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I was chronically sleep-deprived for about 5-6 years but didn't know it, once I started watching the stock market closely. I would go to sleep at 12-1am and wa

I was chronically sleep-deprived for about 5-6 years but didn't know it, once I started watching the stock market closely. I would go to sleep at 12-1am and wake up at 6am to watch the stock market open. Then at 930am I would leave for work and come back at 730pm. I would have dinner, do some additional work and then repeat the cycle. I loved it, but I would regularly get between 4-6 hrs per night even on weekends. I was pretty functional, and my life was fine. I thought I was pretty tough. And then all of a sudden about 4 months ago, I started forgetting simple things, like how to spell words like "somebody" (I tried spelling it "somebuddy"). Then I got a terrible headache for about 3 weeks straight and it was so intense I couldn't think properly and was getting confused, like an Alzheimer's patient. I got checked for a brain tumor, and luckily I was normal. However, I decided to start sleeping regularly, stock market be damned. The first night I slept 17 hrs. My headaches went away and my memory increased, and since then I've been trying to get into bed by 10pm so that I can get 7-8 hrs sleep every night and still wake up at 630am. Some nights I'm more successful than others, last night I got 5 hrs sleep because I was working until 130am and woke up at 630am.

goblin89 15y ago
Thanks for sharing this experience. It reminds that many of us far too often overestimate our abilities to ‘read’ our bodies. Being aware of a problem when it affects the brain is the trickiest part. Good that you've noticed it in time.
- nikhilalmeida 15y ago
  Yes truly we tend to overestimate the our body's abilities. I remember reading an article of a young and successful executive at Adobe India who prided himself at being very fit (used to run marathons) and also being able to make do with just 3-4 hrs of sleep. He died of cardiac arrest at 35. Thats when I have decided to give myself atleast 6 hrs of sleep daily. Im guessing it should be enough sleep needed.
bh42222 15y ago
Same 4-6 hrs sleep pattern here, and recently I too have suddenly started to forget simple things like how words I use every day are spelled. Yet I can't seem to be able to consistently force myself to be in bed early enough.
- steve8918 15y ago
  You really should consider forcing yourself to sleep more. This whole incident changed how I view my life, and how important health is. When I was lying in the MRI machine, wondering WTF was wrong with me, I literally saw my life flashing before my eyes. After the MRI was negative, I quit my job, and decided to spend the next year working on something that I wanted to work on, and get my health back into order, ie. lose 20 lbs and decrease my blood pressure.
  - bh42222 15y ago
    I quit my job That answers the other question I was thinking of, how to do it. It might have to come to that for me as well. (Yawning as I type this)

goblin89 15y ago

Thanks for sharing this experience. It reminds that many of us far too often overestimate our abilities to ‘read’ our bodies. Being aware of a problem when it affects the brain is the trickiest part. Good that you've noticed it in time.

nikhilalmeida 15y ago
Yes truly we tend to overestimate the our body's abilities. I remember reading an article of a young and successful executive at Adobe India who prided himself at being very fit (used to run marathons) and also being able to make do with just 3-4 hrs of sleep. He died of cardiac arrest at 35. Thats when I have decided to give myself atleast 6 hrs of sleep daily. Im guessing it should be enough sleep needed.

bh42222 15y ago

Same 4-6 hrs sleep pattern here, and recently I too have suddenly started to forget simple things like how words I use every day are spelled. Yet I can't seem to be able to consistently force myself to be in bed early enough.

steve8918 15y ago
You really should consider forcing yourself to sleep more. This whole incident changed how I view my life, and how important health is. When I was lying in the MRI machine, wondering WTF was wrong with me, I literally saw my life flashing before my eyes. After the MRI was negative, I quit my job, and decided to spend the next year working on something that I wanted to work on, and get my health back into order, ie. lose 20 lbs and decrease my blood pressure.
- bh42222 15y ago
  I quit my job That answers the other question I was thinking of, how to do it. It might have to come to that for me as well. (Yawning as I type this)