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Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality risk than sleep duration (2023)

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Re: Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality risk than sleep duration (2023)

#411
post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Magnesium Glycinate has been a game changer. My legs used to be tense to the point of cramping at night, and they’re now relaxed, enabling better sleep. I also use L-theanine as an additional supplement for a long duration deep sleep, and think it helps.

Interesting about the legs. I wake up with that in the middle of the night and have trouble falling back asleep because of it. Heck, if MC just took care of that , I'd be happy. Thanks for your input!

What I've found to fix leg cramping is skin rolling my legs (ideally every 6 months but takes maybe a couple of years to fully undo the effect). Lightly pinch some skin between your thumb and two fingers and walk it forward with the two fingers. If you need it it will feel "crunchy" in some spots rather than smooth. Ideally cover the full area at least twice at 90 degree angles (not necessarily all on one day and doesn't need to be perfect coverage, more is helpful if it still feels "crunchy"). Warning: while only mildly painful for me when doing it, after sleeping I wake up with quite sore legs which lasts two full days. Doing it every 6 months or so avoids this and is also when I start to occasionally get cramping again.

Re: Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality risk than sleep duration (2023)

#412
post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does literally nothing for me.

FYI here. I and my partner have tried various forms/brands of Mg, around 5 of them, and they have had zero effect on sleep. I have to wonder if all positive experiences here are either placebo or shills. Similar goes for the several supplements out there.

I have severe sleep issues and have tried a bunch of sleep related supplements and medications. Although I do not have a dietary deficiency Magnesium might be the single most effective for me at keeping me asleep, although it does nothing to help me get to sleep and unfortunately the most effective dose taking magnesium alone is around 500mg which is enough to make me even more tired than usual the next day (so not really a good option on its own for me). I have found a combination of 250mg magnesium (carbonate or extended release oxide + citrate, which seem to work equivalently in my limited testing other than that the scoop I have for the carbonate powder is for 350mg so I might take somewhat more in that form) and 2.5mg baclofen to work better than either at higher doses alone (baclofen in higher amounts quickly stops working when taking it multiple days). Unfortunately sleep issues of any severity are often fairly random so it takes quite a while to have any confidence that something is actually helping even if it seems to at first; magnesium is one of the very few that seem to help me.

I have recently been taking those with .3mg DR melatonin and 8-9mg diphenhydramine and it still has some effect the next day but much less than the higer doses of magnesium. The diphenhydramine is for my Non-24 and does not help me sleep but can improve my functioning some the next day when part of my body wants to be sleeping during the day (unfortunately like many things it seems to quickly lose effectiveness so I am going to try taking it less often). My thinking is that for long term use for sleep it is imporant that the medication or supplement be cleared from the body quickly, though too early and it may be hard to stay asleep.

Sleep doctors have told me that waking up at the same time every day is most important. It doesn't look like the paper tried to differentiate between irregularity waking up and irregularity going to sleep but I suspect trying to wake up as close to the same time every day as you can reasonable manage is the best thing most people can do to improve their sleep quality (getting to sleep earlier some days if needed). My sense is that the most obvious part of what we consider to be sleep quality is actually waking up quality. Sleep deprivation affects memory in subtle and eventually not so subtle ways but not feeling awake seems in my experience to be based on how waking up happens and sleeping less when relatively well rested often has a positive effect on feeling awake (at least for a while, getting tired early is another effect of not sleeping enough). There is a particular thing that I notice maybe a couple of times a year that feels like rapidly cycling between being asleep and awake multiple times when I am waking up and I always feel much more awake the day it happens.

Re: Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality risk than sleep duration (2023)

#413

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Like, John Carmack said that he NEVER burned out, never went into a dark corner (verbatim from his interview), and everyone agrees that he works like a machine. > https://x.com/ID_AA_Carmack/status/2069799283369345247 That's because he was the one burning people out while he was there living out his hobbies.

Maybe that's what people with strong ideas do. They execute and they kinda push each other around.

Not sure about that, what I'm sure is that J.C. did it and he obviously regrets this, so maybe people with strong ideas should take notes from someone that knows better. Maybe their ideas work not because but despite grinding people down.

