Okay. In general I do not have problems staying asleep most nights (though there is the occasional 'pulling my hair out at 4 AM') but it does take me a good hour-hour and a half to get to sleep. This isn't really an issue considering I run fine with 5-6.5 hours, but something happens while I try to sleep that has me confounded- something that does tend to be more prominent in naps.

With that in mind, (1) when falling asleep I find it a regular occurrence (as I'm sure many do) to veer off my train of thought and have seemingly random thoughts- thoughts that aren't necessarily willed by me though I can shut them out if I so choose. This is often accompanied by sleep paralysis and other normally-occurring sleep indicators.

(2) Upon waking I have (as I'm positive most do) that dirty, 'I need to brush my teeth' feeling.

So, any times when I laY down to nap, along with regular occurrences when I try to sleep at night, I have experienced both these BEFORE and AFTER physiological and psychological effects without being aware of going to sleep. Lots of times I'm positive I haven't slept a wink. However, while completely exhausted along with being submersed in dark and not having exposure to 'blue-screens' I will lie in bed and experience the wake-to-sleep sensations. After an hour I will get up out of deference to my sleeplessness, only to find I have that weird feeling in my mouth- as if I was asleep the entire time!

So I read a bit on it and the only solution I can come up with is a good number of micro-sleeps happening; though this seems unlikely as this issue is relatively new (about a year in occurrence) for me.

Just as some extra info: I meditate 40-60 minutes a day, follow most- if not all- of sleeping tips I come across, exercise frequently, and do just about everything I can for a good sleep.

Anybody else experience this? Or have any insights?

Cheers