# Is this much sleeping bad? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 16, 2004, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-much-sleeping-bad/274997 "2004-11-16T03:26:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WeRSauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f19dbf/32.png) [@WeRSauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WeRSauron)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-much-sleeping-bad/274997/1 "2004-11-16T03:26:28Z")
Last night I went to sleep at 2 am. (There was an Id ul-Fitr party, so we came home late.) I got up at 5 pm. I set my alarm for 9:30 and 9:45 am (first one on my phone, second one on my bedside clock). I heard them and immediately turned them off. Went back to sleep effortlessly, and woke up at 5 pm. From 2 am to 5 pm would make it 15 hours. Sleeping from 2 am to 10 am, then from 10 am to 5 pm would make it 8 hours and 7 hours, which equals 15 hours - so either way, I slept for 15 hours. And this is not the first time something like this has happened. About a week or so ago, I went to bed around 1 am, woke up around 4 pm. I feel this is wrong. What could be making this happen? Depression? High blood sugar? Stress? Sleep debt? Or is there nothing really wrong - just catching up on sleep? WRS ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-much-sleeping-bad/274997/2 "2004-11-16T03:52:23Z")
I think it depends on how old you are. When I was in college, I slept much more than that on several occasions because of sleep deprivation, several part-time jobs, and tests going on at the same time. Unfortunately, I am now 31 with a family and still feel the need to sleep that long from time to time. My family looks at me like a freak because I will go to sleep at 10:00 pm and not wake up until 3:00 pm the next day on rare occasions. I need that to live. However, I have a few realted factors that have diagnosed and somewhat effectively treated that have addressed it pretty well. However, I still need much more sleep than most people I know. As far as I can tell, it is close to 10 hours a day but I cannot maintain a specific schedule and I need “catching up time”. I have stayed up more than 3 days more times than I can count but that is neither here nor there. To answer your question, depression will certainly cause excessive sleep and that is one of the earliest warning signs. Seek help now if you think that is wht it is because medical relief from treatment will be several weeks away. ---
**Author:** ![Abbie\_Carmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@Abbie\_Carmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abbie_Carmichael)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-much-sleeping-bad/274997/3 "2004-11-16T03:58:52Z")
I’m so jealous ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-much-sleeping-bad/274997/4 "2004-11-16T04:05:28Z")
**WeRSauron** , I’ve read a lot of your posts. Forgive me for sounding a know-it-all, but I do think you might be a bit depressed. I think you’re a great guy and I hope you talk to your doctor about this. Nothing to be ashamed about. Depression seems to be the number one disease these days. Please get help, okay? Wishing you all the best. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-much-sleeping-bad/274997/5 "2004-11-16T04:07:31Z")
IME, the later I go to bed, the longer I need to sleep. If I go to bed at 9, 6 hours will do me just fine, but if I go to bed at 2, I need at least 8 hours to recuperate. ---
**Author:** ![WeRSauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f19dbf/32.png) [@WeRSauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WeRSauron)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-much-sleeping-bad/274997/6 "2004-11-16T05:19:28Z")
Thanks for the responses! Hmmmm, **gum**. I’m already on meds for depression. I had been feeling quite lethargic, tired, etc., and so discussed this with my doctor. When he found out my depression meds dosage, he make me repeat it twice. He told me that my dosage may be the reason for my fatigue. So I cut it by half. Although, now that I think about it, this sleeping-for-more-than-12-hours began again only after cutting my depression meds (I had regular episodes of this long back when I was first diagnosed with depression). Perhaps time to visit my doctor again. Or actually start exercising more or something (which I really, really need to do anyway: I promised God I’d lose 50 pounds for a reason I dare not mention here). WRS ---
**Author:** ![gfloyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d2c977/32.png) [@gfloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gfloyd)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-much-sleeping-bad/274997/7 "2004-11-16T05:52:24Z")
When I stay with my parents, I sleep a lot, frankly to avoid dealing with them as things are far from peachy keen there. Is there something enviromental about it, like being in a different place when you sleep a lot? Still, seeing your doctor is a good idea, even if all they say is, you’re okay, don’t worry. ---
**Author:** ![SusanStoHelit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@SusanStoHelit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SusanStoHelit)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-much-sleeping-bad/274997/8 "2004-11-16T06:21:44Z")
Maybe you should be checked for mono. I had the same symptoms, but I didn’t see the dr until after I was over it- doesn’t help then 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-much-sleeping-bad/274997/9 "2004-11-16T06:24:28Z")
**WeRSauron** , good. Talk to your doctor. I don’t think it’s a good idea to cut your medicines yourself, you know. And don’t worry so about your weight. It’s not the most important thing on earth. I’m thin, but I kinda like chubby people. As I’m sure a lot of people do. Good luck on you. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-much-sleeping-bad/274997/10 "2004-11-16T14:44:54Z")
The amount of sleep I need waxes and wanes. At the least, I need seven or eight hours. At the most, I need at least nine, and can happily snozzle for ten and a half. Lucky me I work, efficiently, from home, and have the time to do this–other times in my life, when I’ve had to get up at a certain time every day, I basically couldn’t function. I sure was up for a good 13-hour sleep, at those times. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-much-sleeping-bad/274997/11 "2004-11-16T17:33:18Z")
What **gum** said. Also if you can put a bright light in your bedroom. When the allarm goes off, force yourself to switch the light on before starting to snooze again, maybe get to bed earlier as well. Light levels are very important in being able to wake up, if your room is fairly dark even in daytime that can be a problem. Tell your Doctor about oversleeping, such things as changing the time of day you take meds can have a big effect. ---
**Author:** ![ShadiRoxan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@ShadiRoxan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadiRoxan)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-much-sleeping-bad/274997/12 "2004-11-16T18:02:41Z")
If I’m sleeping for 14-15 hours, I’m sick. I will sleep on average of 8-9 hours. My husband tries to sleep up to 16 hours at a time. I hate it. It’s not living. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-much-sleeping-bad/274997/13 "2004-11-16T18:55:16Z")
When I’m falling into a depressive cycle I sleep for 20 hours at a time sometimes. Bed at 9pm, wake up at 9am with the alarm, shut it off, sleep till 2pm, look at the clock, shut my eyes, sleep till 5pm, get up, watch tv for four hours, go back to bed. Not healthy for the reasons I’m doing it. Exercise has helped me a ton.