How much do you sleep?

[dusty]

I ask because it seems like everybody sleeps less than me, but I'm still tired. To be fully-functional, I have to have at least seven or eight hours, but even then I'm pretty sleepy for an hour or two after I wake up. For periods when I don't have to get up to be anywhere (holiday breaks) I sleep around ten hours a night consistently. If this is what it takes for me to not feel tired, should I be sleeping ten hours every night?

 

[whoopee]

I sleep around as much as you do. For me, diet has been the biggest issue: some foods to which I am mildly allergic make me lethargic; after cutting them out, I have more energy. Also, my doctor found some deficiencies in my body and recommended some supplements. Lately, I haven't been avoiding those foods, nor have I regularly taken the pills, and I can't help but sleep 10+ hours a day and still be tired.

Exercise and an active lifestyle helps, too.

 

[Vaclav]

Originally Posted by dusty

I ask because it seems like everybody sleeps less than me, but I'm still tired. To be fully-finctional, I have to have at least seven or eight hours, but even then I'm pretty sleepy for an hour or two after I wake up. For periods when I don't have to get up to be anywhere (holiday breaks) I sleep around ten hours a night consistently. If this is what it takes for me to not feel tired, should I be sleeping ten hours every night?


Can you put a poll here?

 

[j]

Experts say you accumulate a "sleep debt" that cannot be escaped. I don't know how true this is, but if so, I would still be making up sleep from college right now. Maybe this could account for your needing 10 hours, and then at some point you will only be needing 7-8? I don't know for sure.

 

[j]

Originally Posted by whoopee

I sleep around as much as you do. For me, diet has been the biggest issue: some foods to which I am mildly allergic make me lethargic; after cutting them out, I have more energy. Also, my doctor found some deficiencies in my body and recommended some supplements. Lately, I haven't been avoiding those foods, nor have I regularly taken the pills, and I can't help but sleep 10+ hours a day and still be tired.

Exercise and an active lifestyle helps, too.
How did your doctor find deficiencies? I am interested in this.

I think that milk products may make me lethargic, and I have been eating a lot of ice cream lately (and have had bad sleep and lethargy). Hmm...

 

[dusty]

Originally Posted by j

Experts say you accumulate a "sleep debt" that cannot be escaped. I don't know how true this is, but if so, I would still be making up sleep from college right now. Maybe this could account for your needing 10 hours, and then at some point you will only be needing 7-8? I don't know for sure.

Yeah but I almost never sleep less than 7-8 a night, so I don't know where this debt is coming from.

It's very possible it's from diet or lack of exercise or vitamin deficiencies I guess. If I have food allergies I don't know about them.

 

[Saucemaster]

I need about 5, sometimes 6 hours. Less than five leaves me groggy the next day and means I'm going to start fading in the late afternoon (I always pick up again after sundown, however). Less than four is when it really starts to mess with me.

I've never needed much sleep, though. I have no idea why. I guess I just won the sleep lottery.

 

[tiger02]

The more you sleep, the more sleep you need. It's a pretty nasty cycle. Keeping active and engaged will help you break out of it. 7-8 hours a night, you're not building up any sort of debt; as soon as you sleep ten "because you can," your body is going to start demanding 10, 12 hours every night.

 

[seoulfully]

i average about 5 hours a night these days. my absolute low was 4.5 hours a night. did that for about 18 months. i would've napped in the afternoon if i had a chance, but i was too busy (work and school)... haha, i mean if i wasn't busy why wouldn't i sleep more than that?

admittedly, i get pretty tired somewhere between 2-4. but i find things to help wake up. taking a walk. etc. though i dont know if my tiredness has more to do with my f-ed up diet (basically not eating breakfast/lunch, again been busy) or lack of sleep or both. also, i recently (well it's been about 3.5 weeks now) gave up caffeine cold turkey. and the first two weeks was pretty bad, and i still don't think i'm fully past it. i've read reports that it can take up to 6 months to be fully free of it.

 

[GreyFlannelMan]

I generally get about 7.5 hours a night. That's been fairly consistent for years now. The big change is that amount is more "satisfying" since I quit smoking and started a regular exercise regime.

Are you depressed at all?

 

[whoopee]

Quote j: How did your doctor find deficiencies? I am interested in this.

I think that milk products may make me lethargic, and I have been eating a lot of ice cream lately (and have had bad sleep and lethargy). Hmm..

A couple blood tests. The biggie was for delayed allergic reactions, in which food does not immediately trigger extreme physical responses like hives and the such, but builds up over hours and causes lethargy, swelling, and poorer health.

While I am not lactose intolerant, I did find that I am mildy allergic to dairy products, among other things (like corn syrup). Forgoing them have really helped my energy problems. Although warm milk is supposed to make one sleepy.

 

[Renault78law]

is it true that the older you get, the less sleep you need?

I need 8+ or I'll feel tired. I seldom get it, so, I'm always tired.

 

[globetrotter]

Originally Posted by tiger02

The more you sleep, the more sleep you need. It's a pretty nasty cycle. Keeping active and engaged will help you break out of it. 7-8 hours a night, you're not building up any sort of debt; as soon as you sleep ten "because you can," your body is going to start demanding 10, 12 hours every night.


that's a young active man speaking, my friend.

when I was in the army I used to get by (after training) on 2 X 3 hour sleep sessions out of 24 hours. during basic, I would be happy to get 3 hours in 24, and I went through periods of weeks when they would deprive of us sleep for all but 20 minutes or so in 24 hours.

I spent most of my adult life getting 5 or 6 hours sleep, and now I really try to get 7, and it feels much better. I am very tempted to aim for eight, to see how that feels, but that seems like it would feel great but be a little indulgent.

 

[LabelKing]

I like to take a late afternoon nap.

 

[Tokyo Slim]

As a general rule, I can't sleep for more than 6 hours at a time. I feel horrible if I do. Most nights I get between 4.5-6 hours of sleep. Some nights (on infrequent weekends and such) I'll sleep less. I do however take a fifteen minute nap in my car most days at lunchtime. I've been known to go four or five days at a time without sleeping in the past, when I had an easier (less hazardous) job, or in High School. But some of that was drugs so I'm not sure if that counts. According to my mother, I've never slept very much.

I've never averaged more than six hours of sleep per night during the average week, that I can remember, so if I have an enourmous sleep debt - it's just one more debt that I'll probably never pay off...