How much sleep do you get?

[MichealKnight]

I'm 46, retired 10 months ago. Health isn't the best.....blood pressure, and also, ulcerative colitis (like Crohn's disease).

I realized lately that I'm always sleepy and that its been that way for a few years now. As a teenager....I used to secretly bury my walkman under my pillow and listen to hockey games on the radio - - get 4 hours of sleep - ok, sometimes I had a nap in high school lol. Then in my early 20s - I had my own companies, I got around 6 hours.....but I could work 70 hour weeks, rarely had coffee.

Now, it seems that I *need* 7 good hours, period. No less. So for the last 3 nights I've changed stuff around and gotten 7 and I noticed now....my eyes don't feel like closing.

Curious how much sleep people need, I know it's an individual thing. I was reading about benefits of sleep. - I think I'm going to try keeping it at 7 - then adding a few naps a week.

 

[pacergal]

Many studies show that adults "should" get 8-10 hours, sometimes less as we get older.
I feel my best with 7-8 hours. Occasionally I will sleep 10, but I figure my body needs it for some reason.

The nice thing about retirement, you can nap if you are tired, go to bed and get up whenever you want!

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I seemed to sleep quite a bit more when I was w*rking. If I didn't get a solid 8 hours, I seemed to drag a lot. In the operational flying days, sleep was pretty hard to come by and it could make life pretty miserable when on a 14 or 21 day trip...ugh, I don't miss that AT ALL.

Now being retired, I am pretty happy in the 7-8 hour range. On occasion, I will go a few days with some very vivid dreams that seem to beat me down but a prolonged sleep (say 10 hours) will get me back to "normal."

I don't nap too often these days, either. When I was w*rking, I napped A LOT...but it was mostly from being worn out. Today, I just don't have the need/want for them and if I have a nap, it tends to mess up that night's sleep.

One last thing I have noticed is that I am in bed much earlier and am usually up to see the sunrise. When I was w*rking, I HATED mornings and would have slept to noon if I could.

 

[tb001]

I need a solid 8 hours to feel good. And it usually takes me an hour or so to fall asleep. DH lives on around 6-7, though he complains of being tired a lot.

 

[Aerides]

Probably average 7.5 - 8 in retirement. Occasionally a shorter night if something wakes us both up early. If I wake first I usually creep out to the spare bedroom and read for a bit before DH wakes up.

Lack of sleep is a sure way to get sick more often, and recover more slowly. I've never understood those who brag about sleeping only 4-5 hours. After 40 it's just counter productive.

 

[Car-Guy]

Usually get 7 to 8 hours sleep a night.. Another 1 or 2 during the day ... If I can't seem to fall asleep, I'll turn on the TV to the Golf channel... 5 mins and I'm out for the night.

 

[aja8888]

Three years of tracking sleep says I get about 6.5 hours of sleep per night. Variations are just under 6 hours and just over 7 hours. I take no daytime naps. And it really doesn't depend on how much activity I had during the day.

Even before I started tracking sleep, I always felt this was the case.

 

[chassis]

Target for me is 7 hours, most nights the target is achieved. It's rare that I sleep 8 hours.

Try getting BMI into the target "healthy" range. Try exercising. Try eating healthy(ier) food and avoid eating too close to bed time. Try reducing or eliminating alcohol and caffeine. Try working on spiritual/emotional health, in whatever way that fits in your world.

Exercise, diet and healthy BMI help sleep, with no doubt whatsoever.

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

I try to get between 7-8 hours a night and it usually is closer to 7.5.
I’ve noticed that if I get 8 hours a few nights in a row I have trouble going to sleep.
I’m retiring in…10 days so it will be interesting to see how much sleep I need without the pesky alarm clock.

If I wake up in the middle of the night I usually turn on some nature program like how the universe was made and listen to that with my eyes closed.
Murder She Wrote usually puts me out too!

 

[Midpack]

I want to get 8 hours of sleep every night, but I usually get 6-7, sometimes 8. Not sure what I can do about it, I certainly don't stay up late so that's not my issue.

 

[retire to nature]

Mine is 8-9hrs. sometimes more if I am really tired.

Have you thought about your health issue is from the lack of sleep? sleeping is making healing time and relaxed time.

Your vessle could have been tighted so long time and GI track was the same from too much stress.

