Can't Tell You've Been Sleeping?

[TromboneAl]

My sleep system has gotten worse as I get older, and here's a strange thing I've noticed lately:

I often don't think I've slept, but evidence suggests that I did. Here's an example. This afternoon, I set my alarm for a twenty-five-minute nap. When the alarm went off, I was sure I hadn't fallen asleep, but the time went by quickly. In the past I would clearly feel myself falling asleep and, later, waking up.

Lena has noticed the same thing, although to a lesser extent.

Have any of you experienced this?

 

[REWahoo]

One question - any correlation between the drop in oil level in your car and these "did I sleep" periods?

 

[Alan]

Sounds like a good script for the next T-Al sci-fi book.

 

[W2R]

I don't know if I have had exactly the experience you are describing, Al, but here's one for you. A week or two ago, I accidently fell asleep in my new easy chair and took a nap for an hour or two, in the late afternoon. When I awakened, I thought it was morning, stumbled out to the kitchen and started the coffee maker, and took my morning BP pill. I survived and had no bad effects, but that was scary.

 

[Walt34]

I've had the experience too, sometimes going back to my 20's. But I was working rotating shift work then so my circadian rhythms were all messed up. Once back then I even answered the phone and had no recollection of a short conversation.

 

[Lakewood90712]

Sounds like a good script for the next T-Al sci-fi book.

Zombies from Mars stopped time, and drank oil from my car ?

 

[harley]

I do it all the time, although it's more like waking up in the morning, and thinking I'll just lay in bed for a few minutes. Then when I get out of bed I realize a half hour or more has passed and I didn't realize I'd fallen back asleep. It doesn't bother me, I just figure I needed the sleep.

 

[imoldernu]

Used to worry about sleep. Body now tells me it's not important.

It is, what and when it is.

 

[MRG]

I do that TA. I think I haven't slept, DW tells me I've been snoring.

 

[Alan]

Zombies from Mars stopped time, and drank oil from my car ?

Exactly

 

[KrissK]

This happens to me too...Mostly with naps.

 

[stepford]

I've been a rotten sleeper my whole life. 5-6 hours a night and (no surprise) it's only gotten worse as I've aged. The one saving grace is that since I've turned 50 or so I've developed a seemingly magical ability to take afternoon naps. 1 or 2 in the afternoon and BLAMMO - suddenly it's an hour later.

I'm only 54, but I seem to be getting those old man moves down pretty good.

 

[redduck]

Al, I've had pretty much the same thing going on for awhile now. Happens some nights. We turn off the lights at 11:00. I don't immediately fall asleep. I don't get restless trying to get to sleep. I look at the clock and it's 12:30. I don't know where that hour and a half went. It seems to me as if I were awake the whole time, but, that doesn't appear to be realistic as the time went by way too fast.

 

[Bamaman]

I've been a rotten sleeper my whole life. 5-6 hours a night and (no surprise) it's only gotten worse as I've aged. The one saving grace is that since I've turned 50 or so I've developed a seemingly magical ability to take afternoon naps. 1 or 2 in the afternoon and BLAMMO - suddenly it's an hour later.

I'm only 54, but I seem to be getting those old man moves down pretty good.

I'm with you there. What's nice is that I don't have to get up at 7:00 am and be at work at 8:00 am.

I stay up to 1:00 am to 2:00 am every morning. My cat wakes me up meowing around 6:00. I'll get on the internet to read a few newspapers and check messages, and then my best sleep is from 7:00 to 10:00.

When I wake up at 6:00 am, I'm always hurting. When I get up at 10:00, I'm pain free. In other words, the way I feel tells me how much sleep I require. When I'm physically working hard keeping up my houses, I do wake up tired. Thankfully I work when I want to.

 

[GravitySucks]

Al, I've had pretty much the same thing going on for awhile now. Happens some nights. We turn off the lights at 11:00. I don't immediately fall asleep. I don't get restless trying to get to sleep. I look at the clock and it's 12:30. I don't know where that hour and a half went. It seems to me as if I were awake the whole time, but, that doesn't appear to be realistic as the time went by way too fast.

