Is lack of sleep cumulative?

[digitalwanderer]

Just curious if anyone has an opinion. I've been feeling wiped out as hell the last few days and I figured I'd be feeling better now that the kids are back in school, but my energy levels are hovering close to zero.

I've only gotten about 5 hours sleep yesterday and about 5 last night too though, so I figure I'm about 6 shy for the two days....or am I just 3 hours shy since the last I missed was yesterday?

Just a stupid, tired thought...but I was curious as to everyone's opinion as I have a weird feeling there are more than a few night owls here.

 

[_xxx_]

I rarely sleep more than 5 hours, but if it's significantly less than that for a few days, it feels like it's cumulative. It makes me feel worse every additional day, that's for sure.

 

[MuFu]

When I was looking into that polyphasic stuff, there were a couple of sources that said you only have to catch up on about 1/3-1/2 of sleep debt on a day-to-day basis. Cumulative sleep deprivation you can generally wipe out with a single night of sleeping as long as you want.

 

[Druga Runda]

most certainly, after about 3-4 years of undersleeping it took me more than a week in bed to recover - in the sense that I really felt I have recovered (afer a flu really put me in bed for a week straight). By that time I have already forgotten what it means to be properly rested. So since I did have a few more occasions where after a few nights of long sleep I get to the point where I feel "wow" I am really not tired at all, but given my tendency to play games when I can (and that is start after 9pm) this trully rested periods are really short. when I have a proper rest (and that is about 1/2 week of sleeping a lot) I can do th rest of the week on 4 hrs per night without a problem, but than after I am again to the usual "50% zombie state, where you have to do something interesting/work /drink coffee in order not to be tired like today for example. So sleeping/non-sleeping is clearly cumulative from my POV. Drinking a lot of fluid (preferrably water) helps me too not to feel tired.

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

Just curious if anyone has an opinion. I've been feeling wiped out as hell the last few days and I figured I'd be feeling better now that the kids are back in school, but my energy levels are hovering close to zero.

Actually, it's well known that tiredness is cumulative, but sleep isn't - which is where the problem happens.

 

[Arun]

I'm sure you can get your answer from the very fact that on the SECOND time I saw this thread title, a few hours after the first one, I thought it read "Is lack of sheep cumulative?".

Uttar
EDIT: Typo ftw! No more typo now.

 

[AlNom]

hm... I would say so too. Two days ago, I only got 3 hours of sleep after a long day(CES then night flight + driving home + school same day). Monday night I got about 6 hours of sleep, then on tuesday I slept all afternoon (6 hours), and I was still tired and got another 6 hours last night.

It was kinda trippy when my friend called me back when I was half asleep. I woke up thinking it was a dream.

 

[Zaphod]

Yes, lack of sleep is cumulative, but only to some extent. Say, your ideal amount of sleep is 8 hours, but you only sleep 5 hours a night for a week: You then 'owe' 21 hours, and sleeping the normal 8 won't do it. 12-14, might be enough for a 'reset', though.

There are several interesting scientific theories on how to minimize the human need to sleep (while maintaining productivity). I'll see if I still have my links regarding this. As far as I can remember the problem for much of this research is that there are tons of evidence linking sleep disruption and various mental disorders, so clinical trials is pretty much out of the question. The second problem, if I remember correctly, is that for some of these theories to work you have to 'abort' sleep at the correct time in the 'sleep cycle'. As I said, I don't remember the details, but it was something like 'sleep 30 minutes every 4 hours, but if you sleep more than one hour (past some point you had to keep sleeping) it could be dangerous - and do the 14 hour coma every 10 days'. They theorized that the total amount of sleep needed could be cut like 40%.

Some other theory I read stated that light regulation could alter both sleep pattern and the human psyche drastically. In an artificial environment people seemed to be inclined to longer periods of sleep and longer periods of activity – resulting in less sleep overall.

 

[Farid]

Is lack of sleep cumulative?

No.
Just like you don't need to sleep more if you had to stay awake for a long period of time.

 

[IgnorancePersonified]

I would say "yes" it is cumulative. Work long hours for a week then have a good sleep and I feel recharged. Don't have the long sleep and I am shithouse the next week. Been doing that for years.

