I can totally relate. However, my situation is quite a bit different. How to handle it? That is the $64K question and the answer is distinctly different for each of us. Since my near fatal brain stem stroke I get exhausted after being up from 2 to 5 hours and have to crash. But, I only tend to sleep in 2 to 4 hours blocks, if I'm lucky.

My sleep routine is no routine and a clock has no relevancy to me anymore. I use a CPAP machine and find I "fight" with it many times causing me to have to get up to simply take a break from it. Thankfully, my sleep doctor can look at the data and in his opinion since I get at least 7 hours sleep total within a 24 hour period he isn't concerned.

I am on total disability so I do not have work responsibilities. The motto in our home is, "Just go with the flow." Literally, that is what I do. I may get up at 2am, back to bed at 8am up again at 11am, crash at 2pm. No two days are the same. Even taking Clorazepam and Requip I only sleep in short blocks. Chronically sleep deprived, exhausted, with all of the associated side effects.

Reading your post I would think to not fight it and "just go with the flow." Sleep when tired, do stuff while awake until sleepy again. Hopefully you have the freedom to do that and are not still working full time.

Either way it sucks and is a really BUMMER to any social life. Wishing you better luck in finding a comfortable solution.