Poll: How much sleep do you get?

[chickwhorips]

i always am getting a hard time about how much i sleep. i just want to see how i compare to the rest of you girls.

i can function great on 9-10 hours of sleep. anything less than 7 for more than a day, forgit it. Bad News Bears! i can sleep for 10+ hours no problem, but i try not to so i don't mess up my whole sleeping pattern.

i don't know how anyone does it doing rotating shifts or being on call. hats off to you that can.

[snapdragen]

I voted 8-10, but it's more like 7-9 for me.

[DDH]

I'm a SAHM, Sleep? what's that? LOL

No, I usually get on average about 6 I think. Once in a while, I will sleep late when everyone is off from school and work, and play catch up and sleep for about 9 hours, but that is rare.

[GLC1968]

I voted 5-7...but there are plenty of less than 5 days each week for me. I've always been a very light sleeper, so I think my body has learned to live with less sleep than most.

If I sleep more than 8 hours...I'm useless. :rolleyes:

[SadieKate]

Can we count time in meetings?

I get about 7 though I really need 8. There always seems to be a good book stuck to my nose. Bubba hates it when the book falls over and smacks him.

[mtbdarby]

I usually get 6-7 but need 8. Some Saturdays when I don't have my son I can sleep 9-10. But my morning sleep is always interupted by dogs that want to go potty - go figure!

[Cassandra_Cain]

Can we count time in meetings?

I get about 7 though I really need 8. There always seems to be a good book stuck to my nose. Bubba hates it when the book falls over and smacks him.

lol :p

Meetings definitely count as brain-dead time!

I get around 6 or 7ish on most nights. Lately though, especially after big weekend rides, I'm seeing the right side of 8 hours!

[chickwhorips]

darby that reminded me, i'm always getting up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, at least once if not more. i wonder how bad that interrupts my sleep.

[songlady]

I become extremely unpleasant if I have not had at least 7 hours a night, ideally I'd like 8 and usually manage somewhere in between.

[kelownagirl]

I usually get 6-7 but need 8. Some Saturdays when I don't have my son I can sleep 9-10. But my morning sleep is always interupted by dogs that want to go potty - go figure!

I could have written this exactly... This morning it was an 8 year old banging on the door, AND two dogs barking....

[bcipam]

Since menopause I don't sleep much. Having a broken collarbone and subsequent surgery (preventng me from sleeping on my right side) didn't help.

I'm lucky to get 5 hours. Last two nights combined I got 5. :(

I would give a toe to get 8 hours sleep straight!!!!!

[DrBee]

I'm more like Snap. I voted 5-7, but usually get somewhere between 7-9/6-8.

[Denise223]

Hmmm....where did my post go?

I chose between 10 - 12 hours....

My sleep is never straight through -- I have fibromyalgia, and have non-restorative sleep.

I wake up at least 4+ times/night. One of those times is to go to the bathroom.

There are times that I don't sleep at all -- I can be awake for 48++ hours, and then CRASH!! (this has been happening less & less :) )

I wear ear-plugs to block out noise. My husband is a light sleeper.

One of our cats will let me know how her night is going at least 3 times/night, but......I love our furkids......

I need to make it a habit to get to bed earlier!!!

I'm so tired sometimes.....

Denise

[li10up]

Nine hrs seems to be what my body wants. I used to lay awake in bed for 3-4 hrs before falling asleep. Now thanks to my DHs sleeping pills I can fall asleep in less than an hour. I used to be chronically tired...not so much now...thank you Ambien!

I know, I know...I shouldn't take someone elses prescribed meds. Hey, if MY doc would listen to ME I wouldn't have to.

[HappyAnika]

I voted 8 - 10 but fall in the 7-8 camp. I have a very hard time functioning/keeping my eyes open if I get less than 7. I'm perfect on 8, but like to indulge in 10 every few weeks on a weekend morning.

I envy those who can function just fine on 5 hours. I could get so much more done and be less stressed if I had those extra 2 - 3 hours in a day.:rolleyes:

[Geonz]

Also 7-8 (hoping we balance each other out).

When I was unemployed and then freelancing, one week to the day after my 40th birthday, I woke up at dawn.

All my life I had been a night owl and would sleep 'til noon, 1, 2, given the chance.

The rest of the summer, I was up with the sun, ready to RIDE MY BIKE.

I think the main factor that caused the change (and it doesn't make me a morning person - I still think better later) was that I was finally getting enough sleep - and also enough exercise (otherwise I prob'ly would just sleep more... slide into stagnation if not depression...)