I think sleep inertia is more of a problem. Wake me up early and I will bite your head off give a pathetically incorrect assessment of the situation than go back to sleep for longer than what I would have normally.

 

[Razor1]

Nope it isn't although if you aren't getting enough rem sleep this can effect brain activity. The body and brain needs arounds 2 hours of rem sleep per day, of course this varies from person to person, but this is the average if I remember correctly.

FYI if a person doesn't sleep 3 days straight it worse then being drunk with 1.0 BAC. Also as you get older usually the less sleep you will need to attain rem sleep. (rem sleep is when you are dreaming, most dreams are around 10 minutes long) Average kids up to 10 years of age need around 12 hours of sleep, 10-23 need around 8 hours of sleep, 23 and up around 6 hours. These are just averages, but if you sleep longer then what your body requires it tends to make you feel more tired during the day.

 

[IgnorancePersonified]

well that's going against a lot of personal experience - not the 1st time I am sure but if it's not cumulative then what's the explanation for observed behaviour from the number of posts agreeing that sleep is cumulative? they are all personal observation from what i read. What happens when you don't get enough rem? unfortunately I don't have a rem meter, I have some cd's, but if I sleep 12 hours SOLID after a big week of work and lack of sleep are you saying I rem for the 6hours(avg) but the rest is me just me lying on my side wasting time? If I don't have the big 'recharge' I am shit the next week or until I have a big sleep.

 

[Razor1]

well that's going against a lot of personal experience - not the 1st time I am sure but if it's not cumulative then what's the explanation for observed behaviour from the number of posts agreeing that sleep is cumulative? they are all personal observation from what i read. What happens when you don't get enough rem? unfortunately I don't have a rem meter, I have some cd's, but if I sleep 12 hours SOLID after a big week of work and lack of sleep are you saying I rem for the 6hours(avg) but the rest is me just me lying on my side wasting time? If I don't have the big 'recharge' I am shit the next week or until I have a big sleep.

Havn't heard REM in along time some good stuff.

You only have rem for around 2 hours for 1 night sleep. around 75% of sleep time is pretty much waste. This is why everyone says try to get at least 8 hours of sleep.

Yes thats a very common obeservation actually, the more times you wake up and try to go back to sleep without REM sleep, its actaully harder to get REM sleep.

People who snore (sleep apnea) this is why they always feel tried, because the brain isn't getting enough oxygen (when snoring) so it tells the body to wake up. Even though its a very short amount of time the body wakes up, what happens is most of the time, you only go through stage 1, 2, and Delta sleep, and never gets to the final stage, REM sleep, which is the deepest sleep and where the brain rests.

 

[digitalwanderer]

Well I don't get REM sleep much, last time I heard them in a dream was years ago.

"Stand in the place where you live
Now face north
Think about direction
Wonder why you haven’t
Now stand in the place where you work
Now face west
Think about the place where you live
Wonder why you haven’t before"

 

[K.I.L.E.R]

I fall asleep like a baby.
I dream a lot too.

I dreamt Dave Baumann kicked me in the ass this morning after I was shouting at a cereal box.

 

[V3]

If you don't sleep for like 3 days straight, I think you just need to sleep your typcial length of sleep (5-8 hours) to recharge and you'll be good to go for several sleepless days again. But the tiredness on those sleepless days certainly accumulate.

But if you feel tired after getting 5-8 hours of good sleep, you might want to look into your diet IMO.

 

[IgnorancePersonified]

I don't buy it.

I sleep well and up until 3months ago for 5-6 hours max without an alarm. Sleep at 1-2AM up at 6:30.
Now is different but so are my priorities.
I've also driven continuously for 50+ hours and stayed awake for 72 'supa charged' and not. From memory: I sleep long and easy after and feel great the next day.
Winston Churchill had the reputed 2 hour sleep during wwII ... I think it's hard to generalise amongst so many different people and environmental conditions.

hows the arvo' nap slot in there? It's supossed to be good for the health and all but is tops 1-2 hours max. During my ahhh... navel gazing phase ... I had quite an exteneded period which involved a siesta before sundown. Was actually the hardest habit to cut that I have had too.

 

[Razor1]

Just given ya the average for most people, of course it varies from people to people, I have a friend who is a tax accountant who sleeps everyday 3 hours and he is bright as a whistle. I personaly think he is a freak but what ever works for em.