81–90 of 96 posts
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Long live melatonin. Gave me a lot more control over my sleep schedule. Plus, the "positive side effects" section on the wikipedia entry is several pages long...
Melatonin is great. Dream Water has the similar effect too.
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Isn't polyphasic considered a hoax? Piotr Wozniak, though his site looks rather shitty, seems to know what he is talking about: http://www.supermemo.com/articles/polyphasic2010.htm Specifically this paragraph sums the thing up: I received some 500 pieces of mail and got in personal touch with many polyphasic adepts. Of those attempts that I was given a chance to monitor, all were unsuccessful. Some of the critics of…
That doesn't really make it a hoax though: yes, everybody gave up after a while, but like OP, it may well just be social pressure. All polyphasic sleep accounts I read ended up with something along the lines of "its too hard to fit social events around such a strict schedule". If you're awake during the night when nobody else is and you have to nap when everybody else is awake, and you CANNOT miss a nap, then of cour…
See http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1464142 and http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=652650
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Pretty good, it's basically a max of 4 Engage energy drinks, or 2 of them and a mix of Nos or Monster. I don't feel jittery at all, but I do get a headache if I don't get any caffeine within a few hours of waking up. I used to get a little heart weirdness (a weird beat once in a while), but I've cut down smoking to 1 or 2 cigarettes per day and started drinking more water and the heart weirdness has stopped happening…
At what point is the physical need for an artificial substance considered an addiction? Not criticizing, just honestly wondering.
I'd settle for even being able to sleep at regular intervals. I have a habit of staying up until I'm tired and waking up when I can't sleep anymore. As a result, I may stay up all day for several days and then stay up all night for several days. Or for several days, I may sleep twice during 24hrs, in completely random periods. I just don't do well with the concept of "well, it's 10pm, so that means it's time to get i…
It was really strange to spend four hours writing, say from 6am, then sleep 10-2pm, get up for another four hours, sleep 6-10pm etc. Not sustainable, but was an interesting experience to have. Gave me an insight into how screwed up shift workers can get, too.
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That doesn't really make it a hoax though: yes, everybody gave up after a while, but like OP, it may well just be social pressure. All polyphasic sleep accounts I read ended up with something along the lines of "its too hard to fit social events around such a strict schedule". If you're awake during the night when nobody else is and you have to nap when everybody else is awake, and you CANNOT miss a nap, then of cour…
You must have read different accounts than I have. Yes, they all say that it's difficult to deal with the schedule mismatch. But then they also say that it's also difficult because they are soul-crushingly tired all the time. See http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1464142 and http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=652650
"First off, let me say that I didn’t decide to stop for health reasons. To my recollection I didn’t get sick even once while sleeping polyphasically, not even a cold. My energy and alertness were excellent once I made it through the adaptation period. A lot of people asked me about weight training and exercise — I didn’t have any problems there either. My recovery after workouts was just fine. Perhaps the post-workout nap had a positive effect."
and
"The #1 reason I decided to call it quits is simply that the rest of the world is monophasic. If most of the world was polyphasic, I probably would have stuck with it. Obviously when you go polyphasic, you fall out of sync with the way other people live. ..."
See also http://www.puredoxyk.com/index.php/2006/11/01/an-attack-on-p...
I haven't read a huge amount of accounts, but I've read one or two others besides Steve Pavlinas and they seemed to match up. I am no expert though and certainly don't want to claim that its a good idea, just because I've read three or four accounts online that said so. Especially since I cannot prove for sure that they are true.
"they are soul-crushingly tired all the time"
I have only heard people who haven't tried it say this. But I won't argue the case, because I haven't tried it either.
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You must have read different accounts than I have. Yes, they all say that it's difficult to deal with the schedule mismatch. But then they also say that it's also difficult because they are soul-crushingly tired all the time. See http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1464142 and http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=652650
Well, the Steve Pavlina account you linked backs up what I said. If you skip to the end: " First off, let me say that I didn’t decide to stop for health reasons. To my recollection I didn’t get sick even once while sleeping polyphasically, not even a cold. My energy and alertness were excellent once I made it through the adaptation period. A lot of people asked me about weight training and exercise — I didn’t have an…
I've read some reports from people who are tired all the time because they haven't "adjusted" - and the punchline is they never will. I think Pavlina's and others are in denial; while the social aspect is obviously negative, it gives them a convenient excuse. If there the only downside was not having a schedule that worked with the rest of society, there would be someone, somewhere who would not have done it, but would being doing it. But there isn't, because that's not how sleep, for us, works.
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Ever try not exposing yourself to light at night? That's any light - overhead lights, computer screens, lamp poles. Your body produces melatonin based on that kind of input, and anything with significant blue light in it apparently stops you from producing it.
Believe me I've tried everything over the years. From what I've read about insomnia, it's incredibly subjective; things that work for one person won't help at all for others. Some people can get their "sleep hygiene" (stuff you are supposed to do in order to sleep well) all wrong, and still sleep like a log, e.g. drink plenty coffee late in the evening, noisy environment, lack of exercise, eating heavily close to bed…
I've also "tried" everything and also feel the same when I get 2-3 days of very solid sleep in. A different person :) Strangely, I have had VERY good experiences with GABA, ZMA (both supplements, GNC etc.)Holy Basil extract (herbal pill). This combo really helps me fall and stay asleep more on Average versus most of anything else (including melatonin).
It helps as an assistant, not a knock-out Ambien like sleep aid, which I can't use if I want to be alert for work :)
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At what point is the physical need for an artificial substance considered an addiction? Not criticizing, just honestly wondering.
I believe the clinical definition is when the benefits outweigh the negative consequences, but you continue using it anyways.
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Well, the Steve Pavlina account you linked backs up what I said. If you skip to the end: " First off, let me say that I didn’t decide to stop for health reasons. To my recollection I didn’t get sick even once while sleeping polyphasically, not even a cold. My energy and alertness were excellent once I made it through the adaptation period. A lot of people asked me about weight training and exercise — I didn’t have an…
I have only heard people who haven't tried it say this. I've read some reports from people who are tired all the time because they haven't "adjusted" - and the punchline is they never will. I think Pavlina's and others are in denial; while the social aspect is obviously negative, it gives them a convenient excuse. If there the only downside was not having a schedule that worked with the rest of society, there would b…
I don't know though. I certainly appreciate what you're saying, I guess I want to believe you're wrong, but I have no evidence either way. Maybe I should try it myself to see if it works haha.