Staying Awake!

[thebillionaire]

Alright this week along with the next two weeks will be super stressing for me as I have exams, in class projects, and in class exams plus the dialy homework. So far this week I've prob gotten around 11 hours of sleep.

Any ideas how I can keep awake, other than drinking coffee or drugs?

[Westech]

During my illustrious college career, I used cofee, mountain dew, and Vivarin (caffine pills)... Here are some other suggestions that work well:

--Keep COLD. If it's cold outside where you live, turn off the heater and open some windows. If not, close the windows and crank up the air conditioner. If you're cold enough to be slightly uncomfortable, you'll stay awake.

--I often found myself nodding off in class. No matter how much I tried to stay awake, I kept nodding off. I figured out that if I put my elbow on the desk and held my pencil or pen loosely above the desk, then when I started falling asleep I'd drop the pen and it would wake me up. I usually averaged around 3-5 pen drops per class during the last couple of weeks of a semester, but I stayed awake!

--Finally, keep in mind that you do need SOME sleep. When you are too sleep deprived, your brain just doesn't work right and you won't remember anything you study. I always made sure I got at least 7 hours of sleep on a night before a test so that I'd be awake and alert during the exam.

Good luck!

[Generalissimo]

Speaking from experience of watching many an election and not sleeping at all, I recommend you move a lot, if your sitting twitch your leg or something, and drinking orange juice seems to help.

[Chris]

I also think the cold air helps you get more oxygen with each breath, keeping you more alert.

[Westech]

I never considered that, but it makes sense. I just knew that it worked!

Sugar can help for a while, but then you'll crash.

[r2d2]

You'll probably be much more productive if you get the correct amount of sleep. No good working 20 hours a day if its 20 hours of 25% productivity work. Much better to do 8hrs of 100%.

We've all been there though, and I agree with keeping cold, warmth is just sleep inducing. Stay active, walk around every 10 minutes or so. But NEVER say 'Oh, I'll just have a quick rest, I'll be ok' - 10 hours later when you wake up, you'll realise you missed the exam you stayed up 23 hours revising for.

[James]

I also think the cold air helps you get more oxygen with each breath, keeping you more alert.
It'd make sense; the oxygen would contract thereby allowing more to enter your lungs and your body's more alert due to the cold.


We've all been there though, and I agree with keeping cold, warmth is just sleep inducing. Stay active, walk around every 10 minutes or so. But NEVER say 'Oh, I'll just have a quick rest, I'll be ok' - 10 hours later when you wake up, you'll realise you missed the exam you stayed up 23 hours revising for.
So true.

If you find yourself falling asleep, don't think that pinching yourself or doing anything like that'll help. I've got lots of stuff wrong with me, so I'm in pain a lot of the time (hell, right now my neck's throbbing painfully, and I don't know what the hell it's even from, and my knee's charlie-horsing) And I've always managed to fall asleep even with a throbbing headache and bruises all over. (Spill on the dirtbike I was lucky to walk away from without any broken bones, and with my eye, and even without stitches or anything, which is somewhat surprising due to the gas being put on full when I fell, and the tire somehow maneuvering around me as to not touch me. My only injuries were bruises, and getting pegged in the face with the edge of the handle bar [the front tire jerked 90' to the right] leaving a red bloody reminder which healed pretty slowly.

[Cutter]

I know a guy that dropped the top on his Porsche during the middle of the winter to stay awake driving home. :D

[AndyH]

I love sleep.

But I have been doing all nighters lately and I find by about 5AM that I just can't think as good as 1AM. That's when I nod off.

I may look into taking caffine pills though. Heard they might help. (I don't drink coffee or soft drinks)

[eMEraLdwPn]

i think i have some sort of sleeping disorder, no matter how much sleep i get i'm always tired. if i can, i'll get 11-12 hours of sleep and still have trouble getting out of bed in the morning.

[James]

i think i have some sort of sleeping disorder, no matter how much sleep i get i'm always tired. if i can, i'll get 11-12 hours of sleep and still have trouble getting out of bed in the morning.
See your doctor. It could be that you have a condition which causes you to stop breathing when you're asleep, or one of a wide variety of conditions which cause tiredness. Have you tried sleeping for more than 12 hours? Like, sleeping through Saturday?

[Westech]

I actually had that. It's called "Sleep Apnea" and usually affects older, overweight people. Somehow I had it when I was young and average-weight. Google "sleep apnea" if you want more info.

I spent the first few years of college in a daze, no matter how much sleep I got. See my previous post in this thread about the trick I developed for staying awake in class as an example.

My apnea was caused by the "hangy-down thing" in the back of my throat covering my airway while I slept. I had an operation to remove the hangy-down thing and now I'm fine. I just wish I had done it a lot sooner. Emeraldwpn, you should go to a sleep specialist and get some tests done. If they find something that they can correct you'll be glad you went. It's amazing the change that it can make in your quality of life and ability to concentrate and get things done.

[eMEraLdwPn]

i had some blood tests done about a year ago, not sure exactly what they were looking for... mono i guess? even though i already had that a few years ago, and for some reason i wasn't even tired while i had it, i just felt like crap for an entire month :p. would sleep apnea show up on blood tests?

[Westech]

No, it won't show up on blood tests.

You'll probably need to have a sleep study done to check for it. You'll spend the night in a lab and they'll observe you and monitor your vital signs while you sleep. I went to my regular doctor and described my symptoms and he referred me to a specialist for the sleep study.

[Todd W]

There is more than 1 reason as to why people can be sleepy all the time. I believe one that's pretty common is iron deficiency also know as anemia. Sometimes anemiac people simply need pills and they are on the right track again. Sometimes you just don't sleep as soundly as you like and are tired all the time, and other times you are to lazy/tired because you lack exercise and your body can't get out of the "blah" mood. Yes you can be tired because you don't exercise!

[James]

Yes you can be tired because you don't exercise!
Yeah, I'm in a recursive loop with this one: I'm sick most of the time (hell, eating anything makes my stomach feel like hell), and get sick with every damn cold, etc. that comes around, and this means I can't excercise, which means I don't get in good shape, which means my immune system's low, and I get sick again. And the tiredness makes me sicker and sicker.

One thing that always works for keeping me awake is Diet Pepsi; it'll fill you with caffeine, and you'll not get sick after drinking lots of them as fast as Coke Cola, and it'll make you less phlegmy.

[Cutter]

I was in pretty poor shape through high school. I'm active now, and it does make a difference. I occasionally drink caffeine -- but I don't rely on it.

Here are a few suggestions:

-Go outside for at least one hour every day
-lift weights (you don't need to bench press 400 lbs) & do situps
-yoga & pilates -- good for the morning wake up
-get plenty of vitamin C -- grapefruit & oranges
-play tennis

In college you might be fine abusing your body, but as you get older you just won't be able to do it anymore & it definately will cut down on your longevity by 10 to 20 years.

[Generalissimo]

How do you do the opposite, get to sleep, I'm ill and don't feel much like being awake at the moment, but I can't make myself have more than 15 hours sleep...

[moonshield]

In college you might be fine abusing your body, but as you get older you just won't be able to do it anymore & it definately will cut down on your longevity by 10 to 20 years.

Well, that sounds quite bleak. :)