Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Impacts of lack of sleep

belkarx.github.io

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

201–210 of 254 posts

Re: Impacts of lack of sleep

#201

Post by slothtrop »

jmkd wrote: post #112
xyzelement wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quick advice - see if you can shift that to getting up earlier. You will probably spend the couple of hours in the morning in a way that sets you up for a better day vs staying up late sets you up for a bad tomorrow. I say this as an always "late" person who now tries to get up at 5 to work out and reflect, it's been very helpful.

I wish people would understand that "just get up early" simply does not and cannot work for a significant portion of the population (20-50% depending on which study you choose). Therefore it is aggravating advice to constantly receive, from those for whom it worked, to those for whom it won't.

It's incomplete advice, but it can't be separated from effective advice. Similarly, "just eat less" is not useful/workable on it's own, but at the end of the day, losing weight relies on caloric deficit; it's still true.

The missing piece with this, not unlike weight-loss, is the use of effective tools (that can include sunlight, scheduling everything differently, among other things).

Re: Impacts of lack of sleep

#202

Post by autoexec »

jandrewrogers wrote: post #196
jmkd wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish people would understand that "just get up early" simply does not and cannot work for a significant portion of the population (20-50% depending on which study you choose). Therefore it is aggravating advice to constantly receive, from those for whom it worked, to those for whom it won't.

In the US military, new recruits are put on a very early schedule (think: 5:00am wakeup) and an appropriately early bedtime. Within a matter of weeks, they become habituated to it such that everyone's body automatically starts operating on that schedule, even if no one wakes them up in the morning. I am skeptical that there is a biological reason 20-50% of the population can't get up early because it doesn't seem to…

I think people can train themselves to get up at any time, even in the middle of the night, but I have doubts that they'd all be fully alert at that hour even if they did it for months or years. I can train myself to wake up early, but my brain doesn't fully "wake up" until much later in the day. It might be genetic (https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/05/150514085748.h...) and there are groups looking at drugs to help night owls adapt to the artificial constraints modern society imposes on them.

Re: Impacts of lack of sleep

#203

Post by BeFlatXIII »

jandrewrogers wrote: post #196
jmkd wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish people would understand that "just get up early" simply does not and cannot work for a significant portion of the population (20-50% depending on which study you choose). Therefore it is aggravating advice to constantly receive, from those for whom it worked, to those for whom it won't.

In the US military, new recruits are put on a very early schedule (think: 5:00am wakeup) and an appropriately early bedtime. Within a matter of weeks, they become habituated to it such that everyone's body automatically starts operating on that schedule, even if no one wakes them up in the morning. I am skeptical that there is a biological reason 20-50% of the population can't get up early because it doesn't seem to…

While I was never in the military, I have been in environments where I needed to be an earlybird. It's exactly as you say: the adaption to the environment makes the early rising palatable. However, once left to my own devices, I quickly return to my nocturnal habits. For me, it's less revenge bedtime procrastination and more so that nights are better for long blocks of uninterrupted time than days.

Re: Impacts of lack of sleep

#204

Post by betabuckea »

madaxe_again wrote: post #73
kungfufrog wrote: post #20

Resonates with anyone that has had children. Biggest impact for both my wife and I was overall sleep quality/quantity and sacrificing sleep for a modicum of personal time at the end of the day.

My wife still manages 12+ hours per day - I get about 4-6. She wonders why I am gradually becoming irrationally irritable, as in her view being overtired is something that is easily controlled. Easily said when you get to sleep in to 1pm or later every day. I find myself picking fights with anyone and everyone, even inanimate objects. I know it’s crazy. We don’t have time together any more - I just fall asleep the mo…

[flagged]

Re: Impacts of lack of sleep

#205

Post by specialist »

euph0ria wrote: post #189
specialist wrote: post #144

Agree with all. TIL: One way I know I'm behind on my sleep is I can't stop eating (noshing). My insomnia journey... I had turrible insomnia for decades, worse over time. I tried All The Things, multiple times. Which everyone should try, if only to learn more about oneself. But if you try All The Things and still suffer, do not give up. Keep looking, keep asking. Turns out my root cause was bone spurs on my spine. Tin…

How did they determine this and what is the fix?

I had weird muscle issues. Fasciculations. Something usually dismissed out of hand. But with the severity and some other stuff, I presented a bit like MS, ALS, restless leg syndrome, and some other stuff I now forget. Did tests, drugs, therapies -- nothing conclusive, nothing helped.

