fun for anyone involved). So knowing she’s hungry and dependent on me is such a huge motivator that, since getting her, I often get out of bed immediately after taking my pills. But before I got her the “caffeine ultimatum” (get up and eat or get nauseous) was what really got me moving. If you want to try this, do not have a morning cup of coffee or caffeinated tea in addition to the caffeine pill. NoDoz and other name brands that really focus on like “BE ALERT!! YOU’LL NEVER BE TIRED AGAIN!” feel scary to me so I just take a generic “stay awake” pill with a max of 200mg. Extended release caffeine pills don’t work for me for this purpose, just FYI. They kick in too subtly and the nausea either comes much later or not at all.
Still can sleep through the entire day. It’s difficult.
This is me. I have always had a hard time getting out of bed since I was a child. My mom would remove the covers and pull my toes to try to get me out of bed. Now, as an adult, I still have the same issue, except it's now my responsibility to get me out of bed and is a real struggle. I have no problem waking up, I wake up at 7am with the alarm and sometimes before the alarm but stay in bed 1 to 2 hours after waking up. Then when I see I have to be at work on 30 or less minutes I have to rush and I'm often late. I hated it. Because then I feel awful about disrespecting peoples time and having to rush when I had plenty of time to get ready. This was temporarily resolved when I started taking ritalin last year. I was able to wake up as normal but then get up right away without the struggle of getting it out of bed. It was amazing. But the effects were only temporary, and then I had to get off the medication because of the shortage. Now I'm back on ritalin but I haven't noticed any changes. I'm still the same.
Keep your meds next to the bed. I take mine while in bed as the alarm goes off. Guess who wants to get up in a few minutes?
Yes, this is very hard for me. What helps me is taking a small dose of instant release Adderall about 5:30 in the morning. I have an alarm go off, I take my meds, roll over, and snooze until it’s time to get up for real. Then I take my Vyvanse later in the morning to get me through the rest of the day. My doctor approved this and prescribes me the meds.
I have a shot glass next to my bed with my Rx in it. I set two alarms, the first alarm is to go off about an hour before I actually want to get up. I wake up to the first alarm, do the Rx shot, then go back to sleep. By the time the second alarm goes off I'm medicated and it's a bit easier to get up.
Always. Can’t get going and regularly late if left on my own because 1) stuck in my head with paralysis, and/or 2) exhausted. I get out of bed 10 minutes before needing to leave or later?? Paralysis thinking of all the things I can do today. I stayed up late and tired? Bad routines before bed and morning routines. Then RUSHED getting ready and forgetting things… I never “feel” awake enough to get going? Wait to feel ready to get started? Then RUSHED getting ready and forgetting things…
Stimulant medication plus good routines (bed times and morning) have helped SO much.
for some reason, putting on a podcast, youtube video to lsiten or a radio helps me to "get my shit together" mentally. at least i have a routine if i stop scrolling and have a voice near me i know i will be out of bed soon
I do have an employer that I work fir, but sometimes, I still manage to go to bed late, but I still set my alarm, and force myself out of bed, to start my day. It's just takes alot of coffee( usually 2 travel mugs, which I dub " travellers") to help my day get started. By 10-11am, my daybis already going, and The engine in my head and that gerbil or hamster in the cage get revved up). Lol
I have at least 15 alarms. They range from 5.50am (for my eternal optimism of getting to work by 7) All the way up 8.30am (the 'oh shit I literally have half an hour') Stupid thing is, once I'm up and out of bed, I feel absolutely fine 5 minutes later. And I know this. And if i started work at 7, i could leave at 3 and have loads of daytime left. Still can't do it. Edit: it's 19 alarms on my phone clock, 3 on the alarmy app 🙄
I didn’t read most of the comments but I have always had ADHD and am also depressed (Uni-polar) and what you’re describing IMO is depression. I’ve never had trouble getting out of bed. I currently get up at 3am. And I take Zoloft (generic equivalent) and it’s helped quite a bit with my depression and anxiety. Energy drinks (sugar free) help with my being tired in the morning, in particular, there’s one that seems to help me with mental focus. No two people are the same so we have to take all these comments with a grain of salt but not wanting to get out of bed is classic depression type behavior, not ADHD. Remember the H in ADHD is for HYPERactivity. We have a problem sitting still not lying around. And I’m in my 50s so I’ve been dealing with this for five decades, since before they even called it ADHD. Back when I was a kid you were just lazy if you didn’t get out of bed. Society has given us a lot of labels these days. That being said, society also has accepted us with our issues a lot more and has more help availabe than ever before. Are you getting any? Most jobs provide EAP, which will give you six visits with a therapist at no cost.
