Sleep deprivation! How do you react to it?

[Vegosiux]

First, I get cranky and easily aggravated, yet strangely alert and focused, basically a case of hyper awareness. Then, I start forgetting things and getting migraines. Then, I start to not notice the passage of time, if I'm lucky that happens because I actually fall asleep for short periods without realizing it. Then, I begin to hallucinate.

My longest sleep deprivation period lasted 74 hours, which came due to a combination of stress and a bad case of insomnia. I don't remember how I fell asleep afterwards, but I slept for 22 hours and was completely out of focus for another day afterwards.

 

[EeveeElectro]

For the past week I've been pretty badly sleep deprived due to a full week of waking up at 5:45 which I'm not used to.
It makes me a bit weird, I'll be quite chirpy. I actually feel less tired on 3/4 hours than I do on 7/8.
I struggle to sleep if I know I'm up early and I start getting really bad panic attacks when I get sleep deprived. I usually sleep during the day too which doesn't help.

 

[Lieju]

I do not deal well with sleep deprivation.

I get horrible headaches, and nausea if I haven't slept well.
I got a ferret last summer, and first few weeks with her were hell, as she didn't let me sleep, I was a wreck.
But once she got used to my schedule and I got used to the noises she makes during the night we started getting along fine.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Can't deal with it.

I've never had problems sleeping, and I can sleep nearly anywhere. I don't sleep a lot, during the week I get about 6-7 hours a day, but I need that sleep.

Every time I pull an all nighter, I'm totally fucked the next day.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I'm too old and have too many nagging health issues to lose sleep. It absolutely destroys me.

A couple months ago I started taking 5mg of Melatonin every night before bed. Since then I've failed to fall asleep immediately and sleep through the night exactly once, and it's because a fucking bird as loud as an air raid siren decided to sing right outside my window.

It is worth noting that you never really "make up" for sleep debt. It just accrues over the years and you gradually feel more and more fatigued.

 

[MiskWisk]

I'm able to ignore it as long I have got something to do. As soon as I have free time and not enough sleep, I can be out like a light.

It's quite funny really, now that people know I haven't just died on them anyway.

Captcha: boiled cabbage
That doesn't help.

 

[Da Orky Man]

Sleep deprivation. It's one hell of a drug.

I find the best way to fix an abysmal sleep pattern is to pull an all nighter and go to bed at a reasonable time the next day.

This. If my sleep schedule has gone to hell, the easiest way is to do a hard reset. Stay up all night, all day, then get a good night's sleep.
On the other hand, my brain is weird in that, if I have more than 6.5 hours of sleep in a night, I feel rather sleepy the next day. If I sleep about 4-5 hours, I feel fine. Yeah, I don't understand it either.

 

[The]

If I don't get enough sleep, I'm a bit slow for the first few morning hours, but by the afternoon, I'm chugging like a train! So each time I try to go to sleep earlier, I've got too much energy.

 

[Beffudled Sheep_v1legacy]

One of my more common sayings is "Sleep? Pffft that shits for pussies."
In case that sentence isn't enough to get my point across I'll lay it out plainly. I don't sleep often or very well. I probably get an average of 3 hours a night with many days and nights having me go completely without sleep.

I coped with it by giving myself something productive to do and work overnight shifts at my job

Sometimes though when it gets bad, like 4 days without, I'm just a mess. Ornery, shorter temper than usual (and I normally have a hair trigger temper) and unstoppable sex drive and amazing performance.

After that 4th day I start to hallucinate and have waking nightmares. At that point I take a fistful of strong sleeping pills and pray for sleep.

But I can go 3 days without sleep with no adverse effects usually.
Except for extreme boredom cuz I have little to do.

 

[wintercoat]

I love sleep deprivation. After the first 28-32 hours are over with, the muscle fatigue goes away for me, as do most of the other side effects. I still yawn constantly though, which makes my jaw sore. But other than that, I suffer very few negative effects of sleep deprivation like most other people. Unless you count minor adio and visual hallucinations as a downside, which I do not. It's like being high, only cheaper.

I can go for almost a week before headaches, eye strain, and cramps start to set in. The only downside to staying awake for extended periods of time is the trouble I have sleeping afterwards. I end up only being able to stay asleep for a couple hours before I'm up for the day, and this lasts about a week and a half. Well, except for the first time going back to sleep, where I'll sleep for about 20-25 hours straight. But after that one good sleep, I have trouble falling and staying asleep.

 

[Amir Kondori]

I hate it when I have trouble sleeping but have to wake up for work. Basically I a am a cranky asshole at work that day and just have enough concentration to work on one thing at a time.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Acute sleep deprivation doesn't bother me all that much. In fact it can be kind of pleasant, like the kind of buzz you get after a few beers. Chronic sleep deprivation, on the other hand, is hell on earth. Imagine being hung over, forever. That's chronic sleep deprivation.

 

[DanielBrown]

Nothing I can do. I've been constantly tired(I mean constantly) for the past three years. Most probably tied to the fact that I haven't done shit during the days in that time. Always sitting on my ass. Doesn't matter how much or little I sleep.
Evil circle too since I'm also too tired to go out and do something. Have tried working out, but it's the same thing there.
Went to the doctors half a year ago to have myself checked out. They quickly derailed it and checked for diabetes, liver failure and heart conditions. Found nothing and never bothered to call me back.

Captcha: never give up
Heh, not often I get relevant ones.

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

How do I react to it?

I go driving on the sidewalk. I find that it perks me right up, almost immediately. Not to mention the poor, unsuspecting fuckers that will eventually meet me in the process.

I then go home and sleep soundly and peacefully. Quite unlike the people I met that day. >.>

 

[thesilentman]

Me? Not really affected by it. The most I get is that my head feels stuffy later in the day. I DID stay up on a flight from DC to India though, so I'm not the best one to ask. =P

 

[triggrhappy94]

I can't normally get through a night without feeling like I'm hearing things.
I mean like bumps that definitely sound like a crazed murderer hiding in the dark ready to stab me.

 

[Kennetic]

I can deal with it considering that being in the Army forces you to deal with it. Stay occupied and it doesn't bother me too much but inactivity will find me dozing off here and there. On a side note: all of you who don't get sufficient sleep will age faster and die earlier. Have fun with that.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Being young, sleep deprivation really doesn't bother me all that much. I can easily work with just 3 hours of sleep. I get my sleep where I can, and I usually get about 10 hours of sleep on the weekends, but on days when I can only get 4 or 5 hours of sleep my lack of sleep doesn't really bother me.

Hell, a couple of weeks ago I stayed up until 4 in the morning drinking and playing games with some friends, got 3 hours of sleep, then spent the next day at an amusement park, all day, and had to drive 2 hours home. Felt completely fine when I got back.

 

[Strazdas]

you were just trlling with a mate, nothing too big about that. i do that when im awake too.

As fr sleep depravation. how d i react? i dont. sleep is a mandatory punishment for having meat for your body, being forced to be locked in bed doing nothing for 8 hours every day. If it is less or more i usually end up feeling like a zombie. (yes if i sleep more i end up feeling liek shit too). I awlays wake up at 5:30 AM. always, regardless of day of the week. If i have to g to sleep later due to some reason, i get less sleep. because fuck beign healthy. nobody gt time for that. If its a case of like being home at 4 AM its nto worth going to sleep to begin with for 1,5 hours. so i skip sleep that night completely. i ot the luxury of being 24 so my boy can endure a night without sleep without resulting in a coma, which is good enough.

Capcha: baby steps. yeah....