What Happens to the Body on No Sleep • Hacker News Board

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#261

Post by rwmj » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 2:21 PM UTC

OJFord wrote: post #249

> Your reaction time will begin lagging around hour 18; after a full night without sleep, it will nearly triple—which, for context, is about the same as being legally drunk. Wouldn't a reaction test be much better than breathalysing? 1. it would catch reasons (such as this) for being unfit to drive besides drunkenness 2. it would work whatever your weight / propensity for absorbing alcohol 3. it tests the actual thin…

Is "legally drunk" (also used in the article) some American term? What does it mean and how is it different from "illegally drunk"?

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#262

Post by Liquix » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 2:22 PM UTC

MichaelApproved wrote: post #250

Razengan wrote: post #243

Idea for a startup: Sleep pods (or, perhaps more marketable, smart beds.) Create the perfect comfortable environment in an enclosure, constantly maintaining the temperature/oxygen/etc. that's optimized for the individual. Artificially induce sleep to knock the user out right away or within their preferred duration. Monitor their vitals throughout sleep. Perhaps inject nutrients. Fluff: Massage, choice of music/sound…

> Artificially induce sleep to knock the user out right away or within their preferred duration. That alone would be a billion dollar achievement.

Yeah! I've often dreamed about a pill with a tiny adjustable wheel or button that you can set to knock you out for X hours and Y minutes.

The problem would be finding a non-narcotic method (modified hypnogogic headset? Slightly raise CO2/CO levels?) that works reliably. Things like doxylamine succinate, melatonin, valerian affect everyone differently, and you're opening a whole nother can of worms with the allergies/dosage/legal angle. Cool idea OP

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#263

Post by slothtrop » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 2:23 PM UTC

yati wrote: post #200

Sleep is very very important, and I've learned this the hard way. Sleeping well has been a challenge, and I am glad I'm not alone. Articles like this one and books like Why We Sleep however make me very anxious, since all they seem to do is point out how bad it is if one doesn't get enough sleep. I know that. How can I fix it? I had CBT based sleep therapy last year, and things have since improved, but not much. Then…

> telling me how screwed I am because I don't sleep 8-9 h/day

I think, more accurately, 7-8. For many of us, 9 hours is just too much time and will erode sleep efficiency, such that we develop maintenance or onset problems.

I've had long struggles and generally sleep consistently well now. Largest contributors to my improvement, through experimentation, have been: consistent waking time, strongly alleviating anxiety through CBT and activities such as yoga and exercise, vitamin d3+k2 & sunshine during the day, restricting coffee consumption to 1 cup (don't underestimate this it as caffeine boosts cortisol), and not least of which, eliminating porn consumption. I'm not sure why the latter has been so impactful but it has had a strong, predictable impact on onset latency. The rest is just the usual good practices, keep your room dark and comfortable and have a wind-down routine away from electronics.

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#264

Post by rootusrootus » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 2:41 PM UTC

Every time I travel 30 hours to India (three flights from where I live, with layovers) I get reminded in a big way that sleep is important. I can't sleep on planes, for whatever reason, and man does it ever screw with my body. Part of that is simple jet lag, but for a few days after traveling things are clearly malfunctioning, hormones out of whack, body temperature regulation bass-ackwards, brain fog, memory loss, etc.

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#265

Post by rootusrootus » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 2:46 PM UTC

yati wrote: post #200

Sleep is very very important, and I've learned this the hard way. Sleeping well has been a challenge, and I am glad I'm not alone. Articles like this one and books like Why We Sleep however make me very anxious, since all they seem to do is point out how bad it is if one doesn't get enough sleep. I know that. How can I fix it? I had CBT based sleep therapy last year, and things have since improved, but not much. Then…

I know how you feel. I try so hard to sanitize my sleep environment, set myself up for a good night's sleep, everything as recommended, etc. Then I go to bed at 10:00PM ... and wake up at 2:00AM like clockwork. Lay there for 1.5-2 hours, fall back asleep just in time to get woken up after really hard sleep by the alarm at 5:00AM, feeling like crap. Like I overslept. Knowing that I certainly didn't get the 7-8 hours of sleep that I should need.

