Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4

Original poster

to ask how many hours you sleep/would like to sleep per night?

99 replies

bringincrazyback · 23/02/2019 20:19

Posting in here for traffic. I suffer from chronic fatigue, which in turn is partly caused by a sleep disorder I've had all my life, and am trying to get a handle on how much sleep other people manage most nights, and how much they'd ideally want/need to sleep in order to feel properly refreshed the next day.

I'm not a journalist/researcher BTW (I have a solid posting history on here) - I'm just really curious about this as my fatigue issues have been impacting my life quite severely of late, and I'm trying to get a handle on how 'out of kilter' I am, so to speak, compared to other people. I do realise a lot of this is conditioned by whether or not people have small kids/tricky working hours but I'm interested to hear how I 'compare' anyway... thanks in advance.

OP posts:

DailyMailFail101 · 23/02/2019 22:02

8 hours of broken sleep I don’t get more than two hours straight, the children have me up at least once each too. I would like about 10 hours to catch up for a few weeks then an average of 9 hours would suffice.

Aroundtheworldandback · 23/02/2019 22:06

Was hardly sleeping due to menopause but have now got my medications (no sleeping pills) just right so I sleep 7 hours which is frankly bliss.

MitziK · 23/02/2019 22:12

I would sell my soul pay good money to be able to sleep from 11pm to 7am and wake up refreshed each morning. Or 10pm/6am.

Searching for the soul selling section of EBay usually comes to mind at around 4.47am on a work day.

RoseMartha · 23/02/2019 22:14

Good nights I get 5-6. I would like about 7.5.
On bad night with kids I get 0-3.

Girlicorne · 23/02/2019 22:14

Between 4 and 5 hours Sunday to. Thursday then 8-10 Friday and Saturday. it works for me but I do start to feel ill if I don't catch up over the weekend! I also don't work school holidays so get 8-10 hours a night then too. I know my week night sleep isnt enough but feel I can balance it weekends and holidays.

Gooseygoosey12345 · 23/02/2019 22:25

I get about 7 in all, usually broken due to DS stirring and me being a light sleeper now. I need about 10 to feel my best but that's due to health issues and I never get that much. DH only sleeps about 5-6hrs and feels great after that.

Original poster

bringincrazyback · 23/02/2019 22:53

Interesting responses, and I'm glad it's not just me who would sleep 10 hours a night in an ideal world. lol The question was prompted by the fact that I'm on holiday this week, have slept about 9-10 hours most nights, and my fatigue symptoms haven't reared their heads once. I don't know many people who need as much as sleep as me!

Just wish I could get a little more sleep during a work week than I typically do, I average about 6 hours which really doesn't allow me to keep the fatigue under control. An added complication is that I suffer from delayed sleep phase syndrome, which basically means I find it very difficult to fall asleep any earlier than 1 a.m., and without taking amitriptyline, which I'm prescribed as a sleep aid, I can easily go right through to about 6 a.m. with no sleep regardless how exhausted I am. I don't have kids, but I often joke that the sleep issues make me feel as if I do.

Sympathies to those who are getting little or no sleep, for whatever reason. It's so completely debilitating.

There's an excellent book called " Why we sleep"

@EducatingArti I'm so glad you mentioned this, it reminded me that I have it on my Kindle and haven't read it yet! Must give it a go...

OP posts:

Twotabbycats · 24/02/2019 01:21

I need 9 or 10 and have chronic pain so I guess am similar to you. I get it mostly as my pain is fairly well controlled, but I'm on strong pain meds so they make me tired in themselves, plus a load of other meds too. My sleep is a bit out of sync as well so I'm often awake in the early hours and asleep in the morning

Aaaahfuck · 24/02/2019 08:41

I aim for 8, probably get 9 on weekends and more like 7 to 7.5 on working days. I can manage on 6 but will feel knackered. I have an underactive thyroid and anemia which I'm on medication for but do still make me more tired. I can get really bad afternoon slumps.

PhilomenaButterfly · 24/02/2019 08:43

Last night I got 6 hours 20 minutes, I'd like 7.5, please!

thatmustbenigelwiththebrie · 24/02/2019 08:46

During the week I get about 6 as I am up at 5am for work so there's not really much time to get more. The weekends I get about 8 or 9.

TheTurnOfTheScrew · 24/02/2019 08:51

I've always needed more than the standard 8 hours. Sadly my natural sleep cycle unaffected by work drifts towards midnight-9am, which just can't happen in the real world. I sleep 11/12 - 6.30/7.

