How much sleep do you get, and do you feel tired?

Howdy Gents,

Something I just thought I'd post up as a matter of general curiosity.

I've been sleeping a lot lately (lately being months and months). I do a bit of photo work, but it's usually erratic timing and such, so I have no 9-5 job or such that commands a routine like that.


I find that for the last 6 months or so (maybe longer, but it's becoming particularly noticeable lately) that I've been doing an incredible amount of sleeping. Yesterday I woke up at 10am (after 6 hours sleep). Went for a jog, was back in bed at 3pm. Slept til 7:30pm, woke up, did nothing particularly taxing on the body, and was back in bed at 2am, and slept until 3pm today.


When I wake up, I find that I, despite getting such a lengthy sleep, have no energy and no enthusiasm to get up and do anything. After a cup of tea and being up for 30mins or so I get back to 'normal' and will venture into my 'to do' list.

I remember last christmas I worked a security job for about 3 weeks. 12 hours shifts. I'd literally go to work, go to sleep, go to work, go to sleep. Was sleeping about 10hours each side (meaning i was giving myself time to fly into tesco and get an off the shelf lunch, but was doing nothing of note).

Am I alone here? A friend was suggesting maybe a trip to the GP would be in order but I am not sure if that's necessary. Part of me thinks i really only have myself to blame for being lazy, but on more than one occasion i've set alarms to wake early, only to either wake up feeling like I'm tied to the bed and fall back asleep, or what otherwise tends to sometimes happen, is I actually manage to sleep through the alarm (that was the case when I woke today at 3pm, despite already having lots of sleep).


Anyone in the same boat? I know medical advice etc. isnt allowed. but I'd be interested in anecdotal opinions or experiences all the same.

Dr Crayfish

I usually try to sleep around 12 or a bit later. I'd say I usually get asleep by 130 or 2, and then wake up at 7ish. So I'd say 5 or 6 hours a night, if I'm lucky! It's very rare I get deep sleep. I kind of have no problem functioning on little sleep for some reason.
When I drink I'll sleep a bit longer, but I don't really count this as real sleep, and I can never sleep with hangovers.
Sleeping is quite literally a bit of a nightmare for me.

whatawaster81

I'm on a high dose of sedatives for insomnia and I would sleep 7 - 8 hours on weeknights because they put me unconscious and 10-12 hours on weekends because when you don't really need to get up you stay in bed sedate.

Mister Vain

Usually 6 or 7 hours. I normally have a 10 minute nap later in the day but generally I'm not tired. I find I'm more tired if I try to sleep on. At weekends I might get up at 9am and I feel more tired as a result.

Squall Leonhart

Do you snore by any chance? It can be indicative of a sleep apnoea problem. Sleep apnoea can occur without snoring too, but heavy snoring is a telltale sign.

If you do suffer from this, it will really hinder quality of your sleep, so can still be tired after regular long sleeps. Something to keep in mind!

sword1

Squall Leonhart wrote: »

Do you snore by any chance? It can be indicative of a sleep apnoea problem. Sleep apnoea can occur without snoring too, but heavy snoring is a telltale sign.

If you do suffer from this, it will really hinder quality of your sleep, so can still be tired after regular long sleeps. Something to keep in mind!

Suppose it is the same if your partner snores,awake all night listening to her,the odd dig in the ribs stops it for a while but half an hour later away she goes again

Squall Leonhart

Squall Leonhart wrote: »

Do you snore by any chance? It can be indicative of a sleep apnoea problem. Sleep apnoea can occur without snoring too, but heavy snoring is a telltale sign.

If you do suffer from this, it will really hinder quality of your sleep, so can still be tired after regular long sleeps. Something to keep in mind!

As far as I know, I do snore (apparently). But my issue isn't with interrupted sleep, i am dead to the world for the duration of my sleep. I wake up maybe once a night to use the toilet, other than that my sleep is consistent.

I did a bit of googling and most of the results i see are problems caused by broken sleep causing tiredness.