+1. But then I'm wide awake for another few hours. I also do the wake up in the AM and think I'm just laying there a few minutes but an hour will pass.
Sometimes I'm told I was sleeping and don't believe it.

 

[Amethyst]

I always know when I haven't been sleeping, because I usually get up and do something. I wake up frequently during the night, but nap easily during the day - patterns established in my early 30's, so they can't be attributed to age.

I worked rotating shifts (days, then nights, then back again, sometimes with a third shift thrown in) for more than 20% of my federal career. My sleeping patterns never really recovered.

You may thank me for my service now

Amethyst

 

[ivinsfan]

I always know when I haven't been sleeping, because I usually get up and do something. I wake up frequently during the night, but nap easily during the day - patterns established in my early 30's, so they can't be attributed to age.

I worked rotating shifts (days, then nights, then back again, sometimes with a third shift thrown in) for more than 20% of my federal career. My sleeping patterns never really recovered.

You may thank me for my service now

Amethyst

I do think some sleep patterns never change back to "normal". For over 3 decades I got up at 4:10 AM seven days a week to milk cows. We'd get a 7 to 10 day break every once in awhile but just got up early so we didn't mess up our sleep habits.

I haven't had a alarm clock in 5 years now. I can sleep a lot of mornings until 7 or 8. However, if I have something on my mind, or am going somewhere or I'm not feeling well, I will inevitably wake up at about 4:15 and I will be wide awake and can never go back to sleep. I don't let it bother me, I'm just happy it's not my regular wake time anymore.

 

[HFWR]

Sounds like a good script for the next T-Al sci-fi book.

"The Alien From Beneath The Bed"

 

[gindie]

I don't know if I have had exactly the experience you are describing, Al, but here's one for you. A week or two ago, I accidently fell asleep in my new easy chair and took a nap for an hour or two, in the late afternoon. When I awakened, I thought it was morning, stumbled out to the kitchen and started the coffee maker, and took my morning BP pill. I survived and had no bad effects, but that was scary.

My elderly father does the same thing. We found a clock at Amazon that only gives the part of the day it is.

For example, it says "Now it's Saturday Morning" or "Now it's Monday Night". Nice and simple. It helped him tremendously since he was taking his meds at the wrong time.

 

[Walt34]

"The Alien From Beneath The Bed"

When I was little I just KNEW one of those was under my bed!

 

[Derslickmeister]

Yep, this happened to me just the other day. I could have swore I was wide awake running many thoughts through my mind but a couple of hours had passed in what seem like a couple of minutes. I guess my getting up at 4:15a.m. routine is wearing me down...

 

[scrabbler1]

I don't sleep well any more, so I find myself getting sleepy at unusual times. Sometimes, I lay down for what I intended to be a few minutes only to end up napping for 30, 45, even 60 minutes. Not that I had to be anywhere, I'm retired!

 

[bizlady]

My elderly father does the same thing. We found a clock at Amazon that only gives the part of the day it is.

For example, it says "Now it's Saturday Morning" or "Now it's Monday Night". Nice and simple. It helped him tremendously since he was taking his meds at the wrong time.

Can you share the brand and model of your clock? This might be good for MIL who has dementia.

 

[kcowan]

I sleep nominally from 11 pm until 5:30 am. Everything else is catnaps. If some activity makes the catnaps impractical, I get really sleepy around 10 pm. one thing is that I never obsess about how much I am sleeping.

 

[W2R]

I don't sleep well any more, so I find myself getting sleepy at unusual times. Sometimes, I lay down for what I intended to be a few minutes only to end up napping for 30, 45, even 60 minutes. Not that I had to be anywhere, I'm retired!

This is so true. Being retired takes all the pressure off. If we don't get enough sleep during "normal" hours, we can nap later on. That is one of my favorite things about retirement.