Sleep and Work

pearlie

Ahhh! Nightmares!!!

I had a nightmare last night and was woken up from it at 2am. It was quite vivid about a murder or some killings. 

And thankfully I've forgotten the details of it. 

But why do we have nightmares?

This webpage looks helpful and the only reason that seemed relevant to me was the worry one. 

I had a fitful sleep as a result, with a few more dreams that I can recall in bits and pieces, with the final one an enactment of a meeting I was suppose to have later in office today!

Sigh...I need to really catch up on my sleep tonight, but it will have to be after 12:30am--after all the fireworks die down from the ushering in of the 15th day of the Chinese New Year or Chap Goh Meh.

I can already hear the fireworks and the night is still young. 

pearlie

Sleep, now and then

I used to be able to sleep really late when I was younger and will still function well during the day. 

But that's the key word: younger days. I'm certainly not young anymore. 

I was running around a lot on Friday night driving everyone here and there (using my parent's car since mine is in the shops) and I came home quite late. 

My sleeping pattern went berserk as a result. 

Sleeping at 3:30am till 9:00am. 

Then 5:20pm till 1:25am and 3:50am to 7:40am.

And 9:10pm to 7:00am.

I seem to have enough hours of sleep but why do I still feel so tired?

pearlie

Way too much sleep

I talked about my jet lag when I returned from the US last month. 

I gave it about 8 days but I was already feeling okay on the 6th day after I returned. 

However, there is one difference though. I find that I get sleepy very early ever since I am back, and that it quite unusual. 

I used to sleep at about 12am and I did that for several nights alternately but I was exhausted at 8pm last night and slept till 7 this morning. 

And that’s 11 hours of sleep. It’s way too much sleep. 

It’s now 9pm and I’m again exhausted and with a headache too. 

I wonder if I’m still under jet lag, albeit slightly. 

pearlie

Now I know what jet lag is

I did not experience any jet lag when I arrived in the US, but now that I’m back, I am having it bad. 

I’ve never experienced anything like this before. The furthest I have flown before this was to Qatar, a 5-hour time zone difference, and when I returned, I just went on as usual with no jet lag. 

But this time it’s bad with it being a 16-hour time difference. 

The Mayo Clinic describes jet lag as a sleep disorder and the symptoms can vary but will worsen the farther you travel. And it takes about a day to recover for each time zone crossed. 

With the 16-hour time zone I’ve crossed, if you minus 24 hours or a day from it, I would suffer from jet lag for a total of 8 days. 

This means I will only feel better this coming Sunday. Oh boy...that’s many more days to go. 

The symptoms I have encountered so far are:

• daytime fatigue - I get very tired after lunch time

• difficulty concentrating

• stomach problems - I keep burping

• a general feeling of not being well

• sore achy muscles

• panting after walking up the stairs

• dizziness

• splitting headaches - I woke up in the middle of the night with the worst migraine in a long time 

• eye twitching for one whole day from morning till night - and it was really irritating and uneasy

I am trying to get by each day normally but it’s hard. I don’t think taking naps is recommended but I think I should take controlled naps to rid of some of the fatigue. 

It is certainly a blessing that the next two days are public holidays. Thank you God!!!

But I will have to think twice next time I plan to fly again. 

pearlie

What time do you sleep every night?

I left my iPad in the office and with no entertainment, I went to sleep at 9:30! That is rare for one who usually sleeps at 12am. 

pearlie

Can sleep debt be repaid?

I slept very late two nights ago and with only 4 hours of sleep, I know I am going to regret it the next day. 

Which was exactly how I felt yesterday. The morning went by as usual and I was able to function as normal but come late afternoon, I was feeling horrible.

I was already getting a headache and the back of my neck was also aching badly. I had some work to complete and thankfully I did finish it but I did it all in a daze. 

When I was on my way back, I remember praying that I will have a safe drive home. I nearly got into an accident as I didn't realize the lights had turned red!

