Friday, April 22, 2011

Come In And Lie Down On My Couch

I haf a few qvestions I vould like to ask you.

(It's kinda funny because I've been thinking of writing this post about sleep for a couple of days now. Then on Thursday Linda over at Multilocus blogged about the very same subject. So although it may seem as if I'm copying her, it's really just a coincidence that we were both working on this same train of thought.)

Okay, back to the couch now. I'll ask some questions and take notes while you give me your answers. Relax, take a deep breath . . . and ve vill pro-ceed.

How many hours of sleep do you normally get each night?

How many hours of sleep do you need to get each night to feel your best?

At what time do you go to bed?

When do you get up in the morning?

Do you wake with an alarm or on your own?

Do you feel you get enough sleep?

Do you sleep more on the weekends in order to "catch up" or just because it feels good?

Do you ever take naps during the day?

Do you sleep straight through every night or do you wake to make a pit stop? (Hope I'm not getting too personal here.)

Do you ever have trouble falling asleep? Or staying asleep?

Are you a morning person or a night person?

If you could arrange your life so that you could choose, when would you go to bed and when would you arise in the morning?

I'll share some of my answers so you won't be shy of sharing yours.

I usually get between 7-8 hours sleep each night, but feel I really need 9-10 to feel my best. I know that may seem like a lot but this has been the case for me since I was in junior high school. If I went on a sleep-over (we used to call them slumber parties) on a Friday or Saturday night, my mom said I would sleep the rest of the weekend to recuperate.

It's rare that I make it to sleep before 10 o'clock. Usually more like 10:30 or 10:45. Okay, lately it's been closer to 11:00.

Normally we don't set an alarm which means I don't wake until around 7-ish.

Most of the time I feel I'm short on sleep but guilt pulls me out of bed in the morning.

My weekend sleep schedule is the same as the other five days of the week.

I never nap during the day.

I get up once almost every night to croggle on into the bathroom. (I think my bladder has shrunk to the size of a thimble.)

I rarely have trouble falling asleep. Sometimes I barely make it into bed before doing so. But I do go through "spells" when I wake at 2-2:30 in the morning and can't fall back asleep until 4:30-5. Arrrgh, I hate that!

I'm definitely a morning person. (So why can't I cut it off and get in bed earlier at night?)

Ideally, I should be in bed at night at 8:30, read until 9 and then get up at 5 a.m. But wait, that gives me only 8 hours of sleep. Do I truly need more than that? It sure seems so. But I do know that even if I get only 8 hours of sleep, the more of those hours that I get BEFORE midnight, the better I feel. For instance, yesterday morning I got up at 7 but I didn't get to bed until 11 the night before. So that should have been close to a good 8 hours of sleep, right? Then why did it take me until after noon (literally) before I felt and looked like I was awake? Makes me think there is something to a natural rhythm (for me, anyway) of waking with the sun, and probably going to sleep with with sun, that is more normal and physiologically healthy for human beings.

If I could arrange my life so that my sleep patterns were ideal, I would require less than 8 hours of sleep each night to feel good, I would go to sleep no later than 9 p.m. and arise by 5 a.m. or even earlier. I love, love, love those early morning hours. It gives me a feeling of being on top of (and ahead of?) things for the whole day.

Now get up off my couch. It's currently 9:14 p.m. as I write this and I need to go to sleep.

20 comments:

Erin said...

Well..... I get 6.5 - 7 hours per night of sleep, I can operate fine on 6 though and seem to do that more in the winter. I go to bed anywhere between 11-12 pm, get up usually between 5:30-6 am without an alarm. I NEVER sleep in on the weekend, I'm usually up earlier than the other days and if I do sleep in, my whole day feels "ruined". NO NAPS, I would feel horrid the rest of the day. I usually sleep through the night, unless I fall asleep early, like 9 pm, then I'm up at 3 or 4 am and can't get back to sleep. I am both a morning and a night person, and that can vary seasonally. I'm pretty happy with the amount of sleep I get, but always wish I could get by on about 5 hours. You should see hubby - he could sleep 16 hours a day if anyone let him since he has sleep apnea, ugh! He wakes up about 10 times a minute according to his sleep studies at the hospital, can you imagine how tired you'd be? So we are complete opposites.

Jane @ Hard Work Homestead said...

This should sum it up. I sleep with a loud snoring husband, a vocal dreaming dog, and another dog who is getting senile and barks at night. Then I have a driveway alarm that can be set of by wildlife, but I still need to get up and make sure it is not a horse that got out or some one coming to kill us in our sleep. So a good nights sleep is something I have read about, but seem to think is a myth. So Doc, do you think that is whats wrong with me :)?

The Apple Pie Gal said...

