DentrassiGOLD Member
ZORT!
3,045 posts
Location: Brisbane, Australia


Posted:
how do others handle sleep deprivation? i handed in my final thesis plus other side projects yesterday morning, and have been able to reflect on my extensive sleep deprivation over the past three months.

ive worked out theres two components -
1. how you body handles it
2. how your minds handles it.

lets start with the body. when i work through the entire night with any sleep, the worst thing is how your digestive and food cycle gets completely screwed up. i snack during the night, but too much food makes me feel nauseous in the morning.
i have worked out that the type of food and drink consumption is critical. for previous all nighters - i survived on a steady stream of coffee, and cheese on toast. ive tryed switching the coffee for tea, ive tryed eating chips, junkfood and drinking coke.

for the 3 nites before i handed my thesis in, i was at uni and deprived of coffee and food supplies at night. i found that eating normally during the day, then having a massive pasta/rice dinner to pick at until midnight, then eating nothing till breakfast, was the best system. if i had a big dinner then topped up occaisonally, i didnt need to snack during the night. i hardly felt nauseous at all in the morning. additionally, i drank no tea or coffee - only water.

then theres the mental function. i found that i am more mentally alert and have greater endurance without caffiene - and thats in 3 days and nites without sleep. when i was so tired that i couldnt focus on the screen, i had a 10 minute power nap, and then i was fine again.

so, after 5 years of uni, ive worked out, that coffee and tea dont actually help me stay awake, and make me feel worse in the morning. caffiene can help me wake up in the morning, but its a short term solution. if staying up late its better to survive on small amounts of simple food and water.

what are everyone elses habits?

"Here kitty kitty...." - Schroedinger.


fNiGOLD Member
master of disaster
3,354 posts
Location: New York, USA


Posted:
i'll tell you when i'm back in the habit in a month....only 1 mo. till i'm back...can't wait for the self-inflicted sleep deprivation to begin biggrin

kyrian: I've felt your finger connect with me many times
lou kitten: sneaky little meatball..
ezz: please corrupt me more


Bender_the_OffenderGOLD Member
still can't believe it's not butter
6,978 posts
Location: Melbourne, Australia


Posted:
youse can'ts spend whats youse dun got. smile

Laugh Often, Smile Much, Post lolcats Always


MikeGinnyGOLD Member
HOP Mad Doctor
13,925 posts
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA


Posted:
Oh, I'm a PRO (literally) at sleep deprivation.

Um...coffee, bright light, and whatever you do, don't eat (unless it's chocolate).

-Mike

Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella



A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura


PukSILVER Member
Sweet talented nutter
2,615 posts
Location: Brisbane Oz, Australia


Posted:
Okay im a pro at handeling strange shifts .

A: make sure you have 8 hours sleep
B: keep some sort of routine
C:Still exercise
D: don't eat large meals either

E:being careful cause caffine (im guilty of haveing 7 cups a day at times) , But also guilty of working 80 to 90 hours in a week as well

can be addictive

that shrewd and knavish sprite

Called Robin Good Fellow ; are you not he that is frighten of the maidens of the villagery - fairy

I am the merry wander of the night -puk


(Sole)Sparkfixerupera of strangness maximus
147 posts
Location: Brisbane, Australia


Posted:
90 hours a week holy crap eek
heres me doin 58 and being buggered on set times
mabe i eat to many chicken burgers at smokeo ubblol

yay up to 5 beat weave only 4 more to get to 9 :P


GnorBRONZE Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
5,814 posts
Location: Perth, Australia


Posted:
Used to do OK on the all night study and assignments at Uni.
Whats been much harder is the constant broken sleep that has come with three small ones.

Been waking at least twice a night for 10 years and I am still not used to it.

Now that I am used to it I find I cannot sleep a full night even when I get a chance....

Is it the Truth?
Is it Fair to all concerned?
Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?

Im in a lonely battle with the world with a fish to match the chip on my shoulder. Gnu in Binnu in a cnu


MikeGinnyGOLD Member
HOP Mad Doctor
13,925 posts
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA


Posted:
90 hour weeks are standard if you're in the medical field. As are 36 hour shifts. It's 5:30 AM and I'm in the Emergency room right now. *shrug*

-Mike

Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella



A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura


vanizeSILVER Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,899 posts
Location: Austin, Texas, USA


Posted:
my experience is similar to yours Dentrassi. I found that, while writing my dissertation, caffine was often times more harmful to my ability to work. I spent more than 3 months in a manic state rarely getting more than 2 or 3 hours of sleep in any given 24 hour period. I would sit behind my computer writing and writing and making figures and what all until I caught myself just staring blankly at the screen for an unknown time period. at this point, I would go to my roomand sleep for an hour, then get back up, review my previous work (often astonished at how much I wrote without any recollection of having done so) and then keep going again till the next time I found it completely impossible to continue working. Usually I would get in about 12 hours work for every hour or 2 I slept. I was never really awake, and rarely sleeping in a real way - just that hard as a rock fashion without dreams where an hour of sleep feels like 20 seconds.