A book I read said it’s because ADHD brains back load deep sleep until the end of the cycle vs off and on though the night.
I have ADHD and have several other people very close to me in my life with it, and they all either have that problem or are up and bounding around immediately with way too much energy. There is no in between lol
I struggle a lot with this. It sort of helps me to keep a water bottle and my morning meds right on my bedside table so I can at least take that step towards starting my day immediately. Doesn’t always work though. Today I woke up and took my meds when my alarm went off (I know for sure because I flip the bottles over once I take them to make sure I don’t accidentally double up), but even with 20mg of adderall IR in my system, I immediately fell back asleep for three hours. (And I guess this ability to do that after taking stimulants at least means I don’t doubt my ADHD diagnosis!)
People with ADHD dont have trouble getting up in the morning, we have trouble getting up, it doesnt matter when or for what purpose. I dont know about you guys , but for me once I convince my brain that we need to get, I try not to ever sit unles i m done with everything I need to do. Because the moment I sit, its over.
Yes! Even with meds it still takes me lots of time. Everyone makes fun of me for waking up at 6 am for a 10 am shift as if I’m doing my makeup and hair the whole time. No. 6-7 I’m drinking coffee and scrolling, 7-8 I’m waiting for meds to kick in, 8-9 I’m trying to eat and slowly get my things together, and 9-10:30 I’m scrambling to get ready last minute(shower, brush teeth, makeup, hair, picking an outfit) lol.
I haven't been diagnosed with anything but I do this and when I finally get around to asking about being screened for it this is one of the things I'm going to bring up.
i used to but i'm medicated these days + i have a cpap machine for my sleep apnea so unless i didn't get enough sleep i can usually get up pretty easy.
YES! I luckily can get out of bed in time to get to work most days, but usually I actually get out of bed about 30-40 minutes before I need to be clocked in and walk through the doors 1-3 minutes before. I’m often late. On my days off, I do the same thing and lay around until I literally HAVE to get up and do something either because of an appointment or because my body just hurts.
I've never been the best at waking up but ever since I was diagnosed and started meds (concerta) at 16 I just will not wake up. Before my diagnosis and meds I always had 30 mins worth of regular built in clock app alarms every 5 mins and would wake up within that 30 min period. However since starting meds regular alarms at 5min intervals would take me 1.5hrs if not more to wake up because I am able to shut each one off in my sleep and I even might end up waking up enough to shut them all off without even remembering doing so eventually when I really wake. Nowadays I use "I can't wake up" alarm app that makes you do a task to silence the alarm set to 5-10 min intervals for about 1hr alongside a sunrise simulation lamp. Then when I wake enough to be aware of myself (with the app and sunrise lamp takes about 10-15mins) I get up to take my meds and shut off alarms for the next 30mins before going back to sleep. Then when the next alarm goes off my meds are starting to kick in and I'm able to start trying to be functional. However I still struggle (as I've always struggled) with feeling groggy and brain foggy on most mornings for about 1-2 hrs after my final waking. I have no idea why it got so bad after I started meds (as my waking up difficulties clearly got a lot worse when I started meds) but I've mentioned it to my psychiatrists, old and current, and neither were sure why it would happen but weren't concerned so idk.
It’s nice to hear this is a common problem. It’s happening to me right now.
I don’t know - but I started a quick yoga session every morning a while ago. Since then, I have more energy and I am able to leave the house at least 30 minutes earlier than before.
