[Gary]

So I’ve dedicated the last 8 months of my life to this exam, and that will (hopefully) end on the 28th. I have developed some terrible habits as a result of studying for this thing and I was wondering if anyone else has had this issue. I have been quite stressed over this to the point where I cant fall asleep at night if I have to be somewhere (work) early in the morning, so I have to take a sleep aid to help sleep. Does anyone else have/had these issues before? I’d like to break these once I finish studying and take my final exam. I’m curious to see if other people have experienced similar issues.

AUD - 89
BEC - 84
FAR - 89
REG - 90

AUD - 89

FAR - 89

BEC - 84

REG - 90

YES!

AUD 8/18/16
FAR 11/16
BEC 1/17
REG 2/17

[AndrewE]

Right there with you except I only take melatonin on the weekends, ever since starting to study I don't sleep. I already had problems sleeping to begin with. I do feel your pain -.-

AUD - NINJA in Training
BEC - NINJA in Training
FAR - NINJA in Training
REG - NINJA in Training

- e

[T Rev]

I would assume it affects everyone differently, but how does melatonin affect your sleep when you take it? Particularly, do you get that fog when waking up? I have been at this for over a year now and have 2 weeks until my last exam, but have been getting little quality sleep. I don't want to take Ambien or other prescription sleep aids because of said fog, and its affect on my ability to study in the morning.

[Goingallin]

I've been taking Benadryl more than I would like too. Especially two weeks before exam date. I always feel very anxious and regardless of how many hours I've invested, my nerve always get the best of me bc the thought of failing and having to study for retake is a nightmare.

AUD - 87
BEC - 77
FAR - 75
REG - 82

donotgiveup!!

[Anonymous]

I am with you. I have insomnia even before starting the CPA exam prep and melatonin doesn't work for me. I used to get headaches next day after taking melatonin.Sleep is very important . I tried few things like meditation, yoga before taking ambien. I am working on trying to avoid ambien once for all. Good luck on your REG exam. I waiting for my REG score on Feb 23rd.BTW very impressive scores.

[garciarb]

While taking the exam (and now, waiting for my last test result), I pretty much got the minimum amount of sleep required to be functional. For the past year, I've been miserable, moody, and irritable and I'm not sure how much wonderful girlfriend put up with it. Hopefully our trip to Europe next month will help make up for some of it.

BEC - 81
AUD - 79
REG - June 2016 (Thanks Nasba!)
FAR - ugh

[waffle_house]

@ OP
You should relax a little…do you work or exercise during the day? Maybe find a female companion to help you with your endeavors.

I used to drink coffee at 6 or 7pm and would be in bed by 10pm and wake up by 4:30am. After a while the coffee stopped working and became a habit but nothing too bad.

AUD - 80
BEC - 75
FAR - 84
REG - 76

Exams started Sep 2014 -Exams done Mar 2017

Texas CPA

I put in work, it was evident

[Stilgoin]

Yassss on the benedryl and melatonin, which is so unusual for me. Normally I would never take anything, but I have insomnia so bad these days that I will stay up all night if I don’t take something. I try to limit benedryl to once a week, but last week I took it 3 nights. It felt so good just to sleep even though I could barely drag myself out of bed the next morning. Hopefully I will get back to normal soon.

Stilgoin, CPA

There are enough critics. Be an encourager

B | 62, 78
A | 73, 67, 79
R | 82
F | 59, 59, Waiting

Ethics | 93

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
~Winston Churchill

“In a world full of critics, be an encourager."

[Anonymous]

Things the CPA exam has done to me:
1. Given me Insomnia. I stay awake even after taking an off the counter sleeping pill.
2. Caused me to binge eat. I am now 20 lbs heavier than i was before i started studying for these exams.
3. Killed my social life.

Any advice?

[isoceles]

@amreen: pass them and be done! 🙂

[Spartans92]

Literally ME!! I can't fall asleep at night anytime earlier than 1AM. Currently, 12:15AM as I type this. In the meantime studying. This makes my work day so rough because I just wanna sleep and tax season stress the crap out of me on top of the exam studying.

BEC - 76
REG- 67, 85
AUD-63, 74, 80!!
FAR-65, 62, 57, 79

3 down 1 more to go. BEC is on the Line 🙁

BEC- PASS

[Anonymous]

I've struggled with everything mentioned above and depression. This Process is pretty Miserable – no lie. I cannnot wait for it to be Over.

[SaveBandit]

Oh man I couldn't sleep for sh&t when I was taking the test, especially on score release night. I tried melatonin, but I'm pretty sure those are placebo pills. You will definitely not wake up in a fog. That's why I tried to stay away from Benadryl. Too groggy the next day.

AUD - 94
BEC - 86
FAR - 85
REG - 90

If you pray enough, you can turn yourself into a cat person.

4 for 4

FAR 85
AUD 94
BEC 86
REG 90

[Vee]

I started taking Melatonin about a month ago. I've never had good sleeping habits but lately some weeks it's terrible. I wear myself out studying and then lie awake stressed out about all the stuff I don't know. Melatonin has helped me fall asleep and I definitely don't feel groggy the next morning like I do with other sleep aids (such as Tylenol PM or even Nyquil).

@Amreen, I've also put on about 10 extra lbs and I was about 10 lbs heavier than I should be when I started studying. I don't necessarily binge eat but I snack way more than I should and do not have time to do any sort of exercise (Full-time working mother of 2). The most physical activity I get is going to the grocery store and pushing the cart around. I also haven't seen most of my friends in 6 months.

I'm actually looking forward to getting back into shape.

AUD - 71
BEC - 78
FAR - NINJA in Training
REG - 61

"This, too, shall pass"

Audit - 63 (Dec 2016), 71 (Jan 2017)

BEC - 78 (Oct 2016)

REG - 61 (March 2017)

FAR - ???

[garciarb]

I'll be hitting the bar after work tonight to hopefully try and calm my nerves. I wish they allowed my dog in.

BEC - 81
AUD - 79
REG - June 2016 (Thanks Nasba!)
FAR - ugh

[T Rev]

@savebandit I usually have The Office playing on mute when I am studying. Great pic and name combo. That scene is one of the best openers of any show ever.

Having it playing while trying to study is probably a bad habit…

[Author]

Replies