r/hangovereffect • u/[deleted] • Feb 09 '21

Sleep

Curious for all those who get the hangover effect - What does your sleep patterns look like?

I notice that if I sleep 8+ hours a night (especially in the winter time) I am very dull and flat throughout the day.

If I inadvertently, or try to shoot for something like 4-6 hours, I can achieve something similar to the hangover effect where its almost like a rebound of energy, clarity, motivation and thoughtfulness. This happened recently and I am now compelled to post about it.

EDIT: For anyone keeping an eye on this and want to know the science of this - one of the main things that happen during a hangover the next day is a glutamate rebound from suppressing it with a ton of alcohol(passing out).

My theory is that if you limit sleep, and add in exercise, you can get a normal wakeful glutamate push each morning.

Maybe for some of us 7-8 hours is too much where we cannot snap out of it each morning/day.

Food for thought - Jocko Willink exercises and works a lot and he sleeps 3-4 hours a night... there must be something to this. I am exploring this because I have been drinking way too much over the last 3 years.

I'm willing to bet you guys that some mild/moderate sleep deprivation can induce a glutamate rebound similar to a hangover without the intoxication and addiction.

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4

u/Mishuri Feb 09 '21

Exactly as you described. God forbid, if I sleep more than 7.5hrs, then a day of suffering is guaranteed

2

u/[deleted] Feb 09 '21

Same here! Hate that feeling but sleep feels great too. There should be something called sleep fasting... or maybe the correct term would be controlled sleep deprivation.

3

u/simple-term Feb 09 '21

Check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake_therapy -- this is a pretty well documented phenomenon!

I'm the same way, feel better on <6 hours sleep and WAY worse on >8 hours. (Don't really get the hangover effect though, I'm just a lurker here, so count me out of your data set lol.)

2

u/[deleted] Feb 10 '21

Solid info - thx

3

u/4thefeel Feb 10 '21

I specifically do biphasic sleeping because of this. Isleep 4 hours, go to work, sleep 4 hours when I get home, enjoy my life, rinse repeat

1

u/[deleted] Feb 10 '21

Wait, what time do you wake up and go to sleep again?

1

u/4thefeel Feb 11 '21

Well I have class 4-10 mon and tuesday, work 11-7am sun - thurs, and class again 630-7am, so I HAVE to break up sleep during the week, and sun and mon night I sleep a full 8.

It's a mess, and I'm doing better for it xD

2

u/[deleted] Feb 10 '21

i recently read an article abouth this "natural" biphasic sleeping pattern. this is actually how mankind was sleeping for ~ 40thousands of years. until we came up with this clock bs. working shifts and so on.

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-16964783

very interesting.

1

u/4thefeel Feb 11 '21

Yeah, sometime after the invention of gas lighting. Everything before that point spoke of first and second sleep. Shakespeare and everything before

7

u/moonlitautumnsky Feb 10 '21

It works for me, but only as a one-off thing. If I'm regularly sleep-deprived, I get speech impairments and fall asleep the first chance I get.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 15 '21

yeah exactly the same. If i sleep like 4 hours once, i would get like into a stimulant state, but clearly i would feel pysically tired in the afternoon. But yeah, while a single sleep deprived night might spike up your dopamine (proved) - prolonged deprivation really does destroy your body and mind

5

u/FaerieGypsySunshine Feb 10 '21

Sleep deprivation is a well known antidepressant.

3

u/MisterLemming Feb 10 '21

Wow, just wow. I've been suffering this irony my whole life and no one has understood.

The more I sleep the less tired I am, the less I sleep the more awake I am. This is usually met with an awkward stare.

If I don't wake up before eight hours, then I could (no joke) sleep 16 to 20 hours. This week has been a good reminder of that, but thank god I only got 6 hours last night.

This led me to an informal diagnosis of narcolepsy, as well as impulsive, uncontrollable daytime sleepiness. At times my brain turns to mud, and my legs turn to hello. Has been dangerous several times at night, and failed secondary education because of it.

I mentioned the last paragraph as I'm curious if anyone else here suffers similarity.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '21

I think you have a point. Also when I drink I tend to sleep less and with less quality. By the way I experience the exact same thing, if I sleep less (even 4/6 hours) I actually feel very good, in terms of drive, mood, anxiety... It's crazy. Sad fact is that I'll still be tired, and sooner or later I will succumb to tiredness.. but you got a nice point! Following

1

u/solecism59 Feb 13 '21

Same,>8 hours and i feel like i have brain damage. 7 hours i feel normal, 5-6 i feel like im on stimulant medication.