Sleep - How Much Do You Need and How Much Do You Get?

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  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    Me personally: I have for years noticed that I got 4-6 hours sleep each night. I blame it on losing a good job in 2013. I got another decent job a few weeks later. There are numerous times on my news feed and in these discussions I've said something like "I get 5 hours sleep". I never knew why, really. Here's what has happened. I got my weight down to 165 lb last Summer by (Amazing, isn't it?) eating less and moving more. Then I chose to stop trying so vigorously to lose and started gaining. I gained 30 lb. Since I gained the 30 lb, I've noticed that my sleep has expanded to 7 -8 hours now. I'm feeling good each day, stay awake all day, manage to stay comfortably within my calories most days and find time to do some of that "move more" stuff several times a week.

    I had asked my long-time physician for her advice about my sleep difficulties. She suggested I use some OTC night-time meds such as benadryl, acetaminophen PM, or NyQuil. I did use 2 tablets of benadryl each night, and didn't notice much improvement. When that bottle was empty, I bought some acetaminophen PM and now each night take 2 of those. That seems to do the trick, as I do go to sleep and sleep soundly for 7-8 hours. Often I drink a quart of water late in the day, and usually have to rise in the middle of the night to visit the toilet, but I'm able to get back to sleep and re-enter deep sleep.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,686 Member
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    I need at least 8, unless I'm training hard, then I need more. I find after a long run I usually end up sleeping 9-10 hours.
  • ForecasterJason
    ForecasterJason Posts: 2,577 Member
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    I think my body needs about 7.5 to 8 hours a day, although I usually get about 6 hours on the weekdays and 7-8 on weekends.
  • PRINCESSROJA
    PRINCESSROJA Posts: 13 Member
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    8-9 for me. Much less than that consistently and I get really crabby and emotional. I'd really love to need less sleep but doesn't seem like the lot I've drawn!
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    I feel best with 8 hours.
    I get 6-7 hours often.
  • pamfin
    pamfin Posts: 169 Member
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    I feel best on 8-9 and am making a conscious effort to go to bed earlier to get that amount. Going back a few months, u was getting 6.5 a night average and felt rough a lot of the time.
  • lightenup2016
    lightenup2016 Posts: 1,055 Member
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    Maxxitt wrote: »
    I find that 8-8.5 hours is pretty optimal and that's what I aim for. I am retired, and so I don't have an early schedule. For a while, I had morphed my day into going to bed around 2 AM and sleeping until 10 or 10:30. Same eight hours, right? But with that schedule I was sedentary more hours during the day (I don't usually do much in the evening). So I am now getting to bed by midnight and up a bit after 8, which adds a couple of active hours and I feel a lot better.

    I need to do this!
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
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    I usually get about 5 hours. Sometimes 4 or sometimes 6

    Not sure how much I really need, but yes I'm often tired.
  • heavenjones7036
    heavenjones7036 Posts: 5 Member
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    I think if I get about 7 a night I'm pretty good normally anymore an I feel groggy. I have a rather broken sleep pattern though. Normally I wake up a few times a night, between 2:30am and 3:30am most of the time.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    what is this sleep you speak of?
  • mandy220750
    mandy220750 Posts: 65 Member
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    I rarely have a good nights sleep. Wake up many times. Sometimes cannot get to sleep until the early hours. Usually get to the point where I am exhausted then can occasionally have 10 hours.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    I wonder why I got a "woo". I'm sleeping better and feeling better.
  • whitpauly
    whitpauly Posts: 1,483 Member
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    Someone went "woo" crazy on just about every post,maybe they're tired and cranky? :|
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,108 Member
    edited March 2018
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    I need at least 8 and am on medication that is supposed to help me get that but I still struggle to fall asleep and usually get 6-7hr during the week. On the weekends when I don’t have to get up at a certain time I get closer to 9-10hr and make some of it up
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    drmarctagon wrote: »
    I'm not asking the general or clinical answer. Because we're all different, I want to hear about you personally.


    For me, 6-7 hrs is optimal. I get 5 hours (from 11PM-4AM or 12AM-5AM) and usually a nap during my commute to or from work or both.

    I'm pretty much the same. Do best with 7 hours, typically end up closer to 5-6 hours most days and try to make it up with a nap or on the weekend.
  • lucyl442
    lucyl442 Posts: 21 Member
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    I usually aim for 8 but it always ends up being 6-7 hours.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    I need 7, like having more, but it's not been happening.

    Usually I go to bed at 9.30pm and my dog wakes me up between 5 and 6.30am. To be honest, how I feel 100% depends on when in my sleep cycle the dog woke me up. Sometimes I feel awesome after 6 hours of sleep, others I feel horrible after 8!

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