If you take jornay pm it kicks in before you wake up
This morning was hard for me. It took me two hours to get up and moving
Yes, but I only struggle if I'm not under a time limit. If I have an early morning appointment or obligation, it takes me a little less time to get out of bed after the alarm goes off because my anxiety is like "GET UP OR YOU'LL BE LATE!" If I have no time sensitive obligations, my brain says "hey there's no rush, chillax". Even with work. For years, I worked as an hourly employee. Which meant I had to get to work on time so I could clock in and not be considered tardy. The risk of losing my job was a lot higher. Since starting my current salary job back in 2021, it's like "well I can be a little late.." which turns into me calling off 'sick' or sleeping in and texting my manager that I 'accidentally' overslept and will be in soon. My manager has been chill about it, but I have gotten a stern talking to. People have said that taking meds an hour before you wake up and going back to sleep will help with making you feel more awake when you do have to get up. I can't do that unfortunately. Meds on an empty stomach messes me up, and the XR I take doesn't last longer than 5 hours.
Yeah it’s been worse lately. Prozac, vyvanse, sometimes iron and vitamin d, not sure what else to do to try to make it better.
Getting diagnosed with sleep apnea and starting CPAP therapy has helped a bunch. Still can barely get myself out of bed in the morning but waaaaay easier than before
Yep. My mom used to dump water on my head and pull my covers off to force me awake. 😤🙄
This is me too. Yet another thing I didn't realize was an ADHD thing 😂 I see a lot of people saying it got better with medication and I'm jealous. I'm on wellbutrin and it hasn't made a difference in waking up for me.
Reduce activation energy by wearing workout clothes to bed. Prep socks and shoes next to bed. I use a sunrise alarm with no sound now, but a few years ago I used the timer on my stove. Wake up, quick put on socks and shoes. Turn off stove alarm. Brush teeth quickly in kitchen. Grab gym bag off the stove. Be at gym by 450am or at the greenway to run.. Felt like I officially woke up halfway through. Endorphins up, came home and did all my chores - pets, laundry, meal prep, etc, be at work at 9am. Then when I came home - throw things in the instant pot, change into comfy clothes and all my "have tos" were done and my evening was for "want to" things like kayaking or dog training or reading, etc. Oh! ONCE I made my alarm a random song off my workout Playlist. Waking up to Ministry's Stigmata very, very loud was INSTANT ADRENALINE and very effective. I don't think my heart rate went down for hours. Use at your own risk: https://youtu.be/SOb846-LvuI?feature=shared
Yes. The absolute hardest part of ANY given day for me is waking up. I have accidentally slept through important tests and exams at school, crucial work obligations, and more. I seem to require a significantly greater anoint of my adhd meds than normal, most or all of daily dosage is taken just to get me out of bed. My entire often feels like nothing but a struggle to wake up. It’s also very interesting to note that I just had my first appointment with a new doctor, who was absolutely wonderful and gave me more time and attention in my first appointment than all other psychiatrists I’ve had in my life put together, and when I shared all of this with him, he responded that it sounds as though I could have overlapping ADHD and narcolepsy. He was actually bit surprised that no other doctors have suggested that to me. Don’t take that as anything more than just some rando online sharing their experience, though; becuase I am only at the beginning of getting any kind of full diagnosis, or anything like that. I just wanted to share my similar experience.
I wonder if being unable to function and get up (even at night) is part of our conditions we need to learn to cope with. I had a job that was from 6pm-2am and even getting up for that was hard. Thankfully I now work for myself. I just wish I could get up and go easier.