I've really worked towards maintaining that. I found out I function a LOT better rested; it works like a really good vitamin or the right medication (though I gotta have a little caffeine too :) ).

[mlove]

Denise223--I have fibromyalgia too. I am lucky if I ever sleep more than five hours a night but I never feel really rested even if I get more. I am an early-to-bed, early-to-rise person married to a night owl.

[Bikingmomof3]

Oops, I voted incorrectly. Is there a smilie smacking it's forehead? I voted 8-10 (I was dreaming). I get between 5-7 hours. During the school week (12 more days, but who is counting?) I tend to get around 6 hours.

[chickwhorips]

Oops, I voted incorrectly. Is there a smilie smacking it's forehead?

http://www.smileypad.com/v224/Feelings/Doh3.gif there ya go.

[Dogmama]

Ambien keeps me awake - go figure.

I'm lucky to get 7 and I need at least 8. Anybody else get really foggy brained without sleep? Perimenopause has me awake at 3AM most mornings. I'm usually up at 4AM anyway to hit the gym at 5 or ride - but 3AM is a tad early. Today I logged onto my work computer & knocked out a couple of spreadsheets. Now, I'd like to knock out a snotty faculty member, but that's another story...

[chickwhorips]

Anybody else get really foggy brained without sleep?

beyond foggy brained.

i have a hard time with having a SO that requires less sleep than me. i feel bad for going to bed earlier, and he feels bad for staying up (doesn't help he works rotating shifts and we don't get to spend much time together).

[Bruno28]

I get 5-7 during the working week because I p*$$ about doing 'stuff' - just stuff, I don't know what - then it's way past bedtime.

5-7's what I get but I need 8-10 to keep me cheery, which is why I'm quite often grumpy.

When I was depressed I could sleep 20 hours a day no prob. Thank you Prozac. Happy to say I'm on biking and fresh air now!

PS Why do you suddenly have to get up to pee in the middle of the night when you reach middle age?

[RoadRaven]

I voted 5-7... I have been working on sleeping longer... a year and a half ago I was lucky to get 5 hours a night - I think cycling has helped my sleeping.
;)

[Bikingmomof3]

http://www.smileypad.com/v224/Feelings/Doh3.gif there ya go.


Thank you!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I usually get between 7 and 8 hours. Working at home/self employed does have advantages. I am at my best with 8 to 9 hours sleep. 6 or less makes me feel awful, like a hangover or something.

I used to wake up in the middle of the night more often, but since I have been fitness walking and biking I sleep more solidly. :)

[Tater]

I typically get seven and a half to eight a night. Anything less than that and I am quite unpleasant to be around. I am a light sleeper and will take the dog's collar off because he insists on getting up at least once or twice a night to just shake himself, then lay back down. :rolleyes: I got tired of his tags waking me at o'dark thirty. Mr. Tater has sleep apnea and must sleep with a mask and machine. Thankfully that stuff is quiet.

[Lise]

I usually do two night call shifts a week, from 10 PM to 10 AM. Yesterday I slept 7 hr, got up, worked 8 hr, came home, slept 2 hr, got up, worked 13 hr, came home, slept 2.5 hr, and here I am. It's not good, but it's my profession. I'm a midwife, and babies are no respecters of sleep for anyone! :rolleyes: Some times I'll get several hours of sleep on a night call--it's completely unpredictable.

Ideally, I get 7-8 hr. I would love to sleep longer than that, but my internal clock gets me up. I always get up at least one to go pee. If I can get that much sleep with only one pee break, I am so happy.

It's taking longer and longer to recover from the night shifts.

[Bad JuJu]

I'm in the 5-7 range, but closer to 5. And it seems like that's what my body wants/needs. When I was younger, I could sleep for days, it seemed, or at least for 10 hours or so a night. But since menopause (which someone else mentioned as a factor), I don't seem to either get or want more sleep. I like staying up late, I like getting up early, and if I sometimes grab a short nap in the afternoons, well c'est la vie!

[Bruno28]

I always get up at least one to go pee.


So you're a medical person what is it with that pee thing?....never bothered me before I reached my late forties.

[caligurl]

i TRY for 7..... but it doesn't always work.... i get up at 4:00 a.m.... so if i can get to bed by 9... that's good (and 7 hours!) but it's usually later (usually closer to 10... so 6 hours)

before the big "drive to" rides.. i'm lucky to get 5 hours! (this weekend if i go to bed at 7 and get up at midnight.. that will be 5 hours!) i don't think i've EVER done a big ride on more than 6 hours sleep! yikes!