Eventually, finally, got some MRIs done. Was immediately obvious my nerves were impinged. Which led to surgeries.

Happily, surgery resolved most of my anxiety symptoms (which had also been treatment resistant). Of which my care providers are very skeptical. Specifically, that my physical sensation of anxiety, like clinching, induced my emotional state. Maybe not. But lacking a better theory, I'm preceding with the info that I have.

Re: Impacts of lack of sleep

#207

Post by betabuckea »

2devnull wrote: post #164
ramoz wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought the same. I didn’t “experience” any of these things. I’ve always been driven, fit, resilient. Procrastinated about my health, and being better about sleep/all-nighters. Then I was diagnosed with cancer at 30. Blessed to have treated it. I don’t take health for granted any longer, sleep is a critical component of my health. Mental and physical state are 10x where they were. Ymmv. There’s no proof that I dire…

I cannot sleep and there’s nothing I can do to alter that and no doctor that I’ve found can help. It was not my choice to stop being able to sleep. It’s not my fault either. One finds the benefits in it because the only other option is suicide, which is from what I gather a fairly common outcome. Consider that when you make statements about the negative consequences of insomnia. For many it’s not a choice and they ar…

[flagged]

Re: Impacts of lack of sleep

#208

Post by all2 »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #152
all2 wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me it has been nasal strips. That and not sleeping on my back (where my jaw relaxes and closes my throat).

I'm trying nasal strips for snoring. The results so far are mixed - the strip reduces my snoring... while it's on. Problem is, it tends to unstick from my nose in 30-60 minutes. Even if I clean/de-oil and dry my nose immediately before application (in fact, I feel this makes the problem worse). Is there some trick to those nasal strips to ensure they stay on through the night?

There are stronger adhesive strips, also try putting the strip farther up or down your nose so that it doesn't have to bend as far. I've had good success putting it right below the bone of the nasal passage.

Re: Impacts of lack of sleep

#209

Post by xyzelement »

elteto wrote: post #180
hnthrowaway0315 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a few bullet points about this: 1. Most people would never say bad things about parenting because it makes them look like demons. I basically tell my friends and colleagues that it is OK and I'm still not sure whether it worths it or not. That's as far honest as I'm willing, although it is pretty close to truth nowadays. I was a lot more snarky a year ago. 2. Humans are very good at adapting. If you told me 3…

On point 3, I've never met a parent (at least a first time parent) who knew exactly what having a child would be like. I don't know that people can have a life style that "fits" children without having them. Of course, with such a subjective topic I'm sure I'm bound to be mistaken. In my experience, the original excitement and expectation fade away slowly after birth and is replaced by paternal/maternal love, as well…

This resonates. For me personally, having kids has been amazing both because of the direct benefits in joy and love and fun, and because the challenging aspects of having kids are the challenges that can make you grow as a person.

Probably different for everyone but for me the kid-driven growth areas are time management/prioritization and patience. Having kids forced me to prioritize how I spend my time in a way that has made me more effective in life because while I have fewer flexible hours, I am putting them to much more intentional use. And learning how to speak kindly and patiently to a toddler who is being difficult has made me much better in a slew of professional and personal types of interactions.

Re: Impacts of lack of sleep

#210

Post by mmanfrin »

nikkwong wrote: post #17
mmanfrin wrote: post #3

I'd wager most people here who don't get enough sleep aren't doing so out of some sort of grindset mentality, but because they simply cannot. I find it very hard to fall asleep, nearly impossible to sleep in (a consequence of getting older?), and more interrupted sleep. I'm reticent to try drugs to enable sleep because I've heard that the sleep they provide is not true sleep.

That may not necessarily be totally true, you're most likely referring to hypnotics (ambien, lunesta, etc)—which were used by doctors for patients in some circumstances but are slowly falling out of fashion for the reasons you describe. There are older and newer classes of drugs on the market that are being used as first-line therapies which not only preserve sleep architecture but in many cases even enhance it. Traz…

This is good advice, thank you. I've tried Trazodone, but it gave me really strange nightmares (as someone who never has nightmares). I've found Gabapentin to be useful, but recently it's been less effective and I've had to up the dosage which gives me a bit of anxiety over wondering where that stops.

In the last 6 months the level of exercise I get has skyrocketed, and I thought it would help but it's ironically made it worse. Stress is definitely a possible factor, but there's nothing in my life that is particularly more stressful than it was before. That's why this has all been perplexing: my sleep hygiene and everything surrounding it has gotten better as my ability to sleep has gotten worse.

Post reply on HN