posted by ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
malnpudl at 11:46pm on 24/08/2013
malnpudl at 11:46pm on 24/08/2013A bunch of people are doing this LJ/DW revival thing, a return to social engagement and interaction -- hey, maybe even conversation! how cool is that? -- and posting every day for 30 days.
The only thing I do consistently is breathe, so I wouldn't bet money on me having an unbroken posting streak, if I were you. But hey, I'll give it a shot. Maybe you'd like to try it, too? Could be fun. And a lot better than listening to the crickets chirp.
So I've been thinking, as I have many times over the years, about sleep cycles.
Some people seem to have no difficulty falling asleep at a reasonable hour, snoozing happily for eight hours or whatever, and then waking up without too much difficulty -- sometimes even without an alarm! imagine! -- and repeating the whole cycle every night and every day, no problem, just as if it were the most natural thing in the world. They'll even tell you it is the most natural thing in the world, that it's a thing that comes with being born on this world.
Are you one of those people? If so, I envy you.
I am not one of those people. At least as far back as the onset of puberty (I don't remember anything one way or the other before that time), I have been inclined to stay up very late, sleep for a looooooong time -- ten hours, more if I can get away with it; twelve is not all that unusual -- and come fully awake only slowly and often with difficulty (resolved only with the aid of substantial amounts of caffeine).
I've always wanted to try one of those isolation experiments where you're completely locked away from any external cues about what time it is or even what day it is, until you fall into your own natural rhythm of waking and sleeping.
I've always suspected that my natural cycle would turn out to be something like 28 to 30 hours, with at least ten hours of sleep every night and maybe 18 to 20 hours awake.
What about you? Are you one of those 24-hour-day Earth people who naturally fit into the 8-hour sleep / 16-hour awake cycle? Or are you like me, always fighting to fit yourself into a waking and sleeping schedule that just will not fit you, no matter how hard you try?
How long is a day on your native planet?
The only thing I do consistently is breathe, so I wouldn't bet money on me having an unbroken posting streak, if I were you. But hey, I'll give it a shot. Maybe you'd like to try it, too? Could be fun. And a lot better than listening to the crickets chirp.
So I've been thinking, as I have many times over the years, about sleep cycles.
Some people seem to have no difficulty falling asleep at a reasonable hour, snoozing happily for eight hours or whatever, and then waking up without too much difficulty -- sometimes even without an alarm! imagine! -- and repeating the whole cycle every night and every day, no problem, just as if it were the most natural thing in the world. They'll even tell you it is the most natural thing in the world, that it's a thing that comes with being born on this world.
Are you one of those people? If so, I envy you.
I am not one of those people. At least as far back as the onset of puberty (I don't remember anything one way or the other before that time), I have been inclined to stay up very late, sleep for a looooooong time -- ten hours, more if I can get away with it; twelve is not all that unusual -- and come fully awake only slowly and often with difficulty (resolved only with the aid of substantial amounts of caffeine).
I've always wanted to try one of those isolation experiments where you're completely locked away from any external cues about what time it is or even what day it is, until you fall into your own natural rhythm of waking and sleeping.
I've always suspected that my natural cycle would turn out to be something like 28 to 30 hours, with at least ten hours of sleep every night and maybe 18 to 20 hours awake.
What about you? Are you one of those 24-hour-day Earth people who naturally fit into the 8-hour sleep / 16-hour awake cycle? Or are you like me, always fighting to fit yourself into a waking and sleeping schedule that just will not fit you, no matter how hard you try?
How long is a day on your native planet?
(no subject)
When I was younger, I was a morning person. I just couldn't sleep past sunrise, no matter how late I'd stayed up the night before. And I was usually asleep by 10-11pm. It was annoying in college when I roomed with a night-owl, who couldn't be bothered to turn off her tv or lower the volume when I was desperately trying to sleep. (Jeeze, I still resent this, even decades later!)
Now it's flipped, and I'm a damned night owl. Like you, I think it was the hormonal shift, only mine was menopause. It's very inconvenient, because my job is much better suited to my former sleep cycles, and I really need to be alert during the day. And too much caffeine really upsets my digestion and gives me a stomach ache. (and it really doesn't take a lot of caffeine for my body to react to it as Too Much Caffeine. Luckily, it's just as sensitive to caffeine with regards to making me alert, so a little goes a looong way.)