[mtkitchn]

Man, I love sleep! I usually sleep 8.5-9 hrs when I can. My job disrupts my sleep patterns like Lise's....sometimes I'm up till the wee hrs, and sometimes I have to GET up at 0300. It just makes me sleep even more when I see a bed....
And once in a while an afternoon nap on a day off sneaks its way into my life....so delightful.
In my 20s I slept about 4-6 hrs a night; don't know how I did it.....

[Lise]

So you're a medical person what is it with that pee thing?....never bothered me before I reached my late forties.
H*ll if I know. I really don't. I'm sure I should know, since I'm a women's health care provider. But I focus on the young and pregnant ones. Hey, maybe you're pregnant! That makes you get up and pee a lot!

YIKES! :eek: Don't throw that caber at me! :D

"It's perimenopause" seems to be the wastebasket explanation for a lot of things these days.

[Lise]

My job disrupts my sleep patterns like Lise's....
Do you ever have trouble sleeping after being up all night? I get into an "on/awake" thing, where I cannot let go and stay asleep. I'm working on it now with deep breathing and meditation.

Sometimes it's like: SLEEP NOW!, because I have a couple of hours' window of opportunity. If I'm at the hospital, and know that I can sleep for an hour, I can usually fall sound asleep. But if I'm home, and trying to sleep prior to a call shift, just in case I'm up all night, it's tough.

[mtkitchn]

Do you ever have trouble sleeping after being up all night? I get into an "on/awake" thing, where I cannot let go and stay asleep. I'm working on it now with deep breathing and meditation.

Sometimes it's like: SLEEP NOW!, because I have a couple of hours' window of opportunity. If I'm at the hospital, and know that I can sleep for an hour, I can usually fall sound asleep. But if I'm home, and trying to sleep prior to a call shift, just in case I'm up all night, it's tough.

I have the same problems, Lise! Funny when you read about getting help sleeping, the advise is always to go to bed at the same time every night....HA!!! This is the 24/7 world (well, with your job it's always been a 24/7 world).
Sometimes I wish I'd been born rich instead of so good looking....then I wouldn't have work and could sleep soundly every night on my yacht or in my mountain cabin.....ahhh....

[TsPoet]

Ancient Greek Proverb

8 for a woman
7 for a man
6 for a fool

[Lise]

I Funny when you read about getting help sleeping, the advise is always to go to bed at the same time every night....HA!!!
Yeah, I have finally learned to resist reading those articles.

[Bruno28]

"It's perimenopause" seems to be the wastebasket explanation for a lot of things these days.

Yeah - that's the one I didn't want to hear!

[Melody]

I voted 8-10. We try to aim for going to bed by 10:00pm, but sometimes (usually due to laundry) we may not get to bed till midnight, but rarely is it past then. We get up between 7 and 7:30 am normally.

But, on the flip side, when I'm on call, I typically get less than 5 hours of sleep a night, if I'm lucky. I'm usually a zombie and thank *God* I don't have to do anything that requires manual dexterity. :eek: That... would be scary :p

Like many other people I wake up frequently in the middle of the night in order to pee. For me it's due to a couple of things... First, my kidneys are failing (stupid things) and the other is I'm on a med called hydrochlorothiazide which is (unfortunately) a diuretic. Translation, I have to pee.. lots. :p

Mel

[chickwhorips]

i feel so much better. i feel more "normal" with my sleeping habits, and peeing habbits in the middle of the night.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

[Blueberry]

Since I started a job where I work *way* too many hours (, I've been getting way too little sleep. Hubby has a flex schedule, and consequently our evening schedule accomodates him. Which means I'm usually not in bed before 11-11:30 on a good night. And I get up at 5 or 6, depending on the day I have coming. NOT enough sleep. I'm constantly groggy. I don't really see how to change it, though. Hubby rides right before I get home usually (my riding has been confined to the weekend recently), and showers around the time I get home. Then animal chores and dinner, and there really isn't time for anything else before 11 or so. Ugh!

[im4smiley]

I voted in the 5-7 range. I have to get up early for work and I always always say I will go to bed early but I end up at the computer, or watching the news or doing the rest of the dishes or sometimes I read before bed. Bed around 11:30pm up at 5:30 am. It's great when I can sleep til 6:30 or 7 on the weekends!

[makbike]

I really need at least 10 hours of sleep to function well but that only occurs during my summer vacation. During the school year I typically grab 5 - 7 hours each night and am exhausted by Friday. I really hate it when I have to work Saturdays for that cuts into my catch up sleep sessions.

