How big an issue is sleep?

I don't believe the theory that older people need less sleep. My feeling is that you don't get as tired when you don't train very hard and the older you get the more motivation you MAY need to summon up for the long and tough workouts. That's not a problem in my house. My wife (trains over 700 hours per year: swimming, xc skiing, running, weightlifting and biking) and I (trains about 600 hours per year: swimming, xc skiing, walking, weightlifting and biking) need at least 8 hours of sleep on a regular basis. One day last week, after particularly hard swimming, we slept 11 hours. This probably happens once every two weeks or so. We are both 65 and don't take sleep-inducing drugs just sometimes ibuprofen if the muscles are really sore or tense. That's on a regular basis and we each average less than one cold per year (compared to the national average of 5) largely, I believe, due to good sleep and exercise habits. We also consume 4000-5000 calories per day (even my 120 pound wife!) of all manner of food. At a meet, everything goes out the window. We both party hard and swim sleep deprived. Four to five hours a night is pretty good for us but adrenaline carries us through a few days with no problem. -- mel

I like my sleep I get about 6-7hours a night. I can have trouble getting off to sleep if I am achey or too excited after working out. Last night was a case in point, very tired but could quite go out.

I am up and down most all night every night and have been doing this for decades. Hate it, feel terrible by noon the next day. Once about every 3 or 4 months I will sleep 5 hours straight and I am thrilled. I am light sensitive and my hubby loves to read in bed so this is a huge problem. Changing rooms is not an option because our bedroom is the only room with a/c. I blew up a month ago and he now only reads in bed about 3 nights a week so I am grateful and told him so. I think he "gets it" now. Tylenol PM works for me and I am not groggy the next day. But have any of you noticed that if you don't sleep enough, you are extra hungry the entire next day? Lack of sleep I believe makes weight control a little more difficult. Donna

Finally a topic I know about. Inducing sleep with any chemical substance is not a good idea at any age. When one chooses to take the hypnotic type drugs of any class they may or may not put them to sleep. The sleep that all of the medications induce is an altered state from the natural sleep cycle of the body. The sleep that you receive is not as regenerative to the body as a deep natural sleep is. When one is awaken after a period of chemical sleep the brain is slower to resume normal brain wave activity. Your cognitive ablity also can be impared for a period of time after awakening. Your motor skills also may be impaired. All prescriptions sedatives are adictive despite what numerous televsion promotions will tell you. They are controlled substances for a reason. The adictive properties of the sleeping pills are real and occurs every day. In addition sleeping pills can cause people to fall, not realize they are in danger, act inappropiately in an emergency, dry mouth,irrational thoughts,they are expensive, and have been known to associated with death. Please everyone try to avoid any sleep aid for your own health. I know that a lot of people have trouble going to sleep and that insomnia is a serious problem for a large population. My best advice is a summation of what others have already said. Practice good sleep hygeine. The bedroom is for sleep and S** only. No other activities should be performed in the bedroom. Exercise regularly. Expending energy will lead to a need to repliensh the body which will make you tired naturally. Sleep repairs the body. Eat balenced meals through out the day. Do not eat with in an hour of bed or over eat late in the day. No alcoholic beverage near bedtime. Try to relax and leave your worries outside of the bedroom. Worry about matching your youthful swim times during the day not at bedtime. Establish a sleep pattern. Go to bed at the same time and get up every day at the same time. Your body will adjust. If you can not get to sleep after a reasonable time remove yourself from the bedroom. The bedroom is for sleep only. Good Luck everyone.

