Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Anyone else have this weird AND very frustrating problem?

Haven't had time all week to join in here so it feels good to be back again.

I have a weird issue regarding managing my C-IBS.

Since discovering H's diet 2 1/2 months ago I'm finally no longer feeling bloated, gassy and significantly uncomfortable all the time, and in fact most days I feel good and even sometimes great! I'd actually forgotten what it feels like to feel good/great after 25+ years of steadily worsening IBS.

My question pertains to the ONE issue I haven't been able to resolve since starting on H's diet. This issue feels so weird to me that it's taken me this long to post here about it. Anyway, here goes.

For at least the past 5+ years I awaken between 4-6AM, at the latest, and this is the ONE time of day when my colon is able to work well and thus clean out well. If I don't get up during this window of time it's a guarantee that I'll be constipated and very uncomfortable that day.

My BIG problem is that I seem to need 9 hours of sleep every night to be well-rested. Seems from everything I've read about sleep(lots!!) that there's a bell curve in the population for how many hours of sleep people need and the bell curve ranges from 5-10. Most people fall between 61/2-8. I've never read anywhere that this bell curve has been shown to be genetically determined but 2 of my 3 sibs and both of my parents are big sleepers, so it seems to me that being on the far side of the bell curve must have some genetic determinants.

Unfortunately, when I don't get a sound nine hours of sleep my energy ranges from mediocre to lousy the next day and my IBS symptoms are much worse, even on H's diet. My problem is that since I awaken naturally so early, it means that I have to get to bed by 8:30-9-30 every night. I try really hard to do this, but it's impossible to do it all the time and it makes for a very boring and lonely social life......I'm single and live alone so no one to talk to except myself and that that definitely gets boring!!

Sooooooo, can anyone suggest some ways that I can either:

a) reduce the number of hours of sleep I need, WITHOUT using any prescription drugs. All sleep meds, both prescription or OTCounter, make my constipation worse, plus they don't give me a good normal night's sleep if I use them on a regular basis. (my experience here is consistent w/ what I've read many times in various medical articles about sleep. I've reviewed so many articles in my efforts to find a solution to needing so much sleep, that if reading about sleep helped a person to sleep better I'd be a narcoleptic! LOL)

Trying to reduce the number of hours of sleep that I need would be my first choice, b/c I often feel that from about 3AM onwards I'm not sleeping deeply. So I'm thinking that the shallow/restless quality of the last few hours of my sleep is why I need more than the average number of hours of sleep. However,I haven't been able to find any way to induce sound, deep sleep again once I start to partially awaken around 3AM.

I have NO PROBLEM falling asleep or staying asleep soundly until 4-6AM. I sleep in a pitch black room and wear earplugs so NO SOUNDS ever awaken me. I get early AM sunlight every day and also exercise aerobically every day for at least 20-30 minutes. In addition, I know I'm not depressed, b/c as long as I get enuf sleep I feel great the next day and I'm very productive, optimistic and energetic. However, if I get less than a sound 9 hours I feel fatigued and this drains all my energy and enthusiasm.

Lastly, unfortunately, my body doesn't "nap" well at all. In fact the only time I can fall asleep soundly, other than at night, is when I'm ill. Also, going back to sleep after 6AM, [or after I've gotten cleaned, whichever comes first), isn't an option. It usually takes me 40-60 minutes to get cleaned out well and by then I'm wide awake, even if I feel tired.

I believe that this is b/c I'm fundamentally a very high energy-but not hyper-person. Even when I'm very tired most people can't tell that I am, but I sure feel it! Worse yet, fatigue often gives me a low-grade headache that makes it even harder to get thru the day w/any degree of upbeat motivation, which when I'm rested, is my normal "operating" mode.

b) The other option I can think of is to figure out how to get my bowels to be willing to clean out well later in the AM than 4-6AM, so that I can then go to bed at a later hour, like 10-11 and still be well rested the next day b/c I've been able to sleep in past 4-6AM. I've not been able to find anything in all that I've read that talks about being able to do this successfully, let alone how to do it.I take fiber supplements 3X/day - early AM upon waking, late AM and mid-afternoon, since starting on H's diet but doing this hasn't affected my AM waking time at all.

I have no idea how, or even IF it's possible to move my body's inner peristaltic rhythm back to a later hour in the AM. I have my doubts that it's possible to switch one's body's natural rhythms BUT I'm open to all suggestions b/c I'm SO TIRED of feeling tired. If I can solve this one remaining BIG problem then I'll finally have this "IBS thing" under enough control that I can start to have some fun in my life again w/my many wonderful friends, whom I rarely get to see due to this problem, AND maybe finally meet "MR. RIGHT"!!! It's tough to socialize or date when I know that I need to leave by 8PM. It's easier to just not attend anything or accept a date than to put myself in this awkward position of having to have the willpower- and make the excuses- to leave all the fun at 8PM, esp since I don't feel tired at 8PM but I know that if I don't leave at that hour and get home to go to be asleep by 9PM, I'll feel crummy and be constipated the next day.

Sorry to write so much and thanks for reading all of it. Most of all, thanks for ANY AND ALL suggestions, insights, etc.

LL

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Many years of C-IBS and pain too for past 2 years-

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