How many hours of sleep a night do you need? - Now with Poll

I find i need 10-11 hours to function, when i am caught up on PEM. On PEM days its 11-12. How about you?

 

I generally do well with 7 to 9 hours each night. Any less than 5 or 6 hours and I'm cranky the next day.

 

I need 10 hours to function reasonably well at a low to moderate level. I’m rarely up for more than 6 - 7 consecutive hours, and deteriorate without an afternoon nap (sometimes as long as 3 hours). The more I do, the more sleep I need — up to 16 hours in a 24-hour period.

 

I used to only get 3-6 hours per night and functioned with that but now that I have less insomnia, I feel worse if I don’t get a good 8-9 hours and sometimes a 2-3 hour nap in the late morning or pm.

 

Thats incredible, less then 10 and i'm messed up, under 8 and i'm in bad shape

I can relate to that

Sorry to hear that, i don't take naps, don't need them and can't fall asleep anyways (i also have non 24 hour circadian rhythm disorder, not sure how it affects the naps though).
I did find that back when i could take naps the power nap would not work for me, it had to be 2-3 hours.

I see, thats an interesting contrast.

 

Since getting ME I sleep far less and have never been able to make it up. In the early years of severe I was sleeping 2-3-4 hours sleep (it was bad) and many nights I didn't sleep at all. In my moderate years I began to get up to 5-6 hours. I think it was around 2010 when I began to have some 7 hour sleeps. It was at that time that I finally stopped counting how many hours I had slept each night

I now sleep mostly between 5-7 hours. I wake up a bit through the night though.

With a more severe PEM I will be awake all night.

 

Because I have really disruptive dreams that lead to very unrefreshing sleep, I only sleep 6 hours. I then lie in bed a listen to the radio for 3 hours. I also take 1 or more naps depending on how active I am.

 

It's PEM related for me. Sleep is always one of the first things to go haywire. PEM often results in no sleep at all. Otherwise I sleep 9 or 10 hours, but I'm artificially woken in the mornings by my husband's routine. (I'm ok with that - cup of coffee together in the morning is quality time, just us.) On the weekend I sleep 10 -11 hours. Sometimes I nap in the afternoon, activity dependant, but more than half an hour of that and I feel dreadful afterwards.

 

9-10 hours but I wake repeatedly.

 

Now I’ve started using melatonin I seem to be able to get a block of 6 hours consecutive sleep at night together -when I don’t have to get up -with an extra couple during a lie in which will last til lunchtime if I can. As I’ve been resting/sleeping all morning I don’t sleep again until I go to bed at night. I do rest lying down on my sofa though. Getting up around 11 or 12 and going to bed around midnight is the pattern I feel best on. Good thing I’m finding with Melatonin is that it is pretty reliably getting me to sleep around 1am which is good - although it doesn’t at 1mg override tired but wired. I used to wake up every couple of hours so I’m happy to be getting a block of 6.

 

It's interesting to read how much sleep everyone needs. I need 6-6/12 hours and I'm good. If I can get an hour nap or good rest during the day it keeps my nervous system calm so that I feel more restful at night.

I don't need more sleep with PEM, it doesn't make any difference for me.

 

My daughter is suffering very severe ME at the moment and is sleeping 22 hours. Thankfully, as it is the only reprieve from the pain that she has.

 

Hugs to you both and welcome to the forum

 

I need 8-9 hours but only manage to sleep 6-7 and I always feel so exhausted.

 

I take Melatonin every 2 nights (3 mg, was 5 mg) but it doesn't always work. Last night for example I woke about 0400, after going to sleep about 2230-2300.

In the early days I slept longer (as I believe research has shown), but now my 'ideal' seems to be about 7-8 hrs. I have very rarely been able to get any sleep during the day, at home anyway - maybe I did in hospital? (because couldn't access any of my usual activities)

It seems to vary with what I take (and possibly what I eat); for example last night I took a cetirizine tablet with little effect, and on previous nights I haven't had enough sleep with chlorphenamine, although sometimes I do.

I am going to have one or probably two promethazine tablets tonight, which usually works.

 

I need about 9 - 10 hours to get a day I consider one of my best days. I very, very rarely manage this though. And when I do succeed in getting 9 - 10 hours I find it hard to sleep for the next few nights. But it is worth it to have one of my best days very occasionally.

 

I need 8-9 but often get around 7. I don't sleep in the day. Sleep is the first thing to go with PEM, I take meds so I get off to sleep but wake early if I have PEM and can get as little as about 4 hours those days. Im in bed all day and I wish I slept all my resting time as I'm so fed up with "resting" but the horrible wired feeling that means even a rest isn't really.

 

If I sleep for 10 or more hours I feel awful for the rest of the day. Usually the only time I sleep that long is when I'm sick with something like chronic sinusitis or a cold.