• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

i sleep too much. how can i fix me?

Z

ZippyDan

Platinum Member
i need like 10 hours of sleep per night.

i'm in my mid 20s and this has been substantiated hundreds of times in my life: if i go to sleep at any time and i don't have to wake up the next day for anything in particular, i leave the alarm off and i will sleep approximately 10 hours before i wake up feeling refreshed. it doesn't matter what time i go to sleep or whether it's light or dark out when i'm sleeping... 10 hours is pretty much a rule

compounding the problem is that my body seems to maintain some memory of how much sleep it has had recently (lots of people call this "sleep debt). so if i only get 8 hours of sleep one night, i can EASILY sleep 12 hours the next day to make up for it

since the real world is full of fun things to do at night, and boring things that require you to wake up early... and since most people have trouble fitting everything they need to get done into a normal 8-hour-per-night sleep schedule... i usually find myself behind in my sleep. in other words, im frequently tired.

note that i'm not ALWAYS tired. this is not a case of general lethargy. if i get sufficient sleep, i am energetic, happy, and quite... zippy! but i have to work hard to go to sleep extra early to stay that way, and if a week is particularly grueling then i end up sleeping most of the day saturday to make up for it.

the depressing and probably accurate explanation is that it is simply genetic and there isn't anything i can do about it. most people need 7 or 8 hours of sleep per night. but we all know some people who seem to get by just fine on 4, 5, or 6. studies have shown that this is usually the result of genetics, and probably i fall on the opposite end.

but when i calculate this over my lifetime... 2 hours per day multiplied by 365 days is 30 DAYS of extra sleeping that i have to do while other people are LIVING. an entire month lost per year. over the next 60 years of a lifetime, that's 5 years lost to extra sleep.

that's depressing and it makes me want to do something about it. also note that i have no trouble with sleep itself. i fall asleep quickly without difficulties. when i sleep, i sleep well, i sleep deeply, i don't remember most of my dreams or have nightmares and i don't wake up much if at all during the average night. i feel very satisfied with the quality of my sleep, just not the duration.

i'm hoping that it's some kind of deficiency that makes me need more sleep. i'd love to take a pill and get 2 hours of my life back each day. does anyone have any insight? are there medical experts i can go see for help with this?
 
Two questions:

1. Are you overweight?

2. Do you snore?

People who are overweight are very likely to snore...actually have full on sleep apthnia. You do not get enough oxygen when this is happening. You probably even have days where you are still tired even though you got 10 hours of sleep. A friend of mine just went thru a sleep clinic and was sent home with a special mask he wears, which provides oxygen and stops the snoring. He can't believe how much better he feels in the morning with less sleep.

Also, sleeping with TV's or radios on is a bad thing. Good sleep comes in complete darkness and silence.
 
Originally posted by: Dorkenstein
Seek help. Exercise will most likely work wonders also.
Click to expand...

i excercise regularly

Originally posted by: compuwiz1
Two questions:

1. Are you overweight?

2. Do you snore?
Click to expand...

1. not overweight at all, nor excessively skinny, just average

2. i will snore sometimes, but i can go several nights without snoring. depends on how tired i am (if i'm more tired more likely i'll snore) and what position i'm in. of course, i usually sleep alone so who really knows 🙂

i should've also mentioned that supporting my impression that it is genetic is that my mother, two female cousins on my mother's side, and my brother also have a similar need for sleep. my father never needed as much sleep, but can fall asleep in almost any situation nearly to the point of narcolepsy and he does snore A LOT.

 
Since I'm not a doctor, nurse or even a candy striper, I feel tremendously confident in giving you my over the internet diagnosis that you might well be anemic.

But seriously, if you have health insurance this is worth finding a sympathetic in-network GP and discussing the problem and getting a work-up that would at least highlight/eliminate any of the usual biological suspects.
 
could be just your body.
You can PM if you want.

my first thoughts are what is you height/weight and have you had any major medical problems in you like?
When do you sleep?
 
Originally posted by: ZippyDan
i need like 10 hours of sleep per night.

i'm in my mid 20s and this has been substantiated hundreds of times in my life: if i go to sleep at any time and i don't have to wake up the next day for anything in particular, i leave the alarm off and i will sleep approximately 10 hours before i wake up feeling refreshed. it doesn't matter what time i go to sleep or whether it's light or dark out when i'm sleeping... 10 hours is pretty much a rule

compounding the problem is that my body seems to maintain some memory of how much sleep it has had recently (lots of people call this "sleep debt). so if i only get 8 hours of sleep one night, i can EASILY sleep 12 hours the next day to make up for it

since the real world is full of fun things to do at night, and boring things that require you to wake up early... and since most people have trouble fitting everything they need to get done into a normal 8-hour-per-night sleep schedule... i usually find myself behind in my sleep. in other words, im frequently tired.

note that i'm not ALWAYS tired. this is not a case of general lethargy. if i get sufficient sleep, i am energetic, happy, and quite... zippy! but i have to work hard to go to sleep extra early to stay that way, and if a week is particularly grueling then i end up sleeping most of the day saturday to make up for it.