I was constantly in this one-track, semi-hallucinating state of mind and a type of mania manifested. Caffine only distracted from it. My concentration and working stamina did benifit a fair amount from an ADD drug that a young poi spinning associate of mine gave me a few of though (it wasn't ritalin, but I can't remember the name right now). Things were really nuts there for a while. I now understand workaholism - it's not for me, but I understand it now.



In the end, that season of sleep deprivation took its toll - I recieved my first gray hairs and mild vetiligo (patches of skin depigmentation - kind of like gray hair for skin I guess) as a result. I now consider these things part of the dues I had to pay to become Dr. Vanize, but I was certainly very unhappy about both in the beginning.

-v-

Wiederstand ist Zwecklos!


VixenSILVER Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,276 posts
Location: Oxfordshire/Wiltshire, United Kingdom


Posted:
The worst thing is when you pull of an all nighter and your just 2 tired 2 do anything - you may aswell just go to bed and get up earlier when your all refreshed. The first thing to go for me is my eyesight, my eyes start to spin and i cant focus. xxx

tHeReS gOoD aNd EvIl iN EaCh InDiViDuAl fIrE, iDeNtIfIeS nEeDs AnD fEeDs OuR dEsIrEs.


(Sole)Sparkfixerupera of strangness maximus
147 posts
Location: Brisbane, Australia


Posted:
so true my eyes go like that and they dry up and if i close my eyes they sting for abit and produce tears but it will only help for about 3 seconds then colour disapears again ubbloco very werid seeing everything in grays ubblol

yay up to 5 beat weave only 4 more to get to 9 :P


OrangeBoboSILVER Member
veteran
1,389 posts
Location: Guelph, ON, Canada


Posted:
Music and noise is a key factor for me. Also, like Lightning said, bright light. And for me, insence helps me concentrate like mad. And always need something to drink near by, keeping the fluids coming in.

Clicky pens for when I'm concentrating, or have completely zoned out.

Never work/study in bed, it'll make you want to sleep. I also find that just not being in my house helps a lot, because I don't feel like there's a million things that I have todo. Thenagain, an open library or lab at 4am might be kinda hard to find, I guess.

~ Bobo

wie weit, wie weit noch?
fragst mich, wo wir gewesen sind...
du fehlst hier


margitaSILVER Member
.:*distracted by shiny things*:.
3,777 posts
Location: brizvegas, Australia


Posted:
sleep depravation is fun! you see such pretty colours!!!

sorry - been looking at my quote list again & had to throw that in!! ubblol

do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and good to eat!



if at first you do succeed, try not to look too astonished!



smile! :grin: it confuses people!


vanizeSILVER Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,899 posts
Location: Austin, Texas, USA


Posted:
I'm convinced that resting the eyes is a good 70% of the reason why humans have to sleep so long.

-v-

Wiederstand ist Zwecklos!


vanizeSILVER Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,899 posts
Location: Austin, Texas, USA


Posted:
Written by: OrangeBobo


Never work/study in bed, it'll make you want to sleep.
~ Bobo




Actually, I do this all the time - precisely so I can get to sleep!

-v-

Wiederstand ist Zwecklos!


roarfireSILVER Member
comfortably numb
2,676 posts
Location: The countryside, Australia


Posted:
I am the only one I know who doesn't have sleep deprivation.

All of my friends are insomniacs, all to varying degrees - some severe, some not so.

It makes me feel lucky that I sleep well everynight. Given the chance, I'd sleep for weeks.

If anything my problem is that I sleep too much.

.All things are beautiful if we take the time to look.


ado-pGOLD Member
Pirate Ninja
3,882 posts
Location: Galway/Ireland


Posted:
its all habit,



when i was a bartender doing 60-70 a week (not including partying) I never got regular sleep. In the summer I never saw the moon and in the winter i never saw the sun. I even inverted my sarcadion (no idea how to spell that) rythym.



Later when I got an office job i couldn't get to sleep with out the light on. I thinks its also made me photo sensitive. (all you nightowls know what I mean)



sleep, or the lack of it can really mess with you head. much respect to the scandinavians.



I agree about the coffee too. temporary fix and not worth the come down. Water all the way and nothing else works for me.



and power napping, im all about the naps, the trick is to go pro active as soon as you get up.
EDITED_BY: ado-p (1090501635)

Love is the law.


