Bad sleep 'dramatically' alters body

Here's a little PSA:<p>If you have:<p>* High blood pressure<p>* Depressive or angry episodes<p>* Wake up tired no matter how long you've slept<p>* Loud snoring<p>Take a sleep study. You may have obstructive sleep apnea.<p>I got it badly enough that sleeping for 14-15 hours daily did nothing for me. I didn't realise it at the time but I was on track to die, tired, at about 50.<p>Today I sleep with a little CPAP machine that keeps my throat open by pumping air into my mouth. It's changed my life enormously.

One thing is for sure: Reading stuff like that won't help me sleep any better.<p>I have no problems falling asleep, but I keep waking up after five and a half hours. For periods, I can easily go back to sleep, but when I worry about waking up, I often can not got back to sleep.<p>I've just started reading "The Happiness Trap"[1]. It's about accepting the ups and downs of life as normal, but at the same time it tells how to handle negative thoughts and feelings better (without getting rid of them). A former Buddhist monk recommended it to me, and my girlfriend (who is a psychologist) also liked it. The title kinda sucks though. Let's see if it helps.<p>[1] <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Happiness-Trap-Struggling-Living/dp/1590305841/" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/The-Happiness-Trap-Struggling-Living/d...</a>

Has anyone noticed how people who do not sleep a lot "look old" - I mean with wrinkles, spots, etc.<p>Look at investment bankers - their chronological age does not seem to match their physical appearance.<p>This article gives a potential explanation - bad sleep changes protein expression, but I'm curious about the visible outcomes.<p>Hopefully there are many sleep deprived founders, and well rested lifestyle entrepreneurs (sorry for the cliché!) reading this thread.<p>Do people tell you you look younger/older than what you are? And how old are you??

In the past few weeks I've been shitty to my girlfriend a few times after a night of bad sleep (interrupted sleep and more dreaming than normally).<p>I figured out that I sleep a lot better - especially when sharing a bed with her - when I omit drinking alcohol, even small amounts.<p>So maybe that's worth a try for people suffering from light sleep.

I had a period in my life when I was going sleep in the morning and waking up at 3PM, sometimes sleeping for more than 12 hours. It wasn't devastating so much to my physical health as to my mental health. Sleeping too long is as bad as sleeping too short, not to mention going sleep in the morning for several days in a row. Sleeping properly really is essential for good physical and mental health, don't sacrifice it just to 'do more'.

I used to sleep from 9:30 PM to 7:30 AM when I was in High School and I never had to study a single bit. I just remembered what I was taught in class without any trouble and aced most of my classes.<p>When I reached college, I got a late night job and started to sleep from 4 to 6 hours a day for about 2 years. My grades dropped badly; I couldn't remember what I was hearing in classes, I wasn't able to stay focus for as long and I ended up failing classes on my last semester.<p>It's probably the things that I fear the most from the lack of sleep, not being able to use my brain efficiently when I'm awake.<p>I remember reading about the fact that the first few hours of sleep are mostly there to physically rebuild the body, while the last hours of sleep are helping mostly with the memory. I don't have sources and considering the current article, I doubt it's as definite as what I read a while ago but might be interesting to read about more extensively.

Worth reading: <a href="http://www.supermemo.com/articles/sleep.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.supermemo.com/articles/sleep.htm</a>

WHat stood out to me from the article -<p>"The findings also tie into research attempting to do away with sleep, such as by finding a drug that could eliminate the effects of sleep deprivation."<p>Every now and then I get upset with myself for sleeping too much, not utilizing all my time after work to work on side projects and learning new skills. I wish I could stay up till late AND wake up early or be able to do away with sleep altogether (and the need to eat)! How I wish I could do away with sleep!!<p>Recently after a few days of skimping on sleep, I had a few days where I let myself sleep enough and noticed how much more alert I felt during the day, I had forgotten that feeling! For now I have accepted that I need to make time for sleep. Side projects, new skills will just have to be done at a consistent even if a slow rate.<p>[EDIT: fixed typos]

Just what I wanted to read after pulling two all nighters. So how do periods of no sleep followed by equal periods of very long sleep affect the body? And to what extent, if at all, are these changes reversible?

I was diagnosed with OSA, and chose to use a newish alternative to surgery or CPAP, the provent strip <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/07/14/sleep-apnea-fix/" rel="nofollow">http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/07/14/sleep-apnea-fix/</a> I keep ripping it off in my sleep and can't tell if it's working. Ultimately, they said I would get used to it. You need a prescription and after getting used to it, you have to go in for a follow up sleep study so they can see if it actually works for you.

While I don't doubt the findings and won't argue the results, a group of 26 people is hardly a study. Give us the results of 260 or 2600 people, from different backgrounds.

This might explain why new parents look 5 years older after 1 year of having their first child (in my admittedly anecdotal sample, including myself)

Suggestions of things that works for me.<p>Custom made ear plugs AND ear lube when you insert them. Custom ear plugs are under $100 can be made by any audiologist or ENT. Much better sound reduction than the ones that you buy that are throwaway. The ear lube by the way creates an additional sound barrier and adds to comfort as well.<p>Good "bucky" brand eyshades. White noise (a fan) going.

For those who've tried cpap machines and struggled with the masks, try the so-called "nasal pillows". They are a lot easier to get a good, consistent seal; are much smaller and so don't trigger that "omfg their's an alien on my face" freak out in the middle of the night; and they allow for more variety of sleeping positions.

Wow, all the years I didn't sleep like a rockstar. Used to be able to stay up 2, maybe 3 days without an ounce of caffeine and maybe a quick 15 minute nap here or there.<p>Looking back, how much of that time I really needed to spend awake, I don't know. You get more effective with age.

So how much sleep SHOULD I be getting then? I assume it's based on a few things (age, weight, etc).

A lot of people have mentioned sleep studies here - any idea on the process to obtain one in the US? Do I need to go to my general physician or can I call up a sleep study center?

I've been stressing out a lot about Uni recently, maybe getting a few hours sleep a night (last night I got an hour). Never have I felt worse in my life.

I wonder if the opposite is true as well, where good/proper sleep dramatically alters one's body.

Did humans evolve to sleep more than 6 hours at a time?

are the changes reversable?