Mycroft H

Do you work nights? I used to work rotating month of nights then a month of days. The night month used to hammer me physically, especially in the winter when it's usually dark. My pattern was completely out of sync. I could sleep 12 hours, no issue.

However, I don't do that no more, not for the moment anyway. I'm usually sleeping 5-7 hours a night now. Generally appreciate the 9-10am lie in on my off days.

I think you need to get into a habit, go to bed at a certain time and get up. Try exercising more, half an hour three/four times a week. Like a good solid run. In the long run, you'll be fitter and better able to face the day. Other stuff like anemia/b12 deficiency can cause fatigue, but that would take a trip to the GP which is probably no harm.

_Kaiser_

I generally sleep about 7/8 hours and I'm OK if at home or out and about. After an hour in the office though I'm wrecked! I think it's the higher temperatures (we have a lot of people from sunnier climes who are always complaining to facilities about the aircon) and the general stuffiness/dryness inside the place.

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

Shannon757

I've been up since Saturday morning without sleep. Pain and medication make sleep almost impossible. And I feel very tired, completely wrecked.

Dr Crayfish

Woke up at 0430 screaming NOOOOOO. I was in a dream where some weird old couple were trying to feed me various bits of fried food, the situation was freaking me out so I tried to run away which was very difficult and the couple followed me, then I woke myself up. Couldn't get back asleep then. All in a nights "sleep" for me ffs.

HalloweenJack

I usually sleep between six and seven hours and usually get a little afternoon napt too.

I used to have a much more irregular sleep pattern and I usually slept more. Moving in with my GF, who has to get up at the same time everyday, has helped me get into a routine.

TerrorFirmer

I normally sleep for between 6 ands 7 hours a night and that suits me perfect, even trying to go to bed earlier to achieve a longer sleep and I just tend to wake up earlier. Every now and again I'll manage an 8 hour sleep which is immensely satisfying even though it doesn't make me feel any fresher or rested, it's just a nice feeling!

omb0wyn5ehpij9

I think your problem is that you don't have a routine. You need to go to bed in and around the same time every night and get up at the same time every morning for a while. Try cut out the sleeping during the day too.

I usually get 7-8 hours sleep a night. I'm usually training 4 or 5 times a week which means I need that sleep.

Unlike one of the posters above, I actually sleep less when I've had a few drinks. It used to be a lot different when I was younger though!

Sleepy

Typically go to sleep between 2am and 3am and am up for work sometime between 7:30 and 8:00. So, not nearly enough tbh!

Harambe

I used to always get 7 or 8 hours on work nights but I have a 6 week old boy now so that's gone out the window.

foxatron

I aim to go to sleep by 11.30, that always ends up being 12.30 then im up 6.45. So just over 6 hours. When i pull myself out of bed in the morning i always say, thats it im going to bed earlier tonight...it never happens.

Lack of routine and over sleeping can lead to the kind of things you describe in the OP. But so can many things from poor diet - to some forms of depression. So it would be hard to examine it too closely without a holistic ( - the none magical nonsense use of the word - ) approach to diagnosis. In all likelihood it is a combination of things.

Myself I do not get - or at least _feel_ - tired very often. This I used to think was a good thing. But last July something flipped in me and I lost an entire day. Just blank on the whole day. I was by all reports crazy that day in many way. Up until eventually around mid-evening I collapsed.

Doctor says I have been over doing things - doing too much - and not sleeping enough either. I was averaging 5-6 hours a night but I am working on incrementally upping that towards 7 or 8.

So it seems my not feeling tired - when I infact am - is a bug not a feature. So kinda like those rare people who are born unable to feel any kind of pain - I now have to consciously engage in checks and balances and rituals to monitor what my body should be monitoring naturally for me.

silverharp

something odd to have a 4 hour sleep during the day and then 12 hour that night. It sounds like you are best trying not to sleep during the day, eat at regular times and build in some exercise, try walk an hour a day possibly use it to wake up at a reasonable time like 7-8am

Noveight

I usually try and get a solid 8 hours sleep. I recently began reading a bit before bed and I find it's much easier to get to sleep afterwards as opposed to spending time on the laptop or phone.

