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Getting too little sleep can have serious health consequences (2013)

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Re: Getting too little sleep can have serious health consequences (2013)

#31

Post by perfTerm »

otherusername2 wrote: post #5

I once, involuntary, went without sleep for around 72 hours. I was at a music festival and we were either pulling through the night or I couldn't sleep because of the noise. When the time came to go home, I really felt pretty good. At that time I had been awake for around 60 hours. My body was tired and my thinking was a bit sluggish, but nothing too bad... Until I got home and tried to sleep. By then I was feeling d…

Hmm, I went to a festival and stayed up at least two nights in a row plus the three days. On the third day we got on this little tiny plane to get back to the main airport and everyone and I just conked out. Same thing in the taxi on the way there. People shaking me said I wasn't waking up. Landing, taking off, nothing. Although I'm a very comfortable flyer anyways and never really have any of the anxieties some people have with flying.

I'm not sure which is preferable, without friends I may have missed all my flights, but that sleep was desperately needed.

Re: Getting too little sleep can have serious health consequences (2013)

#32

Post by perfTerm »

nicboobees wrote: post #18
wargaarbl wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But that extra time spent sleeping is time spent not being awake to do things. So the overall number of useful hours is the same either way?

Also if you sleep well, and live 25% longer, that 25% will be when you're old, senile, and unable to do anything useful. Studies about sleep are often just crazy. When did people stop using their common sense? Just have as much sleep as you think works for you.

Has every old person you've ever met been old, senile, and unable to do anything useful?

My Grandma walked to the supermarket the morning of the night she passed and was totally lucid for the entirety of her years.

Re: Getting too little sleep can have serious health consequences (2013)

#35

Post by athenot »

Qantourisc wrote: post #25
ilaksh wrote: post #16

Is it really such a mystery anymore? Routine maintenance is prudent for any system. Sleep is a maintenance mode. At night, the sun goes down, it gets cold, predators come out. You save a ton of energy and maybe your life by avoiding activity at that time. When its cold you burn extra calories just to stay warm. Haven't biologists got a lot of evidence by now?

It's more about why/what _exactly_ ? What is taking place during maintenance ?

We don't fully know, and I'm not a neurologist. But it appears that sleep is when memories of the day get consolidated. There's also some garbage collection that runs, for the well-being of the system.

Re: Getting too little sleep can have serious health consequences (2013)

#36

Post by icehawk219 »

Sleep is something I've kind of battled with for some years now. I have a job with a long commute and long hours but like to still be able to come home and make dinner and watch an episode or two of some of my favorite shows but when I do I end up awake instead of tired. If I do that I get 4 - 5 hours of sleep at night but if I get the full 8+ I basically have no life but work and sleep.

Basically everyone I know always tells me "Only 4 - 5 hours? That's not healthy!". But here's the thing, I don't feel like it. I wake up fine, go about my day, and usually fall asleep when I'm tired. I don't need to chug caffeine to stay awake or take shots of some energy drink. Once I wake up I'm wide awake and alert despite getting so much less sleep then everyone tells me I'm supposed to.

Re: Getting too little sleep can have serious health consequences (2013)

#37

Post by PuffinBlue »

otherusername2 wrote: post #5

I once, involuntary, went without sleep for around 72 hours. I was at a music festival and we were either pulling through the night or I couldn't sleep because of the noise. When the time came to go home, I really felt pretty good. At that time I had been awake for around 60 hours. My body was tired and my thinking was a bit sluggish, but nothing too bad... Until I got home and tried to sleep. By then I was feeling d…

I had sort of an 'opposite' experience following 86 hours of no sleep and lots of physical labour.

Military training, 3 1/2 days of digging ad building trenches by hand. Middle of high summer and digging through stony clay.

Interspersed between the digging were numerous patrols and mental tests.

I experienced the hallucinations whilst fully awake from about hour 76 particularly throughout the night and early morning. I vividly remember stopping so talk to a Colour Sergeant I knew and shook his hand, only to find it extremely prickly. Trying again the pain brought me to my senses and I realised I was shaking hands with a Holy bush.

During a dawn attack the following morning I frequently fell into micro-sleeps whilst 'standing to', resulting in bashed knees and a couple of trips to the bottom of the trench flat on my face.

Come an enforced rest period at hour 86 I lay down and experienced the kind of unconsciousness I've only experienced under an anaesthetic. I was utterly gone.

3 hours later I felt amazingly refreshed, just as well as there were 48 more hours to go without sleep until the exercise finished.

Re: Getting too little sleep can have serious health consequences (2013)

#38

Post by rrss1122 »

icehawk219 wrote: post #36

Sleep is something I've kind of battled with for some years now. I have a job with a long commute and long hours but like to still be able to come home and make dinner and watch an episode or two of some of my favorite shows but when I do I end up awake instead of tired. If I do that I get 4 - 5 hours of sleep at night but if I get the full 8+ I basically have no life but work and sleep. Basically everyone I know alw…

Doesn't sound like you are battling with sleep then. There are some people who do get by with 4-5 hours of sleep.

Then again, there are a lot more people who think they can get by with so little sleep, but when they do start committing to 7-8 hours of sleep they realize that extra time spent watching TV or browsing the internet doesn't make them feel nearly as good as they do when they are fully rested.

Re: Getting too little sleep can have serious health consequences (2013)

#39

Post by JupiterMoon »

globuous wrote: post #13
otherusername2 wrote: post #5

I once, involuntary, went without sleep for around 72 hours. I was at a music festival and we were either pulling through the night or I couldn't sleep because of the noise. When the time came to go home, I really felt pretty good. At that time I had been awake for around 60 hours. My body was tired and my thinking was a bit sluggish, but nothing too bad... Until I got home and tried to sleep. By then I was feeling d…

That's a crazy story, I could never imagine myself not sleeping for 72 hours!! When I mess up my sleeping schedule pretty bad (which happened a lot back in college), I usually do sleep paralysis when falling asleep (as opposed to when waking up). And I can do it 6 or 7 times in a row, it's a nightmare. Usually though, I realize what's going on (it's happened to me so. many. times.) after the second or third 'paralysi…

Truly horrible. I've once been trapped in a cycle of this for what seemed like dozens of times before I finally broke out of it drenched in sweat.

How to you get out of it?

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