# I am a light sleeper.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-light-sleeper/259433
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [August 11, 2004, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-light-sleeper/259433 "2004-08-11T22:02:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2004, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-light-sleeper/259433/1 "2004-08-11T22:02:37Z")
A butterfly flaps it’s wings in china. I wake up.
The dog thinks about barking. I wake up.
A fly lands on the chimney. I wake up.
There are about a hundred different things that can and do wake me up. It’s ok if I drink, because I quickly forget to be awake, but when I am sober I just can’t sleep for very long. I can dose off if I am tired enough but the instant my brain registers something unusual, part of a dream that doesn’t make sense (because it’s a dream) it kicks me awake. It’s stuck in a stupid dog-chasing-tail type loop where the surprise of realizing I am asleep kicks me awake.
---
### Author:  [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2004, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-light-sleeper/259433/2 "2004-08-11T22:05:53Z")
And having that problem pisses me off. BUt not nearly as much as the fact that my sweetie can fall asleep in about 10 seconds flat, and NOTHING wakes him up for 7 hours. And he can do this _anywhere_. There are times I really hate him, y’know?
---
### Author:  [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2004, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-light-sleeper/259433/3 "2004-08-11T22:09:37Z")
Do you drink much caffeine? I am prone to insomnia and find that my caffeine intake during the day greatly affects the ability of my brain to shut down and sleep. I have to avoid all caffeine at least eight hours before bed, long after any visible effects of the caffeine have worn off.
---
### Author:  [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-light-sleeper/259433/4 "2004-08-11T22:15:14Z")
I used to drink lots of caffeine, you could say I was adicted to it. But for months now I have virtually cut out caffeine from my diet. With the exception of the occasional 350ml bottle of coke or a few coffees at work.
---
### Author:  [@ElectricZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElectricZ)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2004, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-light-sleeper/259433/5 "2004-08-12T05:53:04Z")
Right there with you… I usually sleep with a fan and the white noise/hum makes a constant noise level to drown out the less intrusive sounds. The only trouble with that I have more trouble when I’m not sleeping in my own bed because I’ve gotten so dependent on it.
For those times, or if you have a SO/spouse that snores, might I recommend “Hear-o’s” earplugs. They’re very soft and comfortable, and they do a good job at keeping noise out. Of course, you have to get used to wearing THOSE…
Ya can’t win.
I’d give five bucks to be one of those “asleep before my head hits the pillows and sleep through a tornado” people.
EZ
---
### Author:  [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2004, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-light-sleeper/259433/6 "2004-08-12T06:45:12Z")
> [@ElectricZ](#):
>
> Right there with you
>
> {snip}
>
> I’d give five bucks to be one of those “asleep before my head hits the pillows and sleep through a tornado” people.
I’m both. I can virtually sleep at will. I can’t read more than one page of a book in bed before I decide it’s time to put the book aside and crash. I love sleeping on any sort of moving transport (other than road vehicles). Once I’m asleep though, I sleep like a cat. I wake at the slightest thing, and don’t everneed to use an alarm clock, even when I’m getting up at 4am.
I’m happy with my lot. Although I wake at the slightest provocation, I don’t mind because I just go back to sleep again in seconds. If my son gets sick, or scared of the bogeyman or whatever in the night, I’m up before he comes to get me. Burglars had better not try my place either. Sometimes I envy those who can have a long, sound sleep, but otherwise I’m happy with my method. The other thing is that when I’m on annual holidays from my job, I am quite happy to sleep at 4pm, or to clean the kitchen at 3:30am. Left to my own devices, I tend to sleep in two or three periods over the twenty four hours, and I like it that way.
---
### Author:  [@Sharky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sharky)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2004, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-light-sleeper/259433/7 "2004-08-12T08:29:45Z")
I work the night shift and sleep during the day. Neighbors’ lawn mowers, barking dogs, etc. kept me awake - until I installed a window unit air conditioner in the bedroom. Works like a charm.
---
### Author:  [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2004, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-light-sleeper/259433/8 "2004-08-12T11:03:48Z")
Could maybe [sleep apnea](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=84541&highlight=apnea) have anything to do with it?
---
### Author:  [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2004, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-light-sleeper/259433/9 "2004-08-12T11:07:18Z")
Very heavy sleeper checking in. I slept through Hurricane Hugo.
---
### Author:  [@Sassafras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sassafras)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2004, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-light-sleeper/259433/10 "2004-08-12T11:43:39Z")
I am the exact same way. I hate it because its not “technically” insomnia since I fall asleep just fine. Its just the waking up every half hour that kills me. Cars driving by wake me up, the a/c kicking on wakes me up, the dog getting on/off the bed wakes me up, etc. Sleeping sucks.
---
### Author:  [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2004, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-light-sleeper/259433/11 "2004-08-12T13:06:39Z")
> [@Lobsang](#):
>
> It’s ok if I drink, because I quickly forget to be awake…
Ghod that’s funny! 😃
I’m a light sleeper, too. I had to move my Guinea Pigs to the other side of the house because they’d wake me when they drank water and the little ball valve made that clanking noise it does.