FabergéGOLD Member
veteran
1,459 posts
Location: Dublin, Ireland


Posted:
hooray for power naps!! they're the way forward!

i'm a bit of a night-owl and that goes hand in hand with bouts of insomnia.

i feel like i could sleep for ireland right now, but by the time i get home i'll be wide awake with the whacky wake-up club! i get a lovely 25 min power nap on the bus home each evening. would be lost without it. the humming of the engine just sends me off to the land of nod.

so yeah, i've got the art of power-napping down to a T. and i don't even drool or snore in public any more biggrin ubbloco biggrin

My mind not only wanders, it sometimes leaves completely smile


EeraBRONZE Member
old hand
1,107 posts
Location: In a test pit, Mackay, Australia


Posted:
I once drove from London to Morocco and was hallucinating by the time I got to Spain; there was a service station in the middle of repairs and I was absolutely convinced it was Tony Robinson and the Time team doing it. My co-driver grabbed the steering wheel at one point to "avoid the bloody great crocodile in the middle of the road."

For the record we had a mechanic who bought 4 oz of resin, smoked the lot in 2 weeks and when we broke down decided that it was because the engine was full of goats.

I'm crap with no sleep; I become bitch queen from hell at 10 each night as it is. No answers.

There is a slight possibility that I am not actually right all of the time.


MikeGinnyGOLD Member
HOP Mad Doctor
13,925 posts
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA


Posted:
Ok, reasons I'm glad I don't drive in Europe. ubblol

I just made a mistake. I ate something other than chocolate and I'm lying on the floor.

Idiot I am. :rolleyes:

-Mike

Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella



A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura


_Aimée_SILVER Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
4,172 posts
Location: Hastings, United Kingdom


Posted:
Im miss.crabby pants without any sleep. I neeeed my sleep. I think its to do with my school routine. I'm set to wake up at 7 and go to sleep at 10. If i don't get my set amount of sleep then i really get nasty.
I remember when i got back from NY i slept for 18 hours sraight.

WryTerraThe reason we say "European"
912 posts
Location: Cheltenham


Posted:
Darn was just typing up a post and lost it, anyway, I'll start again.

So my experience with sleep deprivation is quite extensive. I've been an insomniac all my life flip flopping between long periods of next to no sleep and crashing. At uni I had a 36 hour up 12 hour down cycle going which averaged out at 6 hours per 24 sure but it was an odd way of doing it and got me used to the tale end of sleep dep.

My record is four and a half days of no sleep at all. I hear people already saying "but 72 hours is around the halucination deadline" and yes, yes it is. It's Quix's comedy story time again.

It was quite recently my record breaker, on a long weekend to London. I didn't MEAN to stay up so long but I was clubbing a lot and partying at a friend's flat warming and I just didn't get a chance to get downtime. At first quite a few people were keeping up with me, then fewer (and most of them powered by speed btw which I do NOT condone and do NOT do myself) and then it was just me that had had no sleep.

In the end it came down to me sat in Slimelight at around half past four in the morning and I was halucinating very badly. This was nearing the end of my fourth day or the very start of my fifth depending on how you want to look at it.

I'm sat on the side of the dance floor whilst my friend enjoys the music and dances her rear end off when I suddenly get the most absolute conviction that my hat is too tight and too hot, I can feel it digging into my forehead and I can feel the wool lining of it causing me to sweat a lot. So I reach up to take it off.

I don't own a hat.

I wasn't wearing one either.

This prompted me to send a text message to a friend (who was tucked up in bed at the time) that simply read "I have no hat, why?"

After the hat incident I'm sat playing with my lighter, the way people play with lighters. I'm turning it over in my hands, flicking it, sparking it, admiring the pretty flame. After 20 minutes or so of playing with it I raise it to light the cigarette in my lips.

No cigarette. Come to think of it, no lighter.

More lovely halucinations.

Right then I suddenly realise I'm seeing double.

Now if anyone's been to slimelight they can imagine just what a fun experience it is to be halucinating that strongly surrounded by people dressed that outrageously.

When I finally got back from the club (which closes at 7am) I crashed.

So how do I cope with sleep deprivation? Very well, up to a point. After that point things are just very, very amusing. Though perhaps a bit scary at the time.

"We have done the impossible and that makes us mighty" - Mal Reynolds

"I can't tell the difference between an electron and a cat" - Brother of a friend


pounceSILVER Member
All the neurotic makings of America's lesser known sweetheart
9,831 posts
Location: body in Las Vegas, heart all around the world, USA


Posted:
i can't cope anymore. i fall asleep in the middle of whatever i'm doing. i've found i truly need a decent night's sleep or else i just can't work. i think grad school is what killed it for me. and i don't drink caffeine whatsoever. gave it up like 8 years ago.

I was always scared with my mother's obsession with the good scissors. It made me wonder if there were evil scissors lurking in the house somewhere.

Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.

**giggles**



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