Sleep and aging....
 

I've always been one of those people who puts his head on the pillow and falls asleep instantly. Still am. But, whereas I used to get 8 hrs of sleep I'm now lucky to get 6 hrs. Doesn't matter when I go to sleep...hit the sack at 8 pm and I'm up by 1 or 2 am. When I am asleep about 1/3 the time, maybe less, I get up to pee. Go right back to sleep though. So, these days I'm staying up until 10 or 11 pm and am almost always up by 5 am. Just wondering how aging has affected sleep for others.

I'm generally up by 2:30 or so (2:02 this morning), no matter what time I go to bed. So I tend to go to bed about 20:30 or so, just so I can be sure of five or six hours of sleep. There was a time getting up at 7:00 seemed early...

Five hours is all I need now @ almost 64 years. I needed 7 when I was in university ages ago.

I'm in that 5-6 hour range too, but have been for decades. I'm 61. The difference now is that I use a CPAP machine and fall asleep fast and STAY asleep continuously for the whole time instead of waking several times during the night.

I'm the same, head hits the pillow and I'm out but 5 hours later I'm up, although I've never been a late sleeper. Even when I go to bed late I'm usually up before the sun. :notamused:

I find that I get less sleep (Around 5 or 6 hrs) at a time, but as this is not enough and start to feel sluggush, it catches up with me after about a week. I then get one day that I crash solid for about 9 hours and seem to catch up enough to feel better.

My normal bedtime is between 10:30 and 11:30, depending on what's on TV and which news I watch. I don't go to sleep instantly, but it doesn't take me too long to fall asleep most of the time. However, my body seems to have a 2:00 am and 5:00 am alarm set in order to make a bathroom call. Since I have been retired, I lay down after my 5:00 am bathroom call and once in a while I will snooze and find myself waking up around 7:00 am, but never past that.

At 63 I'm still clocking 7-8 hours with a couple of brief plumbing maintenance breaks.

Welcome to 50+

Wait until you get to 70+

Asleep by midnight, up at 5:30. A short nap nearly everyday to reset my brain after work/before supper.

Five more years. :)

13 months here:)

I guess I'm the exception here . . . got 10 hours of solid sleep last night, didn't wake up until the alarm went off. I find the older I get, the more sleep I need (61 now), and esp. so if I've had a tough ride that day.

After a double century it's not unusual for me to sleep 12+ hours, but I'll get in a good ten after a century with a lot of climbing . . . and that's even if I take a nap in the afternoon directly after the shower/eat routine known as "food coma."

And if my wife and I are in our cabin in the mountains (at 6,700 ft. elevation) we can do a tough moutain bike ride, shower/eat, be in bed by 7:00PM and not get up until 8:00 or 9:00AM. We blame that on the altitude! So, anyway, Your Sleep Time May Vary!

Rick / OCRR

In my twentys I got by on 5-6 hrs. Nowadays it's closer to 8 hrs. I too fall asleep very fast after hitting the sack. A few pee breaks, maybe the cat too, but fall asleep immediately upon going back to bed.

The alarm gets me up at 5 am every morning. If I forget usually the cat gets mad and reminds me.

I still need 9 hours of sleep, always have. Rest, is a necessary part of life and is as important as nourishment and exercise.

I no longer get the uninterrupted sleep I enjoyed when I was younger. Several years ago when my life was more stressful, getting enough rest was an issue. I was using over-the-counter sleep aids a few nights every month.

Getting regular exercise has improved my sleep. I no long use any sleep aids. Changes in diet and weight-loss has helped also, I’m sure.

Sleep is extremely good for the body, and brain, as its when your daytime memories are "written to disk" as it were. "Long term potentiation" or LTP it's called. Sleep is also when your body repairs itself.

I read recently that people sleep much better when their heads are cold. Maybe its the mountain air thats so good for the quality of your rest?

When the air is clean outside I always sleep much better with some ventilation, either a window cracked open or our heat recovery ventilator on.

Somewhere I read or heard that its common to experience a wake up around 1 or 2 am, no matter what. Its not a bad thing. Just go back to sleep so that you can wake up at 5 am for an early morning ride at 6 am.

Usually fall asleep reading around 11:00pm and up at 7:00, usually a solid eight but if I get up during the night, I sometimes have trouble getting back to sleep. Also sleep much more soundly on days when I have exercised.

I laugh when I read - just get more sleep - go back to sleep, etc. Or folks preaching on the value of 8 - 9 hours of sleep. Preach on folks, it doesn't work for me.

For my entire life, I have been an "instant awaker" I never have used an alarm clock, nor needed one. When I wake up, I am instantly fully awake, and there is no way I can get back to sleep, even if I wanted or had to. I generally go to sleep about 10:00 - 10:30 pm.

So, like this am, I woke up at 4 am. No sense fighting it. Get up and get started doing something productive. I rarely sleep past 5.

BUT - I often take a 20-30 minute nap during the day, which is a lifesaver for me.

At age 56, I still need 7-8 hours per night, and more if I've had a hard ride.

Sleep well enough but only about 7 hours a night-And if the chance arises- an hours cat nap in the afternoon and I never watch TV till after 10pm as that is instant resting of the eyelids.

That's how it tends to work for me... a nap on Sundays is usually enough to do the reset. But daily, anything beyond 6 hours just doesn't seem to work... I can't really get back to sleep for any length of time.

The other odd thing is fresh air... I have to have fresh air when I sleep... the temperature is not so important as is the circulation of air. If I perceive the room is stuffy, I can't sleep... I hate hotels where you can't open windows. And no, this is not a claustrophobic thing... at least I have no fear of confined spaces...

Oh and 4:00 AM, no matter what, I have a bathroom call... I've tried to see if there is some phenomena that is happening at 4:00 am that wakes me, because this 4:00 AM thing seems unbreakable, no matter what time I actually go to sleep.

As a kid & young adult it seemed like it would take forever to finally fall asleep; don't think I ever spent less than an hour head down on the pillow wondering when the hell I was gonna finally konk out. Fortunately, once I actually was asleep, nothing could wake me before the alarm went off.

In the last 3 or 4 years I've noticed a definite shift in my sleep habits: I definitely fall asleep much quicker these days, but I also wake up to pee every single morning sometime between 4:00 and 5:00AM, regardless of what time I got into bed.

I suppose it's also worth noting that from the time I was ~19 until probably age 40 I almost never got into bed before midnight...whereas now it's extremely rare for me to not be in bed by 11:00 or 11:30.

I'm surprised at the number of 'waking up to urinate' responses. That is worth mentioning to a doctor. More info here, how to tell if you have diabetes. There are other possible reasons for it, but that is a concern.

Someone mentioned sleep and healing, and that's my experience. If I have a cold or an injury, it's a little more time in bed for a very positive effect.

I'm 64 but in a slightly intense time of my life, and get less than 8 hours most nights.

Babies need the most sleep while those past infant stage need about 8hrs of sleep but for some reason those that are past 59 start to need less and less sleep. Go figure.........