ElChe32

Fairly fixed sleep schedule with me, hit the hay at 12 and up at 8. Do a bit of training/gym 4-5 nights a week so never have too much issue getting to sleep. Weekends I sleep in an extra hour or two which makes me feel sluggish for a few hours when I'm about. Alcohol usually makes me sleep less which I find weird.

GLaDOS

Noveight wrote: »

I usually try and get a solid 8 hours sleep. I recently began reading a bit before bed and I find it's much easier to get to sleep afterwards as opposed to spending time on the laptop or phone.

Looking at any sort of screen in bed is going to make it harder to sleep. I too find reading helps me to sleep.

Bambi985

Usually between 5 and 7 hours on week nights and then a longer sleep on weekends, probably 9 - 10. Chronic night owl syndrome means never to bed before 12 or 1am and up at 7am for work.

Actively trying to remove junk and convenience foods from my diet and eating breakfast for the first time in years at the moment though and this is having a massive impact on my energy levels.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Not really enough (for me) during the week, about 5-6 hrs per night on average.

At the weekend I try and get at least one good long sleep, 12-14 hrs. That doesn't always work out obviously.

I probably need to get my sleep cycles in order as I often feel fatigued during the day.

C0N0R

I work over seas for 6/7 weeks at a time so I'm in bed most nights for 9/9:30 and first alarm goes off at 5:30 am. So basically I get eight hours every night and in my eyes it's amazing, I never wake up tired, getting out of bed is a pleasure.

Then when I take my time off my sleeping pattern goes haywire, just arrived back to work last night at 1am local time and couldn't get to sleep until 4am despite not sleeping on the flight and being up for 14 hours, happens me every time I go back to work leaving me feeing rough for the first day but after two or three days I'll be back to perfect again.

Start going to bed at 11 and getting up at 8 30 every morning

Jude13

4-5 hours and Im wrecked.

I got to bed 9.30-10. I have to be up at 5 and out of the house by 5.20. My OH doesnt. So she goes to bed later, switches on lights, never uses handles on doors to close them properly and is generally loud. When I ask her to be quiet she say she is and gets annoyed so Im the bad guy. Im shattered every day.

bren2001

Before Christmas I was in a very good pattern of getting ~8 hours a night. In bed by 10.20, asleep by 10.50 and up for work at 6.50. The only night I would struggle to sleep would be after playing football from 8.30-10.00, I could like awake for hours...

I have not got back into that pattern since coming back to work and I'm tired. Every morning I plan to get back into the routine but by the time 10 pm comes around, I just think "one more episdoe won't hurt". Tonight is the night tho....

Jude13 wrote: »

4-5 hours and Im wrecked.

I got to bed 9.30-10. I have to be up at 5 and out of the house by 5.20. My OH doesnt. So she goes to bed later, switches on lights, never uses handles on doors to close them properly and is generally loud. When I ask her to be quiet she say she is and gets annoyed so Im the bad guy. Im shattered every day.

Would ye not sleep in seperate rooms? Seems crazy to have your sleep disturbed so much.

GLaDOS

Jude13 wrote: »

4-5 hours and Im wrecked.

I got to bed 9.30-10. I have to be up at 5 and out of the house by 5.20. My OH doesnt. So she goes to bed later, switches on lights, never uses handles on doors to close them properly and is generally loud. When I ask her to be quiet she say she is and gets annoyed so Im the bad guy. Im shattered every day.

That's pretty shitty of your OH quite frankly.

I was writing my thesis during the summer and during the last month I was regularly going to bed between 2 and 4 am. I always made an effort to close doors quietly and got into bed by the light of my phone. If your OH can't be bothered to make an effort to let you get some sleep, I'd be asking myself why.

tea and coffee

Sounds like you're over sleeping. That will cause you too feel lethargic and lack energy so you feel like you should have more sleep and it self perpetuates.

Jude13

GLaDOS wrote: »

That's pretty shitty of your OH quite frankly.

I was writing my thesis during the summer and during the last month I was regularly going to bed between 2 and 4 am. I always made an effort to close doors quietly and got into bed by the light of my phone. If your OH can't be bothered to make an effort to let you get some sleep, I'd be asking myself why.

