I get about 5 to 6 hours of sleep at the most each night. Ever since I was a child I have always been a light sleeper and am awakened easily. During the week I wake up at 5:00 AM, work 6:00 to 2:30 and then at the end of the day go to bed at around 11:30 P.M. to midnight. On weekends I usually get up between 7:00 and 8:00 AM and go to bed between midnight and 1:00 AM. I will often wake up within a half hour of the time my alarm is set to go off, and I sometimes experience intermittent sleep. Even though I usually feel rested and am able to go about my day, I often question whether this is enough sleep for someone my age and with my lifestyle, so I am calling on any sleep experts out there who may be able to advise me.
Here some other pertinent facts about me:
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[li] I am in my early 30s and male.[/li][li] I live alone and only have my two cats to distract me from sleep (they often do :rolleyes: ) Putting them in another room or outside is not an option.[/li][li] I am not as physically active as I could or should be, but I do keep my mind stimulated and I don’t just sit around and watch TV all day or anything like that.[/li][li] I limit my caffeine intake to mornings and early afternoon, during which I will have 2 or 3 Cokes.[/li][li] I am not currently taking any medications.[/li][li] I do not drink, smoke or take any drugs whatsoever.[/li][li] My dreams, while oftentimes weird, are not what I would consider to be nightmares.[/li][/ul]
Most of the time I can get through a day without feeling overly fatigued. There are some mornings I feel sluggish and I may feel an occasional lull in the afternoon. About once a week or so I will feel the need to take a nap a couple hours after I am home from work. My concerns are whether this type of pattern will be detrimental to my physical or mental health later on in life. Will I incur a big “sleep debt” over time? I scanned several articles on Web MD on sleep, but I really couldn’t locate any information which addresses my concerns.