Generally in bed by 11. I seldom fall right to sleep. Always up no later than 7 without an alarm. Any later than that and I am useless, extra sleep drags me down (why is that?) and I don't often wake up in the middle of the night unless my tummy growls :)

I prefer to get up very early, as it's my most favorite time of the day. Very peaceful.

I only take a nap if exhausted and can't keep my eyes open. This hardly ever happens. But when it does it is a wonderful, deep and quick nap.

Jane said...

I get about 8 hours of sleep. I am a morning person,and don't take naps,they make me feel bad. I generally get to bed around 9 pm,get up around 6 am. Sometimes I also have to make a pit stop in the night,but not always. Blessings jane

Mama Pea said...

Erin - You and hubby are complete opposites in so many ways! Just goes to prove that opposites do attract and make for a solid relationship. Viva la difference!

Jane - I got a good laugh out of your reply! I don't think there is ANYTHING wrong with you. You still have oodles of energy for all you get done in a day's time . . . even if you don't sleep at night.

APG - So when your growling tummy wakes you, do you get up and eat something? I've always been in wonder of middle of the night eaters. I can't imagine anything I'd rather not do in the middle of the night. :o\

Sounds like you know how to power nap!

Jane2 - Yup, the few times I've tried to nap during the day have been a baaaad idea. Bad dreams, waking feeling beat-up and groggy. Ish.

mtnchild said...

Hmmm ... never looked at this in detail before.
I usually get 8-9 hrs of sleep, but I think 7-8 would do me just fine. I crawl in around 10-11 and roll out between 7-8. This all changes in winter when I seem to need/want more sleep. I have an alarm but I'm usually awake before it goes off, so how do you count that?? LOL When you're retired there are no weekends ... I have trouble taking naps unless I'm sick and then I sleep on the couch when my eyes bang shut! I'm usually up twice a night, once for the dog & I both, and then again about 4 hrs later for me only... I know what you mean about a thimble sized bladder!
I do need a little "help" to fall asleep or else I'm half here, half there for 3-4 before really falling sound asleep (I hate that!) I'm still up around 7-8 but it takes longer to feel human - and more coffee!! I love mornings in summer with the early light and quiet. In winter I think I could go to bed around 9 and get up when it gets light - around 8. I become a hermit in winter!!
Please send my bill to my insurance company ...
Yvette

Ollamha Anne said...

In an ideal world, I operate just fine on 6 - 8 hours of sleep, as long as it's at the right time. In an ideal world, I would go to bed at between 12 and 1:30 am, sleep until 3:30 or 4:00, have a potty break, and then sleep until I wake on my own without an alarm clock between 7 and 8:30 a.m. In other words, go to bed when I'm tired, and wake up when I wake up. When I was able to follow this (non-)schedule (I started work after lunch), I always felt well-rested.

Unfortunately, the reality is that my work schedule requires that I get up at between 5 and 6 a.m., and in order to get 7 or 8 hours of sleep, that means going to bed at 10 pm. The problem is, even after years of that schedule, I cannot fall asleep when I get in bed at 10. I lie away for a few hours. I wake up between 2 and 4 a.m. for a potty break and go back to sleep, and am jolted away by the alarm clock. I am tired all the time. I spend about the same amount of time in bed, but I don't get the same amount of sleep, and so I have a headache all the time.

Susan said...

Dr. Pea - I normally get about 6 hrs a night; 7 is best. I usually am in bed by 9:30; I am up between 4-4:30 every morning, seven days a week, holidays included. I never use an alarm. I never know if my lethargy is because I am sleep deprived, sun deprived, or unmotivated. I never nap unless I'm ill. I usually sleep through the night if I remember to 'use the facilities, ahem' before bed. I am definitely a morning person, being most productive between 4 - 11 a. I wouldn't change my inner clock. Sometimes I have trouble getting to sleep, most times not. I suffer from occasional bouts of insomnia, so I just knit through those.

Sue said...

Early to bed, early to rise.....yup-I'm one of those. Fortunately, I married a man who is also a loner so it works perfect for us. I go to bed at 9 and get up at 3. He goes to bed at 10 and gets up at 7. I get to have four hours(!!!) all to myself in the morning before I wake him up. If I didn't wake him up? He'd probably sleep till noon. He needs a LOT of sleep. I do best on 5-6 hours.....and feel like crap with more.
I never sleep in and I never use an alarm--I wake up at EXACTLY 3 am. Weird, I know.....but I love my schedule. I had to go for years adjusting to everyone else's. Now it's my time and luckily I found a guy that likes it too!

becky3086 said...

