How long do you sleep?

[daydream]

At my age, my sleep pattern is rather erratic. When I was secularly employed, I could get by with 6 hrs of sleep. I wished that I could sleep longer but there was so much of housework to do. My Aspies husband doesn't do any housework.

This chart is useful to determine the levels of melatonin in our bodies.

I do try to sleep at 10 pm to be in sync with my melatonin level. But then I would have to forgo my afternoon nap. A quick 20 minutes shut-eye would work wonders for my energy level but I'm not a disciplined kind of person. So night time sleep of 4 hrs or more seems to be a continual battle for me. I bought 1 box of chamomile lemon balm* to help me relax before sleep but haven't started on it yet. Having to live with a person on the autistic spectrum is very depressing.

* Green Pot Tea, produced in Singapore, Aromatic blend of chamomile whole leaves with lemon balm leaves. 100% pure with no flavourings. 

Have a good night's sleep everyone. Sleep is a gift from God. 

 

[Alexa]

Another thing, if we are sleeping the body releases melatonin. If we can't sleep maybe foods reach with melatonin is best for dinner like fish

[Alexa]

I mean rich 

[Áine]

 In answer to the question.... not long enough 🤣

[tekmantwo]

4 hours ago, rlyem said:

. If we can't sleep maybe foods rich with melatonin is best for dinner like fish

I knew it, teach a man to fish and he sleeps better....

 

Thanks Alexa...

[Naturale]

19 hours ago, Friends just call me Ross said:

I sleep as long as I can.

Me too and longer if possible

Actually in winter I could easily sleep 11 hours but I'm always tired.  In summer I only need 8 and I feel normal and energetic.

[Naturale]

22 hours ago, Naturale said:

Just a few thoughts ...  Try limiting caffeine to the morning only.  Drink plenty of water through the day and  camomile tea in the evening. Don't use the computer late in the evening either.

They always say it's best to go to bed at about the same time every night for the sake of your body clock.

Never go to bed hungry either.  For me if I hadn't had enough carbs in the evening I would have a rubbish sleep.  When I come in from a meeting I always have some toast.

 

Also people low in magnesium and B vits tend not to sleep well.  

Edited February 16, 2019 by Naturale

[Alsadan47]

I'm always aiming for 7 or 8. Usually ends up being 6. Then once every few weeks on a day off I'll catch up with a few extra hours.

 

Any less than 6 and I forget how to function properly

[daydream]

The wonder of sleep.

Sleep helps your brain work properly. While you're sleeping, your brain is preparing for the next day. It's forming new pathways to help you learn and remember information.

Studies show that a good night's sleep improves learning. Whether you're learning math, how to play the piano, how to perfect your golf swing, or how to drive a car, sleep helps enhance your learning and problem-solving skills. Sleep also helps you pay attention, make decisions, and be creative.

Studies also show that sleep deficiency alters activity in some parts of the brain. If you're sleep deficient, you may have trouble making decisions, solving problems, controlling your emotions and behavior, and coping with change. Sleep deficiency also has been linked to depression, suicide, and risk-taking behavior.

Physical Health

Sleep plays an important role in your physical health. For example, sleep is involved in healing and repair of your heart and blood vessels. Ongoing sleep deficiency is linked to an increased risk of heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke. 

Sleep deficiency also increases the risk of obesity. For example, one study of teenagers showed that with each hour of sleep lost, the odds of becoming obese went up. Sleep deficiency increases the risk of obesity in other age groups as well.

Sleep helps maintain a healthy balance of the hormones that make you feel hungry (ghrelin) or full (leptin). When you don't get enough sleep, your level of ghrelin goes up and your level of leptin goes down. This makes you feel hungrier than when you're well-rested.

Sleep also affects how your body reacts to insulin, the hormone that controls your blood glucose level. Sleep deficiency results in a higher than normal blood sugar level, which may increase your risk for diabetes.

Sleep also supports healthy growth and development. Deep sleep triggers the body to release the hormone that promotes normal growth in children and teens. This hormone also boosts muscle mass and helps repair cells and tissues in children, teens, and adults. Sleep also plays a role in puberty and fertility.

