Posted on 10/15/2023 8:02:06 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
Does this sound like you? You wake up at the same time each morning, get the kids out the door, and rush to catch the subway to work. But at night, maybe you stay up until midnight doing laundry or 1 a.m. to catch up on the bills.
Many Americans—about one-third of us—are in the same situation and habitually get only five to six hours of sleep instead of the recommended seven to eight hours.
But even a mild chronic sleep deficit may heighten the risk of developing heart disease later in life: Surveys of thousands of people have found that people who report mild but chronic sleep deficits have more heart disease later in life than people who get adequate sleep.
A study of women now shows what's happening in the body during chronic mild sleep deprivation.
After just six weeks of shortened sleep, the study found, the cells that line our blood vessels are flooded by damaging oxidants. And unlike well-rested cells, sleep-restricted cells fail to activate antioxidant responses to clear the destructive molecules.
The result: cells that are inflamed and dysfunctional, an early step in the development of cardiovascular disease.
Previous studies did not examine chronic sleep deficits
Studies of human sleep have examined the physiological effects of a few nights of profound sleep deprivation.
The researchers screened nearly 1,000 women in Washington Heights for the study, enrolling 35 healthy women who normally sleep seven to eight hours each night who could complete the 12-week study.
For six weeks the women slept according to their usual routine; for the other six weeks they went to bed 1.5 hours later than usual.
Bottom line: Just go to sleep
"Many problems could be solved if people sleep at least seven to eight hours per night," Jelic says.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
What happens when you try to go to sleep but you toss and turn for hours? Insomnia brought about by Long Covid has been very difficult to overcome and I’m still not there. The only way for me to sleep is to take sleep meds. It’s not how I prefer to fall asleep, but for the past several months it’s been the only way.
Sleep less, live more...
https://www.amazon.com/Sleep-Less-Everett-Mattlin-1980-10-12/dp/B01FEOJJP8/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8
Have you tried melatonin about an hour before you want to go to sleep?
Good sleep hygiene is fairly well known.
Cut the caffeine (it’s a stimulant). Quiet dark cool bedroom, same time every night. Get outside, break a sweat and get sunlight daily. No screens for a good while before bed. Use OTC sleep meds if needed as directed — and if they don’t work, see a doc, get checked for apnea, and even prescription meds if all else fails.
Very important for your mental health as well as physical.
Just join Couch Potatoes Unanimous.
Perhaps more related to increased stress and not necessarily sleep, directly.
YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
Sorry for yelling, but it was in recognition of a kindred spirit and not meant in an aggressive or derogatory way.
Long COVID here, too. My sleep cycle is so messed up right now, there are nights I don’t fall asleep until 6 AM. I get up at 10 AM, work as long as I can, and then crash again for another 3 or 4 hours...only to stay up all night.
I’m exhausted all the time.
I actually made it to bed a few times this week, only to be told that I had several seizures in my sleep (the latest new development thanks to Fauci’s bioweapon).
During the seizures, I actually stop breathing for 15 to 30 seconds at a time, have no control over my body, and no recollection of what is happening until I “come back” for a moment or two gasping desperately for air. Then, according to my family, the light behind my eyes fades out and I stop breathing again. This pattern repeats several times until the episode passes. My brain is scrambled, my speech is slurred, and I’m out of it for several hours (or even two whole days). My husband says it’s like watching me die over and over. He’s aged 10 years in the last few months.
It’s scary enough when it happens during the day, with family present, and I can sense something is coming. But these night seizures this week are something new. I had no memory of them at all. I stayed just under the entire time. My husband now sleeps with one eye open and keeps a hand on my abdomen. Poor man is sleep deprived worrying that he will wake up to find me gone for good.
I’m going to Dr. McCullough this week (they kept bumping me up because the diaphragm seizures can be life-threatening). I’ll let you know how it goes.
God bless you, Ducttape. I will keep you in my prayers.
I have found that a trace of melatonin helps tremendously.
I have the 3 mg capsules and I pull them apart and put maybe a 1/4 mg (if that much) into some food at night, and it’s just enough to give me that mellow, drowsy feeling. It does help me sleep better.
I’m a night person and left to my own devices, stay up until about 2 AM but sleep until about 10 AM. So I do get the 8 hours but it’s skewed.
I’m going to bed earlier these days, but still, do not sleep well until about 2-3 AM and then am dead to the world. I hear NOTHING until I wake up.
So even if they are correct that too little sleep increases the risk of heart disease later, I wonder if any decreased lifespan due to that isn’t offset by the greater number of waking hours that are gained. In other words, what if the approximate number of conscious hours is the same? Semi-facetiously saying that., but I’m also genuinely curious.
There’s a new prescription med for apnea. You may not need that machine that “everyone had to have”.
“Use OTC sleep meds if needed as directed”
Not a good idea IMO. Perhaps a bit of melatonin instead.
A tiny amount of melatonin does work for me for sleeping, but I use it as seldom as possible. I was using a bit every night and then connected it to UTIs. I checked online, and that can be a side effect.
A positive side effect is that you may have to get up less frequently in the night to pee.
Basically, it impacts the bladder.
Perhaps they can’t sleep due to their Martyr Complex
CBD, alcohol and Benadryl
...and let the flies into your room?
Trump only needs four.
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