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What It’s Like to Need Hardly Any Sleep

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Re: What It’s Like to Need Hardly Any Sleep

#31

Post by ashark »

NathanKP wrote: post #13

I really wish I had that trait, but instead I have the exact opposite. I often need about twelve hours to feel fully rested, and even then usually require a coffee or two to feel productive. Some people suggested recently that maybe I have sleep apnea, so I'm planning to try a sleep study sometime soon.

I rarely sleep well if I know I have to get up at a certain time (say, if there's an alarm set). The slightest disturbance is magnified—a moment of wakefulness can turn in to half an hour, followed by another hour of half-sleep half-waking before I'm finally back under (maybe, if I'm lucky). Going to bed early just increases the chances that this will happen at 2AM and I'll be unable to go back to sleep at all, which is worse than waiting until I'm dead tired at 1AM and going to sleep then (and then still not getting enough, but at least it's usually solid).

Then my weekend sleep-in day rolls along and I can stay under for 12 hours, falling right back into a deep sleep even if I've had to briefly get out of bed (bathroom), because I know I don't have to get up. Unfortunately, I have to have a day like this because my sleep is so bad during the week.

I think it's related to anxiety about not getting enough sleep, which of course turns into an awful feedback loop. I've tried repeatedly to find info about this, as I am certain I'm not the only one by a long shot, but my Google-fu has failed me. Low levels of melatonin supplementation helps a bit, and at one point I was on Lunesta which got me through the night, but left me feeling only about as rested on ~8 hours as I did on ~6 hours of normal sleep, so I stopped. I can't even imagine how good my life would be without this problem, let alone if I had the kind of low sleep requirements that some do.

Re: What It’s Like to Need Hardly Any Sleep

#32

Post by Sevzi »

shostack wrote: post #29
Sevzi wrote: post #12

The chemicals modafinil and armodafinil subjectively let me get away with a bit less sleep without the various consequences of caffeine. Used with enough sleep, they enter the realm of transhuman cognitive enhancer.

Sure, but even with enough sleep, don't they have other side effects? (Seriously asking, never taken them)

Nope--just try to control your caffeine while on them.

Re: What It’s Like to Need Hardly Any Sleep

#33

Post by geoelectric »

mooreds wrote: post #19

Fascinating. Made me think of 'Beggars in Spain', an SF series that is well worth the read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beggars_in_Spain

I was going to bring this up. It's an interesting exploration of how the world might react to people who are inherently 50% more productive for having that much more time to work with.

Re: What It’s Like to Need Hardly Any Sleep

#34

Post by NobleLie »

Retra wrote: post #28
brotoss wrote: post #15

Kind of crazy how little is known about sleep in the scientific community. The answer right now to "why" we need to sleep doesn't go much deeper than "because we get tired"

As a general rule, when somebody says "nobody knows X", they are almost certainly wrong. There are 7+ billion people on this planet. Someone probably knows something you don't, for just about any common language X you could form. (They just haven't told you about it!) For instance: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/342/6156/373 Scientists don't just sit around twiddling their thumbs all day...

I've heard of both of these theories (cleanse and consolidation) but it's kind of strange how the first sentence of the abstract is "The purpose of sleep remains mysterious." If the researchers have any confidence in their work, why are they using this language? Why not "sleep is not as mysterious" or "sleep is no longer mysterious"?

Re: What It’s Like to Need Hardly Any Sleep

#35

Post by rachelandrew »

I rarely sleep more than 6 hours, never have. I wake up at 5am naturally and I'm awake. There is definitely a difference between people who are "getting by" on little sleep, and those of us who need less than the "usual" amount. I seem to need less as I get older, and less the more exercise I'm doing (I'm a distance runner) which doesn't seem to make much sense, but there you have it!

Re: What It’s Like to Need Hardly Any Sleep

#36

Post by pavel_lishin »

> * “Cells don't sleep,” he said in his most quoted anti-sleep rant. “Fish swim in the water all night. Even a horse doesn't sleep. A man doesn't need any sleep.”*

> Yes. Even when my kids sleep crazy amounts of hours I get annoyed. Teenagers can sleep probably for 12 hours straight, and I get so annoyed because I think they are wasting their lives. Why are you wasting your life sleeping? There are so many things that you could be doing. That’s how I see it. So, I don’t like them sleeping for longer than necessary because they are wasting their lives. That’s always been my thing. You have plenty of time to sleep when you die. You might as well embrace life.

It's great that you can get by on four hours, but I'm not wasting my life when I get nine or ten hours of sleep, because without that sleep, I'd be miserable and unproductive. A life spent tired, that's a life wasted.

Re: What It’s Like to Need Hardly Any Sleep

#37

Post by Bjartr »

Sevzi wrote: post #12

The chemicals modafinil and armodafinil subjectively let me get away with a bit less sleep without the various consequences of caffeine. Used with enough sleep, they enter the realm of transhuman cognitive enhancer.

I heard about modafinil years ago and have always been fascinated by the idea of it, is it worth trying?

Re: What It’s Like to Need Hardly Any Sleep

#38

Post by methodover »

lmnm wrote: post #10

I've always been fascinated by discussions surrounding the varying amount of sleep necessary for different individuals. I feel like "unlocking" the secrets of these folks who can get by on such little sleep would do wonders for humanity, though I'm unsure if that is even within our abilities. As for a personal anecdote, I've experienced both ends of the sleep spectrum: in the past couple years I've had two 4-month lo…

That sounds like bipolar disorder to me: Long cycles of happiness (euphoria), energy and hyperactivity (lots of exercise), and a decreased need for sleep, followed by depression, lack of energy, lethargy (no physical activity, less exercise), and increased need for sleep. That's the textbook definition of bipolar disorder, I think.

Re: What It’s Like to Need Hardly Any Sleep

#39

Post by Sevzi »

Bjartr wrote: post #37
Sevzi wrote: post #12

The chemicals modafinil and armodafinil subjectively let me get away with a bit less sleep without the various consequences of caffeine. Used with enough sleep, they enter the realm of transhuman cognitive enhancer.

I heard about modafinil years ago and have always been fascinated by the idea of it, is it worth trying?

Yes.

Re: What It’s Like to Need Hardly Any Sleep

#40

Post by nicholasdrake »

i used to need 8-10 hours but after reading tim ferriss' 4 hour body i nap 20 minutes 2/3x a day at my desk and only need to sleep 4/5 a night which is saving me 4/5 hours a day of sleep time.. i don't feel fabulous when i wake up lol, but i feel the same as if i had slept more.. http://www.4hourlife.com/2012/04/29/become-uberman-sleep-lik... only problem is culturally workplaces aren't very accepting of polyphasic sleep patterns that involve napping in the office lol
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