This has been a very interesting thread. I thank everyone for sharing their experiences. I don't sleep much. I'm usually 5-6 1/2 hours. I try not to let it effect my daily activity, but I'm sure it does. I know some insomnia sufferers, and it seems really dreadful. I had a bout my freshman year of college, and couldn't belive the hell it was. I think one reason I sleep so little now is so that I fall asleep fast when my head hits the pillow. I've never heard of anyone taking Halcion, NK French, but that is a terrible story. Isn't that a hallucinogen of sorts? I thought ambien, lunesta and whatever the new thing is were supposed to be somewhat better. But they all appear to be somewhat addictive, so I'm not biting. I guess a lot of people are living with sleep deprivation. We're a threat on the roads. I have read that hormonal fluctuations drive insomnia. Guess that's more of a problem for women. But I thought I'd say that in case someone didn't care to. It's just what I've read. There have been a lot of articles in the newspaper lately about insomnia. Has anyone been been to a sleep clinic? Or is that more for sleep apnea? Islandsox: I think you should get another air conditioner. It's pretty tough to fall asleep when someone else is reading. Dark, cold, quiet works for me.

I hate insomnia. And I get it every tax season. My brain just will.not.shut.off. Have tried sleep meds...got really frustrated...was ready to squash that Lunestra butterfly if I caught him in my room. After several years of this, I just endure it, feel jet-lagged and nauseated all day and wait for April 15th. I normally sleep great, and I swim better well-rested. I miss sleep!

Caped Crusader All of the pills you mention are addictive and controlled substances. Ambien, Ambien CR, and Lunesta, all will alter the sleep cycle. Halcion is very addictive and is a short half life benzodiazepam. The short acting benzos appear to have a larger potential for addiction than the long acting ones. In addtion it is possible for the body to build a tolerance to there effects causing some people to increase the dosage to experience the sedation they are seeking. Some of the drug metabolites and primary compounds can be stored in the body to for a period of time. Hormonal flucuations in MEN and women can change or challenge our sleep cycles through out life. Please do not spam me for that comment as all gender's hormonal cycles vary with the stage of life they are in. That is another topic and why I capitalized the word men. Sleep clinics can benefit people but they take work. Insomina can be a symptom of other problems and those problems need to be ruled out as the cause of sleep depervation. In the end sleep depervation takes work to over come and there is no easy solution. Being accepting of YOUR sleep cycle and becoming informed about good sleep habits will go a long way towards helping ones sleep patterns. Everyone of us is unique and worrying about going to sleep will certainly not help our sleep patterns. Pills are not the answer.

Oh l LOVE sleep! I'm very controlling when it comes to my sleep. I'll turn down going out so I can get my 9 hours. I can't function unless I have at least 8 hours. I do have insomina though and occasionally take Ambien. Swimming has helped to clear it up a lot, but it's still brought on my large amounts of stress. I usually take Ambien if I know I have something I need to be alert for the next day (i.e. a meet or big test) and know that I won't be able to sleep naturally. Swimming does make me get up early and miss some of my precious hours, but I usually take a nap to help with it. Speaking of sleep........time for bed!

Sleep: my second favorite activity in the whole world. Since age 25, I have had a varied sleep schedule due to off-shift work assignments. I sleep whenever and wherever I can find a horizontal surface. Interestingly, one or two day's lack of sleep doesn't impact my swim meet performance as much as I would have thought. Last year, I was on-call and up most of the night before a 9 am Southwest flight to Baltimore for the Ancient Mariners' Albatross meet at 1 pm. Though I didn't feel so great, I swam basically the same speed as I had been the year before, when I had rested well. My 200 was about a second slower, but my 50 and 100 were spot-on. But if I have had a particularly bad week of call, it does take me several days to feel human. :snore:

I went to a sleep clinic. I think you need the support of a group or doctor to make it through the brutal go-to-bed-when-you-actually-fall-asleep- and-get-up-early, at-same-time stage. The associate your bed with sleep, then set back the clock by 15 minutes. Even with the support of a sleep doctor I could not get myself to do that treatment. I am pretty sure it would work. (I did do a meditation/sleep study and I would fall asleep but then wake up. Still, the meditation/breathing exercises helped.) Mostly she told me lots of people don't sleep, it won't kill you not to sleep (though there's some controversy there re driving), but mostly don't work yourself up over your wakefulness. Thus, Worlds, on no sleep, well I didn't panic. It's actually increased my swim meet confidence. And for those of you with investments, I've done a lot of financial proofreading of mutual fund numbers totally zonked. Sorry for any losses you might have incurred.