72 replies to this topic

[TheMightyCreep]

I've been considering this but haven't taken it into action yet, though I'm planning to try unless convinced not to.

I'm used to going for one night without sleep at multiple occasions, but normally with at least 2-3 days inbetween. I've never had any issues with this and this is what caused my curiosity.

[Scooterpie]

No, of course not. You probably could but it is not to recommend. You'll soon suffer from sleep depravation, and it can get serious if going on for too long. As an adult your brain needs a minimum of ~4-6 hours of sleep each night, you could go with less but it would affect you after a while.

Edited by Scooterpie, 26 June 2012 - 09:24 PM.

[TheMightyCreep]

Scooterpie, on 26 June 2012 - 09:23 PM, said:

No, of course not. You probably could but it is not to recommend. You'll soon suffer from sleep depravation, and it can get serious if going on for too long. As an adult your brain needs a minimum of ~4-6 hours of sleep each night, you could go with less but it would affect you after a while.

I plan on sleeping 12 hours every second night.

[Suzaku910]

TheMightyCreep, on 26 June 2012 - 09:26 PM, said:

I plan on sleeping 12 hours every second night.

That's really not how it works >.>

[TheMightyCreep]

Suzaku910, on 26 June 2012 - 09:48 PM, said:

That's really not how it works >.>

Elaborate.

[OnnaJReverT]

TheMightyCreep, on 26 June 2012 - 09:54 PM, said:

Elaborate.

doubling the length of sleep to oppose a missing night doesn´t work out, since it´s more about quality than quantity
for example, i feel totally relaxed after ~2 hours of sleep, but after 9 hrs i´m completely fucked up until i get some tea in

i think it´s got something to do with phases of sleep, but dont get me on how it exactly works

[The Hound]

Of course it isn't healthy! Some people might be more adversely affected by doing this than others, but it is still a bad idea for everyone.

TheMightyCreep, on 26 June 2012 - 09:26 PM, said:

I plan on sleeping 12 hours every second night.

Suzaku910, on 26 June 2012 - 09:48 PM, said:

That's really not how it works >.>

TheMightyCreep, on 26 June 2012 - 09:54 PM, said:

Elaborate.

In the simplest terms possible, you can accumulate a "sleep debt", but you cannot stockpile surplus sleep. Being fatigued is like a debuff which occurs after about 16 hours of wakefulness, and a good night's sleep removes the debuff and resets the timer.


Also, I have a lot of experience with fucked up sleep schedules. Being bipolar, and not taking any meds (unless alcohol counts ), I sometimes unintentionally slide into a sleep schedule (or lack thereof), which is pretty similar to what you're describing. From time to time I experience very long periods of hypomania, and I find it very difficult / borderline impossible to sleep. Fidgeting, mind racing a mile a minute, staying up all night playing video games, inability to stop jerking off, that kind of thing. Thankfully I usually only feel this way for a couple of hours, but sometimes it can go on for two or three days. Some of the effects I've noticed from not sleeping:

• feeling sore all over (especially if I have work the next day),
  
• general sluggishness, delayed reaction time, making dumb mistakes, and so on
  
• feeling very irritable, but that could arguably could be caused by my mental state rather than fatigue.
  
• being really fucking awesome at Tribes and getting like a million blue plate specials

I can still function, though, and I tend to get a "second wind" when I need one. Sometimes maybe third and fourth winds. I'd still much rather just be well-rested, though.


Conversely, when I have depressive episodes, I might stay in bed for, say, twelve hours, drifting in and out of consciousness. When I do finally get up, I usually find myself feeling groggy and lethargic. Again, that might be partly due to the fact that I'm feeling depressed in the first place, but I definitely don't think that's the only cause because even when I was younger and I hadn't really started having mood swings, I sometimes stayed in bed all day on weekends/vacations and I always woke up feeling like shit.

I guess I've probably gone into a lot more detail than necessary, but basically my point is that not sleeping makes me feel bad, sleeping too much makes me feel bad, and I can't cancel out one by doing the other.

[Suzaku910]

If I stay up for one day, I usually end up feeling really lethargic for the next 2 days no matter how much I sleep.
And if I sleep for more than 7 hours a day (which I usually don't -- it's REALLY hard to sleep for more than 9 hours no matter how tired you are) I wake up feeling as if I barely slept at all.

[TheMightyCreep]

I believe I forgot to mention that I don't normally feel the effects of missing a night practically at all. Sure, my reaction time is a bit delayed and I derp more, but those are minor things. My senses are also on the edge when I'm sleep-deprived, I feel things I don't normally feel (not as in feelings, but the sense thing), I hear things much louder as if I was hungover and my caffeine addiction is strengthened.

Whenever I'm not on holiday I sleep for 3-5 hours every night and manage quite perfectly with that as long as I get my morning pint of coffee (yes, I do drink a pint of coffee in the morning). On the day I'm sorta tired but I fix that by keeping up a steady one cup of coffee every 2-3 hours. I'm always feeling bored and anxious to do anything else than what I'm currently doing no matter the situation.

Elsewhere people asked for my eating habits; I normally don't eat junk food unless there's no other option, I cook my own meals if I have the chance to, and they're what are considered a normal diet, very little vegetables though. I don't eat fruit but I drink a lot of orange juice (commonly a litre every day).

Edit:

The Hound, on 26 June 2012 - 10:57 PM, said:

being really fucking awesome at Tribes and getting like a million blue plate specials

Have an upvote you funny motherfucker.

Edited by TheMightyCreep, 26 June 2012 - 11:46 PM.

[The Hound]

Why are you measuring coffee in pints and orange juice in litres :S

Anyway, that's all well and good, but it's not really relevant to your original question, which is whether or not it's healthy to do this. It's not

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Whenever I'm not on holiday I sleep for 3-5 hours every night and manage quite perfectly with that as long as I get my morning pint of coffee (yes, I do drink a pint of coffee in the morning). On the day I'm sorta tired but I fix that by keeping up a steady one cup of coffee every 2-3 hours.

I'm not saying the same should be true for you just because it is for me, but coffee doesn't really make me feel less tired, it just makes me feel agitated and inhibits my ability to sleep.

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I'm always feeling bored and anxious to do anything else than what I'm currently doing no matter the situation.

Gee, maybe it has something to do with all the god damned coffee

[TheMightyCreep]

The Hound, on 26 June 2012 - 11:51 PM, said:

Why are you measuring coffee in pints and orange juice in litres :S

Because I'm a confused European teenager who hates to speak his native language and wants to be international and all, yo.

The Hound, on 26 June 2012 - 11:51 PM, said:

Gee, maybe it has something to do with all the god damned coffee

But I NEEEEEEEEEED it ;__;

[The Hound]

Just use metric for everything. Ignore the American savages.

It is permissible to measure beer in pints however.

[TheMightyCreep]

The Hound, on 27 June 2012 - 12:02 AM, said:

It is permissible to measure beer in pints however.

But I drink coffee in those proportions. I drink green tea in almost equal proportions to calm down my stomach after drinking all that coffee.

[Zdragoon]

Quote

Just use metric for everything. Ignore the American savages.

Don't worry, the sane Americans hate it too. Especially anyone that does anything related to math.

[ReversedAura]

While we're on the subject, I really hate the "English" system for measurement too. How did anyone come up with those conversions??

Not sleeping for a day is pretty bad. It will mess up your circadian rhythm, which not only makes it harder to get back asleep/stay awake, but will also skew your other bodily functions.