I get 6-8 hours of sleep a night.
I need about 9.
Time I go to bed varies, if I have missed a lot of sleep 9:30 if not 10 or 11.
Wake up to an alarm at 5:15 so I can take Phil to work.
I hardly ever get enough sleep anymore.
I sometimes sleep more on the weekends. I usually get a nap one of those days.
I would take more naps during the day if my grandson was quieter. Normally I don't get a nap anymore.
I seldom get to sleep straight through the night. I usually get woke up once or twice.
I sometimes have trouble falling asleep if I wake up in the middle of the night. I take Nature's Measure Relax & Sleep pills.
I'm a morning person.
If I could sleep like I want to, I would get up at 7:00 and go to bed at 10:00.

LindaCO said...

Good post!

You know where I stand. :-)

Sparkless said...

Ah sleep one of my favorite subjects. Do you know that you can't "catch up" on sleep? Getting an extra hour or so after a short night is all you need. If you sleep too much it's just as bad as not sleeping enough.
I get about 7-9 hours of sleep a night depending. I really need 9 hours to feel good though and believe it or not most people do need 7-9 hours of sleep a night to feel good.
Some days I don't set an alarm because the husband will get up with the kids so I get to sleep in. Other days I have to be up at 6:30am with the kids. So my sleep is kind of erratic.
I do take a nap if I've had a really bad sleep but then I don't work at a paid job so I'm able to do that.
I am a night person and have always been one no matter how hard I've tried to change that and believe me I've tried.

Erin why doesn't your hubby get a CPAP (I think that's what they are called) machine things that they wear on their face at night to help with the sleep apnea? I know several people who use them and they work really well.

Sleep is the third ingredient for good health along with proper nutrition and exercise. Most people ignore it and pay the price for it by catching lots of colds or getting sick often. Sleep is when the body resets it's hormones and regenerates. It's the way the body heals itself. So getting a good sleep regularly is imperative to good health.

I'd answer the rest of the questions but this is already too long a reply.

Erin said...

Sparkless, he's had a CPAP for 5 years LOL...he even gets to have a "special rack" (bunk) onboard the ship that has an electrical outlet in it, hehee it makes everyone else mad that he gets one! Does it help? About 30% improvement which isn't really much.

Mama Pea said...

Yvette - You won't have to pay for my services because I'm using all this info for a paper I'm writing for an elite medical journal. You will be identified by name, phone number, address, age, height, weight, and shoe size. ;o}

Ollamha Anne - Welcome and thanks for commenting. You bring up the good point that we all have our natural right-for-us rhythms and when we can adhere to them, we're good. When we can't, we suffer.

Susan - Because you wake every morning without an alarm, I don't think you're sleep deprived. Seems you're pretty darn well adjusted to me.

Sue - You have NO IDEA how much I have always envied you your sleep schedule!

Mama Pea said...

becky3086 - Just goes to show how our environment affects not just our waking hours, but our sleeping hours, too.

LindaCO - Thanks! Are we learning anything by writing and communicating about our sleep lives??

Sparkless - Lots of good info you shared there, Lady! Thanks! I do know that sleep is when the body heals and regenerates so that's why I get my knickers in a knot when I'm not sleeping well. :o\

judy said...

DR, PEA-YOU CAN'T HAVE MY NAME,ADDRESS,WEIGHT,SHOE SIZE,AGE AND HEIGHT---I CAN'T REMEMBER CUS I CAN'T SLEEP OR I'M FALL ASLEEP STANDING UP----JK I LOVE ALL THE COMMENTS-THEY ARE HILARIOUS I HAD A GOOD LAUGH SO NOW I CAN SLEEP---------ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Mama Pea said...

judy - If I help you get a good night's sleep, I'm happy!

Dan said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Leigh said...

Hmm. Let's see.
- I get 6 hours of sleep each night
- Like to get 7 but can get by on 5
- Bedtime is usually around 11 pm
- I wake up around 5:30 am
- No alarm
- I usually get enough sleep, unless Dan has to leave at 3 or 4 and I can't get back to sleep
- weekend sleep is same as weekday mostly because I want to keep the routine for our animals
- no naps. If I do, I can't get to sleep that night.
- usually sleep straight through. It's usually hot flashes that wake me up if anything
- I do have occasional insomnia. Really had it bad the 3 and a half years we lived in the apartment. I find if I'm active and busy all day, I usually have no trouble falling asleep.
- Morning or night person? Morning I reckon, though when Dan's on the road I tend not to go to bed as early
- I sometimes wish I could go to bed earlier, but I'm often afraid I'll have trouble getting to sleep! Actually my personal rhythm isn't on a 24 hour clock. More like 25.

Now Dr. Pea. What are you going to do with all this data??!?!?!?!?!

Mama Pea said...

Leigh - What am I going to do with all this scientific data? Just file it away in the recesses of my gray matter. I've been curious as to how much sleep all of you hard-working homesteaders get/need. My sleep patterns seem to be going through a bit of wonkiness that I'm not particularly happy with and I want to make some changes but as we all know, change is H-A-R-D! So I was just curious to get a glimpse into the sleep patterns of my blog friends.