---
### Author:  [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2004, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-light-sleeper/259433/12 "2004-08-12T13:38:08Z")
I do this too. Bugs the crap outta me since I wind up getting a lot of fractured sleep and feeling tired a lot. When I’m traveling with my team to away races, nobody understands why I’m so insistent on getting my own bed. It’s 'cause even my cat’s snoring wakes me up. If I eer get a live-in guy, we’re gonna have seperate rooms. Also, I often wake up in a “hypnopompic” state where I’m still sorta dreaming even though I’m also awake. This usually means I think the ceiling fan is trying to kill me and I wake up pressed to the wall so the fan can’t get me.
I have noticed that when I’m sleeping in a hotel room, I sleep more soundly. I wonder if it’s just because the cat isn’t there or if I might be very mildly allergic to cats.
**Lobsang** , haven’t you posted before that you drink a lot of alcohol? (I can’t remember if it was you or someone else) Alcohol tends to make you feel sleepy initially but tends to make the sleep you do get worse.
---
### Author:  [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2004, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-light-sleeper/259433/13 "2004-08-12T13:47:35Z")
My husband wakes up every two hours. If he gets three hours in a row, I’m checking vitals.
Me? I sleep like a dead person. My husband says I rarely move throughout the night. I’m good for 6-7 hours straight with no movement whatsoever.
Sometimes, though…I get a bout of insomnia and it drives me insane. I’ll get halfway through my day and start nodding off. I HATE when that happens!
---
### Author:  [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2004, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-light-sleeper/259433/14 "2004-08-12T14:12:54Z")
Yep, I too am a light sleeper. As others have mentioned it sucks because you get awful, fractured sleep. I genuinely do not remember that last time I have ever not woken up during the night.
Any kind of distrubance in the silence will wake me up. Something in the house turning on, an animal rummaging outside, busses are the worst.
I don’t understand the sleeping with a fan to produce white noise approach. How can you stand listening to that loud, grating sssshhshhsshshshshsh noise? It doesn’t drone out the random noises it just results in one loud continuous noise. I need complete silence - I turn off my laptop because even its occasional fan noise wakes me up.
---
### Author:  [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2004, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-light-sleeper/259433/15 "2004-08-12T14:18:07Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#):
>
> My husband wakes up every two hours. If he gets three hours in a row, I’m checking vitals.
>
> Me? I sleep like a dead person. My husband says I rarely move throughout the night. I’m good for 6-7 hours straight with no movement whatsoever.
>
> Sometimes, though…I get a bout of insomnia and it drives me insane. I’ll get halfway through my day and start nodding off. I HATE when that happens!
I would kill to be able to sleep through the night…mrAru spent 20 years in the navy on subs, he can sleep in a hammock hung in machinery 1, he says the sounds of the equipment puts him to sleep…[he used to store spare parts in his rack and took a hammock to sleep in just so he could have more parts for ‘baby’]
I have always woken up at 2 in the morning, and again at 5 in the morning, ever since I can remember. Usually i go take a whizz, get a drink of water, 5 minutes to check my email and back to bed=) When I spent time in hospital at various times, the nursing staff were always after my doc to prescribe sleeping pills for me…you know how hard it was in the 70s avoiding being tranked at night? It was a bit better in the 80…only because as a full adult I could throw a hissy fit and refuse the meds…juveniles can get the needle in the IV treatment
OTOH, my favorite thing to drink is ice water, and I drink constantly … one call center I worked in someonesuggested I get my doctor to prescribe that med for overactive bladders because i am always running to the bathroom :smack:
Never though every 2 hours was too much, just normal considering that in that 2 hours I probably go through 12-16 oz water…
---
### Author:  [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2004, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-light-sleeper/259433/16 "2004-08-12T14:57:22Z")
> [@ElectricZ](#):
>
> I usually sleep with a fan
Must be nice to be a rock star.
---
### Author:  [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2004, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-light-sleeper/259433/17 "2004-08-12T15:14:22Z")
You think YOU got it bad? Mr. Athena sleeps like a fookin’ spooked horse surrounded by hungry wolves.
Case in point:
Last week, we took a 4 day weekend and went on vacation. We were scheduled to leave pretty early Thursday morning, as I had made an appointment to get an oil change on the way (there is no dealer for my type of car in my area, so servicing involves a 3+ hour drive. Yeah, I know I’m nuts. But that’s another thread.)
It’s 12:30, the alarm is set to wake us up at 6:30 am, and I’m wide awake. Mr. Athena is sleeping soundly next to me, but I know from past experience that if I start tossing and turning, I’ll wake him up, and neither of us will get any sleep. After 30 minutes of trying not to toss and turn, and still not able to sleep, I decide to go to the spare bedroom to sleep (or toss and turn, as may happen.) Mr. Athena is snoring beside me. I sloooooowly and quieeetttly slip out of bed. I made next to no noise. Nevertheless, Mr. Athena bolts straight up in bed going “huh? whut? What’s going on?”
