How do you feel when you miss out on a lot of sleep?

I never let it get that far. You just miss him so much you can’t sleep? I can’t imagine you’ll go much longer without conking out.

Nope, no conking for me. I turn into a complete insomniac when he’s gone. 8 years ago, he had to go work in California for 9 months. The only time I got decent sleep was when he got to come home for two weeks every other month, or when I flew out to visit him. I was a zombie that entire time, and my poor mother tried to help out by keeping my daughter overnight every Tuesday so I could take some sleeping pills and not worry about my daughter needing me in the middle of the night. I freakin’ hate it when he’s gone.

I feel vague and edgy if I don’t get enough sleep. If it goes on too long I sort of feel a bit disconnected from the world. Sort of like I am awake but not totally. Sometimes it makes me feel nauseous and sick too.

It makes me nervous to drive if I don’t sleep.

I’ve had a lot of sleepless nights for years, and days I had to go through with not much sleep in my body. It’s a bit odd, because at first, I like get this energy kick. I get all motivated about my day, even though I feel like shit and my eyes are itchy. Eventually it just droops and I try my best to go through everything.
I’m not cranky throughout the day, but I am either distant, (even more so than usual XD) or I laugh at everything. Usually I just can’t wait to sleep again, whether I’m busy or could go to sleep right now. (I’m always afraid I won’t be able to sleep though, no matter how tired I am) I’m pretty sure I have bad sleeping problems, although beer can do wonders for that lol.
There seems to be some weird sense that kicks in though, I guess whatever energy my body can give me, that makes me act and see things slightly differently. My thoughts end up kind of distorted and wild, and sometimes it makes me feel anxious or worried, OR hyper and happy for no real reason, although those last two don’t last very long.
I’ve also had auditory hallucinations from not sleeping enough, and I even passed out at work once. That was odd. Doesn’t happen much now because of all the drinking. Sometimes I wonder if the only reason I ever took it up was so I could get some damn sleep lol. Been drinking way less lately though, and I actually DO fall asleep. Which is odd, since I was informed that quitting drinking can fuck your sleep up real bad. :/

No anger or frustration much when going on without much sleep, just blitzstorms in my brain and slight malfunctioning motor skills.
But when I’m trying to sleep and I can’t, don’t cross my path. It’s this whole battle I always fucking loose. Try not to think of anything, besides how comfortable the bed is. Try counting sheep. Seriously. That actually worked a few times, even though most sheep never make the jump…but mostly, the sheep turn into refrigerators that jump over laughing shotgun mushrooms, and everything turns into complex yet braindead thinking and I just can’t sleep. Memories, movies, clothes, incidents, shit I’ve read, anything. Like a slideshow with a Q&A that won’t end. It’s really fucking bullshit when you went to bed six hours ago, and then, the light of dawn pops in your window. Then I get pissed off and throw things, hit walls, bang my head with my fists hoping to exhaust myself, and throw my pillows across the bedroom. I never mean to harm my pillows…
I realize I should probably see a doctor about this, but I didn’t then, so I’m probably never going to now, since the sleep problems haven’t been pestering me so much lately.

@WillWorkForChocolate I have a feeling that you probably didn’t watch King of Queens but I thought the show was hilarious. I didn’t watch it when it was on but became a fan watching it in syndication.

There’s a funny episode where Carrie has to work very late every night and Doug can’t get sleep without her, or at least someone, it turns out, in bed beside him. He manages to finally get some sleep when he and his father-in-law end up watching television together in bed and fall asleep. After that Doug goes to elaborate lengths to get his father-in-law to sleep in the bed just so he can get some sleep.

If you haven’t seen the show or don’t like that sort of thing you will probably think it’s stupid but here’s the episode on youtube in case you want to watch it.

I was never a good sleeper and it has not improved with age. I seem to wake up every 2 hours no matter how tired I am or what time I go to bed or get up. But it doesn’t seem to affect the way I function, I don’t feel any different. The odd thing is, and this has always been true, as soon as I get into the car, I pass out. Well if I am driving I stay awake but if I am the passenger, I am out cold after about 5 minutes. My husband always tells people that I have slept through more of Australia than most people ever see. He is not a good sleeper either so it makes no difference whether we are together or apart. Maybe you should get one of those body sized pillows and snuggle up with that, or how about a blow up doll? :-)

I’ve had insomnia my whole life. The absolute earliest I could ever go to sleep was 1AM, and that was rare. I was often still awake at 3 or even 4AM, needing to get up at 6AM. For a long time, I was perfectly fine with that little sleep. It turned out I had hyper thyroid, so that made sense. I had a flippin’ ton of energy! How I miss those days. After that, though, my thyroid died and I was hypo. Still couldn’t sleep at night, and that suuuucked. I had to go to school or work or take care of my children, so I muddled through for years in that sleep-deprived state. I still functioned relatively well, but I was always on the edge of panic. Then I got fibromyalgia. Sleep is super important in controlling my symptoms, so I was in a lot of pain pretty much all the time. Anxious and grouchy and panic attack-y, too.

