Polyphasic Sleep

Step 10 2007-09-01 to 2007-09-03

Core: I had no trouble staying up until 2, when I planned to start the core sleep. This is likely because I had slept so much yesterday. I awoke at the alarm at 6 but did not immediately get up, and of course I fell back asleep again. I awoke naturally at 8:30 and got up & showered. I ate half a grapefruit and some Thai curry around 9:30. I'll skip the 10 AM nap and continue with the rest. Note to self: get up immediately...

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After three days, during which I did lots of Activities, I was able to stay on this core sleep plan without very much difficulty. I'm not sleepy most of the time, and while it's still difficult to get up at 6, it doesn't seem any MORE difficult than getting up at 8 was when I'd gone to bed at 2 and taken no naps. I'll write a couple more steps over the next week, as I don't yet feel I am fully settled into this pattern, and if/when I decide to move the core sleep closer to 3AM, I will write about that.

I have been eating and exercising somewhat better this past week than I normally do. I believe this is partly due to sleep deprivation - it seems that my body can only put up with so much crap from me and then it takes a stand. So the lack of sleep I was forcing upon it made it absolutely refuse to, for example, drink a full can of Coke. I haven't had more than half a can at a time since August 25 or so, and I doubt I've had more than about 4 cans overall since then. I'm eating less meat and more fruit, as well. Another part of this is that I've been going grocery shopping in the middle of the night - I have had time to do this where before I tended to skip grocery shopping. So I have reasonably healthy food Around when I am ready to eat.

The greater amount of exercise I'm doing is, I believe, simply an effort to wake myself up. It's mild: I've gone for a couple of walks and bike rides - I haven't been running marathons or anything! - and Matt & I played tennis this morning. Normally biking to work is all I do, and nothing on weekends. So I can't count this as a direct polyphasic sleep benefit, but perhaps it's an indirect one, like the grocery shopping. We'll see if it lasts.

Comments

[mollypierucci]

i have been trying to find some info for you, as i am deeply ensconced in your situation. this is some of what i found: (webmd) 'Tremor is an involuntary shaking movement that is repeated over and over. Although it may affect any part of the body, tremor most often affects the hands and head. Occasionally the feet or torso may also shake. Essential tremor, which sometimes runs in families, is one of the most common types of tremor. It is shaking that is most noticeable when you are doing something like lifting a cup or pointing at an object. The shaking does not occur when you are not moving. Your head and voice may also shake. Medication can help reduce the shaking. Brain surgery can be helpful in some cases. Tremors can also be caused by conditions or medications that affect the nervous system, including Parkinson's disease, liver failure, alcoholism, mercury or arsenic poisoning, lithium, and certain antidepressants. If you notice a tremor, observe it carefully and note what seems to make it better or worse before calling your health professional. If a cause is discovered, the disease will be treated rather than the tremor.' i am a little concerned that this experiment may have brought to light an underlying condition that you may have. with that said, my personal experience with shakiness after sleep deprivation has been that it was mostly associated with a general overall weakness of my body, which was most likely due to poor diet caused by the lack of sleep. as i said before, i became extremely anemic, and still am, because i dont like mad cow or bird flu- you need to be especially careful to ensure that you are getting the proper amounts of fiber, carbohydrates, etc-- don't rely on multivitamins, make sure you are getting adequate nutrition from 'real food' to give your body the strength it most definatley needs in this time of stress. i say 'stress' because you are causing major stress to your body with this experiment. i hope the shaking has gone away by now, but if not, please take these suggestions into consideration, and see if a good old protein shake or smoothie once or twice a day helps a little. until next time!

[rachel]

Thanks for the info! I'm pretty sure it's not tremor as you quoted here; it's more like what you describe as a general overall weakness. Thankfully, I am hardly having it at all now that I'm doing a core sleep. I think it was simply one of the ways my body responded to sleep deprivation.

[phillipeb]

A couple of things about sleep deprivations and the body. You bodies metabolic rate can drop as much as 11 percent in 24 hour period of time due to sleep deprivation which is probably why you have been cold. Also sleep deprivation can cause your insilin levels to become unstable thus requirering more meals more often even if portion size is small. Because of this the body has a decreased capacity to turn sugar into energy converting it into fat stores instead. I remember one star trek the next generation where beverly crusher explained one of the possible side effect if sleep deprivation was tremors but i cant recall why.

[Danbo666]

Hang in there! I concour with IvanJM (comment below), half the battle is convincing your subconscious that you know best. Might I suggest a louder alarm and that you place it on the opposite side of the room so that you have to walk over to it to turn it off, this never fails for me at least. Good luck and hope it works out for you, Dan.

[IvanJM]

Try not to skip, even if overslept. Half the goal is the schedule, as well as the amount of sleep. Even if your just lying down for 20 minutes with your eyes closed. If your subconscious doesn't learn that you expect to sleep for only short periods 5 times a day, it will keep trying to get what it needs from your core, and you will keep over sleeping during your core. Don't break the schedule. If you can't lie down because your traveling, and even if you can't sleep sitting up, close your eyes and rest so that your subconscious learns just how important t his is to your conscious.