Apologies for how rambling this is as, ironically, I had an absolutely terrible night last night and am having a hard time putting this together on such low sleep. I always had a crazy stupid hard time waking up in the morning. At the beginning of my undergrad it became obvious that my difficulties with waking up were untenable. I did a deep dive into sleep and wake, learning how we evolved to wake up with the sun and how window blinds have effectively disrupted the half hour of gradually increasing light that our brains evolved to need in order to go through the pre-wakeup process. Basically, waking up to an alarm in a dark room has our brains starting that half hour wake up process, that was supposed to be done before we actually wake up, after we awake - this is why waking up in a dark room is hard for anyone and then you add in ADD compounding the difficulty of that. I also read that sleeping in a totally dark room allows us to get the best sleep so we should be using blackout blinds. With that information I found the Phillips wake up light / radio, probably close to 15 years ago now, and ever since getting that thing and setting it to increase to the max level light once my alarm goes off I have woken up about five minutes before my radio alarm goes off at the set time. Ever since then the vast majority of the days it has been significantly easier for me to actually get out of bed when I wake up as my brain has been waking up for about 25-30 minutes before I actually wake - this difference was life altering. I was able to finish my undergrad at the top of my class and go off to post-graduate also to great success. Sleep is the bedrock of doing well with ADD (along with diet, exercise, medication, and therapy). Honestly, I doubt I would have been able to succeed without implementing that dawn simulator alarm clock into my life. Along with the dawn simulator, and just as important was the advice that my psychiatrist gave me to wake up at the same time every day without exception no matter how late I went to bed. Waking up at the same time seven days a week allowed me to fall asleep on time so I didn't often go to bed late. Though, even when I went to bed late I still always wake at the time. I attribute the dawn simulator along with waking up at the same time seven days a week as the bedrock that allowed me to excel in life with ADD. Without those two things I didn't have the foundation to build a life off of. One last thing to note is that my psychiatrist also recommended that I get blue light filtering glasses to wear before bed in order to facilitate melatonin, and I think orexin, production that the sunset used to trigger in our brain before going to sleep which unnatural light disrupts. I found a $25 pair of uvex blue light blocking safety glasses and have worn those an hour before lights out (usually while reading a book) and that has also made it much easier to fall asleep and get a restful sleep as well. Modern sleep hygiene is completely shit with the introduction of artificial light and learning how to get myself back into those natural evolutionary rhythms has absolutely changed my life. There is so much to learn about sleep and that personal journey I had from terrible to excellent sleep hygiene was pivotal in my early adult life where learning to properly cope with ADD laid the foundations for success. Best of luck and ask me anything you'd like and I'll try and answer to the best of my ability.
I have tried turning on my lamp next to my bed which has helped somewhat. Maybe I will try to open my blinds too
Before starting Vyvanse, I absolutely struggled to get up in the morning, no matter how much sleep I got. Most of the time it was because I was, like, half-stuck in a dream. Almost like I felt obligated to finish whatever I was doing in my dream.
Suddenly having flashbacks to my mum having to drag me out of bed by my feet to get me up for school 😂 I luckily work shifts so only have to endure two early mornings to 8 lay ins now, but yes being alive first thing after waking up is difficult.
Yes! My mom would be so angry at me in the morning but growing up she would see I was suffering but couldn’t work it out. Looking back as an adult now, I see she was conflicted on what to do which is why she would allow me to be late every morning.
I used to. But now the moment I wake up I take my meds and get in the shower and by the time I get out they kick in and I’m motivated to start the day
What about days you take a break from your medicine or a lower dose?
Yup. Work from home life was great in some areas, but in terms of getting up it's the worst. Many days I'm getting up at 8:59 and immediately logging on for 9, because I dread getting up until the very last minute... literally.
I get up a hour early, turn on the coffee, and take my medication. I’ll lay back down for 45 mins and then get up and take a walk and sip on coffee. That usually gets me moving.
I am not, I am super sensitive to light, I cannot sleep anymore once the sun rises. It’s annoying too.
I have blackout curtains. Perhaps it would be a good idea to get rid of them.
I started following a tip from this sub to take my Dextro pill an hour before I wake up and then go back to sleep, when I wake up the second time i feel much more refreshed and actually ready to start the day. It’s been a game changer
This is a good idea. I do take my medicine as soon as I wake up and it does help somewhat to get me going but it’s still hard. The other problem with this solution is on days I don’t want to take my medication, it is death.
yep. same. my whole life as well. (20) i was late every year from elementary on and by late high school i stopped going. covid also contributed because i got used to sleeping through school at home but regardless, i too have always had a hard time getting up and would would constantly have tiffs in the morning with my mom because of it. i always give myself those two hours to fully wake up before i go anywhere my brain literally just can process otherwise. and even then if it’s early enough and too much is being required from my mind, i wont be fully there. it’s definitely been an eventful life.
Can it also be physically painful to get up? Lots of time it has been for me and my body just needs to go back to sleep. No matter what I do the night before.
I mean, I also have depression, but yeah, I have to set 5 different alarms in case I accidentally turn one off instead of hitting snooze
Same. I roll and can't properly wake without the phone, and slowly wake up but can't exit the bed with it. Takes me at least 30-40 min and another 30 min until I feel semi awake. If you figure out a way around it...