sleepy_student
Forum Newbie
Topics: 5
Posts: 65
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hello everyone,
i've been reading posts on this forum for a few months, and found the information very useful, and the encouragement wonderful.
basically, i took step 1 earlier this year, and didnt find the exam that difficult. the night before i was scheduled to take the exam, i couldnt fall asleep, and ended up sleeping only 4 hours. i was hoping for 8. i cancelled the exam and rescheduled a few days later. i decided to take an ambien CR, and took it a few days before the exam to see how it would affect me. it left me groggy and my mind foggy in the morning, but i had to take it in order to get some sleep.
i took the ambien CR at 8pm the night before, and then took my exam at 9am the next day. and even then i still had trouble sleeping, i think i got about 6 hrs this time. during the exam, i felt really sluggish and had trouble remembering details for many of the questions that i knew i really did know. a side effect of ambien CR is slight memory impairment, and some drug hangover. long story short, i failed, when i know i should've passed because i couldnt sleep, and maybe because of the ambien CR.
so my question to you all is, does anyone else have so much anxiety that they have trouble sleeping before the exam? and if so, did anyone take a sleep aid? and if they did how did it affect them? and lastly, does anyone have any suggestions as to how to fall asleep better, or what sleep aid to take?
thank you all in advance, and sorry for the long post. i really would appreciate any replies.
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| propanalol
Forum Senior
Topics: 14
Posts: 119
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this is my department....
i've been a night time studier for most of life so 2-3 months before the exam i started to realize i gotta start waking up in the morn early to insure i don't feel sleepy or tired during the exam...i tried antihistamines, it made me sleep alright, for 12 hrs!! Each time i took them, I slept 12 hrs...inbtwn I started exercising before I slept & though it made me tired & I did goto sleep, I didn't want to waste anymore time behind it esp. w/ the exam comin around...I also noticed that I started get anxious when I got to bed...as in I was so scared that I wouldn't goto sleep, I ended up not going to sleep. I knew for symptoms like these I'd have to take prescritpion sleeping pills n' well...at this moment in time we're living paycheck to paycheck...*empty pockets*
then I looked up the melatonin & light therapy...it nicely worked out for me...I was suprised that when i woke up even w/ only 6 or 5 hrs of sleep (my best sleep is 9 hrs exactly  ) I was so refreshed...honestly refreshed, I never felt like that...(believe me, I ain't no mornin person)...I just took the melatonin pills & I knew I didn't need the light therapy coz I had the sun outside...
so datz one suggestion frm moi
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| sleepy_student
Forum Newbie
Topics: 5
Posts: 65
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thanks for the reply! i have to look up the melatonin therapy to get more info about it...it's probably a good think u didnt take any prescription sleep aids, because they really give u a drug hang over the next morning, and truly do impair your memory...the ambien CR really made it difficult to recall details that i had memorized two days prior to the exam.
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| Maryam187
Forum Newbie
Topics: 2
Posts: 23
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I know a few students during my school time took beta-Blockers. You'll just need a small dose, maybe 5-10mg of Metoprolol (Mom, Dad or anyone with Hypertension who could give you a few?). Try it out for a few days and the slight Bradycardia will keep your heart from going crazy at night as well as on your exam day.
Good luck.
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| bioguy
Forum Guru
Topics: 46
Posts: 836
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PLEASE, NO DRUGS!!!!!! Guys/Gals, you have seen the effects and side effects of relying on medication. Its not doing what you exactly wanted it to do. For example - sleepy wanted to have a good sleep before the exam day - Why? - so that he/she can feel FRESH in the exam, so that things can be recalled easily in the exam. So he/she gobbled a tab or two of ambien and got good sleep. But what happened on the exam day was exactly opposite - he/she couldn't recall what he/she read 2 days back, not just read but memorized 2 days back!!!! ISN'T THIS OBVIOUS!!!!!! YOU CANNOT CONTROL THE ACTION OF THESE DRUGS. Its not like you have a switch in your hand and can turn on the action at 10pm in the night, and turn off the action of these drugs exactly at 8am in the morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you??? Some wise fellow can say that you can control the dose of the drug for exactly duration of action. HEY!!! What about half-lives????? You think you know how these drugs exactly work? Well you can control the dose optimizing for duration of action for SLEEP. But what about memory impairment? Do you have any idea how to optimize for that!!!!! NO!
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| bioguy
Forum Guru
Topics: 46
Posts: 836
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If you have sleep problem, try to ANALYSE it! Anxiety is the most common cause for students before exams. Anxiety is something thats difficult but not impossible to deal with.
If you want immediate results you resort to medication, but along with it comes the unacceptable side-effects, in the context of exams. I mean if you are not having exams, you can take sleep medication and have no problem with its accompanying side-effects. But EXAMS - take no risk. The last thing you want is impaired memory!!!!!!!
