Can diffrent sleeping habbits be healthy?

[Elias824]

for the past few weeks ive had kind of odd sleeping behaviors. I usually just take to naps about 4hrs long. I take one usually in the middle of the day maybe after work or school, and one usually at 11-12pm. This is kind of a result of me having to actually wake up early, instead of being able to sleep in and its not the first time ive gone on sleeping habits like this.

My question is, can this be healthy? Dose it matter if its 8hrs of consecutive sleep, or as long as I get 8hrs a day its ok?

 

[MegaVovaN]

IMO consecutive 8 hr is better than in parts.
There's been experiment where some dude decided to test a rumor where he slept 20 min at a time...failed miserably.

Just don't go to sleep during the day and go to sleep early. You can adjust, and you'll be falling asleep by 11pm. Wake at 7 = win with 8 consecutive hours.

 

[nismotigerwvu]

Yeah, there are specific hormones that get released at certain "sleep checkpoints" and you simply won't be getting enough "real" sleep without spending at least 3~4 hours at a time with the naps.
Also, other hormone levels levels have to be low and they are artificially inflated by light and core body temperature.
In other words, we are built to sleep sleep through the night.

 

[irishScott]

I know there was a major long-term study not too long ago that determined that people who work full night-shifts and sleep during the day are more likely to get all sorts of diseases later in life.

Different people need different amounts of sleep, but we're designed to sleep at night and without stopping.

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: MegaVovaN
Just don't go to sleep during the day and go to sleep early. You can adjust, and you'll be falling asleep by 11pm. Wake at 7 = win with 8 consecutive hours.

Not everyone can. I can't decide when I sleep. If I try to go to bed early for the sake of going to bed early, I'll end up being up later.

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: Deeko

If I try to go to bed early for the sake of going to bed early, I'll end up being up later.

And I thought I was the only one having this issue... It's like my body knows that the next day I have to wake up at 6 and does it's worse to keep me from falling asleep. Weird stuff...

 

[irishScott]

Originally posted by: error8

Originally posted by: Deeko

If I try to go to bed early for the sake of going to bed early, I'll end up being up later.

And I thought I was the only one having this issue... It's like my body knows that the next day I have to wake up at 6 and does it's worse to keep me from falling asleep. Weird stuff...

Anxiety. A nice little strategy I've found is this New Age CD I picked up awhile back. No lyrics, and extremely complex musically. I just fire up my mp3 player and focus on picking out every single part/rhythm/instrument involved. I generally fall asleep within 30 minutes. Without, it can take 1.5 hours.

 

[Deeko]

I'm pretty sure I have some sort of a sleeping disorder - by my research, a mild case of narcolepsy. It's not serious enough for me to actually go to the doctor about it, but there aren't really any tricks I can do to make myself fall asleep. I sleep when I'm tired, and that's that. If I try to go to bed early, I don't get tired, I just get angry because I'm not falling asleep, which in turn prevents me from getting tired, so I'm up later.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

That seems like biphasic or segmented sleep.

 

[Elias824]

Originally posted by: MegaVovaN
IMO consecutive 8 hr is better than in parts.
There's been experiment where some dude decided to test a rumor where he slept 20 min at a time...failed miserably.

Well my sleeping habits are still quite abit diffrent from that, I usually sleep in 2 4hr segments.

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged
That seems like biphasic or segmented sleep.

That seems like a pretty accurate description of my sleeping habits. Although from what i can find segmented sleeping is usually only split up by and hour or so, im usually awake much longer then that.

What exactly happens during your 5th, 6th, 7th hour of sleep that makes more consecutive hours better? Anyone know any symptoms of having crazy sleep hours? someone mentioned that people who are nocturnal usually get more diseases?

 

[Bateluer]

When I worked 3rd shift, from 9pm to 5:30am, I had to sleep in two 4hr blocks. From 6am to 10am, and then from about 4pm to 8pm. After a few weeks of this, I was pretty much in zombie mode 24/7. By the time I got off work at 5:30am saturday morning, I would crash and end up sleeping through until almost sunday.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: Elias824

Originally posted by: MegaVovaN
IMO consecutive 8 hr is better than in parts.
There's been experiment where some dude decided to test a rumor where he slept 20 min at a time...failed miserably.

Well my sleeping habits are still quite abit diffrent from that, I usually sleep in 2 4hr segments.

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged
That seems like biphasic or segmented sleep.

That seems like a pretty accurate description of my sleeping habits. Although from what i can find segmented sleeping is usually only split up by and hour or so, im usually awake much longer then that.

What exactly happens during your 5th, 6th, 7th hour of sleep that makes more consecutive hours better? Anyone know any symptoms of having crazy sleep hours? someone mentioned that people who are nocturnal usually get more diseases?

Your REM cycles become longer as you've been asleep longer. There's been studies that show correlations between REM sleep and consolidation of information and feeling rested. Some symptoms of bad sleep hours are lethargy, irritability, downed immune response, slowed cognitive ability, etc, etc. If you feel alright, then I wouldn't really worry too much... I don't ever sleep through a night anyways. I wake up at least 5-10 times a night. Last night I woke up ~8.

 

[TecHNooB]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: Elias824

Originally posted by: MegaVovaN
IMO consecutive 8 hr is better than in parts.
There's been experiment where some dude decided to test a rumor where he slept 20 min at a time...failed miserably.

Well my sleeping habits are still quite abit diffrent from that, I usually sleep in 2 4hr segments.

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged
That seems like biphasic or segmented sleep.

That seems like a pretty accurate description of my sleeping habits. Although from what i can find segmented sleeping is usually only split up by and hour or so, im usually awake much longer then that.

What exactly happens during your 5th, 6th, 7th hour of sleep that makes more consecutive hours better? Anyone know any symptoms of having crazy sleep hours? someone mentioned that people who are nocturnal usually get more diseases?

Your REM cycles become longer as you've been asleep longer. There's been studies that show correlations between REM sleep and consolidation of information and feeling rested. Some symptoms of bad sleep hours are lethargy, irritability, downed immune response, slowed cognitive ability, etc, etc. If you feel alright, then I wouldn't really worry too much... I don't ever sleep through a night anyways. I wake up at least 5-10 times a night. Last night I woke up ~8.

That would drive me freakin insane. I already get up 1~2 times per night to go to the bathroom (damn bladder!)

 

[Deeko]

I wake up a ton of times every night too. I also go into REM immediately upon falling asleep.

 

[skace]

I don't wake up during the night at all . Close my eyes and next time I open them it's morning.

 

[Elias824]

Yeah I think the hours are maybe starting to catch up to me, im starting to feel tired alot more often now. this is probably about my 2nd week or so of this. I can always tell when I dont sleep enough cause I cant really think as well, even if im awake and aware.

 

[gramboh]

The easiest thing I've found is being in a routine. When I was in college I would be all over the place, gaming until 5am some nights and sleeping until 2pm or later, then another day having to be at school by 9am etc. Partying until dawn on weekends etc. It sucked and I felt physically and mentally wrecked often. Now I try to go to bed consistently (11:30-7:30) every night. It makes a huge difference if you can do it on the weekends as well. If I stay up late on the weekends it makes it harder the next week at work. What it took for me was to realize there is no reason to stay up late on weekends (usually screwing around on the computer). I can do the same screwing around/gaming the next morning. I've also stopped partying recently which makes it way easier. Just try to force yourself to wake up at the same time every day and sleep at the same time every night (obviously doesn't work if you have shift work).