I genuinely think she is trying she is just clumsy an a loud person. I have slept in the spare room for tow nights but it was roasting and not a great bed. She sees it as my choice to get up in the morning and train but it is the only time I can do so.

silverharp

tea and coffee wrote: »

Sounds like you're over sleeping. That will cause you too feel lethargic and lack energy so you feel like you should have more sleep and it self perpetuates.

year for sure, even at the weekend there I slept for 10 hours and it knocked me out, wasn't quite right all morning. oversleeping is probably not much better than under sleeping

helimachoptor

My sleep varies so much, 2.5 year old and a 1 year old.

Pre-kids i'd go to bed at maybe midnight and be up at 7, but it was 7 solid hours of sleep.

Now, some nights i could go to bed at half 8 cos im up at 6 and could be awake a couple of times a night depending on the smaller one.

My wife normally goes home to see the in laws for a few days a month and brings the kids so that helps though i still go to bed and get up early, its a solid session

Walter H Price

I have insomnia so usually only 3 to 4 hours a night , i've had this all my life so well used to only getting a few hours a night.

If i get any less though like if i'm stressed or whatever start to get worn down very quick

pilly

Deleted User wrote:

As far as I know, I do snore (apparently). But my issue isn't with interrupted sleep, i am dead to the world for the duration of my sleep. I wake up maybe once a night to use the toilet, other than that my sleep is consistent.

With sleep apnoea you don't necessarily know that your sleep is disturbed. I'm waiting for tests for this. Now mind you I'm waiting since last June for the appointment. Like you I can sleep for 12 hours and still feel tired. Something has to be up. And I have a regular routine.

Sabre0001

Getting 6-7 hours of sleep a night. Been waking at 6:30 of late, but starting to learn my lesson and not going back to sleep for the extra hour until the alarm (tend to wake up exhausted then). Feel a little tired typically...though also have a cold at the moment which may be colouring my perception of how I generally feel.

red ears

I'd usually sleep at about 1:30 id get a good sleep till about 6.00, sporadic then from 6:00 til about 8:30. All in all i'd get about 6 or 7 hours. But only about 4 or 5 good sleep.

Tigger99

Jude13 wrote: »

4-5 hours and Im wrecked.

I got to bed 9.30-10. I have to be up at 5 and out of the house by 5.20. My OH doesnt. So she goes to bed later, switches on lights, never uses handles on doors to close them properly and is generally loud. When I ask her to be quiet she say she is and gets annoyed so Im the bad guy. Im shattered every day.

That's quite a thoughtless response from her. You are definitely making allowances for her by saying she's loud and clumsy but she could be more considerate. Sulking because you raise a valid point isn't great. I wonder does she do it because she resents you training (given her remark about it being your choice).

I'm very lucky that I get a minimum of 7 hours and am asleep as soon as I hit the pillow. If I do I'm rarely tired. Try not to go beyond 8 hours at the weekend otherwise I get groggy.

OP you should definitely go to the doc, I went through a stage of that years ago and it turns out my iron levels were too low. It's way too much sleep to be needing.

H3llR4iser

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

I generally sleep about 7/8 hours and I'm OK if at home or out and about. After an hour in the office though I'm wrecked! I think it's the higher temperatures (we have a lot of people from sunnier climes who are always complaining to facilities about the aircon) and the general stuffiness/dryness inside the place.

Aaarhg, glad to see I'm not the only one with this issue! I spend most of the winter months in the office feeling incredibly drowsy and with an almost constant headache due to the blistering hot settings of the aircon/heating system; As I seem to be the only one suffering from this, it's obviously pointless to complain about it- I do usually prefer a way cooler environment than most (e.g. I almost never feel the need to turn the heating on at home and when I do - the thermostat is usually set at 16c). And I am from southern Italy, go figure

As for sleep, I should get more - sometimes I do suffer from the "oh sh1te, is that sunlight?" issue if I really get engrossed doing something; Anyhow, I've also discovered that more than 5, maximum 6 hours per night make me feel more tired rather than better

sky88

About 5 hours a night im very bad at actually getting asleep. on the weekends it can range from 10-12 hours which i think negatively effects me on sundays when trying to get back into normal routine again.

what ive found lately is that i am actually better with less sleep. when i get 5 hours or less ill be sleeply for first hour then i brighten up but on the weekends im always tired. i guess it could be the weeks lack of sleep catching up in some way.