But if you take action early on - in the long term, you CAN deal with anxiety. Come on, its simple. Do you have anxiety when you don't have exams - NO. You have anxiety with exams. Why? Because you do not want to flunk. Because your career and life depends on it. But what can you do about it? Study. What else? Study and Study. What else? STUDY STUDY STUDY!!!!!!!!!! THERE IS NOTHING ELSE YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT, BUT STUDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So when there is nothing else you can do about it... don't you just give up? GIVE UP ANXIETY!!!!!!!!!!!!
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| bioguy
Forum Guru
Topics: 46
Posts: 836
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Its not that you people don't know any of what I am saying. But the problem is you don't have the time or the motivation to sit down and analyse it. You want instant solutions to problems. And you resort to shortcuts. That won't help you ultimately in the long run. I am not sure if I can drive this fact with just words. OK, here is an analogy. You can use mnemonics to memorize some difficult facts. But ultimately you cannot rely on mnemonics in the actual situation - say an emergency. You have to have complete and instant memory of the facts to act in an emergency, not try to recall them with your mnemonics.
So coming back to dealing with anxiety, you need patience and time. So start early on. Try some philosophy, try meditation (don't switch the 't' with 'c'), yoga, aerobics, whatever. Take control of your life and your thoughts.
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| bioguy
Forum Guru
Topics: 46
Posts: 836
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Another analogy. What did Dr.Goljan say is the first line of management of diabetes or say hypertension - DIET AND EXERCISE. So, assuming your anxiety is not a pathology, the first line of management is NOT DRUGS! Its RELAXATION! As I said, if its not a pathology, I am sure you will be capable of relaxation. You just need to find the right means. And some available means are - as I said above - meditation, yoga, aerobics etc. Again there are no shortcuts here either. You cannot pretend to know what meditation is, and just try it a couple of times to see if you are completely cured of your anxiety. It doesn't work that way. You have to sincerely do it, and do it the right way. Then only you will find difference.
I am sorry, this is not an easy topic to discuss in short words. It will take forever and ever. I hope someone gets something from what I just babbled about for so long.
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| po
Forum Elite
Topics: 39
Posts: 356
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and melatonin doesnot work[behav sci];use sunlight alone, it should help 
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| dokidok
Forum Senior
Topics: 22
Posts: 79
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Very true bioguy. Forget about medications. I tried NYTOL two times, and on the next day I felt terrible, couldn't recall anything. So, I decided to go to the exam, without any drug help. It doesn't work for me. I don't care how many hours I will sleep, but I know that even if I sleep less, I will still have better recall without drugs the night before. And something else. I hate when my mouth is dry. Dry mouth means too much water. Too much water means too many times going to the washroom. Too many times going to the WC means poor concentration. Poor concentration means poor score.
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| bioguy
Forum Guru
Topics: 46
Posts: 836
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there you go.... thats what drugs do!
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| sleepy_student
Forum Newbie
Topics: 5
Posts: 65
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thanks for the advice everyone.
bioguy, you are right that anxiety happens when you feel unprepared...although i did feel prepared enogh for the exam, i was anxious about falling asleep, and then worried if any noise from outside would wake me up...i'm a light sleeper. the more i tossed and turned, the more anxious i got, and the more upset i became...this made it even harder to sleep, even though i was exhausted.
so now, i try to get into bed an hour early, hoping that i will just fall asleep, and get enough sleep for the next day.
if i am unable to sleep the night before, what would anyone suggest i do or take?
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| dokidok
Forum Senior
Topics: 22
Posts: 79
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OK. What wrong is going to happend if you sleep 4 or 5 hours and go to the exam? Nothing. You are not going to be 100% fresh, but when you start the exam, our good friend ADRENALINE knows what to do. The problem is, that you keep repeating yourself that if you don't have 10 hours sleep, you cannot recall anything. You will. Trust me. Nobody recalls 100%, and even if you do, that doesn't mean that this is the right answer to the question. So, keep studing, don't waste more time and go for the exam.
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| po
Forum Elite
Topics: 39
Posts: 356
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maintain good sleep hygiene
http://www.stanford.edu/~dement/howto.html
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| neuroblastoma
Forum Guru
Topics: 99
Posts: 1,016
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i am having insomnia these days.(in middle of night) felt palpitations too while i got to bed. so, i just get up from bed.and logged on to prep4usmle.
aint it good idea..?
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| propanalol
Forum Senior
Topics: 14
Posts: 119
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woah!!! ure hearts are in the right place...all of u are so sweet....
i just wanted to let u know that i do know what the effects are...but i'm just doin this temporarily...just to make my body adjust to waking in the mornin n' sleepin at night....i planned to always get off this...n' my exam's in a few days...i'm already off the melatonin....it's only to get my body ready....
thanx bioguy, po n' dokidok....i appreciate the warnings...
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| Grandmaster
Forum Newbie
Topics: 1
Posts: 8
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propanolol your name is incorrect, should be propRanolol 
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| propanalol
Forum Senior
Topics: 14
Posts: 119
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