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For this week I've been having problems sleeping. I will go to bed, close my eyes, and immediately wake up 6 hours later. I wake up feeling as if I haven't slept at all. It's affecting how I feel, my performance in school, and my mood. I have no idea what to do.
I tried talking to someone today and I was told that the reason for this might be because I feel particularly stressed out before going to bed or something like that. I was then told that I should try to figure out if there's any reason why I cannot relax properly and why I can't sleep well.
Does anyone have any advice? I really need some help.
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your body slowly builds up sleep debt if you are sleeping for 6 hours a night. It will eventually start crushing you unless you give yourself some legit recuperation and go for 8 hours for a few nights.
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On August 01 2013 19:39 sc4k wrote: your body slowly builds up sleep debt if you are sleeping for 6 hours a night. It will eventually start crushing you unless you give yourself some legit recuperation and go for 8 hours for a few nights.
I've been getting 6 hours of sleep for a couple of years
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Do you exercise? It often fixes several issues with sleep...
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On August 01 2013 19:40 Catch]22 wrote: Do you exercise? It often fixes several issues with sleep...
I usually exercise after waking up, but I had to stop recently after I started having problems with sleeping
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There are a number of factors: Age, sex, daily routine/stresses, medical conditions, drugs/prescriptions, fitness level, and probably some others I have left out.
First of all, have you ever done a sleep study? It could be that you have sleep apnea or something going on. What you can do is have someone check in on you or observe you one night while you sleep. Or put a camera with audio and record it yourself then play it back in some x5 speed or something and look for any unusual stuff.
PS- When I was younger I would sleep like 10+ hours a day more often than not. These days (late 20s) I can get by on 5-6 hours of sleep. And then get normal 8 hours on weekends.
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try pills? Talk to a doctor about it you have exams at the end of the year right? It would be nice to get it fixed before than, and maybe sleeping pills will help with that (tho i dont know how they work so probaby go ask a doctor) good luck!
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Bearded Elder29876 Posts
What's wrong with 6 hour sleep daily? I've been sleeping for 5-6 hours in last few years and I feel perfectly fine with it.
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The problem isn't the quantity of sleep, it's how he feels after the sleep.
I have this occasionally where I go to sleep and open my eyes and feel like I've blinked.
It's common for insomniacs. People think they haven't slept, but have. Their body feels, though, that it hasn't.
Normally for me it's down to stress. Removing the stress or doing something that physically exhausts me an hour or so before sleep can help. Try something like that.
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On August 01 2013 20:18 Gowerly wrote: The problem isn't the quantity of sleep, it's how he feels after the sleep.
I have this occasionally where I go to sleep and open my eyes and feel like I've blinked.
It's common for insomniacs. People think they haven't slept, but have. Their body feels, though, that it hasn't.
Normally for me it's down to stress. Removing the stress or doing something that physically exhausts me an hour or so before sleep can help. Try something like that.
Yeah I think it's like this. Thanks for the advice.
Thanks Shock
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Any problems with sinuses or snoring? Do you air your room before sleep? Night time ventilation is super-important.
Also, what time you go to bed and wake up? My personal schedule is 22:00 PM - 06:00 AM and it works splendidly. From what I've heard, having at least 2 hours of sleep before midnight makes the rest more effective.
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From what I've heard, having at least 2 hours of sleep before midnight makes the rest more effective.
thats stupid, there is no magical energy that floats around before 12 am and gives people more energy.
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Try working out in the mornings (even just something light like some push-ups and situps) and make sure you eat more in the morning than in the evening. It's hard to get into a habit of, but for me at least it's the only way to regulate my sleep schedule.
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On August 01 2013 19:40 Azera wrote:Show nested quote +On August 01 2013 19:39 sc4k wrote: your body slowly builds up sleep debt if you are sleeping for 6 hours a night. It will eventually start crushing you unless you give yourself some legit recuperation and go for 8 hours for a few nights. I've been getting 6 hours of sleep for a couple of years
It took me about 2 years to start feeling the effects of under-sleeping...
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I noticed i was having trouble sleeping after gaming just before going to sleep. Although it usually results in being awake a couple of hoursbefore falling asleep, sometimes, afterwards, it feels like i haven't slept at all. I fixed this by shutting my computer down 1,5 hours before i plan to go to bed.
Not sure it's the same, though. Might be completely wrong.