Your immune system relies on sleep to stay healthy. Ongoing sleep deficiency can change the way in which your immune system responds. For example, if you're sleep deficient, you may have trouble fighting common infections.

So stay healthy, folks and sleep well. My late brother suffered from 4th stage lung cancer and could not lie down to sleep at night and now his long suffering wife is suffering from dementia. A frightening disease that takes away one's past and leaves only a shadow of a former vibrant personality.  So please do not under estimate the value of a good night sleep. Your brain as well as your whole body will thank you for that. Sleep away but not too much though. 

 

[daydream]

"Can a lack of sunlight really affect someone's mood?"

There is an association between sunlight and mood. Certain circuits in our brain respond to the amount of light during the day, and these circuits have a strong influence over our mood. Therefore, in the winter months, when there is less daylight, is is common for many people to feel a depressed mood. If this mood leads to significant dysfunction, it is called 'seasonal affective disorder.' Seasonal affective disorder is similar to depression, although the symptoms are not generally as severe. However, seasonal affective disorder can result in significant problems at work, in school, or in relationships for some people.

Here in the tropics, I should be thankful that we get lots of sunshine, too much in fact, but after reading the above excerpt, I think I shouldn't  be complaining so much. We don't know what we got (till it's gone)

Reminds me of the Passenger's song 'Let her go'. Only miss the sun when it starts to snow. I can now fully empathize with people now struggling with the brutal winter conditions. I will put up with the blistering heat anytime. 

Strange though, I still feel depressed sometimes but when I leave the house, somehow I have managed to shake off some of the blues.

We should be thankful for whatever we're saddled with, in this present imperfect system of things. It could be worse.

Matthew 6:34, The New Jerusalem Bible : Each day has enough of its own troubles

 

[Naturale]

So if any of you are not sleeping so well just at the moment like me here's why   "The year’s closest full moon on February 19, 2019, swings a whopping 49,402 km (30,697 miles) closer to Earth than does the year’s farthest full moon (or micro-moon) on September 14, 2019. Hence, the diameter of the February full moon is about 14 percent greater than that of the September full moon. But the disk size and brightness of this February supermoon exceed those of the September micro-moon by about 30 percent".    https://earthsky.org/tonight/years-biggest-supermoon-on-february-19

[Dages]

I can't wait for the first night in Paradise... I'll sleep like a perfect baby

Edited February 18, 2019 by Dages

[Naturale]

49 minutes ago, Naturale said:

So if any of you are not sleeping so well just at the moment like me here's why   "The year’s closest full moon on February 19, 2019, swings a whopping 49,402 km (30,697 miles) closer to Earth than does the year’s farthest full moon (or micro-moon) on September 14, 2019. Hence, the diameter of the February full moon is about 14 percent greater than that of the September full moon. But the disk size and brightness of this February supermoon exceed those of the September micro-moon by about 30 percent".    https://earthsky.org/tonight/years-biggest-supermoon-on-february-19

Swiss scientists conducted a study that suggests sleep is significantly affected by lunar phases. Their results show changes to sleep throughout the moon’s 29.5-day cycle, and significant increases to sleep disruption during the time immediately surrounding the full moon. 

When researchers analyzed their data in relation to the phases of the moon, they found sleep changed significantly throughout the lunar cycle, with disruptions to sleep peaking during the days closest to the full moon:

• Sleep latency increased as the full moon approached. On the nights of a full moon, it took people an average of 5 minutes longer to fall asleep. After the full moon passed, sleep latency began to decrease.
• People spent 30% less time in slow-wave sleep—the deepest phase of sleep—at the full moon. As the full moon arrived, EEG scans showed brain activity during slow-wave sleep diminished.
• Melatonin levels dropped during the days surrounding the full moon, with nighttime melatonin levels at their lowest on full-moon nights
• Overall sleep time also dropped to their lowest levels—an average of 20 minutes less sleep—on nights with a full moon.
• Volunteers reported their lowest sleep quality during the full moon phase of the lunar cycle. 

[daydream]

Attagirl, great bit of research you have unearthed there. Sleep must be a subject close to your heart. I don't think I would be worrying about sleep in the new system. Borrowing a Trumpian line, I would be too busy to sleep. I would be working so hard, enjoying myself that I would be asleep before my head hits the pillow. 

