Sleep Deprivation

[noodlesfan]

It's been two days since I've slept at all in the past three days, and now every time I close my eyes, I start to have weird dreams without falling asleep. Is this normal?

[mrconeman]

I think weird thoughts is a better way to put it.
But yes, this happens to me when I've been up for way too long, when I close my eyes weird things happen. I'm not quite sure if you could call it dreams, but I'm pretty sure I know what you're talking about.

[ilovellamas]

Time for the nerd's post... coneman knows that I know way too much about sleep... :P

They're not dreams. It takes a long time to hit the dream cycle. Like a couple hours. You're just so overly tired that your mind's nerves aren't totally logical, and if your eyes are open, you're forcing your mind to continue to think... but if you close them, your mind starts doing funny things. It's normal if you're extremely sleep deprived.

[noodlesfan]

Any serious health risks?

[ilovellamas]

Of course sleep deprivation poses serious health risks. Google it. Here I spent the 5 seconds doing it for you. http://sleepdisorders.about.com/cs/sleepdeprivation/a/depandhealth.htm

[Harnum]

5 seconds is all that took noodlesfan. You lazy bastard. Shame making Brianna do that.

Anyway, I've never been up for more than 2 days straight and I haven't been sleep deprived. I was super friggin' tired, but not deprived. Sounds pretty shitty. What kinda crazy shit was your mind making you think of?

[coke_a_holic]

Llamas is right; it's called REM Rebound and it's your brain trying to get the sleep it missed by going right into the dream cycle despite you not going through Stage 1-3 sleep. Just down some nyquil and get some shut eye.

[nieh]

Not at all on the same level but not really worth making it's own thread for: I didn't fall asleep until 3am last night even though I went to bed at 11. This morning hasn't been fun so far.

[ilovellamas]

Llamas is right; it's called REM Rebound and it's your brain trying to get the sleep it missed by going right into the dream cycle despite you not going through Stage 1-3 sleep. Just down some nyquil and get some shut eye.

There are 4 stages of sleep, and you actually go through 6 stages before hitting REM. :P Sorry, I just had to be a dick. But yes, you're right.

[khaaaaan]

How do you go through 6 stages out of a possible 4? :confused:

[ilovellamas]

How do you go through 6 stages out of a possible 4? :confused:

1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, REM. :)

[khaaaaan]

Aaaaahhhhh

[ilovellamas]

Yep... of the four numbered stages, 1 is the least deep and 4 is the deepest... but REM is actually less deep than 1... but your body has to go through all that other sleep first to reach it for a lot of reasons. It can't jump right to REM, and it can't skip stages due to flow.

[coke_a_holic]

There are 4 stages of sleep, and you actually go through 6 stages before hitting REM. :P Sorry, I just had to be a dick. But yes, you're right.

For some reason, I thought the fourth stage came after REM because night terrors are so rare, but only occur in Stage 4. Shows how well I payed attention during the sleep cycle unit in Psych. But yeah, the point is that sleep is good.

[noodlesfan]

I slept last night, and I feel more proud than I probably should.

[Biggest offspring fan]

i never sleep, I'm always wake at the nights even though it's school, then i sleep at daytime.

[Andy]

Is this normal?

Well, not sleeping for 2 out of 3 days isn't normal, that's fo' sho'

(mofo')

[ilovellamas]

Well, not sleeping for 2 out of 3 days isn't normal, that's fo' sho'

(mofo')

Everything is good about you coming back. Seriously.

[Andy]

All fruit is ripe, all fruit is ripe.

[Coleby]

ilovellamas, you seem to know a lot about sleep, can you help me?

I can never sleep. I turn off my lights and close my eyes, but I always feel conscious. I guess it's because I'm trying to fall asleep. I don't know, and I fall asleep very late and I wake up very tired and I notice I'm starting to feel really bad recently. Could you know anything is wrong?

[ilovellamas]

ilovellamas, you seem to know a lot about sleep, can you help me?

I can never sleep. I turn off my lights and close my eyes, but I always feel conscious. I guess it's because I'm trying to fall asleep. I don't know, and I fall asleep very late and I wake up very tired and I notice I'm starting to feel really bad recently. Could you know anything is wrong?

Is it easier to fall asleep at certain times of day than others? Have you tried methods of relaxation? Do you feel stressed when you go to bed? It's really hard to give advice, because tons of things can prevent you from sleeping. Many things can help different people fall asleep, though... drinking warm milk or soup, going for a jog beforehand, reading a dry book, watching TV... those things never worked for me, though. My two favorites are ways of emptying the mind. One is to consciously try to think of NOTHING. I imagine that everything in my mind is on a screen that I see, and I start repeating the word "Nothing" over and over in my head, as I mentally bring a black curtain down over that screen of images very slowly. Sometimes I fall asleep before the "curtain" gets to the bottom.

Another method that helps me completely relax is because many people have sleep problems due to not being able to relax their muscles. This one is more complicated to explain, because I initially heard it on a sleep tape, and I just imagine I'm listening to that tape. But the concept is that you start with your forehead, and imagine a small blue flame, and imagine it as tiny and perfect as possible, right in the center of your forehead for about 30 seconds. And you move to a lot of important focal points for your muscles. It totally relaxes you. Forehead, center of your throat, each shoulder, each inner elbow, each wrist, and each joint of each finger... you go down each arm separately... etc. It seems tedious, but I often realize if it's gonna work or not after one arm. If it's gonna work, I fall asleep well before I'm done.

If no relaxation methods work, then you might consider seeing a counselor about sleep, or if you like medicine, picking up some Melatonin at your local drug store (I didn't notice, are you from the US? It's not over-the-counter in some countries).

[Coleby]

Thanks so much for typing such a long response, I'll try some of these things tonight. :)

[noodlesfan]

Is THC dangerous when exposed to a sleep-deprived individual?

[SkunkIt]

This rarely happens to me, I fell asleep in a driving class a few days ago, (Yes, I crashed my car and was required to take the class.) because I only got one hour of sleep that night. Half way through the class, I fell asleep. It was for about 2 seconds, but I had a very short dream and the bad thing about that, I talk in my sleep. I was still partially awake, so the teacher asked a question and I answered, "up yours, buck-o....left." Luckily about 10 minutes later we had a break, so I got a strong coffee and was fully awake.