Polyphasic Addiction
I posted on the Facebook group about my situation and asked for advice before seeing the doctor and everyone pretty much said to get a blood test, that I should just rest more, etc… But nothing really helped.
On Thursday, I’ve had enough of the headaches so I decided to do pretty much the one thing I thought of doing in the last three weeks but haven’t done yet: go back to polyphasic sleeping.
On Friday, I felt much better. Just a residual kind of headache. Still there but not very bothersome. I kept Maayan company at work and then we went to meet some friends for dinner.
On Saturday, the only thing that was left of the headache was a tiny fraction I could ignore. Everything felt better. The world looked better. I had more energy than I had in a while. I felt less stressed. Then we stayed up until 4:00 to finish a puzzle. <shrug>
And Sunday I went back to work. I’m not at a 100% yet but I put in a full day with no problem. I even napped properly and benefited from it.
And now I’m sitting here writing this. Yes, it’s after 2:00. But, besides some tiredness because, well, it’s 2:00 and I’m not reacclimated yet, I feel great. I don’t even feel a headache.
I posted an update to my Facebook thread about what I did and what happened. Then someone replied and said I’m addicted to polyphasic sleeping. I’m not sure it was meant as a completely comedic comment. And I’m starting to think there might be some truth to that.
Posted in Me, No Category, Practice, Thinking Out Loud by Eran with 2 comments.
The most important thing about good sleep, I’d to be consistent. What I learned in life is that most other things matter less (also – don’t overdo it).
If you change your sleep patterns, even if you move from one consistent setup to another consistent setup, you are going to feel shitty for a couple of weeks. Couple that with a “real illness” and you get a recipe for disaster.
I don’t think people can become addicted to sleep patterns, ( though some sleep patterns can be bad for you – mostly just too much or not enough), but if you change them, especially if you change often, it can be a real problem for you until your body gets used to the new setup.
My main problem has been is that it is very difficult to adapt and I’ve always been kind of on the way to it and never quite fully adapted because it’s hard to fight your own tendencies and every little thing can knock you off course.
And if I get sick, it tends to wreck it completely. This time was just too much. Maybe it’s the push I need. And besides, I’ve changed my nap times to coincide better with more social times, my core wake up time is now a regular wake up time and I don’t nap lying down. Hopefully, that will help.