As to how *long* I need to sleep. ::throws up hands:: who knows? Some weeks, 5-6 hours are fine. Today, I slept from 10pm to 7am, got up, fed and took care of the dogs, crawled back into bed, and went back to sleep until 3pm. The spouse finally woke me around that time because he was concerned that I hadn't eaten or drunk anything since the night before. And he was right, I was dehydrated and lightheaded, but I would have gone right back to sleep if he hadn't insisted that I get up.
Maybe I live on some kind of space station? Or some long-range ship?
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I need about 10 hours of sleep also (mostly due to the meds I am on, I believe, I used to do with less), but barely make it through 14 hours of awake time so am still on a 24 hr clock.
What I hate the most, no matter how tired I am or how long I stayed up, it takes forever to fall asleep. An hour is usual, a half an hour is a blessing, and a couple hours happens.
I envy those people who lie down and 10 minutes later are snoozing away.
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And OMG YES, wouldn't it be awesome to just lie down and fall asleep? *yearns* I once briefly took Ambien, many years ago before the risks were known, and it did that. Wasn't worth it in the long run, but for a little while, I got to see what it was like. *wistful*
(no subject)
Oh, man, that's a deeply frustrating cycle change. I'm a year or two post-menopause myself, and I half expected that my sleeping patterns would change, since I've heard from a number of women friends that it's not at all unusual. Unfortunately, it's only made it harder to fall asleep; it most certainly has not made it easier to get up. Damn.
Hormones love to mess with us, don't they? I think they're the Tricksters of human physiology.
Your endless sleep day? I can SO relate to that. I do that every now and then; I've given up arguing with it.
Space station! I dig it!
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that started to switch for me in my 30s, and i started waking up multiple times a morning until the alarm went off - so i would be awake but still using the alarm. in the last couple of years i have been less and less dependant on the alarm, unless i end up binging on fic or something until 3 am the night before. What changed other than my body chemistry (which i do think has something to do with it)? I live in a relatively quiet neighborhood set back from city lights, so I leave my window shades open and have a room that does get sunlight in the morning. I've since stayed over at other places that are more cave-like, and had to haul myself out of bed there, so I feel like it has a lot to do with my body being light sensitive without my conscious recognition of it --- i start to wake up as the sun starts to come up. Also, though, I started at least laying down in bed at midnight or sometimes even earlier. I have a kindle, so it's not like i'm not reading until 1 am often, but that whole laying down in a dark room thing also helps.
that being said, you could be one of those people who has long sleep cycles - you're in good company, since Einstein also slept at least 12 hours every night. There are apparently two different types of sleepers - those that have long REM cycles and those that have short REM cycles (though the same amount of processing gets done in them) ... but long REM cycle sleepers generally NEED those 12 hours to achieve the same amount of brain processing. short REM cycle people can vary and sometimes can only need like 4 - 6 hours a night (which I *cannot* do, OMG, exceptional times only). (thank you reading in Japanese -- this info actually came from a Japanese textbook where they have us reading quasi scientific articles for specialized vocabulary.)
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Re the long sleep cycles: That is so cool! I had no idea that was a thing. That is fascinating -- and I must admit, Einstein is lovely company to be in, regardless of the context. *g*
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OTOH, once I manage to fall asleep, I can continue sleeping through a fair amount of noise, especially if it's familiar noise (traffic, kids playing, and so on) and not rhythmic. So at least I have that going for me.
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For one memorable six-week period, relatively early in my programming career, there were three major projects underway that simultaneously placed extraordinarily high demands on computer time, to the point where we had to ration everyone's use of CPU cycles and spread the load out over all 24 hours. Each person had a different 12-hour shift, and I got noon to midnight. I loved it. LOVED IT. I didn't have much personal life outside of work and commute/sleep/commute, but I was working hours that let my brain and body sing, and the work itself was extremely rewarding, so who cared? It was grand. Didn't last nearly long enough. *g*
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On the other hand, I do sleep very easily- I rarely have trouble falling asleep, and even though I'm a lightish sleeper I go back to sleep within about ten seconds of being woken up- so that I am thankful for. Though I guess maybe they're related, in that being constantly sleep deprived due to my stupid body clock probably makes falling asleep much easier. :-)