Sleeping 9-10 hours a day?

darreneatschicken

I have a dilemma: I love sleep. For as long as I can remember, I've always been a night owl who can sleep for what seems like an eternity. Most of the time, I need at least 9-10 hours of sleep to function at my best.

And this honestly sucks. Think about it: if a "regular" person can function well on only 7-8 hours of sleep a night, then that means in one week, they have 21 more hours of free time than me, 84 hours in a month, and 2920 hours in a year.

Is there something wrong with me? I swear when this whole coronavirus thing ends, I'm going to go to my doctor and get a blood test... see if maybe I'm suffering from a vitamin deficiency or something. Maybe get referred to a sleep specialist. Because it honestly sucks waking up after 7 or 8 hours of sleep and still feeling groggy at work. And on the days that I do get to sleep in, it makes it harder to get to sleep early at night, because I've slept for so long. In the meantime, I've been combining bright light therapy in the day with a 0.3mg dose of melatonin at night. But I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations until I get a chance to see the doctor.

Avidkeo

First, night owl means you are up at night, not that you sleep all night. If you think ab3it, owls come out at night...

Second most people actually function on 8-10hrs sleep. And it's recommended to get around that figure , but like anything, some people are better with 10 hrs, some are fine with 7. Personally I prefer 8, I feel like im dragging at 7. And 10 never happens for me lol.

I wouldn't compare free time, most of us are spending that time on our phones anyway.

Find what works best for you and live in that. Stop comparing yourself to other people cause you will always lose that game. As long as you feel refreshed after your sleep, then you do you man.

yirara

If you think something is wrong you should go and visit your gp. Get some blood tests like full blood count, ferritin (best a complete iron panel), vitamin D3, thyroid panel, vitamin B12

littlegreenparrot1

What time are you going to sleep? People have different patterns and you just have to work with it.

For example I will happily go to bed at 10 pm, and be up bouncing about at 6 am (I need at least 8 hrs). If I go to bed at 1am though and get up at 9, feel groggy, much more difficult to get going. It's the same amount but I do a lot less well on it.

While you have to wait to go to the Dr anyway it might be worth playing around with that, practicing good sleep hygiene etc to see if that helps.

darreneatschicken

littlegreenparrot1 wrote: »

What time are you going to sleep? People have different patterns and you just have to work with it.

For example I will happily go to bed at 10 pm, and be up bouncing about at 6 am (I need at least 8 hrs). If I go to bed at 1am though and get up at 9, feel groggy, much more difficult to get going. It's the same amount but I do a lot less well on it.

While you have to wait to go to the Dr anyway it might be worth playing around with that, practicing good sleep hygiene etc to see if that helps.

Like I said, I'm a total night owl: I get more and more energy as the day progresses. Luckily, I have a job where I work second shift (1:30 PM - 10 PM). The only disadvantage to this is that when I get home, it's almost 11 PM and I still have to cook, eat, workout, eat more, wind down with some tv, netflex, etc. It's not uncommon for me to be going to sleep around 4 AM. When I wake up, I feel groggy as hell, but if I've gotten my 9-10 hours, this grogginess only lasts around 30-60 minutes. Then I'm full of energy again.

I read that your body is supposed to start producing melatonin around 9 PM, with the melatonin peeking around 3 AM, so my cicardian rhythm is definitely messed up. I worked a normal 9-5 job a couple summers ago and felt pretty good waking up with the sun and going to sleep with the moon, but I would still wake up tired if I hadn't slept at least 9 hours.

Maxxitt

Nothing's wrong with you. People's cycles vary. My spouse routinely worked overnights and this fit his normal schedule quite well. Then when he went to a "day job" he seriously had trouble, because he was just not tired before 1 or 2 AM. Melatonin helped, but not completely. Now that he's retired, if I see him before noon it's because he has an appointment of some sort or is sick. 9-10 hours of rack time suits him well.

Unicorn_Bacon

Personally I think it's less something the doctor can fix and more your own expectations. Honestly some people are morning people and others are groggy for a while.. some people have endless bounds of energy and others have to fight to find some.

You just have to learn to work with who you are. If you need 9 or 10 hours of sleep, then sleep 9 or 10 hours, you're still eating properly right? Still getting your workout in? Still going to work and being a member of society?

The doctor isnt going to be able to fix your desire to be doing something else with those hours you think should be spent doing something else.

deannalfisher

you sound normal

highly recommend you read - "Why We Sleep" - it goes into a lot of the research but basic premise that the majority of research supports is that 8hrs is like the minimum amount people should be getting

lorrpb

Why are you taking melatonin to help you sleep if you already are able to sleep a lot with no trouble?

darreneatschicken

lorrpb wrote: »

Why are you taking melatonin to help you sleep if you already are able to sleep a lot with no trouble?

Because I sleep so much in the day that I have trouble falling asleep at night. It's sort of like how when people sleep in on the weekend that they have trouble falling asleep at their regular time on Saturday and Sunday, so when they go to work on Monday, they're all tired.

That's like me. But everyday.

For example, if I sleep from 3 AM - 1 PM, then I'm going to have a very hard time sleeping at 3 AM the following night. My body will be full of energy until like 5 or 6 AM. That's why I take a small dose of melatonin.

littlegreenparrot1

Thank you, now I understand better what your pattern is.
I still think most of my suggestions apply.

Have a think about your patterns of behaviour before you go to sleep. I absolutely get that you can't just get home after your shift and settle down, but you may be able to manage the routine differently to see if that helps.

If you start work at 1:30pm could you workout before that? In the same way many people do before they go to work.
Could you take some time to prep food so dinner doesn't take so long to cook? Try switching screens off at least an hour before you are trying to go to sleep. Low light level lamps. Do you have black out blinds, and a quiet environment? It could be your sleep is being interrupted as the rest of the world gets up around you.
How many caffeinated drinks, and how much time between the last one and bed time?

I don't expect you to answer these, it's just this is the kind of thing I would be working through.
I work with young people and have helped many of them deal with problems sleeping, to help their welfare in work/education.

I would not consider that amount of time sleeping to be a red flag though, not if that were normal for that person and there were no other indications of problems.

Mouse_Potato

asianambition wrote: »

lorrpb wrote: »

Why are you taking melatonin to help you sleep if you already are able to sleep a lot with no trouble?

Because I sleep so much in the day that I have trouble falling asleep at night. It's sort of like how when people sleep in on the weekend that they have trouble falling asleep at their regular time on Saturday and Sunday, so when they go to work on Monday, they're all tired.

That's like me. But everyday.

For example, if I sleep from 3 AM - 1 PM, then I'm going to have a very hard time sleeping at 3 AM the following night. My body will be full of energy until like 5 or 6 AM. That's why I take a small dose of melatonin.

I don't have an answer for you, but I can relate. My body also wants 9-10 hours of sleep a night, but if I actually get that much, it takes longer than 14-15 hours to wear me out again. It's like my body is not on a 24 hour cycle.

yirara

I had the same issues when I was really low in vitamin D3. You just fight so hard to stay awake all day that you can't find rest at night. Rinse and repeat. I'm also more of an afternoon/evening person, but by watching my levels and being super regular, also at weekends I manage to be at my work computer by 8 in the morning. My best work still happens in the afternoon though.

NorthCascades

yirara wrote: »

If you think something is wrong you should go and visit your gp. Get some blood tests like full blood count, ferritin (best a complete iron panel), vitamin D3, thyroid panel, vitamin B12

I think I'm a lot of places, a doctor's office maybe isn't the best place to be right now.