Quality/Length of Sleep

[ChrisC]

When I was younger, in my teens and twenties, I was very much a night owl and was able to regularly stay up until the early hours, and when not at work, stay in bed until almost lunchtime. Now as I’ve got older, I’ve very much changed to getting up at just after 7am and going to bed at around around 10pm. On dark cold winter mornings I sometimes try to stay in bed later but by 8am I find I just have to get up.

 

[SteveHFC]

My sleep quality has improved immensely since I was diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnoea (I was stopping breathing for at least 10 seconds over 60 times per hour) and started to use a CPAP machine.

Before I had the machine my sleep was very intermittent and I would often get up feeling groggy and unrefreshed. Once I'd got used to the machine, which took about a month or so, I was getting decent 7-8 hours sleep per night. Most nights I'll just wake up to adjust my sleeping position and drop straight back off. Of course, like everyone, I have bad nights but they are few and far between.

 

[Bald Rick]

Having read and commented o this thread last night, I had difficulty getting to sleep last night for the first time in years. Whether there is a causal link is of course impossible to say, but it seems a remarkable coincidence!

So my tip for those who struggle to get to sleep - don’t read this thread

 

[alxndr]

Contrary to most other people on the planet, if I'm on nights then I feel fine. Adequate sleep and it feels like it. If I'm on days, however, I really struggle. I always feel as though I need more sleep, begin to feel nauseous, and struggle to regulate my own body temperature. I'm slightly better now that I start at 7am instead of 6am, but it still starts to get to me after a couple of days.

I just did 6 days in a row, thought it might actually do me some good and force me to regularise my sleeping pattern. It did, but despite that I fell asleep on the sofa after my last shift around 5pm and was completely oblivious to my partner trying to wake me around 8pm. I finally woke up at 11pm, found something to eat, and then went to bed and slept through to 8am!

 

[Ashley Hill]

Having read and commented o this thread last night, I had difficulty getting to sleep last night for the first time in years. Whether there is a causal link is of course impossible to say, but it seems a remarkable coincidence!

So my tip for those who struggle to get to sleep - don’t read this thread

Apparently using mobile devices before bed interferes with sleep. Blue light blockers which look like yelllow sunglasses are advertised in the media,apparently they stop this phenomenon so you get a good sleep.

 

[trebor79]

When I worked shifts I used to hate the 6am to 2pm shift. As someone above has said, would get home and inevitably fall asleep on the sofa, wake up feeling groggy (naps always make me feel awful afterwards), have some tea then not be able to sleep because I'd slept in the afternoon, and then have to get up at silly o'clock again the next morning and go to work feeling dog tired for the cycle to repeat.
Afternoon shift was great as I got home just before 11pm, went to bed without and alarm set and would have the morning to myself before going to work for 2pm.
Night shift I used to get up at 7am on the first day of nights, and stay up until 7am the following morning, that got my body clock into night shift mode. So long as I got to bed before 8:30am I'd sleep no bother on nights, but always woke up about 2pm and then had a good 8 hors leisure time before work. I'd gladly have swapped a set of mornings for extra night shift!

 

[Howardh]

I either sleep very well, or very badly (ie. can't get to sleep at all). The time I go to bed or the tiredness I feel seems to be irellevant - but tow bad nights on the row mean I'm in a state of panic come night three "will I sleep tonight...???". Anyone else feel that?

I've been going to bed at around 10pm lately (when not out), no point in hanging around with the heating on, surround myself with a heated blanket!

 

[Ashley Hill]

Also there’s nothing worse than starting to nod off in the armchair watching TV. I then end up switching it off and going to bed only to lie there wide awake.

 

[PeterY]

When I worked shifts I used to hate the 6am to 2pm shift. As someone above has said, would get home and inevitably fall asleep on the sofa, wake up feeling groggy (naps always make me feel awful afterwards), have some tea then not be able to sleep because I'd slept in the afternoon, and then have to get up at silly o'clock again the next morning and go to work feeling dog tired for the cycle to repeat.
Afternoon shift was great as I got home just before 11pm, went to bed without and alarm set and would have the morning to myself before going to work for 2pm.
Night shift I used to get up at 7am on the first day of nights, and stay up until 7am the following morning, that got my body clock into night shift mode. So long as I got to bed before 8:30am I'd sleep no bother on nights, but always woke up about 2pm and then had a good 8 hors leisure time before work. I'd gladly have swapped a set of mornings for extra night shift!

When I was working, I hated shift work and the worse shift was 6am until 2pm, it made me feel like a zombie but I loved 2pm until 10pm.

Today, I'm semi retired and pretty much pick the hours I work (gardening) . In the winter months I hibernate go to bed late and get up late, 9am this morning but in the summer it's no problem getting up a 6am.

I live on my own now but when I was married, it was difficult to sleep well with my ex wife.

 

[bspahh]

If you find it difficult to get off to sleep, then you need to get into a routine, where you gradually wind down. If you haven't gone off after a bit, then its best to get up, and do something else for a bit and then try again. Sleep is a habit. Lying in bed when you are wide awake reinforces that.