I explain to him I can’t sleep and don’t want to keep him up. He’s grumpy, as he often is when woken in the middle of the night. He tells me to get the hell back into bed, we need to leave early in the morning. I give him a kiss and head to the spare bedroom. I fall asleep immediately.
45 minutes later, I’m awoken by a grumbly Mr. Athena “What are you doing down here? Are you going to stay down here? We need to leave EARLY in the MORNING. We need to GET SOME SLEEP.” Um, well, up until you came barging in, I _was_ asleep. I tell him I’m staying here, go back to bed.
I doze lightly for another 30 minutes. I hear the front door open. WTF? The front door is opening? I look at clock: 2:15 am. I slip out of bed and tiptoe to the front door. Mr. Athena is standing outside. I walk out. “What’s going on?”
“Just leave me alone. I can’t sleep. I don’t want to talk about it.” Full grumpiness has set in. I go back to the spare bedroom.
45 minutes of tossing and turning later, I hear Mr. Athena bumbling about in the kitchen. I get up, he’s making coffee. Making coffee? “Go back to bed.” he snaps. “I can’t sleep.”
I go back to bed, get maybe 2 1/2 hours of bad sleep. I wake up, it’s 6:30. I go upstairs. Mr. Athena is in bed, sleeping. He wakes up as I walk in. “Is it time to get up already?”
Yup, it is. Amazingly enough, we get ready and leave at the appointed time. Two grumpy no-sleep people managed to make it to the car dealer, and on to the vacation without killing each other or ourselves. And all because I decided to sleep in the spare bedroom so that Mr. Athena could get a good night’s sleep. :rolleyes:
---
### Author:  [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2004, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-light-sleeper/259433/18 "2004-08-12T15:46:53Z")
The people in this thread who wake up several times per night might take comfort in reading an article by professor Arthur Roger Ekirch, titled: \*Sleep we have lost: Pre-industrial slumber in the British Isles. \* It was published in the 2001 issue of American Historical Review 106(April):343. \* . Basically Ekirch argues that waking up a couple of times per night has been, trougout the history of man, the rule, not the exception.
The first page of the article can be read [here](http://www.historycooperative.org/cgi-bin/justtop.cgi?act=justtop&url=http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/ahr/106.2/ah000343.html).
A quote from the article:
> [@](#):
>
> Until the modern era, up to an hour or more of quiet wakefulness midway through the night interrupted the rest of most Western Europeans, not just napping shepherds and slumbering woodsmen. Families rose from their beds to urinate, smoke tobacco, and even visit close neighbors. Remaining abed, many persons also made love, prayed, and, most important, reflected on the dreams that typically preceded waking from their “first sleep.” Not only were these visions unusually vivid, but their images would have intruded far less on conscious thought had sleepers not stirred until dawn. The historical implications of this traditional mode of repose are enormous, especially in light of the significance European households once attached to dreams for their explanatory and predictive powers. In addition to suggesting that consolidated sleep, such as we today experience, is unnatural, segmented slumber afforded the unconscious an expanded avenue to the waking world that has remained closed for most of the Industrial Age.
---
### Author:  [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2004, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-light-sleeper/259433/19 "2004-08-12T16:18:58Z")
I forgot to mention that Ekirch’s article appeared in his book: _“At days close: night in times past”_. he based the article on a study of over 500 diaries and medical books from West-european countries.
A fascinating find was that West Europeans, up untill the 19’th century used to have two bouts of sleep per night: the “first nap” or “dead sleep”, and the rest of the sleep, interspaced by at least an hour of sleeplessness.
This pattern has changed in the 19’th and 20’th century, because we could go to bed later (not much point in staying up after dark if you can’t afford candles) and because we now have better beds and aren’t bothered as much by livestock, bedmates and vermin.
Artifical light may also be an important factor. Kirchner did part of his research with Thomas Wehr of the National Institute of Mental Health in Maryland. Wehr says that whenever people are denied access to artificial light, they return to the pattern of first sleep-waking up-sleeping again that Ekirch describes.
Ekirch argues that "light sleepers"are maybe less influenced by the constant influence of artificial light then others are, and so have kept the sleeppatterns of pre-industrial man.
Still, it might be of interest to read how people lived all those centuries with a pattern of waking and sleeping like the people in this thread, and how they spent their nightly hours. (Much energy went into the analysis of dreams, for instance)
---
### Author:  [@Philip\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philip_C)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2012, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-light-sleeper/259433/20 "2012-12-29T13:37:10Z")
I’ve listened to people sleep my whole life.My first recollections where hearing other family members sleeping.I’ve always had a lot of energy through the day and very rarly can take naps. Nowdays you hear so much about sleep prblems and doctors perscribing meds and counciling.Some people such as myself wake up insantly and at any differant noise.I wake up always six to ten times every night as i’ve always done.I believe some of us are just geneticly wired differently.In the past this was probably a survival trait that would be like a watchman today.the main thing that i’ve learned is not to let it bother me and use it for exrta time to reflect and think of things that are helpful to me.I feel that medication that people have suggested would do more harm than good.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-light-sleeper/259433.md?page=2)