2 hr sleep feels like 6 hr sleep everytime!!

My biological clock has been thrown out of balance in recent weeks.

I often wake up around 2:30 am thinking it's already 6:30 am and get back to sleep again.

I often dream. Nothing strange about the content of the random dreams, except that the real time around me seems to crawl every time.

In those dreams, I experience six or sometimes 12 hours passing of time and when I wake up, only 1 or 2 hrs had passed. It can be annoying because I sometimes lose the mood to sleep again and I get very groggy the next day.

My room has absolutely no window and it's very well sealed. No light from outside comes in. So I have no idea if it's day or night without checking the time. May have to do with it??

Diet related? Do you eat "stimulants" like chocolate, dairy, red wine before bed? The only reason you remember these dreams is because you are waking up straight after due to stimulants. Everyone dreams loads of times a night, only a few remember due to waking up. If you suffer breathing problems (snoring etc etc) then you may be waking yourself up.

damn you are lucky.
8 hours of sleep feel like 2. i can't remember the last time i woke up feeling well rested, no matter what tricks i try. groggy is my middle name, basically.

As for the passage of time, i am not a huge expert, but i don't think we perceive the passage of time when we sleep, so this "feeling" of sleeping 12 hours is nothing to be taken seriously,
as to why your biological clock is all over the place, that depends on age, gender, what you do for a living...hell even moving to a new city is enough to throw you off.
But this is ATS so most probably it's alien abduction.

a reply to: johndeere2020

#1 How old are you? As some of us get older, we sleep less. In my teens and early 20s, I slept 8 hours a day. By the time I was 30 that had went to 5 or 6 and now at 51, I sleep about 4 hours a night. Go to bed later than usual and see if that helps you sleep through the night. Don't force it. Your body will sleep when it needs to.

#2 Have you had any stress added to your life lately? Job, marriage, new kid on the way...........? Stress can throw your body out of whack. Try to relax and when the stress goes, your sleep pattern will follow.

"Dream time" always seems longer than real time. A dream that encompasses a whole day may only take a few seconds in real time, so you think you've been asleep longer.

Could be a sign of some sort of stress, often people don't notice they are stressed until they ask them self if they are, or get reminded by others.

Stress ruins your sleep, lack of sleep then makes it worse.

Search your self for anything stress related.

I'm having the same thing except it usually repeats 3 times a nite in 2-3hr chunks. I'm also coming from a ton of stress and exhaustion and started taking an anti-aging peptide. You're fortunate to get the same effect without drugs. This one increases melatonin for sure.

I'd say don't change anything, just enjoy the restorative sleep. I'm also working out so after the crazy intense dream cycle wake up and nom a meal, pass out and do it all over again.

The natural sleep cycle for humans is not the traditional 8 hours a night cycle. It is really in multiple shifts throughout the day. The Industrial Revolution is what has dictated sleep hours and we have had to train our brains to sleep during the night or when our shift is off.

Here is a bit about is...Segmented Sleep Cycles

Source

Segmented sleep, also known as divided sleep, bimodal sleep pattern, bifurcated sleep, or interrupted sleep, is a polyphasic sleep or biphasic sleep pattern where two or more periods of sleep are punctuated by periods of wakefulness. Along with a nap (siesta) in the day, it has been argued that this is the natural pattern of human sleep.[1][2] A case has been made that maintaining such a sleep pattern may be important in regulating stress.[2]

Historian A. Roger Ekirch[3][4] has argued that before the Industrial Revolution, segmented sleep was the dominant form of human slumber in Western civilization. He draws evidence from documents from the ancient, medieval, and modern world.[2] Other historians, such as Craig Koslofsky,[5] have endorsed Ekirch's analysis.

And here is some about Polyphasic Sleep Cycles

Source



This is the natural way for humans to sleep and if there was a work schedule that could work WITH this sleep schedule your stress would likely be null. As it is, the sleep/work schedule we all are on is actually a cause of the stress, even if you get 8 hours of sleep per night. The brain simply is not meant to function like this. Think about babies...and dogs and cats and whatever else....do they go to sleep at night naturally? Nope....they have to be trained to do so.

a reply to: johndeere2020

I think you have sleep apnea

Sleep apnea appliances

a reply to: Vasa Croe

Your link says simians are monophasic. Personally I think it's not the same for our whole species. I think local/group adaptations would give way to different sleep cycles. There seems to be evidence for this as people vary in their ability to sleep in degrees of sunlight. This correlates to difference in melatonin destruction from light penetrating a closed eyelid.

Outside of what is natural, abnormal sleep states happen when certain conditions arise, such as is my case.

originally posted by: pl3bscheese
a reply to: Vasa Croe

Your link says simians are monophasic. Personally I think it's not the same for our whole species. I think local/group adaptations would give way to different sleep cycles. There seems to be evidence for this as people vary in their ability to sleep in degrees of sunlight. This correlates to difference in melatonin destruction from light penetrating a closed eyelid.

Outside of what is natural, abnormal sleep states happen when certain conditions arise, such as is my case.