Squall Leonhart

pilly wrote: »

With sleep apnoea you don't necessarily know that your sleep is disturbed. I'm waiting for tests for this. Now mind you I'm waiting since last June for the appointment. Like you I can sleep for 12 hours and still feel tired. Something has to be up. And I have a regular routine.

Exactly this. I could have gotten 9 hours sleep a night and still not feel rested. As far as I was concerned I was fast asleep, competely uninterrupted sleep. Turns out I stopped breathing on average 14 times an hour for over 10 seconds at a time (so that registered as 14 on the apnoea-hypopnoea scale, see below).

Normal: AHI<5
Mild sleep apnea: 5≤AHI<15
Moderate sleep apnea: 15≤AHI<30
Severe sleep apnea: AHI≥30

As you can see, I still only fit into the 'mild' section, but it was enough to drain me during the day!

ancapailldorcha

Interesting. I do wake up tired a fair bit. A friend reckons I might have it.

GLaDOS

My brother in law has sleep apnoea, has to wear a mad machine going to bed.

pilly

Squall Leonhart wrote:

As you can see, I still only fit into the 'mild' section, but it was enough to drain me during the day!

I'm waiting for an appointment at a sleep clinic 6 months now. Wake exhausted every day, it's horrible.

ArthurG

I agree with other posters - a routine is very important. I usually get up at 6 or 6:30 (6 if I'm going to the gym early - a few times a week), so I'm usually in bed by 10. I am asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. I think exercise and a good diet helps, although I can't be any more scientific that that.

My OH can be a problem sometimes - he came to bed late last night after being out for a work do, waking me up in the process and then proceeding to toss and turn. After trying to put up with it for an hour, I just got up and slept in the other room - wasn't deliberate on his part or anything, but no point in me trying to sleep if he's keeping me awake.

At the weekend I try to keep to the usual routine - latest I'd ever get up is 8am, more usually 7. Some friends think I'm mad to do that, but honestly I feel that it makes the weekend longer - I work 8 - 6ish mon - fri, so really value having more free time at the weekend.

Kev.OC

I work shifts and can function just fine averaging 6hrs per night for weeks on end.

I had like 10 days off after Christmas, slept loads (I assumed I had loads to catch up on), but for the last few weeks I could get 9-10hrs and still be wrecked.

Haven't been getting to the gym as often as I'd like but I do a lot of walking at work and there's been no real changes to my diet...well, bar some Christmas treats. :pac:

I'm starting I could just be one of these people who lethargy attacks after too many hours of sleep.

Beasty

I'm a very light sleeper and usually get less than 6 hours a night, often nearer 4 (last night less than 2 but I was in hospital!). I wear a Garmin which typically overestimates sleep and a Fitbit which underestimates it. I know I'm somewhere between the 2 extremes, although my deep sleep does seem quite short most nights

I've taken to having a siesta over lunch at work - get maybe 30 mins or so decent rest and it makes a massive difference to the rest of the day

BlinkingLights

If I don't get 8 hours a night I start making mistakes all over the place and feeling physically sick.

Mr_Muffin

Usually around 7-8 hours. I never like getting out of bed no matter how much sleep i have!

Alcohol really throws my routine of - a Saturday night out on town and I'd be lucky if i got 1 hours sleep on the Sunday which leads to be trying to catch up all week which affects my work and makes me moody.

Quality sleep in probably the one thing that we overlook sometimes.

QuestionHere

I typically get 5 or so hours sleep a night. Far less if I am worrying about something - like at the moment - then it could be as little as three or four in different stages. This can go on for weeks. Oddly it doesn't upset my performance, but does upset my mood.