Sleep..

LikeAnOcean

How much do you get?

I get on and off struggles with insomnia, but I've noticed I function much better on 6 hrs a night now than I did 10 years ago. In my early 20s anything less than 7 hrs turned me into a zombie. A few nights ago I had 5 hrs and felt completely refreshed. I often wake up two or three times a night, but as long as I'm out for 6 total hrs I'm usually fine.

I can't remember the last time I had 8 straight total hrs of sleep. Probably a teenager. I had close to that a few weeks ago and felt too drowsy the following day. I've read that 8 hrs is a myth and the healthiest sleepers are 6.5 to 7.5 hrs. Its actually better for your health to under sleep than it is to over sleep.

lukin2006

I'm an under sleeper myself. Usually less than 5-6 hours a night. Been that way as long as I can remember. Asked my Doctor about it and was told it might be inherited, my Dad didn't go to bed till midnight and was up at 5 am. I function fine, just have a hard time getting to sleep and staying a sleep.

LikeAnOcean

lukin2006 wrote:

I'm an under sleeper myself. Usually less than 5-6 hours a night. Been that way as long as I can remember. Asked my Doctor about it and was told it might be inherited, my Dad didn't go to bed till midnight and was up at 5 am. I function fine, just have a hard time getting to sleep and staying a sleep.

I know people the same way. I was bitching about lack of sleep to my buddy and he was telling me he feels great on 5 to 6 hrs a night an thats all he needs. It all depends on your genes, daily activity, diet.. just because we don't sleep as much as we did 100+ years ago doesn't mean we need it. Life was much harder back then and the body needed it.

Thoughts_Arrive

This week, not much.
5-6 hrs.

mca47

This week has been bad.
Pretty sure last night I got about 2-3 hrs.


Need...coffee!

Jukee

I absolutely need my sleep. 7 or 8 hours for sure, sometimes more. Last night I fell asleep at 10PM and I just woke up now and it's 8AM. I have the exact opposite of insomnia.

Black Diamond

5 max... maybe 6 on weekends but they are fitfull sleeps. Wake up at least 3x a night with usually an hour of nightime reading...
Weekends suck because I can't sleep past 6 AM usually...

chime

Don't know if it would help ... and understand it would be hard to do! ... but I watched a programme about a woman who had never really slept well and they set her a challenge for 6 weeks to go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time everyday (think it was something like 22.30-6 or 7.00) ... and she HAD to be in bed these hours whether she was awake or not ... no more no less (no napping!). She was also told a bedroom was for nothing but sleep ... out went TV, music and books.

She had a hard time for the first couple of weeks, not great for weeks 3-4 but by the end she was falling asleep pretty quickly and not waking for at least 7 hours most nights. Said it had transformed her (and her families as she was no longer irritable) lives.

Black Diamond

chime wrote:

Don't know if it would help ... and understand it would be hard to do! ... but I watched a programme about a woman who had never really slept well and they set her a challenge for 6 weeks to go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time everyday (think it was something like 22.30-6 or 7.00) ... and she HAD to be in bed these hours whether she was awake or not ... no more no less (no napping!). She was also told a bedroom was for nothing but sleep ... out went TV, music and books.

She had a hard time for the first couple of weeks, not great for weeks 3-4 but by the end she was falling asleep pretty quickly and not waking for at least 7 hours most nights. Said it had transformed her (and her families as she was no longer irritable) lives.

No TV in the bedroom :shock:

chime

Black Diamond wrote:

chime wrote:

Don't know if it would help ... and understand it would be hard to do! ... but I watched a programme about a woman who had never really slept well and they set her a challenge for 6 weeks to go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time everyday (think it was something like 22.30-6 or 7.00) ... and she HAD to be in bed these hours whether she was awake or not ... no more no less (no napping!). She was also told a bedroom was for nothing but sleep ... out went TV, music and books.

She had a hard time for the first couple of weeks, not great for weeks 3-4 but by the end she was falling asleep pretty quickly and not waking for at least 7 hours most nights. Said it had transformed her (and her families as she was no longer irritable) lives.

No TV in the bedroom :shock:

Radical I know!

Guess it's about setting a good routine and sticking to it ... like with babies :twisted:

Black Diamond

chime wrote:

Black Diamond wrote:

chime wrote:

Don't know if it would help ... and understand it would be hard to do! ... but I watched a programme about a woman who had never really slept well and they set her a challenge for 6 weeks to go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time everyday (think it was something like 22.30-6 or 7.00) ... and she HAD to be in bed these hours whether she was awake or not ... no more no less (no napping!). She was also told a bedroom was for nothing but sleep ... out went TV, music and books.

