I've Been Sleeping 4 Hours a Night for 3 Years: Is That Okay?
Overtime is just part of my daily life, so I've been going to bed at 2 a.m. and waking up at 6 a.m. for three years now. On weekends I sleep 12 hours straight to make up for it.
My health checkups still come back with nothing seriously wrong, but lately I can really feel my concentration falling off a cliff. Without coffee, I can't make it through the afternoon.
Does anyone know what kind of problems this lifestyle causes long term? I'm starting to think I should go see a doctor.
9 answers
I agree, this is genuinely dangerous.
I went through something similar, and around my third year, burnout suddenly hit me hard. My checkup numbers were fine, but my memory and judgment started deteriorating first. Sleep is cumulative debt, and you can never pay it back by sleeping in all weekend. Try going to a sleep clinic—it doesn’t cost as much as you’d think.
Got a source? That whole 'sleep debt' thing is just blog regurgitation.
Well, I don't know. There are plenty of people around me who live like that, and they're all doing just fine. Isn't the amount of sleep a person needs different for everyone? There seem to be a lot of overly alarming comments.
If you can't get through the afternoon without coffee, that's already a red flag. Using caffeine to push through only masks the sleep deprivation so you stop feeling it — meanwhile your nervous system keeps getting drained. I lived like that for five years and ended up with panic-like symptoms.
You asked whether you should go to the hospital, but there is nothing to lose by going. Even if a sleep study is a bit expensive, start with thyroid and hormone tests first.