Now that I have no compelling reason to get up early, I’ve let my body do what it wants. As it turns out, I don’t really have insomnia… I’m just nocturnal! I’m writing this at about 5:15AM, east coast time, and I won’t go to bed for a few hours yet. I won’t have any trouble sleeping, because it’s the right time for me to sleep. Problem solved! Well, mostly. Several times a week I need to get up ‘early’ (like 1 or 2 in the afternoon instead of early evening) to spend time with my children or to take care of business matters during business hours. Those days are hard on my body, and I end up anxious and stressed and in pain if I have too many of them, too close together. Then, as soon as I can reasonably do it, I’ll sleep for 14 or 15 hours straight. All is right in the world when that happens.

I hope you can get some sleep soon, girlie, and that when your husband gets back you can have a 14 hour sleep!

Zzzzzzzzzzz!!

Be careful taking Xanax. It’s highly addictive.

That’s pretty much my normal state.

Like I’m hungover. Grainy eyes.

I know you don’t want anyone to bitch at you, BUT, I’m going to give you motherly advice out of sincere concern and caring for you. Do not take Xanax and drink alcohol. Please. I’m glad @jca mentioned how addictive Xanax is. It is dangerous, @WillWorkForChocolate.

All of my life, I’ve needed a full night’s sleep. When my internal clock says it is bedtime and I’m doing something and not able to go to bed, I become an instant bitch and whiny. One night without my proper sleep and I feel like a zombie the next day. I get that medicine head feeling, sand in my eyes and cranky.

Sleep deprivation and alcohol are a bad combination. Sleep deprivation can cause depression and depression-like symptoms. Coupling this with alcohol, which is a depressant, may make everything seem a lot worse than it really is.

It creates a Catch-22 type situation because alcohol alters your neurological sleep patterns and prevents you from getting the proper sleep that is required for feeling rested and allows you to function at full capacity the next day. If you don’t get the sleep your body needs and you then drink and use a Xanax to try to sleep, the drugs prevent you from getting the proper REM sleep and you start the cycle all over again the next day when you wake not feeling rested.

When you get your daughter to bed, dim the lights, put on some relaxing music, take a nice warm bath, get into bed, telephone (or better yet, Skype or webcam) your husband, have phone sex and talk to him until you fall asleep.

Cranky and slightly out of phase with reality. Until I’m really tired, which is when I start getting punchy, and everything is hilarious.

I just feel crappy all over and my motivation goes down the toilet.
I am coming out of a 2 week stint of not getting enough sleep right now and actually just woke up from a blissful, much needed, 9 hour sleep. Feelin’ groovy again.

I’m not really sure how I feel when I don’t miss out on any sleep.

I become hyper and don’t notice the lack of sleep at all… I’ve stayed up for more than 3 days straight and I must say, it was the most unusual feeling.

I take xanax when I fly or have major dental work because I do not like either. But wowow that xanax is great stuff, a couple of hits of that and I am so mellow you can pull my teeth out without novacain!

@lillycoyote

That was a great episode of KoQ, because for me Arthur was usually so annoying. :-)

For @bkcunningham and @jca No worries here about the addictiveness of the Xanax, so don’t panic. It doesn’t seem to affect me that way. I’ve had the prescription for almost a year, I think, and no addiction. I can take it or not take it, just depending on whether or not I feel like I need it. Seriously you sweet sweet people, no worries. At least not for me.

Also, alcohol and Xanax do nothing to me, other than make me sleep more deeply for a few hours. Trust me, I really know my body’s limits these days and I wouldn’t do anything that felt risky. It usually works when I truly need a heavy sleep, but with my hubby gone, even that combination did nothing for me.

<cry>

My brain starts to feel like I’m on drugs, I can’t judge speeds correctly, my eyeballs itch and burn like crazy and eventually I just start staring at walls. My record for no sleep is 4 days.

I’m like @MilkyWay, I get hyper and actually happier. The more sleep I get the more depressed and unmotivated I feel. Although getting little sleep makes me feel crappy for the first few hours after waking, I feel much better the rest of the day.