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On August 01 2013 23:13 sc4k wrote:Show nested quote +On August 01 2013 19:40 Azera wrote:On August 01 2013 19:39 sc4k wrote: your body slowly builds up sleep debt if you are sleeping for 6 hours a night. It will eventually start crushing you unless you give yourself some legit recuperation and go for 8 hours for a few nights. I've been getting 6 hours of sleep for a couple of years It took me about 2 years to start feeling the effects of under-sleeping...
More likely the effect of aging. 6 hours of sleep is enough for most, even though most get more
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United States5162 Posts
On August 02 2013 00:34 Clarity_nl wrote:Show nested quote +On August 01 2013 23:13 sc4k wrote:On August 01 2013 19:40 Azera wrote:On August 01 2013 19:39 sc4k wrote: your body slowly builds up sleep debt if you are sleeping for 6 hours a night. It will eventually start crushing you unless you give yourself some legit recuperation and go for 8 hours for a few nights. I've been getting 6 hours of sleep for a couple of years It took me about 2 years to start feeling the effects of under-sleeping... More likely the effect of aging. 6 hours of sleep is enough for most, even though most get more I've also read that some people have genes that make it so 6 hours for them is the same as 8 hours for someone else. I'm definitely not one of those people.
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Not sure if it will help you, but when I had troubles either going to sleep, or staying asleep, one good thing was to make a list about what I need to do for the next day. It could just be a bunch of simple little things that need to get done, or I wanted to do, but once I have them written down/ recorded, then I wouldn't have to worry about them anymore and could relax better. It sounds way lame, but it has helped me a lot. Also, reading books about 15 minutes before sleeping, instead of chilling on the internets has helped!
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sleeping and feeling exhausted afterwards can also be breathing problem where you stop breathing randomly.
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On August 02 2013 00:38 Myles wrote:Show nested quote +On August 02 2013 00:34 Clarity_nl wrote:On August 01 2013 23:13 sc4k wrote:On August 01 2013 19:40 Azera wrote:On August 01 2013 19:39 sc4k wrote: your body slowly builds up sleep debt if you are sleeping for 6 hours a night. It will eventually start crushing you unless you give yourself some legit recuperation and go for 8 hours for a few nights. I've been getting 6 hours of sleep for a couple of years It took me about 2 years to start feeling the effects of under-sleeping... More likely the effect of aging. 6 hours of sleep is enough for most, even though most get more I've also read that some people have genes that make it so 6 hours for them is the same as 8 hours for someone else. I'm definitely not one of those people.
It's my experience that sleeping longer than 6 hours is comfortable but doesn't really do anything else for me. Whereas, when you're used to sleeping 8-10 hours, waking up after 6 hours is uncomfortable. But I recommend trying it for like a week anyway and seeing if you run out of steam earlier than you normally would!
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it sounds like you're a normal teenager Az . I had sleep issues too, especially when you pair being a teenager with (what you said in your last blog, which is depressive mood/depression) depression you can get some gnarly sleep issues. My issue became that I couldn't go to sleep when I wanted, no matter how tired I was at 3-5pm, I couldn't go to sleep until 11:30-12:30 and then wake up at 7:27 am. 7 hours of sleep isn't bad, but it's far too few for a growing kid with stresses, those too take a huge toll on your body, and you need sleep to replenish that.
What I'd suggest are 3 different things of increasing severity.
1. If you use a mac, download F.Lux. Go to the health and wellness part of TL and they have some a little outdated, but still useful advice on sleeping. Also, don't look at your computer for about 1-2 hours before sleep.
2. If those shouldn't work, try going to sleep again after waking up 6 hours later. Do this by going to sleep a bit earlier than normal, and then when you wake up, just go back to sleep. Supplement this by using some herbal medicines for sleep (i.e. Tea, not Zzzquil).
3. If none of these work use a non-habit forming sleep medicine like Zzzquil for a bit to get into the habit of sleeping well. DO NOT use it continually or it will become habit forming, no matter how much the box says it won't.
4. If all else fails, go see a sleep professional, it will cost, but they will fix your issue.
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I have my own issues with sleep, mainly that my sleep schedule has to bend to the wills of work and the distractions that keep me from work. I've exercised daily and temporarily solved my issues with a sleeping medicine called ZzzQuil, but I've stopped for a while when I took too muchlate at night, and woke up when I'd normally be having dinner.
Recently, I've just been going to bed at midnight and just had to wake up earlier in order to get work done proper, ratherthan than attempting to work all night and morning and staving off sleep until a day when I can sleep for a good 7 hours.