the depressing and probably accurate explanation is that it is simply genetic and there isn't anything i can do about it. most people need 7 or 8 hours of sleep per night. but we all know some people who seem to get by just fine on 4, 5, or 6. studies have shown that this is usually the result of genetics, and probably i fall on the opposite end.

but when i calculate this over my lifetime... 2 hours per day multiplied by 365 days is 30 DAYS of extra sleeping that i have to do while other people are LIVING. an entire month lost per year. over the next 60 years of a lifetime, that's 5 years lost to extra sleep.

that's depressing and it makes me want to do something about it. also note that i have no trouble with sleep itself. i fall asleep quickly without difficulties. when i sleep, i sleep well, i sleep deeply, i don't remember most of my dreams or have nightmares and i don't wake up much if at all during the average night. i feel very satisfied with the quality of my sleep, just not the duration.

i'm hoping that it's some kind of deficiency that makes me need more sleep. i'd love to take a pill and get 2 hours of my life back each day. does anyone have any insight? are there medical experts i can go see for help with this?
Click to expand...

What do you look like because you could be my twin?

I have the same sleep requirements that you do.

The only exception is that you say that you exercise regularly whereas I hardly exercise (but I'm not fat though; I guess I have a high metabolism).
 
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome? The only other living being I've ever met that needed that much sleep got diagnosed with CFS.
 
Originally posted by: Perknose
Since I'm not a doctor, nurse or even a candy striper, I feel tremendously confident in giving you my over the internet diagnosis that you might well be anemic.
Click to expand...

i read a list of symptoms of anemia and none of them seem applicable. like i said: assuming i get my sleep, i feel absolutely normal.

Originally posted by: mcveigh
my first thoughts are what is you height/weight and have you had any major medical problems in you like?
When do you sleep?
Click to expand...

im 5'10". no medical issues at all. not allergic to anything i know of. very normal and average mostly. i work 9 am to 6 pm and generally sleep during the night like most people 😛 to get up at 8 am i generally am in bed at 10 pm to feel refreshed when waking.

Originally posted by: Baked
Set a sleep schedule and use alarm clock and stick to the plan.
Click to expand...

as a responsible and normal adult who works, that is pretty much what my life is. i go to sleep around 10pm and an alarm wakes me up at 8 am. i feel fine under those conditions. if i go to bed at midnight though, which does happen from time to time, when my alarm goes off at 8 am, i'll feel tired. not excessively tired: i still go to work and function normally and usually i wake up full after an hour or so at work. i assume i feel tired that same way someone who needs 8 hours of sleep per night feels after only getting 6. but when 8 pm rolls around that night, i certainly could go to sleep early to make up for the previous night.

also, there is a compounding effect: i can easily go one day on only 6 or 7 or 8 hours of sleep. but if i only got 8 hours of sleep a night for a week, i would become increasingly tired and fairly exhausted at the end of the week: again i think its the same feeling someone who needs 8 hours of sleep per night would feel after a week with only 6.

Originally posted by: Dorkenstein
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome? The only other living being I've ever met that needed that much sleep got diagnosed with CFS.
Click to expand...

again, i don't think the symptoms match. my sleep is very refreshing... provided i get enough of it. and i have many days where i feel completely fine, again provided i get enough sleep. both CFS and anemia seem like diseases that just make you feel fatigued ALL THE TIME as well as being accompanied by many other symptoms that i don't have. i generally feel like a normal person except that i need slightly more sleep than most people. and since most people have trouble getting the average 8, it's just a little harder for me to stay caught up on my sleep...

still i appreciate the suggestions, maybe i have a very very mild case of one of these and only the sleep symptom presents in a mild fashion. worth seeing a doctor about 🙂
 
I used to/ still have that problem. I'm 18 and I would sleep 10hrs a day+ on days I wasn't busy and catch myself falling asleep on the couch when I was reading or watching TV. When I had really busy stretches, by the end I would just be exhausted.

It had been going on for about a year, but not quite annoying enough to actually do anything about it. I finally went to the doctor who did a blood test and found I had anemia; a low red blood cell count. I started taking iron pills to up the red blood cell count 3 weeks or a month ago and I'm starting to feel better. In another month or 2 I should be back to a 'normal' count.
 
Originally posted by: ZippyDan
Originally posted by: Perknose
Since I'm not a doctor, nurse or even a candy striper, I feel tremendously confident in giving you my over the internet diagnosis that you might well be anemic.
Click to expand...

i read a list of symptoms of anemia and none of them seem applicable. like i said: assuming i get my sleep, i feel absolutely normal.
Click to expand...

Thats good, I don't think I'm anemic:
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-gu...g-anemia-basics?page=1
 
Maybe you just need the sleep. Some people need more, some less. I have the opposite problem, I sleep 5-6 hours a night most of the time, and that's an improvement from when I was younger. If I'm really tired out I might get lucky and get 7. My ex could sleep 12 hours every day, no problem. Some people are just different.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top