Is it good to get only 4.5 hours of sleep per day?

[johnb]

I've never been much of a sleeper. Even when I was a little kid I'd wake up several times a night, mostly waking in the midst of scary SP, and then lay there for a long time before being able to go to sleep again. As a teen I only slept about 2-3 hours a night. And now it's about 4-5 hours a night but that's not straight through sleep. I still wake up often and just lay there in the dark trying to clear my head of thoughts and get back to sleep.

Can't seem to fall asleep before 2am. If I were to fall asleep at 11pm I'd wake up about half an hour later and be awake until 3 or 4am. And from there I'd sleep and wake and sleep and wake. I went to a sleep lab last year to try get myself fixed up. They told me I barely dipped into REM sleep at all that night with my frequent awakenings. So while I'm accustomed to running on sleep dep I still wish I could sleep regularly and straight through the night just to see how different my life would be.

I do hit heavy sleepy patches throughout the day, roughly at four hour intervals. It got me thinking a few years ago that maybe polyphasic would be something that could work for me since I naturally want to sleep at these times anyway. But society isn't wired for a polyphasic sleep schedule. Even so, I'd still only be getting my 4-ish hours of sleep and probably still feel like I'm running on empty. Or would the power naps throughout the day be enough to carry me through? I'm still interested in the idea and I would give that sleep schedule a try if I could find a way to fit it into my life.

It could be you don't need much sleep. But if you feel like you're "running on empty" a lot of the time, that's not good. Maybe power naps would help, if you can fit them into your schedule.

[Snaggle]

I've never been much of a sleeper. Even when I was a little kid I'd wake up several times a night, mostly waking in the midst of scary SP, and then lay there for a long time before being able to go to sleep again. As a teen I only slept about 2-3 hours a night. And now it's about 4-5 hours a night but that's not straight through sleep. I still wake up often and just lay there in the dark trying to clear my head of thoughts and get back to sleep.

Can't seem to fall asleep before 2am. If I were to fall asleep at 11pm I'd wake up about half an hour later and be awake until 3 or 4am. And from there I'd sleep and wake and sleep and wake. I went to a sleep lab last year to try get myself fixed up. They told me I barely dipped into REM sleep at all that night with my frequent awakenings. So while I'm accustomed to running on sleep dep I still wish I could sleep regularly and straight through the night just to see how different my life would be.

I do hit heavy sleepy patches throughout the day, roughly at four hour intervals. It got me thinking a few years ago that maybe polyphasic would be something that could work for me since I naturally want to sleep at these times anyway. But society isn't wired for a polyphasic sleep schedule. Even so, I'd still only be getting my 4-ish hours of sleep and probably still feel like I'm running on empty. Or would the power naps throughout the day be enough to carry me through? I'm still interested in the idea and I would give that sleep schedule a try if I could find a way to fit it into my life.

  Vexxie you don't seem like a short sleeper at all; instead you seem extremely sleep deprived and it may be due to malnutrition. Magnesium promotes restful sleep, so do you eat Swiss chard and spinach regularly? Vitamin B3 is also known to promote sound sleep.

   

[Vex]

I'm pretty certain I'm not a drastically short sleeper. I'm almost always tired to some degree lately. My doctor has already given me a laundry list of things that I have to fix, most presumably fixable by regular sleep. Problem is I can't sleep normally. I refuse to take sleep aids cuz that's just masking the problem.

A few years ago I was chatting with a guy online who was polyphasic. With his guidance I tinkered with my sleep schedule to find out what a good amount of sleep is for me. Too much and I wake up tired. Too little and I wake up tired. I got to 5 hours sleep and would wake up feeling refreshed and not drowsy at all. The catch to this was that I had to take a 15-30min nap in the late afternoon to recharge. Good thing about the nap was I could WILD oftentimes during it. I stayed on that schedule for a while and then just fell off the wagon I guess. I'd love to get back on that schedule but I just can't sleep at all some nights anymore.
 

So in my opinion, if someone can get the whole 7-8 hours of sleep, I'd say do it. It's not so bad compared to the screwy stretches of sporadic sleep I'm getting lately.

[johnb]

Yes. Can't be good if you're always feeling tired. Seems like you need to start doing the afternoon nap again.

[Snaggle]

I'm pretty certain I'm not a drastically short sleeper. I'm almost always tired to some degree lately. My doctor has already given me a laundry list of things that I have to fix, most presumably fixable by regular sleep. Problem is I can't sleep normally. I refuse to take sleep aids cuz that's just masking the problem.

A few years ago I was chatting with a guy online who was polyphasic. With his guidance I tinkered with my sleep schedule to find out what a good amount of sleep is for me. Too much and I wake up tired. Too little and I wake up tired. I got to 5 hours sleep and would wake up feeling refreshed and not drowsy at all. The catch to this was that I had to take a 15-30min nap in the late afternoon to recharge. Good thing about the nap was I could WILD oftentimes during it. I stayed on that schedule for a while and then just fell off the wagon I guess. I'd love to get back on that schedule but I just can't sleep at all some nights anymore.
 

So in my opinion, if someone can get the whole 7-8 hours of sleep, I'd say do it. It's not so bad compared to the screwy stretches of sporadic sleep I'm getting lately.

 Yes, Vexxie there's something wrong with you and you should look at nutrition before anything else. I'm a short sleeper and usually wake up refreshed, but I sleep only when I'm tired, during the warm months that's normally 3-4 hours and in the cold months 4-5 hours, but when I'm sick I almost hibernate in sleep. I have a cold right now, Tuesday I slept 9, Wednesday 9 hours and then went back to bed for another 5 hours-I've almost beaten it. I'm taking 6,000 mg of vitamin C and plenty of Vitamin D3 too. I still have it but the vitamins are curing it enough I don't have the cough or sore throat.

  Johnb going back to your original example when I tried to cherry pick when I slept, as a natural short sleeper, I got by with two hours a day for two years. I was waking refreshed the whole time and am pretty sure I was not going into REM as soon as I fell asleep. I've seen HI going to sleep for all my life and did not see any or dream during that time. This was very cool as I tried this when my Dream Guide Death was coming to teach me in dreams every night. It was very good to have his visitations stop!

  As for the advantages of short sleeping.

#1 When a small child I was forced to go to bed at 8 o'clock and not get up until 8 o'clock the next morning and was not allowed to have a light on and yes I was afraid of the dark, the closet monster, the under-the-bed monster and the at the window monster. Taught me early to face fear and beat the hell out of it.

#2 One is alone much more than other people, allowing one both time to think and study more than others- makes one a little weird as one has had time to become intellectual.

#3 Being alone with nothing to do that's active, as almost everyone else is sleeping, forcing one to know and live with oneself more than most people do.

  I don't know if the extra time is worth it or not.

[johnb]

Johnb going back to your original example when I tried to cherry pick when I slept, as a natural short sleeper, I got by with two hours a day for two years. I was waking refreshed the whole time and am pretty sure I was not going into REM as soon as I fell asleep. I've seen HI going to sleep for all my life and did not see any or dream during that time. This was very cool as I tried this when my Dream Guide Death was coming to teach me in dreams every night. It was very good to have his visitations stop!

Two hours per day for 2 years?! That should be in the Guiness Book of Records. I don't think I'd survive if I did that. But people need different amounts of sleep. And maybe my nutrition isn't the best.