Sleeping Issues.. need some advice.
 

So normally, I usually get 9-10 hours of sleep. However, about a day or 2 ago, I've been getting roughly 6 hours or sleep or less. When I've tried to push to 8 hours of sleep, I end up waking up tired like I've slept 12 hours or so.

A friend of mine says that its caused by anxiety, which I not entirely too sure about, since I'm currently not worried about anything big. Any TFPers that have some insight on how to help with it or do I gotta go to the doc?

I can't really speak from the sleeping aspect of it, but as far as anxiety is concerned, I do and have been dealing with anxiety every day for the past few years. Even though you may not be worrying about anything big, if you are constantly worrying about it then that will cause anxiety, or if you are are worried about a bunch of little things all at once. Your body does weird things, but out of those weird things it's trying to tell you something. So the fact that you are losing sleep, may actually be, because of anxiety. Give the doc a call and see what they can tell you.

have you recently changed your diet? Your exercise routine? Stressed more?

A lot of things can fuck up your sleep cycle. I'd say, if you are already someone who works out regularly, to up it a bit. Tire yourself out. Cut down on caffeine. Drink more water. Anything to make your body in a better position to help itself.

Otherwise, if it continues for a long time, go see a doctor.

When it comes to anxiety, something I've been dealing with for a long time, it might mean a social or personal change. Something that has been bothering you that can't overcome.

Age is a factor. As you age, you might require less sleep. Your 9 to 10 hours of sleep is on the high end of the required sleep for people. Few people need this much. If you are getting into your twenties now, this might explain why you're sleeping less. Teenagers typically need more sleep than other adults.

Most adults only need 7 or 8 hours of sleep.... some need more, some need less.

But none of this would explain a sudden change. Maybe you've been sleeping too much and it's caught up to you. Maybe there's an underlying problem related to your long-term sleeping habits.

So, yes, go speak with your doctor.

If you wake up feeling refreshed after a 6 or 7 hour sleep and don't burn out later in the day, then it's all you need. 9 or 10 hours is a lot of sleep for an adult.

I wish I could get 6 hours of sleep.

I think this might be it. I'll be turning 20 in January, so it might be while i'm sleeping less.

Nothing else in my daily routine has changed, otherwise I would have considered it to be a possibility.

I'll see about talking to my doc about it.

hahaha I don't think that's it then. 20 isn't really reaching into old age, you're still a teenager technically. I still sleep as much or more then I did as an early teen.

Yea 20 isn't too old. At the same point this is only been going on for 2 days I mean you could have just had a few nights of rough sleep. I wouldn't freak out too much right now just see how the next week or 2 goes and if it doesn't change or gets worse call your doctor and let us knows how it all goes.

Most of us generally stop our "juvenile" growth at around twenty-five. I think it slows down into our twenties. Teenagers generally sleep more because they're still growing.

This might account for it now that you are soon to be no longer a teenager. Maybe you're slowing down in terms of growth.

Generally, you shouldn't force yourself to sleep a certain amount every night. You should sleep only as much as you need to. Set numbers of hours aren't the way to go.

But, yes, if it persists and you have problems with how you feel while you're awake, you should go see a doctor.

You have normal sleep rhythms around 90 minutes or so for REM sleep. If you wake up in the middle of one of those cycles and it's under 6 hours, your body will want to go back to sleep. It's why you can wake up after 4 or 5 hours and feel better than if you got 5 or 6 hours. It is tough to judge this though because everyone is a little different. And if you sleep with no alarm clock, your body should wake up after it gets as much sleep as it needs.

Have you started exercising or anything that would require your body to repair itself and want more sleep?