I'd suggest simple things to alleviate stress: Stuff like pre-sleep exercise or showers, putting on music or comedy that stops on a timer. Even something as simple as reading a few pages from a book can reduce stress before bed.
Hopefully these suggestions help, I sincerely wish you a good night's sleep. :3
+ Show Spoiler + (Also, not to be immature regarding the topic, but when all else fails, relieving oneself is always a viable option for pre-sleep stress relief :p)
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I'm a doctoral student in clinical psychology and it's proven that people need different amounts of sleep. Personally I need more in the 8-9 hour range, but the head of my program only needs 4-5. There are a lot of factors which could be affecting the quality of your sleep and your ability to do so which are hard to uncover over the internet. In a clinical interview we would ask you stuff like "describe what you do a couple hours before bedtime" and a bunch of questions to try and determine why it is your sleep is lacking. Do you eat before bed? What kind of noises are around? Do you sleep in complete darkness? There are so many factors which could be affecting your sleep that it would be really stupid to take someone's random-ass advice. They really have no idea what the issue might be. For all we know it could be bed bugs and you'll be following some advice to change your schedule and take some supplements when you really just have to fumigate your house.
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Take melatonin. If that doesn't help you fall asleep and achieve a deeper sleep, you should work into some routine right before bed, through exercise or reading a book.
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Hint: If you wake up in the wrong sleep phase, you will always feel like shit. Waking up while dREaMing is the way to go.
Do you "naturally" wake up or do you use an alarm clock to command your brain to start the day lucid?
If you want my advice - stay away from screens (computer/smartphone/tablet/tv) for a couple of days, see how that goes.
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Relax (relieve stress), exercise, try to sleep more if you can, and get a better bed. More often than not it isn't about some weird medical condition. You are probably just stressed out and have bad sleeping habits and/or a bad sleep environment. Try to sleep longer, in a different position, and if you can on a higher quality bed.
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Melatonin. Shit is crazy. Even if you only sleep for 2/3 hours, on melatonin you will have deep sleep and dreams. But you might feel groggy when you wake up.
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Don't resort to any form of medication until you know what's wrong.
Just had the same problem where I'd have any amount of sleep up to 15 hours and felt like I never had enough sleep. I felt tired all day every day, falling asleep during the day and had extreme trouble getting out of bed.
Had a bloodtest nothing showed up except low VitD but supplements only helped a bit.
Diagnosed with anhedonia, its a form of depression and can be fixed without medication, might wanna get that checked out.
Common things that can cause anhedonia - Not doing any exercise (your brain wasn't designed to sit in front of a computer all day it was designed to learn from being outside and spatial reasoning, it will eventually lose the ability to receive any form of stimulation if you don't do any exercise) - Porn Addiction - Cannabis use - Junk food diet - Anything else that causes an artificial rush of dopamine to the brain, numbing the ability for your brain to receive adequate pleasure from everyday activities.
If you think you have this condition, try going for a run as soon as your alarm goes off, it will remove the symptoms of that depression immediately. You may get tired again during the day, but you just gotta keep your brain stimulated while you reboot from any bad habits you've been getting into. This may take months but it should be well worth it and you will be as good as new.
Also have a look at getting a bloodtest and seeing a psychologist. For every great psychologist out there, there are dozens of bad ones. I saw a few psychologists and none of them gave me a good answer or any useful help until my last one, and my first one was 5 years ago.
Hope this helped, hope you find out what the problem is and can fix it.
On August 02 2013 13:06 Release wrote: Melatonin. Shit is crazy. Even if you only sleep for 2/3 hours, on melatonin you will have deep sleep and dreams. But you might feel groggy when you wake up.
Except your body will become dependent on it and you will need to take more and more, and once you stop, you will have insomnia until you lose the addiction. Maybe get your Vitamin D levels checked, if you have low levels of vitamin d, you will have low levels of melatonin when you try to sleep.
Take Vitamin D in the morning (its the same as being in the sun, so if you take it at night you won't have the melatonin to sleep), and then stay away from a computer screen or any highly stimulating activity for 2 hours before you sleep, you should be able to find after a few weeks that you can sleep naturally much easier. Also try your best not to sleep in, if you wake up at the same time every day you will find that you will be able to snap right into sleep when your body wants to.
I mean melatonin is great for when you've just come overseas or you've gotten bad sleeping habits from going out and need to reset, as long as you don't take it regularly its fine, but melatonin is not the answer for a chronic sleeping problem.
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