She had a hard time for the first couple of weeks, not great for weeks 3-4 but by the end she was falling asleep pretty quickly and not waking for at least 7 hours most nights. Said it had transformed her (and her families as she was no longer irritable) lives.

No TV in the bedroom :shock:

Radical I know!

Guess it's about setting a good routine and sticking to it ... like with babies :twisted:

Yeah, that did not work out too well either

pjhawks

go to sleep when you are tired not because it's time. also agree its much easier if no tv in the bedroom. also sleep naked, it's way more comfortable and keeps your body temperature evenly distributed. i get about 7 a night on weeknights and sleep as much as possible on weekends. love to take naps when possible on weekends. i really enjoy sleeping to be honest, especially in fall/winter. really refreshes me.

UpSideDown

Weekdays.......usually to bed around 2am; wake up at 6:45am. Nap here and there.

Weekends......go to bed around 3:30am, wake up at Noon - 1pm.

End up with insomnia about one or twice a week

Electric_Delta

Total sleeper.

7-8 hrs weeknights, sometimes 9-10 hrs on the weekends. I also take naps throughout the week.

Sleep junkie.

myra

4 to 6 hours.
More than 6 hours and I'm on slow motion mode for the whole next day ...
Never experienced insomnia though, so I guess that's just how much sleep I need.

SPEEDY MCCREADY

Im old....
I get plenty of sleep......

hehehe

chiquimonkey

This week has been bad for it. Even when I force myself to go to bed early I can't shut my brain off.

Franny

MIne is dependant on how many nights/hours I am working. I work minimum of four nights per week, finishing at 2am earliest, 7am latest. So if I finish at 2am I'll have a 2hr nap before I have to do the school thing with my little guy, then come home and sleep for 3-5hrs when he's at school. Then on my nights off I will crash out for avg of 12hrs!! :shock: It's nothing for me to sleep whilst he's at school, get up at 2pm to get ready to collect him, then be back into bed at 7.30pm absolutely out to it till the next morning. On weekends when I have to work I usually grab a little nap of 2hrs during the day to keep me going. Sleep is not an issue for me, I think it is a genetic thing as my dad and a great uncle are both the same. Sleep anywhere, anytime...all good.

PureandEasy

I used to be able to sleep for 14 hours straight when I was younger.

Not any more. I wake up throughout the night but I’m one of the lucky ones that it’s only momentary and I can easily roll over and go back to sleep.

During the week I try to get to bed by 10, but rarely do I fall asleep right away. I do not have a tv in my room and it doesn’t bother me one bit. I just try and relax and take deep breaths and eventually I fall asleep. Having a tv would only delay my ability to fall asleep.

I get up at 6:30 in the morning, so I figure I get somewhere between 6.5 and 7 hours a night.

On the weekends, I stay up late and sleep in late, sometimes till 1:00 – 2:00.

mca47

I envy people who can sleep, and sleep well.

I've always been a crappy sleeper.

comebackgirl

I typically get 5 - 6 hours per night. I feel much better when I get 7 or 8. I'm so used to waking up at 4:30 - 5am during the week that I struggle to sleep on the weekends, which sucks because I adore sleep.

he.who.forgets

funny as shit that you would post this cuz i was thinking of starting this very thread today. I've had a hell of a time sleeping the past few nights and cant figure out why. I have always had a tought time falling asleep as I cant help my mind from racing once I lay my head down. I typically try and get to sleep between 11p-12a on weeknights and wake up around 7-7:30am. I've found that on weekends where I used to sleep like hell i now naturally wake up around 9 or so. I usually need a solid 7-8 hours to be fully functional the next day. I also dont touch coffee...a shower is my wake up. unless I'm at Bonnaroo a shower a day is essential to my sanity

pjtradeking

In bed by 10 everynight...usually out before 10:30...No tv in my room, but I have to have music or dr drew or SOMETHING, or I cant sleep at all....Sleep like a ROCK until 2-2:30 am everday...then like clockwork, I am awake every half hour until 5 when I get up....I always wake up and look directly at the clock...almost as though I am late or have overslept....horrible feeling....and then even if I do fall back alseep, I am awake ONE MINUTE before the alarm goes off....Have not actually heard the alarm go off in well over a year...starngest thing...ONE MIN everyday.....Weekends is pretty much the same way...That said, I feel refreshed and dont feel like I am missing out on any sleep....