Sleep restriction can also help, so you sleep for a consistent amount each night, and so you are really tired when you do go to bed. That means that you need to stay up until late, and set an alarm clock to get up in the morning. A nurse at the Papworth sleep clinic suggested going to bed at midnight and having an alarm clock at 6am.

If the problem is that you wake up, then you might be able to fix the cause of that. For example I find it helps to have an MP3 player to listen to stuff for 20 minutes whilst I go off to sleep. The ear bud headphones then act like ear plugs so I don't wake up so much from ambient noise.

 

[ABB125]

I'm exactly the same here, if it's uncontrollably dozing off for a few seconds and then "jolting" awake you're referring to. Was never really sure if it was a cause for concern - or even if anyone else was affected by it (I've personally never seen it happen to anyone else).

I also seems to suffer from that, but not always. it's incredibly annoying, usually happening when I've been sat doing the same thing for a few hours...

 

[Annetts key]

Apparently using mobile devices before bed interferes with sleep. Blue light blockers which look like yelllow sunglasses are advertised in the media,apparently they stop this phenomenon so you get a good sleep.

This unsubstantiated idea that blue light affects people sleeping falls apart when you consider how many people doze off while relaxing in the sun in the summer. The amount of blue light from the sun is vastly more than the amount from the white LEDs used as backlights in LCD devices like smartphones and pads/tablets.

Also, although blue LED chips are used for the majority of white LEDs, the phosphor used converts a lot of the blue light into the other colours of the spectrum so that humans see white light.

Note that white LEDs based on blue LED chips are also used extensively for the backlights for computer monitors (including laptops), TVs, LED lights in homes, offices and street lights.

Of course, sellers of quack products will latch on and flog you things if you are daft enough to fall for it.

The real problem is that people become obsessed with the “content” and keeping “up to date” on their smartphones and pads/tablets.

 

[Ashley Hill]

This unsubstantiated idea that blue light affects people sleeping falls apart when you consider how many people doze off while relaxing in the sun in the summer. The amount of blue light from the sun is vastly more than the amount from the white LEDs used as backlights in LCD devices like smartphones and pads/tablets.

Also, although blue LED chips are used for the majority of white LEDs, the phosphor used converts a lot of the blue light into the other colours of the spectrum so that humans see white light.

Note that white LEDs based on blue LED chips are also used extensively for the backlights for computer monitors (including laptops), TVs, LED lights in homes, offices and street lights.

Of course, sellers of quack products will latch on and flog you things if you are daft enough to fall for it.

The real problem is that people become obsessed with the “content” and keeping “up to date” on their smartphones and pads/tablets.

Whether this blue light stuff is true or not I don’t know,but last night I was browsing this forum until 2am. I then turned over and sparked out until 8am.

 

[bspahh]

This unsubstantiated idea that blue light affects people sleeping falls apart when you consider how many people doze off while relaxing in the sun in the summer.

Its a substantiated idea https://doi.org/10.1080/07420528.2021.1930029 is a systematic review which points to 29 other publications.
Many people sleep in the sun. Many insomniacs do not.

 

[Crossover]

For various reasons, bedtime is rather too late than ideal, with us often not going to bed til well after midnight, sometimes much later, despite being up for work around 7am. There is some opportunity to "catch up" on a weekend, but that then wastes the days as well (a lot of the time over the Christmas period, whilst not working, I barely saw mornings for much of it...I can only guess I needed the rest!).

Often feel knackered and lack motivation for things (though recently diagnosed low folate levels may not be helping - will see whether supplements improve this a bit)

Though we don't really do new years resolutions as such, we want to try and improve things this year and aim to get more sleep generally

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

I am retired and can sleep as much as I want. There does seem to be some flexibility, in winter I have been sleeping more. Sometimes I go to bed about 1800, get up later for a bit. But taking a siesta say from 1400 does not suit me, I have to power up a second time after it.

One day I had planned a train trip, would have normally got up about 0630 but I was awake and alert at 0530 so I got up, went to bed at 2300. The next day I felt a bit tired of course, had to fill up my sleep account. Not sure if you can pay in and withdraw like with a savings account.

Notes and Queries in the Guardian had a request for sleeping tips. The answer I remember: "it is all very good to discuss this, but it uses up valuable sleeping time! I am off to bed"

 

[Iskra]

I've noticed that my sleep quality improves massively if I turn my mobile phone off and leave it in another room. However, it is also my alarm so I can only do this when I have a day off and no commitments, although I do wake naturally between 0700 and 0830 anyway. I work shifts sometimes, so when only early starts I may go to bed around 8pm.

 

[Bevan Price]

I used to sleep for about 6-7 hours, but now I usually wake up once or twice - needing a pee. I am prone to doze off watching TV in the daytime or evening.
Usually leave Radio (4) on at a very low volume setting, as that helps me get to sleep. Curtains left open at night - makes it safer to navigate to/from toilet and seems to have no effect on sleep pattern.

 

[Stan63]

I've recently taken to listening to podcasts before bed rather than watching tv or surfing the net. I find I get to sleep a lot quicker.

Stan