Quick Question...How much do you sleep?

[xANTHONYx]

I am wondering roughly how long a person sleeps a night, barring any complications of course.

I never actually thought about it until a doctor asked me. I only sleep about 4 hours a night. No, there is nothing wrong with me I have been this way since I was a small child. I go to bed when I am sleepy and wake up not sleepy. I thought there were a lot of people like this, but I guess not. Everyone I have polled is in the 7 to 10 hour category.

The doctor was taken back by this and told me I need to sleep twice as much. Why, I asked? Because that is only half the recommended amount, you will have high blood pressure, lack concentration, and may become delirious.

"Meh," I say. "My bp is 110/65 without medication, I am a senior in engineering school so apparently I can concentrate. And what do you mean by delirium? Doesn't everyone have a pet penguin in their freezer?"

[Joe S.]

Sleep? Haven't had that in years. Try my simple meditation. I little meditation can be like a full nights sleep.

[Katybarstool]

Usually, about 7 to 8 hours a night. On a non-work day, I often have a daytime nap of an hour or so.

Kathyx

[Cdbhappy]

6-8 hours. Never more (get too achy) sometimes less if its an uncomfortable night.

[THE BRIT]

About 5 if lucky with naps, I try and catch up on the weekends, I am just tired all the time.  I usually almost fall asleep at work daily.

[grammad97]

7 to 8 only because I take a pill. Otherwise a toss& turn interrupted 4ish. Naps would be nice but I cant do that deliberately like I have tried Lol. If I happento nap its due to randomly just dozing while watching Tv...

[xANTHONYx]

Yeah the doctor was quite upset that I only sleep 4 hours a day. His advice to sleep an extra 4 hours a day is just dumb. I'm not sure how I would force myself to sleep more than necessary unless I routinely took sedatives or something, or how taking 4 hours out of my day would make me healthier and less stressed.

It's not like I am falling asleep during the day, I don't nap, nor do I get "out of it" in the evening. I'm going to go with my own personal feelings on this matter and just keep doing what I am doing. I go to bed about 3:00 and get up about 7:00.

Growing up I caused my parents a lot of grief as they would but me to bed at 9:00PM and I would be wide awake by 2:00AM. Eventually they caved and let me go to bed at 12:00 or 1:00 when they do. I still had to be quiet in the morning for a little while as they slept, but it was so much better than having to sit quietly in my bed from 2:00 until 7:00 or 9:00 while everyone else slept.

[slccom]

Anthony, don't you know that you NEVER keep the penguin in the freezer? Never more than the refrigerator!
I like to get about 12 hours to get 2-3 good hours in the day. 
Sharon

[Piebird]

I sleep 11 hours at night and have a 2 hour nap every day. If I dont sleep this much I feel like I have the flu.

Am I the only one who is sleeping this much?

[Nancy60]

during the work week I get about 5-6 hours, no naps.  On my off days I sleep 10-11 hours and take a 2 hour nap in the afternoon.  I think that averages out to 8-9 hours/day of sleep.  And I still feel sleepy and exhausted!

Nancy

[Ark mom]

I sleep 7-8 hours at night, 75% of the time, and am unable to take naps despite my almost daily effort.  Anthony, I am in awe that you can function so well on 4 hours of sleep.  Pie bird, I am in awe of your ability to sleep 13 hours a day, too!  Wowza to you both! 

[irish]

Sleep, what is sleep. I have never needed a lot of sleep and usually got 4-5 hours growing up and through high school and nurses training. Then after I became a mother I would not get that many times. I managed to survive, but some days I thought I would die from fatigue.

When my autoimmune stuff got bad in 2000 I was getting 2-3 hours of sleep a lot of the time and still working and it wasn't easy. I have continued to sleep poorly and seldom nap during the day. If I can get 4A-8A I consider it a good night.

I do have times when I will sleep a little better and will be able to sleep in my bed instead of the recliner and I attribute this to a decrease in autoimmune activity in my body. I have always told the docs that if you figure out what is wrong with me and treat it I will start to sleep.

I just started an increased dose of plaquenil (form 200 mgm to 400 mgm) about a month ago and about 4 nights ago I started sleeping more hours. Last night I slept from 2A to 8AM, worke up, went back to sleep until 10 AM. I ws thrilled and hope this continues. It will be interesting to see if this is decreasing the autoimmune inflammatory responses that I have had. Irish

[Nancy60]

Irish,

I noticed you are up at 3:23 am as you posted!   

Nancy

[Pisces24]

I am working through lymphoma so I've been sleeping anywhere from 2 hrs to 4 hrs and then I wake up and have to work on going back to sleep. Before that, I didn't have problems.