Now I am beginning to realize that it is really a bad idea and I need to put a firm rule for myself not to sleep late.

Thankfully I got home safely and dropped off to sleep at 9:30pm. What more, I had a training to do the next day. But did I pay back the so-called sleep debt?

I have read a bit here and there about it, whether it can be repaid but I think the science is not yet conclusive about it. 

But I think the current view is that you can't really repay sleep debt and that even though you've replenished the hours, your attention span does not return to baseline and it can become dangerous. 

Which was what happened this morning. I am usually quite attentive when I drive but I didn't notice the car in front of me stopping. Thankfully, it's a practice that I drive with a good distance between cars and I managed to brake in time without collision. 

Phew! Thank God. No more late nights for me. 

I found this article, though not a new one, quite informative: The Good and Bad New About Your Sleep Debt

pearlie 

Naps are good for you

We have the day off today and for someone who never ever take a nap, I was napping away in the afternoon, and in the heat too, and thankfully I didn't get a headache as a result like I usually do after I sleep in the afternoon. 

Naps are supposed to be good for you, right?

pearlie 

When I can't sleep

What do you do when you can't sleep? I couldn't sleep last night.

As usual, I started thinking and thinking and ending up not sleeping at all. This reminds me of a Mr Bean episode where he counted sheep to get to sleep. Hilarious.



pearlie

A lucid dream I had

I had a good experience of a lucid dream last night. We had quite an intensive meeting yesterday and there was much to do.

In my dream, I was aware that I was dreaming and I dreamt of the stuff that I need to do and how I need to do it. There wasn't any details to pick up, but I dreamt of a good general idea on how I should get on with what was due.

Wouldn't it be nice to have lucid dreams more often.

pearlie

Free Fall Dream!

It's weird that I keep having vivid dreams lately, and since I've been sharing them here, I might as well add this one I just had.

My hubby told me this morning as we were waking up from our slumber that I had screamed in my sleep, which woke him up.

I actually screamed? I told him that I jumped off a plane in my dream!

It was very vivid and in full colour. I was in an airplane (again). It was flying over the sea. The door was opened and someone was edging me towards it and told me to jump as part of a test I'm taking. I was scared and held back but the person coaxed and nudged me, and I jumped--no parachutes or boards. Just me.

This must be when I screamed. I tightened my body, legs together and arms tight at my side, straight down, waiting to hit the water. I can feel the air rushing up as I fell. But I never touched the water.

Instead, I found myself floating in a carnival and stopped at a booth where two clown-like contraptions were offering some kind of sweet buns and I took one to try.

Then I woke up.

I immediately bought the dream book I posted couple of days ago. I'm eager to get into the why in all these dreams I'm having. It will be interesting to find out. I'm not into the secrets and the meaning and the subconscious mind--I don't believe dreams are secret messages. I'm into learning about the science of it all--the why's and the how's.

pearlie

The secret of dreams

I just had a really interesting and vivid dream: one of the rare few that I really remember (other than the one that I dreamt I died that I blogged a few days ago).

In my dream, I was in a posh but abandoned mansion. There were two other persons with me, and one of them brought with him his personal chef, and we had a really scrumptious meal. I then got out of the mansion and roamed around and found a white cave made of white rock salt that was used as a garage. Next, I left the house and got onto a horse to take me to another place but soon found that the horse was wooden. I got down and started walking and found myself in a picturesque town in India.

What is it about dreams? Some message from God? Inner hidden or secret desires? A peep into our subconscious mind?

This gave me a good topic to look for a popular-science book to check out and I found this:


The Mind at Night, the New Science of How and Why We Dream
by Andrea Rock

It really looks interesting and promising and I've just downloaded a preview copy from kobobooks.com. If the preface and the first few pages of its first chapter turned out to be a good read, I will buy a copy and jump in immediately. And of course there will be a book review if it is good.

pearlie