Sleep Issues

[M.Ehrmantraut]

Anyone here have sleep issues? When I was younger, I never thought of it, I'd easily get 8, sometimes 9 hours a night - now that I'm older, I'd give anything to sleep like a normal person again. In 2007, I realized I had sleep apnea when my live-in girlfriend noticed I would stop breathing. I was competing in powerlifting at the time and working nights which didn't help at all. It got to the point where I began waking-up within an hour or going to sleep and I'd do that continuously. This went on for a year and a half, once during that period did I sleep more than an hour consecutively and it nearly drove me crazy - I tried everything and nothing worked - melatonin, Unisom, xanax, ambien...everything - I'd just wake up as usual but just more drowsy or buzzed depending on what it was I had taken. I started sleepwalking and have several funny stories from that time, became narcoleptic, would develop chest pains by mid-week as I'd spend my days off in bed trying to catch-up on what sleep I could get. Money was beyond tight as she and I were renting a house and I was supporting she and her children. Eventually I got the money together and got a cpap machine which after several months really helped and I began sleeping for about three hours at a time. I finally got off of the night shift and that helped, within a year I was sleeping close to normal again, although I was using the cpap machine.

Fast-forward to the present and here I am awake at 2am... The past several weeks I've been sleeping bad again, nowhere near as bad as at my worst, but it is starting to take its toll on me as I've been really tired throughout the day and find myself reaching for the caffeinated drinks for a quick pick-me-up which I know doesn't help. I am going to see the doctor and see what paths we might take to help but I really don't want to get on any meds. I'm not exercising much at all and haven't been lately, I've been thinking about buying a bicycle and starting to ride a few times a week, that'll help get rid of a lot of this stress I've been dealing with and wear me out in a good way. Well, I better try to get some shut eye, my alarm will be going off before I know it and I've probably put whoever reads this to sleep, as well. lmao

[Harold Mansfield]

I spent a lot of my 20's and early 30's working nights, and over nights. For years my favorite bar and nightclub shift was Midnight to 8 a.m., so I drank and slept during the day for well over a decade in 2 different states.
Even on my days off, I'd keep the same sleep schedule. Up at 10 p.m. and out all night.

Flash forward to today. Different life. Different career. I keep normal hours, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. I'm also older. I sleep about 6 hours a night on any given weekday. Usually up by 6 a.m. No alarm.
Even when I go out with the boys and have a few, I'm still up by 7 a.m. the next morning.

I too would give anything to sleep in till 9, 10, or 11 a.m and not have to stay up all night to do it.

[David Hunter]

I usually get about 6.6-7 hours of sleep a night. I wake up at 6:15 and out the door at 7:10 to get to the park to jog. Wakes you up!! Plus, I try (key word there... try) to eat lots of protein throughout the day. If you just drink/eat carbs you're body will burn through it right away. Protein takes longer to burn so your energy will be spread out throughout the day.

I'm not normally a nap person, but lately I've been closing my eyes around 5:00pm for about 15 minutes. Seems to be a good rejuvenator.

[M.Ehrmantraut]

I've really been thinking about doing the same, David - getting up and biking or jogging, my diet isn't the best but I've been making some changes but really need to start getting some good exercise in.

[Owen]

I'm only 15, and I may have sleep problems. I don't go to public school, (I'm homeschooled so I can run my company), and I sleep a good 5 hours a night...I wish i could sleep in :(

[billbenson]

Since I lost my career in 98 (I didn't figure out I lost my career until the end of 2000) I have had trouble sleeping. If I'm tired, I can fall to sleep, but will wake up at 3 or 4 am and can't fall back to sleep for an hour or two. Mostly because of anxiety attacks. I need a solid 9 hours of sleep. The disrupted sleep leaves me tired most of the time. I have anxiety drugs from my doctor. I only take them when I have anxiety attacks.

Younger I did a lot of all nighters working on my business. I can't do that anymore.

Bottom line, a lot of days I feel hung over from lack of sleep. It really impacts productivity.

On the exercise thing - that really helps. I've been lazy for the last year or so. I think that has really impacted my sleep. Pick something you enjoy. Me, jogging would bore the hell out of me. Some people seem to enjoy it. Obviously diet affects things as well. If I eat a big steak before bed, I sleep a lot better. If my wife eats right before she goes to sleep, she can't sleep. Go figure...

[M.Ehrmantraut]

Since I lost my career in 98 (I didn't figure out I lost my career until the end of 2000) I have had trouble sleeping. If I'm tired, I can fall to sleep, but will wake up at 3 or 4 am and can't fall back to sleep for an hour or two. Mostly because of anxiety attacks. I need a solid 9 hours of sleep. The disrupted sleep leaves me tired most of the time. I have anxiety drugs from my doctor. I only take them when I have anxiety attacks.

Younger I did a lot of all nighters working on my business. I can't do that anymore.

Bottom line, a lot of days I feel hung over from lack of sleep. It really impacts productivity.

On the exercise thing - that really helps. I've been lazy for the last year or so. I think that has really impacted my sleep. Pick something you enjoy. Me, jogging would bore the hell out of me. Some people seem to enjoy it. Obviously diet affects things as well. If I eat a big steak before bed, I sleep a lot better. If my wife eats right before she goes to sleep, she can't sleep. Go figure...

That's how I feel, I'll have a bad night's sleep and feel hungover the next day. As far as the eating before bed, I'm the same, I can't sleep if I'm hungry and will lay there until I get-up and eat something lmao. Last night I actually slept pretty good, thing is I'm in such a sleep deficit that I was tired earlier in the day, caught my second wind and hoping to get a solid 7-8 hours tonight. I'm hoping...