Lack of sleep taking a toll on the body?

[AmbrNrgy]

I really notice that when I don't get a FULL 9 hour of sleep I am irritable at work. Anyone else feel this way? I wish I were one of those people who could function on 4 hours of sleep! That would be great! :0

My question is...for the people that DO only get 4-5 hours a night, is this bad in the long term for them? Or because they "feel" okay, does it mean they "are" okay from getting such little sleep?

[Cole]

I lived on 4-5 hours of sleep for most of my sophomore year of college.

I had arthritis, that's when my back problems started, and I gained 40 lbs that year.

I also had no idea how bad condition I was in until I started getting regular sleep and found out how good I COULD feel. Now I'm back down to my healthy weight, no arthritis. Still got back pain, though :sad:

At the time, aside from the back pain, I thought I was fine. In reality, I was a wreck.

[bridgetjones]

I can function on 4-5 hours of sleep. However I crash after 2-3 days of doing so. I have had weeks on that regime and it felt like crap. I had to drink lots of coffee and exercise to stay awake.

I can make do with 6 hours day after day. I try for 7-8 hours, that is about ideal. Ussually get around 7 hours. I just do not fall asleep early and easy.

I find I need less sleep if I exercise regularly because my sleep is deeper and more efficient. If I eat crap and do not exercise then I need more sleep to make up for it.

[preludemd]

I'm constantly only getting 5 hours of sleep each night and did it most of my college years too. As far as I can tell I'm fine. I just make sure that I get some kind of sleep on the weekend. And since we have short fridays till the end of summer I make sure that I get home and take a nap between jobs on fridays.

[wordsmith]

5 hours of sleep a night got me through all of college. It's changed now that I'm older. Now I need 6. :neutral:

[HereComes30]

I probably average 4-5 hours of sleep a night. Well time in bed anyway. I think there are nights that I probably only sleep half of that time. I think that I probably am not as focused or alert as I could be because of it. But until someone decides to extend the number of hours in a day or until I retire, then it will have to work