Sleep question...

[z Revis]

Ok, so I've always wondered this. There have been times, like everyone, where I've gotten no sleep at all. Maybe a school project is due and I have to get it done so I don't sleep at all and go 24 hours or more without sleeping. Or maybe, like when I was in high school, I'm at a friends house on a Friday night and we end up staying up all night long, not getting any sleep until the next night. And then there's times where I've only gotten 2-4 hours of sleep for whatever reason. Well, for some reason, I feel WORSE when I get little sleep(2-4 hours) than I do when I get NO sleep at all. Why is that? How is that even possible? Am I just going crazy or is there really something to that?

This is just out of pure curiosity as I've always wondered why. It just seems as if I'm better off getting no sleep than I am taking an hour or two nap(obviously not on a daily basis, lol, just when you have something you have to do and you don't have time to sleep).

[Sting]

Re: Sleep question...

I could speak for days on this subject but I'll try not to for your sake. You're definitely better off not going to bed at all than to just sleep for an hour, as far as my experiences have gone. I can't ever sleep. I seriously should contact the Guiness book and see if I'm some kind of record qualifier. I've taken every prescription drug and every natural drug/remedy/supplement/trick known to man and I cannot fall asleep...ever. I usually sleep every other day for about 5 hours.

Sorry to hijack your thread Revis, but damnit, how do you guys lay down at a certain time and fall asleep to begin with? It doesn't matter what my routine is, my sleeping pattern NEVER catches on. My mind never shuts off.

[DerkontheOS]

Re: Sleep question...

I think it has to deal with R.E.M sleep(which is the actual sleep). You only get 2 hours of REM sleep and its about 4 hours after you fall "asleep".

[DerkontheOS]

Re: Sleep question...

http://www.cracked.com/article/127_5-ways-to-hack-your-brain-into-awesomeness/

read the first one.

O and this is an awesome site that everyone should bookmark.

[Chaos81]

Re: Sleep question...

I always choose to get that extra two to four hours of sleep over no sleep. I normally feel a little worse when I first get up, but as the day goes on that extra sleep really helps me out.

Sorry, I know that doesn't answer your question.

[deaduck]

Re: Sleep question...

When I was younger, I could do the whole miss days of sleep with little damage other than needing to crash after a couple of days,

But as I got older, that had to end. Now I sleep alot... including fairly regular naps. I never awaken from a nap feeling refreshed (normally I'm downright grump) but as the day goes by I can tell the difference.

But that could just be me.

[sb24]

Re: Sleep question...

It makes perfect sense to me, but im not sure how to explain it. When you dont go to sleep at all, your not shutting your body down. When you try to sleep, you start the process of shutting your body down. If you disrupt that process, your body usually isnt to happy. I hope the logic makes sense.

[z Revis]

Re: Sleep question...

http://www.cracked.com/article/127_5...o-awesomeness/

read the first one.

O and this is an awesome site that everyone should bookmark.

Ahh okay. That does make sense, sort of. The only thing I'd question about that is when you get that extra few hours of sleep, aren't you getting at least SOME REM sleep? Even a little REM sleep would be better than none at all if you just stay up all night and not sleep at all, right? I'd assume so.

BTW - That's gotta be the strangest sleep schedule I've ever heard. 20 minute naps every few hours? lol. I don't think it'd work for most people though. Don't think many people can take a nap at work, which is what you'd have to do if you're going to do that type of sleep schedule. Haha.

[z Revis]

Re: Sleep question...

It makes perfect sense to me, but im not sure how to explain it. When you dont go to sleep at all, your not shutting your body down. When you try to sleep, you start the process of shutting your body down. If you disrupt that process, your body usually isnt to happy. I hope the logic makes sense.

Yeah. That definitely makes sense and I've always thought of it like that, but I just was hoping for a definitive answer.

[WWF80sKid]

Re: Sleep question...

Well, it's takes a while to get into the REM sleep. REM sleep is Rapid Eye Movement. It occurs once you hit your deepest sleep. So if you don't hit that, or barely hit it, and then wake up, you didn't get enough.

