When I get a lack of sleep (or especially multiple nights of bad sleep), I often have a splitting headache the next day that makes me unfunctional and worsens until I get more sleep. Other people I’m with have the exact same sleeping routines and never get any headaches, and can still function despite being tired. What’s wrong with me?
Some people don’t require the same amount of sleep to function. I sometimes go weeks only sleeping 4-6 hours a night without being too drained, while my wife is exhausted if she gets less than 8 hours of sleep for a single night. Also, some people need a similar sleep schedule nightly while others can be sleep deprived on the weekdays and make up for the deficit on the weekends.
I did read about a long-sleeper gene and a short-sleeper gene, which made me curious if I could be a long-sleeper
Yeah, I believe my wife read an article relating to this. I’m squarely in the short-sleeper side of things.
The long-term effects of sleep deprivation are devastating, dementia being the main problem. Check out some of the research on the subject.
Different people need different amounts of sleep to function and be healthy, but you can’t “make up for the deficit”. If your body needs 8 hours per day and you sleep for 4 hours one night and 12 the next, your body doesn’t net it out. (Just using 8 hours as an example, it could be different)