It's quite frustrating.

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#266

Post by rootusrootus » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 2:50 PM UTC

MisterOctober wrote: post #5

A lot of the stuff mentioned in this article -- microsleeps, immune weakness, irrational thoughts and behavior -- sure rings a bell from my university days when I would, either for work or school "reasons," routinely pull all-nighters. Ended up with some very bad results. Also: Schools in general in my area, including elementary, are starting waaaay earlier than they used to, and the kids aren't getting enough sleep,…

Public school scheduling is a hard nut to crack. But I don't recall that it has gotten any worse recently, it's always been somebody suffering a very early schedule. There are only so many buses, so many parents to drive their kids, and almost everyone has to be at work first thing in the morning, etc.

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#267

Post by s_y_n_t_a_x » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 2:52 PM UTC

mirimir wrote: post #161

eyegor wrote: post #50

I'm sure that it must be true based on how other people act on little sleep, but for me the effects this article claims are blown way out of proportion (or just seem wrong). > longer than 48 hours and you’re looking at behavior that mimics psychosis—incoherent rambling, disconnection from reality, prone to outbursts Does anyone else here have experience staying awake this long? In college I frequently stayed awake fo…

It's not uncommon for me, if I'm highly engaged in something, to work straight for 15-20 hours. So as a result, my wake/sleep cycle is consistently longer than 24 hours. And that has the additional benefit of frustrating geolocation. Even so, I rarely go more than 30 hours awake. But with occasional naps, some as long as a couple hours, runs as long as a few days are not uncommon. I take modafinil for bipolar disorde…

This describes me as well. Bipolar and ADHD. If I'm engaged in something I obsess over it and work 10+ hours until it's done. It takes every other feeling away and not until I stop do other things come back (sleep fatigue, hunger, etc)

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#268

Post by meshenna » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 2:54 PM UTC

mantap wrote: post #84

nashequilibrium wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just had one of these moments two days ago, the only other thing that comes close is when I go for long walks.

I have many epiphanies on the toilet. I'm not sure if it's extra blood flowing to the brain or what but the throne seems to add extra IQ.

Likely it's simply because that's one of the few occasions in modern life when we're not being bombarded with external stimuli. A few minutes of silence and your brain goes: "Right, now's a good time to present this thing I've been working on." Same thing with showers.

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#269

Post by Jeema101 » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 3:09 PM UTC

eyegor wrote: post #50

I'm sure that it must be true based on how other people act on little sleep, but for me the effects this article claims are blown way out of proportion (or just seem wrong). > longer than 48 hours and you’re looking at behavior that mimics psychosis—incoherent rambling, disconnection from reality, prone to outbursts Does anyone else here have experience staying awake this long? In college I frequently stayed awake fo…

Not only is the article overblown IMO, but it's also irresponsibly written.

A lot of people suffer from insomnia and sleep anxiety. They don't need to be told that missing sleep is dangerous. They need to be told that missing sleep is normal sometimes, and that your body will sleep when it's ready to.

Re: What Happens to the Body on No Sleep

#270

Post by cgriswald » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 3:18 PM UTC

toast0 wrote: post #139

eyegor wrote: post #50

I'm sure that it must be true based on how other people act on little sleep, but for me the effects this article claims are blown way out of proportion (or just seem wrong). > longer than 48 hours and you’re looking at behavior that mimics psychosis—incoherent rambling, disconnection from reality, prone to outbursts Does anyone else here have experience staying awake this long? In college I frequently stayed awake fo…

I've hit 24 hours twice on accident shortly after coming home with a newborn child, and was seeing pulsating walls and other weird visual stuff and generally feeling pretty shitty. The first time, it took me until much later to realize I had been awake so long. So definitely some YMMV.

“Fireflies” in my vision and then peripheral movement are the two effects that hit me first, usually around 24 hours.

I will often hear what sounds like voices from another room. The first time this happened I freaked out a bit, searched the entire house, peeled outside through windows. When it was clear, I put my ear close to my radio thinking it was on at a really low volume. But of course no matter what I did the sound stayed the same. Then the irrational state of my mind lead me to believe the house was haunted.