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Probably wasn't the wisest to take LSATs now, but I had six full time courses in grad school during the school year, and I want to apply to UT and Berkeley (very little chance in the latter, but I want to try as it has excellent environmental law, which is what I'd want to do) as a non-resident. I really only have a shot at those places if I apply as early as possible, in October, so I figured my only reasonable LSAT date was this June one. After taking pretty much all my diagnostics in the morning, I've only recently had some time to take diagnostics in the afternoon and (sigh) realized that I nod off between 1-4pm even under the pressure of LSATs.

Any way to combat this? Caffeine is definitely hit-or-miss and I rapidly reduce sensitivity to it after only a couple days of drinking coffee in the afternoon, then crash the next couple of days. I used to abuse a "coffee-pepsi" concoction...40 cups a day...during high school engineering competitions. Might've broken some of my normal response to caffeine. I remember nodding off for a couple minutes during my AP Calculus 2 test back then, but I was a math freak and still managed to finish early and get a perfect score. Not quite the same as LSATs; I'm scoring in the high 160s but really trying to push for 170 at least.

Best I can really do now is hold off on the coffee and chew gum/mints, but still hard to focus while taking diagnostics. My diet isn't that carb heavy--a slice of bread with each lunch and dinner, which is mostly fish/chicken livers (my comfort food...I'm somewhat anemic but I think I'm eating enough iron in my diet right now) and greens in small portions. Snacks are almonds/walnuts and banana chips. Eggs for breakfast.

By they way, do they let you chew gum during the test?

Anyway, long-time lurker, first time poster here. Suggestions would help! Thank you!

Does that stuff really work? Never tried it.

I am desperate.

.

Damn, seriously? No gum? I have nothing now!

Use this next week to shift your sleep schedule and change your internal clock. Start waking up at noon and going to bed at 4, that way when you take the LSAT, it'll feel like morning.

*Not guaranteed to work, or be remotely beneficial in any way, whatsoever.

But wait, can you seriously not chew gum?

so you JUST realized that you somehow magically fall asleep from the hours of 1-4?

If you're actually nodding off mid-day and have a relatively normal sleep and food routine then you should see a doctor. It's possible to have mild forms of narcolepsy that can be treated with medication. It's normal to be tired or drowsy during the day, but it's not normal for it to seriously impact your ability to function.

justabean wrote:Does that stuff really work? Never tried it.

I am desperate.

Absolutely. No lie, that stuff works miracles. However, I would caution you that you still need to get an adequate amount of sleep. It doesn't combat sleep deprivation but it more or less gives you the stength to overcome regular afternoon sleepiness.

yngblkgifted wrote:

justabean wrote:Does that stuff really work? Never tried it.

I am desperate.

Absolutely. No lie, that stuff works miracles. However, I would caution you that you still need to get an adequate amount of sleep. It doesn't combat sleep deprivation but it more or less gives you the stength to overcome regular afternoon sleepiness.

It doesn't work for everyone--I tried it a couple times this year when I had to get a bunch of work done and it either had no affect, or a very short-lived, limited one. Try it before assuming it'll work when you take the LSAT. If you really need a jolt, get some Adderall. Shouldn't be that hard.

notanumber wrote:If you're actually nodding off mid-day and have a relatively normal sleep and food routine then you should see a doctor. It's possible to have mild forms of narcolepsy that can be treated with medication. It's normal to be tired or drowsy during the day, but it's not normal for it to seriously impact your ability to function.

I had no idea I had it until recently. All I knew about narcolepsy was a character on Hill Street Blues, Vic Hitler the Narcoleptic Comic, who would fall asleep in the middle of his act. But I did know that every afternoon between about three and six, I would get very tired for no reason. I would doze off in meetings, watching TV, even driving. You know how when you're regular tired, your whole body is tired? With narcolepsy, just the inside of your head is tired. It's like somebody's gently sitting on your brain. You have almost no focus. All you're thinking about is not falling asleep.

^ Jimmy Kimmel talking about narcolepsy

Do you have significant sleep debt? When I was under a similar course load I had built up a significant deficit.

Corwin wrote: Do you have significant sleep debt? When I was under a similar course load I had built up a significant deficit.

Possibly...I think I've been ok for this last week or so though. I get 5-6 hours a night? I'll go and correct myself now I should probably get more.

fatduck wrote:

notanumber wrote:If you're actually nodding off mid-day and have a relatively normal sleep and food routine then you should see a doctor. It's possible to have mild forms of narcolepsy that can be treated with medication. It's normal to be tired or drowsy during the day, but it's not normal for it to seriously impact your ability to function.

I had no idea I had it until recently. All I knew about narcolepsy was a character on Hill Street Blues, Vic Hitler the Narcoleptic Comic, who would fall asleep in the middle of his act. But I did know that every afternoon between about three and six, I would get very tired for no reason. I would doze off in meetings, watching TV, even driving. You know how when you're regular tired, your whole body is tired? With narcolepsy, just the inside of your head is tired. It's like somebody's gently sitting on your brain. You have almost no focus. All you're thinking about is not falling asleep.

^ Jimmy Kimmel talking about narcolepsy

Huh. I should look into this. I shy away from asking doctors about things like this though, for fear of being labeled a hypochondriac. Either way, a little late for treatment, if any.

traehekat wrote:so you JUST realized that you somehow magically fall asleep from the hours of 1-4?