[hatcheckgirl]

7 hours ago, Naturale said:

Swiss scientists conducted a study that suggests sleep is significantly affected by lunar phases. Their results show changes to sleep throughout the moon’s 29.5-day cycle, and significant increases to sleep disruption during the time immediately surrounding the full moon. 

Ahh, so those people we call "lunatics" really are affected by a lack of sleep around the full moon?!  🤣  We do notice an upswing of agitated and aggressive people at work around full moon.  Someone always points out it's a full moon, and we all nod our heads in agreement in explanation of why so much aggro by the customers. 

 

Hand out the valerian just before full moon, and this problem is solved!

[Naturale]

5 hours ago, hatcheckgirl said:

Ahh, so those people we call "lunatics" really are affected by a lack of sleep around the full moon?!  🤣  We do notice an upswing of agitated and aggressive people at work around full moon.  Someone always points out it's a full moon, and we all nod our heads in agreement in explanation of why so much aggro by the customers. 

 

Hand out the valerian just before full moon, and this problem is solved!

Well I am one of those people greatly affected by the moon always have been.  I lie awake around a full moon and can feel the pull.  I feel the magnetism behind my forehead. In fact often times when a full moon is rising I feel like I am in a kind of head lock.   It is a subject I have looked into in some depth and it is very interesting what goes on in the human cell for eg at this time as regards sodium and magnesium exchange etc and why some of us are affected and suffer so much more than others.  And no it isn't as simple as taking valerian.  

Edited February 19, 2019 by Naturale

[hatcheckgirl]

47 minutes ago, Naturale said:

And no it isn't as simple as taking valerian.  

No, I wouldn’t think it would be. Sorry if I minimised the issue. My clumsiness as my point was meant to be lighthearted. My customers’ deep social and mental issues would never be solved with valerian either. 

[Guri]

I sleep 4-5 hours. Sometimes 6. Never more than 6. 

[daydream]

13 hours ago, hatcheckgirl said:

.. my point was meant to be lighthearted...

Enjoyed reading your post. One mustn't take things too seriously. Most of the time, life is a lark. la-de-da-de-dum 

 

<It’s true: laughter is strong medicine. It draws people together in ways that trigger healthy physical and emotional changes in the body. Laughter strengthens your immune system, boosts mood, diminishes pain, and protects you from the damaging effects of stress. As children, we used to laugh hundreds of times a day, but as adults, life tends to be more serious and laughter more infrequent. But by seeking out more opportunities for humor and laughter, you can improve your emotional health, strengthen your relationships, find greater happiness—and even add years to your life>

So, sisters lighten up a bit. Look for moments to let merriment enter into your lives. We'll eventually develop hides as thick as hippos wallowing in some muddy river in AFRRRRI CCA! Hakuna Matata, people.

 

Hippos sleep for 16 - 20 hours a day. Related NO?

[hatcheckgirl]

Hippo sleep looks bliss 🤣

[EccentricM]

I sleep at least 12 hours daily/nightly.

 

If I get less than 12 hours, I don't function, and feel tired all day as if I only had an hour. Typically I am awake for 12 hours, then sleep for 12. After being awake 12 hours I can't keep my head up and drop off.

 

I sleep well, but the "time" that I sleep shifts around the clock randomly. Either my sleep pattern will slowly change hour by hour every day and works around the clock. Or I will have one night of wakefulness with no tirdness at all and be awake for 24 hours, then I will suddenly drop and sleep for 12-15 hours. The longest I have slept is 24 hours.

 

But either way, my sleep "quality" is always fantastic, just my sleep "patterns" are erratic. I'll be sleeping from 6am-6pm for a couple of weeks to a month, then it will suddenly shift to 9am-9pm,  then 12am-12pm, then to 4pm-4am, 6pm-am, 9pm-9am, 12am-12pm... and so on all around the clock. And then I may be at something say like... 9am-9pm for a while, then in a single day I will be awake from 9am-5am with no tiredness whatsoever until dropping off, and have a dramatic sleep pattern shift right to the 5am-5pm schedule (or whatever it may be).

 

This is one of the main reasons I can't work, as my sleep patterns are too unreliable. I've missed several family events due to it as well.