Re: Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality risk than sleep duration (2023)

#414
post #82

Magnesium supplementation solved my sleep issues. I have seen many doctors, including sleep specialists, regarding insomnia. They all pointed to one source as the reason for the sleep issues: stress. And they all wanted to put me on prescription sleeping pills. I said no to that. Sleeping pills can cause dependence, and they often treat the symptom rather than the underlying cause. As a software developer, I am used…

Do you take magnesium specifically at night, or does it not matter when you take it? I'm not sure if it's something your body stores for use when it needs it or if it just throws away what it doesn't need or use.

Re: Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality risk than sleep duration (2023)

#415

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, reading lowers stress. Which in turn improves sleep an overall mental / physical health. I always read before going to bed for at least 30 minutes, and anecdotally I have a much easier time to fall asleep that way.

> I have a much easier time to fall asleep that way Unless the book is really good :)

True indeed, I definitely missed some sleep because of books.

Re: Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality risk than sleep duration (2023)

#416
post #414
post #82

Magnesium supplementation solved my sleep issues. I have seen many doctors, including sleep specialists, regarding insomnia. They all pointed to one source as the reason for the sleep issues: stress. And they all wanted to put me on prescription sleeping pills. I said no to that. Sleeping pills can cause dependence, and they often treat the symptom rather than the underlying cause. As a software developer, I am used…

Do you take magnesium specifically at night, or does it not matter when you take it? I'm not sure if it's something your body stores for use when it needs it or if it just throws away what it doesn't need or use.

I take it at night. Unfortunately I haven't found a controlled release version of magnesium that works.

I sometimes also take it during the day when I feel my muscles getting stiff, I get relief within 15 minutes.

Re: Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality risk than sleep duration (2023)

#417
post #82

Magnesium supplementation solved my sleep issues. I have seen many doctors, including sleep specialists, regarding insomnia. They all pointed to one source as the reason for the sleep issues: stress. And they all wanted to put me on prescription sleeping pills. I said no to that. Sleeping pills can cause dependence, and they often treat the symptom rather than the underlying cause. As a software developer, I am used…

Which form do you take? Have you tried different forms?

Magnesium glycinate and magnesium taurate work for me. I mainly rely on the former.

Re: Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality risk than sleep duration (2023)

#418
post #82

Magnesium supplementation solved my sleep issues. I have seen many doctors, including sleep specialists, regarding insomnia. They all pointed to one source as the reason for the sleep issues: stress. And they all wanted to put me on prescription sleeping pills. I said no to that. Sleeping pills can cause dependence, and they often treat the symptom rather than the underlying cause. As a software developer, I am used…

It's funny you talk about treating the root cause, and take magnesium, instead of addressing the workplace stress factor.

Stress pays my mortgage unfortunately, and I don’t have a way to make money otherwise because all the jobs in my profession of over a decade are stressful.

Re: Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality risk than sleep duration (2023)

#419

What's missing is how much ability you have to sleep, rather than some sort of sometimes controllable factor like schedule. In my case, my brain wakes me up with anxiety one hour or more before the alarm rings (I never check time, I'm guessing). My room is always cold and relatively dark - not photo development dark, but not far. The cortisol spikes are what get me. I can drink or not drink, exercise or not exercise,…

This sounds similar to me. I get cortisol spikes throughout the day and that can interfere with my sleep.

Conventional recommendation is to go see a talk therapist, but I have never really bought into it. Other thing I have seen recommended is LSD/DMT which I would have tried by now if I wasn’t married, it seems like too bug of a risk that LSD/DMT will alter my psyche in such a way that ruins my marriage which is not fair to my partner.

Best I have found is detaching from society, back country camping, no technology. But I don’t want to become a hermit in the woods to just be able to sleep regularly.

Re: Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality risk than sleep duration (2023)

#420
post #403
post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Holy Dunning–Kruger effect... As a software developer, I am a much better doctor than actual trained doctors, and am definitely immune to any placebo effects.

Doctors simply don’t treat things well that are not classified as a particular disease. If you want to get stronger or more fit, you may well be better off asking your local bro than your PCP. Sleep is sadly in the same category. If you don’t have sleep apnea, and you want to get treated for sleep, you will be offered any number of pharmaceuticals, all of which are terrible. Better advice comes from other people deal…

Doctors generally aren't trained in systemic level thinking, probably because given how complex the body is any such broad connections can only be "intuitive" rather than rigorous, more an art than a science.

This is probably the only reason why "naturopaths" and other "holistic" doctors are still in business, because they'll actually bother to consider a broader picture of a symptom as hinting at some structural imbalance rather than solely treating the symptom as a localized issue to resolve.

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