Lack of sleep can keep body stresses alot.

I think 7 hrs still short if you have UI.

Just my 2cents.

 

[Charlotte]

I feel best when I am consistently in the 8-8.5 range. Life doesn’t always allow for that, but I try for it.

 

[Bamaman]

As a man, do you snore loudly? Do you wear a size 17 or larger dress shirt? Do you weigh 200+ lbs.? If so, you may be suffering from sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea upsets regular nighttime sleep schedules, and may result in 3-4 hour nights of sleep. A sign is also if you have difficulties sitting still, like in church, for an hour without getting sleepy. Many of those with apnea fall asleep at redlights mid afternoon or have more than their fair share of car accidents due to not being responsive.

Those with sleep apnea have increased chance of requiring heart surgery. The percentages are more "when instead of if" you have heart issues. And many have issues like having too many red blood cells which can cause strokes and embolisms.

I have sleep apnea and have been prescribed a CPAP machine. Many others are supposed to be on CPAP, but they feel claustrophobic and don't use their machines. With CPAP, I get a much better quality of sleep, and I feel so much better. And my afternoon naps are not required--more responsive.

My doctor says he has 49 local physicians on CPAP. And if you meet the above criteria, you may get much better sleep being on CPAP. And you'll also live much longer too.

 

[street]

I get 7 hours of sleep without getting up. I sometimes can get 8 hours but not often.

 

[aaronc879]

I don't sleep well. I am a very light sleeper, sensitive to any noise. I also have chronic pain in both my back and leg. On a good night I will sleep from 10 or 10:30 until around 3. Then I wake up with my back hurting and have to switch positions. It can take an hour or more to get back to sleep and even then it is sporadic. From 3 until 7 I maybe get another hour of sleep in small chunks. So that's around 6 hours total after 9 hours in bed. I get by ok from that. The bad nights involve getting woken up before 3 by some noise like a motorcycle or revving truck or siren.... I rarely get more than an hour of sleep in small chunks once I get woken up whether it's 3am or midnight. The time leading up to the 4th is the worst time of year for me.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

I sleep about 9 hours per night on average. Minus 2 or 3 trips to the bathroom and back.

 

[W2R]

I sleep about 6.5-7.5 hours at night, and then might nap for 1-2 hours in the afternoon. My daily total probably averages around 8 hours or so.

A few months ago when I was so very sick with Covid, I probably slept twice as long and my sleep was twice as deep, too. It was so deep that in the hospital, I never was quite sure if I had been asleep or passed out.

Great timing for this thread! I just awakened from a brief nap.

 

[brett]

8 hours. Nice change from when I was working.

 

[grasshopper]

7 hours at night, two 15 minute naps during the day.

 

[Marita40]

I'm a very good sleeper. I usually sleep 9 hours, sometimes a bit less. I heard you need less sleep as you get older, but that's not happened to me yet.

 

[CoolRich59]

As a man, do you snore loudly? Do you wear a size 17 or larger dress shirt? Do you weigh 200+ lbs.? If so, you may be suffering from sleep apnea.

This.

Even though I use a CPAP machine, I have had difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep. However, I have been reading “Why We Sleep” by Matthew Walker and have seen noticeable improvements in my sleep by following his recommendations.

 

[martyp]

I am 65 and 11 years into retirement. I go to bed at midnight and wake up naturally at 6am +/- a half hour.

 

[TrvlBug]

8-9 hours, sometimes 10 with one, sometimes 2 trips to the bathroom! Before retiring, I usually got 6-7 and made it up on the weekends. DH gets 5-6 and complains of being tired during the day.

 

[Calico]

While working I got 6-7 hours a night, if I was lucky.

Since retiring a year ago I regularly get 8-9 hours, which is wonderful. I wake up feeling refreshed, unlike all those years working.

Once or twice a week I take an hour-long nap on the couch in the afternoon. The nice thing about retirement is I can sleep whenever I want to, for as long as I want to!

 

[naggz]

If anyone is interested in learning more about the importance of sleep, I highly recommend the book
"Why We Sleep" by Matthew Walker PhD

It was an absolutely fascinating book.

Here is a Ted talk from the author...
https://www.ted.com/talks/matt_walker_sleep_is_your_superpower/up-next?language=en