 

People who know me online will often notice I'm around at several different times, posting, chatting or playing games, and sometimes get confused to why I'm there one week and absent the next, until they realise I'm just sleeping at all different times.

Edited February 20, 2019 by EccentricM

[daydream]

30 Centenarians Share Their Secrets to Living to 100

Step one: stay single

As if you needed another reason to get more shuteye, Mexican woman Leandra Becerra Lumbreras reached the unverified age of 127 by "snacking on chocolate, sleeping for days on end, and never getting married," according to her family. We're starting to sense a trend ...

So Matt, I think you're on the right track, if not a bit haphazardly though. I think we should know what works best for our bodies and somehow or other, we'll manage our body clock to work in our favor most of the time. Happy tweaking.  Ah, our bodies are such finely tuned, well oiled machines. zzzz for now. I'm hitting the sack at 5.57 am for a well deserved nap. Things not looking too good for me today but who cares. Going to take it one day at a time. Doing whatever makes me happy, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. So, Matt, you're my inspiration!

[EccentricM]

41 minutes ago, MikkiSoo said:

I think we should know what works best for our bodies

I agree with this concept. With me, my sleep patterns are tied to other neuro based issues, but yes. Majority of the world now are "dependant" and I mean dependant on caffine to the point of addiction, usually in the form of coffee, in order to wake and function throughout the day and to work at their jobs.

 

To me this says that the way society is right now, is unnatural, because we shouldn't need stimulants to function, our bodies are saying "x" but society and the needs of life are making us do "y". We are the only species on the planet that have to work to earn a wage in order to get basic necessities (food and drink). This is something the New World will fix. When that happens, I will be curious to see what is deemed "normal". For example dogs and cats (and other animals) sleep through out the day in naps, whilst other animals have set times. And so I wonder what is a "normal sleeping time and schedule" for a perfect human being, will it be set, or vary from person to person?

 

When all needs are provided free, and the stresses/modern demands of life are gone, it will be very interesting to see the society and style of living shift. With the presumed absense of the modern work life, perhaps people will be free to wake at whatever hour they wished according to their bodies, and simply gather their living needs at whatever time they wished, which would be freely provided by the enviroment of which will be a paradise, where no person will fear where their next meal will be coming from due to lack of money.

Edited February 20, 2019 by EccentricM

[daydream]

I'm impressed Matt. That's one good head on your shoulders. Yes, a person as young as you, should learn to march to the beat of one's drum. Sorry, not being a native speaker, my command of the language isn't adequate enough, so I had to resort to idioms. 

My mother who was born in 1910, had some strange ideas about not giving me any tea or coffee drinks during my childhood so I lived all through these decades not taking caffeinated beverages. Since I had to attend rather restrictive and utterly boring government schools and later an equally oppressive government sector job, most of my life had been spend in self induced stupor. 

I'm a 'night' person who would be baking cake and other household activities at 11 pm, when everyone else had already retired to bed so I always felt out of sync with the rest of the world. 

Yes, we will get our sleep patterns sorted out in the new system. Meanwhile if only I could get my circadian rhythm to adjust itself to the daylight hours. Most of the time, I prefer to indulge myself. Not being productive though.

Methinks, it's about time, I retire from this thread, boring people to tears. 

 

[EccentricM]

8 hours ago, MikkiSoo said:

Methinks, it's about time, I retire from this thread, boring people to tears. 

Don't worry about it, this is a place to talk about things!

 

And that list, I wrote for myself a similar list. I have to write down to-do lists, as I'm easily distracted, I'm no good at routines and so I have this list in front of where I am the majority of the day and I make sure all these are done before all other things. I'm failing right now by writing this post as opposed to...

 

-reading days text

-eating breakfast (this is the only meal I have to remind myself to do)

-exercises (sometimes I do and sometimes I don't lol, I find it hard to get the motivation as I don't find exercise very engaging, but I dance a lot anyway)

-weekly study for the meetings

-read at least one chapter of the Bible (as I'm trying to read the whole thing cover to cover)

-Make sure the house is clean/tidy (I have to do "something" productive, as my mom goes to work and I'm in all day everyday, so it's only right)

 

 

 

Edited February 21, 2019 by EccentricM