I can't remember the number, but you usually need to get so many hours of REM sleep, and I assume 2 hours isn't enough.

Also, if you get too much REM sleep, you can be tired when you wake up. So you have to get the right amount to really feel the best when you wake up.

Although some people are different, and can sleep for hours upon hours, and feel fine, while other require less.

[SuperBowlNachos]

Re: Sleep question...

I feel worse after a few hours of sleep too.

I for one could never go that long though. I got about 5-6 hours of sleep Saturday night and ended up taking a 1.5 hour nap during the day on Sunday.

[stewaat]

Re: Sleep question...

Pretty sure our bodies just don't like to be teased...

Say you have a female getting you worked up and all of a sudden she just stops. You know what you're gonna be pissed.

If you don't encounter the female then you don't get pissed

No sleep > sleep tease

[Husker_OS]

Re: Sleep question...

It all depends on when you wake up. If you can somehow wake up right at the end of a sleep cycle, you'll wake up feeling fine(I do this at random times, ever just randomly open your eyes or pop your head up in bed? that sometimes happes at the end of a sleep cycle). If your alarm goes off in the middle of a sleep cycle, you'll feel like *** when you wake up no matter if you've been asleep for 12 hours or 3 hours.




It's all about timing with sleep.

[CMH]

Re: Sleep question...

Also, if you get too much REM sleep, you can be tired when you wake up. So you have to get the right amount to really feel the best when you wake up.

Pretty much like everyone else said.

Another thing to keep in mind with sleep is to not test it.

When the body believes it is going to sleep, it begins the process of shutting down (just like someone else already said). And this can happen at any time of the day, even if you are fully awake.

One mistake some people make is taking long naps in the middle of the day. A person should never let their nap fall toward an hour. When your body is shut down for an hour, it believes that you are attempting to shut down completely for the next 8 hours. When you wake yourself up, you irritate your body and you will find yourself sleepy after your nap.

A good nap goes from about 15-30 minutes (I would double check on the actual length, but 15 minutes is really all you need to give your body a nice refresher).

This also happens to people that want to sleep in. When your body has already gotten its 8 hours, it wants to wake up. But when you force it to sleep longer, it will attempt to enter another 8 hour cycle. If you break your sleep during this second attempt, your body will not care that you previously slept 8 hours, it will act as if you broke its needed cycle (this is similar to a battery that you might overcharge. Some batteries will enter their charge cycle again, dumping all the energy it acquired during its initial charge).

The best thing to do is get up and do things if you find yourself constantly waking up every 10 or so minutes. If you're waking up at that rate, your body is telling you something.

Also, no matter what people think or say, your body is never 100% if you're sleeping less than 7-8 hours a day. People can say they feel fine and operate fully with little sleep at night, but what people are actually experiencing is their body becoming accustomed to the lack of sleep.

However, just because your body is becoming accustomed to it, does not mean it will adapt. It will basically learn to function as best as it can with less than 100% charge. Your body is never fully charged unless you're getting 7-8 hours of sleep.

It's why I always tell people that the best thing to do is sleep than cram all night for a test. You retain more information and your memory is stronger with a full battery.

[Jdurg]

Re: Sleep question...

I have always had trouble getting to sleep myself. Probably because I am just more active once the sun goes down and I like to sleep in. Well, when you have to be at work at 7:00 each morning and you don't fall asleep until 12:00 or 12:30, it makes getting up every morning rough.

Now that I've messed up my right ankle and the doctor put me on some narcotic pain relievers, I find myself falling asleep much easier and getting a much more sound sleep. Before, I would wake up when the alarm goes off, then turn the alarm off while still asleep, and sleep in for another hour or two and still feel dead. Since taking the meds, I wake up when the alarm goes off and I feel awake. I'll still put it on snooze, but those ten minutes of sleep feel like two hours of sleep. When I finally get my butt out of bed, I feel great! It's so weird and I pray to god that I am not developing a dependency on the stuff, but wow. Talk about the best sleep remedy I've ever had. Makes me want to rip up a tendon a little more often now.