Claireack

Not a great sleeper, my mind flits from one thing to another, worse the more stressed/worried I get. Been through phases where I just didn't sleep at all so resorted to medication (which I still have a little stash of for emergencies).

For mild insomnia, find that herbal remedies help, so does lavender on the pillow, hot bath etc. Oh and vitamin supplements helped too.

I find what's best for me is if I wake up in the night, instead of lying there worrying about it, I get up, go get a drink and sit and read.

The weird thing is that at the moment I am sleepy all the time, I'm sleeping like a log and when the alarm goes off it only feel like I've been asleep for about 10 mins when it's usually been about 7. Very odd.

LikeAnOcean

pjtradeking wrote:

In bed by 10 everynight...usually out before 10:30...No tv in my room, but I have to have music or dr drew or SOMETHING, or I cant sleep at all....Sleep like a ROCK until 2-2:30 am everday...then like clockwork, I am awake every half hour until 5 when I get up....I always wake up and look directly at the clock...almost as though I am late or have overslept....horrible feeling....and then even if I do fall back alseep, I am awake ONE MINUTE before the alarm goes off....Have not actually heard the alarm go off in well over a year...starngest thing...ONE MIN everyday.....Weekends is pretty much the same way...That said, I feel refreshed and dont feel like I am missing out on any sleep....

Do this. GET RID OF THE CLOCK!!!

It helped me out immensely. I just use my phone as an alarm, but keep it on my dresser on the other side of the room. I had to go as far as get rid of my bathroom clock and any clocks I might see if I have to make a night trip to the washroom.

I've found if I have no idea what time it is, I have no idea how much sleep I've had, and worry less about what time I woke up or will wake up again, making it easier to fall back and stay alseep.

The clock creates anxiety. Don't turn your sleep in to a timed event. Just let it happen or not.

The best cure for insomnia is not worrying about having it. I read an article that said insomnia is not as bad for us as we think and that alone helped me sleep good the other night.

tinkerbell

At the moment I'm sleeping pretty well. In bed around 10:30 asleep by 11pm and wake between 6:30am - 7am. I always wake at least once a night to pee (having children wrecks your body in sooo many ways!). If I'm stressed though I hardly sleep at all. In winter (very busy at work) it takes me a least an hour to fall asleep and then I wake at least every hour, usually around 3am I'll lie and stare at the ceiling for an hour.

pandora

Not as good of a sleeper as when I was young but a better napper now
I get about 6 or 7 hours a night and like naps on the weekends

the wolf

I usually get 3 to 4 hours a night,.. then every 5 or 6 weeks I will get 7 hours a night for a week,.. then back to the 3 to 4 hours a night.

LikeAnOcean

the wolf wrote:

I usually get 3 to 4 hours a night,.. then every 5 or 6 weeks I will get 7 hours a night for a week,.. then back to the 3 to 4 hours a night.

People usually sleep in two 3.5 hr cycles so I have to ask, because I've been sleeping so crappy for the second cycle, do you drink any alcohol before bed? If too much, withdrawel can effect the second cycle.

Really my insomnia now is work related. I'm on call 24/7 right now and have the constant fear my phone is going to go off at any time, although I need a few drinks every night to put me out for at least a little bit.

One Song Glory

Currently a grad student during "crunch month"...therefore, 6 hours is generous. Lately I've been getting between 4 and 5 hours, depending on whether I write till 2am or quit early and drink at the campus pub, also till at least 2am. Then at some point when I get home, I power through a few hundred pages of readings. Which are thankfully DONE until January as of tomorrow. I'd also like to add that my professors employ and encourage this system. Tonight's a writing night. Tomorrow could very well be a drinking night!

musicismylife78

imagine sleeping, but it never actually doing anything...

thats my life for the past 6 months.

i was on graveyard shift, 1030pm to 7 am for a couple months a few years back and it ruined me. I turned into a zombie and vowed never to return. Here I am now at my current job, 6 straight months of night shift this one midnight to 830 am. I knew I'd never be able to do 40 hours of it, so I requested part time, and thats what ive been doing the past couple months or so.

this week though as a coworker is on vacation im doing 40 hours a week, 12am-830am one day, 4am to 1230pm the next, 12am-830am the next etc...

Its the most awful experience of my life. I can get 8 hours plus of sleep and it makes no differnce. My body aches. Im sick of it.

Its like you never feel normal...ever. Its ruined my life. I dont ask for much in life, but having a job with normal working hours, a 9 to 5, thats something I never will take for granted again.