Well I always assumed I would "get over it" when seriously focused with the LSAT and not, for example, sitting listening to a lecture. I wasn't able to practice the LSAT in the afternoon until, seriously, this weekend. Internship, job, and classes, gah.

PSUdevon wrote:Use this next week to shift your sleep schedule and change your internal clock. Start waking up at noon and going to bed at 4, that way when you take the LSAT, it'll feel like morning.

Really wish I could. But I have an internship right now, I'm required to work through this week as well. (It's an environmental law-related internship, hoping that helps with apps later...) It's hard taking time off since I talk to people about leases and I need to answer their phone calls and emails during office hours. *Need* to, since they live in really rural areas where it's apparently quite hard to get a hold of people.

If you really need a jolt, get some Adderall. Shouldn't be that hard.

Wow. I don't know about that. First, I don't like to take things that might cause heart issues (one of the side effects of Adderall) due to genetic background and I've never taken drugs like that so I would rather discover my body's reaction to it now, and second, I think it might be quite difficult getting a some since I'm currently living in a city for my internship where I don't know a single person who has a prescription.

Also, ethics. But that's subjective.

justabean wrote:

If you really need a jolt, get some Adderall. Shouldn't be that hard.

Wow. I don't know about that. First, I don't like to take things that might cause heart issues (one of the side effects of Adderall) due to genetic background and I've never taken drugs like that so I would rather discover my body's reaction to it now, and second, I think it might be quite difficult getting a some since I'm currently living in a city for my internship where I don't know a single person who has a prescription.

Also, ethics. But that's subjective.

do not take unprescribed Adderall for the LSAT. this poster is retarded.

fatduck wrote:

justabean wrote:

If you really need a jolt, get some Adderall. Shouldn't be that hard.

Wow. I don't know about that. First, I don't like to take things that might cause heart issues (one of the side effects of Adderall) due to genetic background and I've never taken drugs like that so I would rather discover my body's reaction to it now, and second, I think it might be quite difficult getting a some since I'm currently living in a city for my internship where I don't know a single person who has a prescription.

Also, ethics. But that's subjective.

do not take unprescribed Adderall for the LSAT. this poster is retarded.

I suppose I should know better, at this point, than to expect sarcasm to come across as such over the internet. Rest assured, I'm not advising illicit drug use (though the "ethics" certainly wouldn't be the reason why not).

Ah, sorry PSUdevon. I require some sort of sarcasm punctuation mark for text sarcasm.

On TLS, if you even so much as obliquely suggest that your friend of a friend of a friend has access to Adderall, you'll get about a dozen PMs from desperate posters asking you to hook them up with some. I think one poster even explicitly stated he was being sarcastic and still got PMs.

With the right attitude and intensity, you should feel pretty alert thanks to adrenaline even during PTs.

justabean wrote:

If you really need a jolt, get some Adderall. Shouldn't be that hard.

Wow. I don't know about that. First, I don't like to take things that might cause heart issues (one of the side effects of Adderall) due to genetic background and I've never taken drugs like that so I would rather discover my body's reaction to it now, and second, I think it might be quite difficult getting a some since I'm currently living in a city for my internship where I don't know a single person who has a prescription.

Also, ethics. But that's subjective.

Eh, I wouldn't take Adderall if I were you. I used to take it under a legal prescription, and before I was allowed to get a prescription I had to go to a cardiologist and get an EKG and such to make sure my heart was working normally. If you have an abnormality, Adderall and stimulants like it could fuck some stuff up.

For anyone whose interested, I stopped taking Adderall last year because it was giving me side effects. My GPA this year was higher than last year, so I guess I didn't need it that much. Meh.

While out eating lunch the other day I overheard a girl say to her friend "I've got to take an Adderall now because I'm going to workout at the gym in an hour."

I said nothing but was thinking WTF?? take an amphetamine to go exercise? Huh?

justabean wrote:

Corwin wrote: Do you have significant sleep debt? When I was under a similar course load I had built up a significant deficit.

Possibly...I think I've been ok for this last week or so though. I get 5-6 hours a night? I'll go and correct myself now I should probably get more.

Less than 8 hours of sleep a night impairs cognitive function for most people. Still, I'm not sure 5-6 hours a night explains falling asleep while taking a test. Could be something else going on. Obviously only a doctor could tell you for sure.

Also, don't take unprescribed medication. Besides the obvious ethical problems, it's not safe. As another poster mentioned, you get screened for heart issues before taking Aderoll.

Jeffort wrote:While out eating lunch the other day I overheard a girl say to her friend "I've got to take an Adderall now because I'm going to workout at the gym in an hour."

I said nothing but was thinking WTF?? take an amphetamine to go exercise? Huh?

Haha. We Americans are starting to rely way too much on pills.

5 hour energy, does, in fact, work.

I had a critical 3 hour interview. Due to a household emergency, I got 2 hours of sleep the night before.

5 hour energy and I was on my A game.

Voyager wrote:5 hour energy, does, in fact, work.

I had a critical 3 hour interview. Due to a household emergency, I got 2 hours of sleep the night before.

5 hour energy and I was on my A game.

Huh. Maybe I'll experiment with this tomorrow (sitting in on a DoE hearing for exactly 5 hours). Is there any crash afterwards? If so, how bad is it?