Yes it does say simians on one of the links. The other does not. Both are similar and naturally, environment will produce a sleep pattern. If polyphasic sleep is not true for us, then why, after 8 hours, do we still get tired and need a nap? I don't truly believe there is a single sleep pattern at all. I believe when you get tired is when you are supposed to sleep. Unfortunately work does not allow that to happen so you end up being tired and not performing as well as you could had you rested and not had to be in a specific spot for 8-9 hours per day.

Anywho....there is a lot more behind why I believe these things, but it would take a long, off topic post to go into them and I need a nap.....

a reply to: Vasa Croe

See, once again, you learned everything you needed to know in kindergarten.

That is why I try to haul out my little piece of carpet every afternoon and take a nap.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: Vasa Croe

See, once again, you learned everything you needed to know in kindergarten.

That is why I try to haul out my little piece of carpet every afternoon and take a nap.

I think we should all be issued portable folding cots or hammocks....

Interestingly, on the whole daytime naps are associated with all cause increased mortality. I think this is not causative, rather showing an increased need for sleep due to some sort of disturbance in homeostasis. I'm sure it's quite healthy for some, all the same.

I could be wrong but I believe a sleep cycle is 90ish minutes. My guess is something causes you to wake after you complete this cycle before entering a new cycle. That's why people usually feel like crap when you try to milk the snooze button. You aren't getting that 90 minute cycle that makes you feel rested but instead are waking during a cycle feeling groggy.

originally posted by: johndeere2020
My biological clock has been thrown out of balance in recent weeks.

I often wake up around 2:30 am thinking it's already 6:30 am and get back to sleep again.

I often dream. Nothing strange about the content of the random dreams, except that the real time around me seems to crawl every time.

In those dreams, I experience six or sometimes 12 hours passing of time and when I wake up, only 1 or 2 hrs had passed. It can be annoying because I sometimes lose the mood to sleep again and I get very groggy the next day.

My room has absolutely no window and it's very well sealed. No light from outside comes in. So I have no idea if it's day or night without checking the time. May have to do with it??

Sounds like you are being woken up in the middle of the night. I had that experience living in a London hotel where people were constantly banging their suitcases along the corridors at all times of the night. Would wake up thinking that a whole night had passed, then go back to sleep. The always on "emergency lighting" didn't help either.

On the other hand, I've stayed in top floor hotel rooms where I never heard another person, the room had blackout curtains and as air conditioning. I had incredible deep sleeps there where I'd just fall asleep and wake up six hours later perfectly refreshed.

a reply to: Vasa Croe
Thank You, that explains my extremely odd sleep, tired, exhaustion, patterns which I have made an effort to honor the past twenty-five years.
It would be wonderful if our society acknowledged the wisdom of the human biology.
A very nice thread.
Jeez I'm tired.
WIS

originally posted by: johndeere2020
My biological clock has been thrown out of balance in recent weeks.

I often wake up around 2:30 am thinking it's already 6:30 am and get back to sleep again.

I often dream. Nothing strange about the content of the random dreams, except that the real time around me seems to crawl every time.

In those dreams, I experience six or sometimes 12 hours passing of time and when I wake up, only 1 or 2 hrs had passed. It can be annoying because I sometimes lose the mood to sleep again and I get very groggy the next day.

My room has absolutely no window and it's very well sealed. No light from outside comes in. So I have no idea if it's day or night without checking the time. May have to do with it??

This is why Mother Nature created indica....

I didnt sleep till the 11th grade, then I started dating this hippy chick...

The body only requires 4-6 hours of sleep, per night. The more you sleep, the more tired your body becomes.

originally posted by: DAVID64
a reply to: johndeere2020

#1 How old are you? As some of us get older, we sleep less. In my teens and early 20s, I slept 8 hours a day. By the time I was 30 that had went to 5 or 6 and now at 51, I sleep about 4 hours a night. Go to bed later than usual and see if that helps you sleep through the night. Don't force it. Your body will sleep when it needs to.

#2 Have you had any stress added to your life lately? Job, marriage, new kid on the way...........? Stress can throw your body out of whack. Try to relax and when the stress goes, your sleep pattern will follow.

"Dream time" always seems longer than real time. A dream that encompasses a whole day may only take a few seconds in real time, so you think you've been asleep longer.

I'm 34, my normal sleep is 9 hours a day. 8 is not enough. Only 6 hrs of sleep a day, everyday, will give me painful migraines. During the weekends, I sometimes sleep more than 12 hours.

I don't think I'm stressed much. Just frustrated with my life. Otherwise, I'm not experiencing any difficulties at this point.

My dreams are annoying. They are just regular dreams like you're not dreaming at all and think you're awake and going by your daily business. I wake up feeling real tired.

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
The natural sleep cycle for humans is not the traditional 8 hours a night cycle. It is really in multiple shifts throughout the day..

This is what happens to me during weekends when there is no wsearch.

There is no specific time of sleep day or night like a dog but it feels rather uneasy for me.

Because of the dreams, I feel like days or even weeks have passed.