Nathansmommy1 · 24/02/2019 08:54

Pre pregnancy I would def need 8 hours of sleep to be able to fully function with no fatigue the following day. Anything less and I would be yawning all day. Now expecting number 2 and I've bumped it up to 9 hours, and if I can get to bed even earlier than that I will

Nacreous · 24/02/2019 10:29

How old are you? Melatonin production can aid the onset of sleep, and my understanding is that it's proven to help in older adults - might it be an option worth exploring? Some of the recommendations include making sure you get outside in the morning to get some sunlight, as this can help reset your melatonin production, and then to wear sunglasses if you're outside in the afternoons. I would seriously consider that, as I certainly found the fatigue based side effects of even small doses of amytriptyline very difficult to cope with.

There's a very interesting book out recently by a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, called Why we sleep, and it covers some really interesting topics, and is heavily science based while still being very accessible. I would consider reading it in your position.

EducatingArti · 25/02/2019 10:50

Do read the "Why we sleep" book. I've found it fascinating and also inspirational with regard to sorting my sleep out.
I also wonder if melatonin might help. It helps me, but I don't take it every night as I think your body can get used to having it and produce less of its own melatonin and then you end up having to take more and more for the same effect.

stopgap · 25/02/2019 10:53

I usually sleep 5-6, unbroken hours, occasionally 8-9 when I’m really tired. I recently read that 6.5 is the optimum amount of sleep, which was reassuring after so many years of getting less than that.

QuirkyQuark · 25/02/2019 11:03

I need a minimum of 7 but usually get 8 hours a night aided by amitriptyline. At weekends I can do 10 hours easily if I don't need to get up. I do have chronic illnesses though and prioritise sleep over everything else.

Slowknitter · 25/02/2019 11:15

In theory I go to bed at 10.30, read, go to sleep at 11.00, wake up at 7.00, giving me 8 hours sleep, which is ideal for me. I certainly don't want or need more than 8 hours.

However, my sleep is getting a bit less reliable lately (I suspect due to perimenopause). I sometimes take an hour or so to drop off, or more often wake up several times from about 4a.m. What and when I eat definitely has an effect. I now only drink decaf coffee, and dark chocolate is a problem too.

DinaCaliente · 25/02/2019 11:22

I get a good 8 hours a night but like a couple of previous posters I get hardly any deep sleep and I wake countless times in the night.
(Gone from fitbit to apple watch and get the same results)

I always wake up still tired.

Grapetree · 25/02/2019 11:22

I get 5-6 hours
Would love 8

Cornettoninja · 25/02/2019 11:28

I get 4-6 hours a night. Thankfully the disturbed nights from dd (3) appear to have died down now.

Unfortunately I appear to be completely broken now and will often wake after four hours and not be able to go back to sleep for a good couple of hours. Tbf even before dd my natural sleep rhythm preferred a shorter nights sleep and a nap in the day. I’d give my eye teeth for a nap these days!

Chronic fatigue sounds like a bugger to live with op

Dulra · 25/02/2019 11:36

Slowknitter
You have described me to a tee. Up to a few months ago I was having great sleep, kids getting older no longer waking me so I was getting 8 hours most nights and I was feeling fab but recently my sleep is getting more unreliable. My problem is taking way longer to drop off. I wondered too whether it could be the onset of peri-menopause. I am 43, how old are you?

Slowknitter · 25/02/2019 11:42

Sympathies and welcome to the club, Dulra. I'm 47. Periods still regular as clockwork, but getting heavier and longer, with symptoms I never used to get (pmt, really sore boobs etc), which is why I'm putting the sleep thing down to perimenopause. Need to do more exercise, as that's supposed to help with... well, everything really.

Dulra · 25/02/2019 11:48

Cheers for replying Slowknitter. Exactly the same here, sore boobs again, pmt again, longer heavier I am even starting to get the back cramping I used to get when I first started my periods at 14 no idea how I coped with it back then, can barely cope with it now.

Roomba · 25/02/2019 11:52

I need 8.25 - 8.5 hours. I don't usually get it though, more like 6, so I'm always knackered except after a lovely 10 hour lie in when my kids stay at their Dad's. When DS was a reflux baby who woke me all night for two years+, I was an absolute wreck of a human being. Awful.

Flip

1 2 3 4