[enzed]

I put down 5-7 hour sleep.
But sometimes I'm lucky just to get 5 hours sleep.
I have tinnitus which makes getting to sleep somtimes hard. Ringing in the ears can be very distracting & I usually listen to talk back radio or late night TV in an attempt to fall asleep. When my sinuses are playing up, waking up I can feel particulary groggy. :(
So I envy those who have a regular sleep pattern.

[run it, ride it]

I am a university student. No fixed day-to-day schedule. It all depends on classes, athletics and workload. Some days I'll get a good 7 or 8 hours, while others I get none.

Even if you only get a few hours each night, if you get them at the same TIME every night your body will sleep more efficiently than if you're all over the place.

[winddance]

I put down 5-7. I typically get about 6 hours of sleep or less during the week. On weekends, it's more like 8 hours if I get to bed early.

[emily_in_nc]

I voted 5-7. I would really like to get 8 hours of sleep a night, but lately I have had trouble falling to sleep and staying asleep, so it's more like 6-7 during the work week and 7-7.5 on weekends. Better than many here, but not as much as I'd like or as much as I used to be able to get easily.

It's gotta be the perimenopause thing.... :mad:

Emily

[light_sabe_r]

I need my sleep. Desperatly.

I can't function on anything less than 8... And I function well on ten or more. ^_^

After big rides (with a big night's sleep by the way) I usually sleep for two hours then sleep my normal night's sleep!

[Bicyclette]

I need 8 - at least 8 - I'm actually better with 9 and the time between 5AM and 6AM is just the best for me - I love being able to sleep until 6

I think some of my need for 8-9 hours is because I rarely sleep through the whole night - I wake up at least once a night - usually more :(

[margo49]

6 or 7 in the summer.More in the winter - tho' winter is not very long
SO was in agriculture and really the whole place runs on agricultural hours.
I had years of disturbed sleep - pregnancy, kids, SO snoring, menopauses (Yes, plural - one medically induced by chemo and then extended with some pill with a really long name - and then a natural one. Note that the pills didn't "knock me off my cycle" ;) permanently .:cool:

Keeping with the sun (and moon) is the best (if your lifestyle permits )
Also being reasonably happy. Any kind of calm I guess.

[Melstar]

My sleeping patterns can be really erratic and messed up. When i'm on job assignments, sometimes i get as little as 3 hours of sleep, and other times when i get the chance, i REALLY sleep in...

But most of the time when i'm not working, i try to get 8 hours of sleep, plenty of cycling, and a general healthy livestyle going hahah... so yea 8 hours was my vote :p

[dobielover1]

I've had insomia for years....I tend to go 3 or 4 days when I only get a couple of hours of sleep that crash the following night and get a solid 8.

[biking4health]

I voted 5-7, but 6-7 is about average for me or less if the cat decides he wants to lay next to me. I like it be cool when I sleep but between the magic age of 51 and the cat it's not always possible. :eek:

Carol

[surgtech1956]

When I was younger(20s and 30s) I could sleep 9 - 10 hours. Now at age 51 and menopause I sleep 7-8 hours. At least I'm sleeping good now - for awhile those darn hot flashes. Nancy

[eclectic]

7-8 is the norm - I am realizing now that I am older I can't pull the all nighters like I used to and think I can function the next day.

Since I have quit eating wheat and oats my quality of sleep has improved immensely. (limiting the beer consumption before bed has improved sleep patterns also - I AM getting old :P

[Crankin]

I get about 6.5 hours a night, sometimes 7. I sometimes get in bed by 9, but often don't go to sleep until 10:15. I get up at 5 and at 4:30 on the days i commute. It's easy at this time of the year, though. I always have been a light sleeper. There are nights once in awhile that I just can't sleep and i just fill up on caffeine and crash the next night. I wake up at least once, sometimes 2-4 times, but usually only once. On the weekends, I wake at 5, but force myself to go back to sleep until 6 at least. I will go through stretches in the summer when I'm not working where I sleep to 6:30. I do feel better, but thn, I am going to bed later, too. It will beinteresting to see what happens when I stop working in 3 weeks... when the fall/winter starts, I wonder how early I will get up.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I get 7-8 usually. So I fall right in between two categories, and didn't vote.

[Popoki_Nui]

...... (limiting the beer consumption before bed has improved sleep patterns also - I AM getting old :P

LOL. Funny how that works. I'm noticing the same thing. :rolleyes: Something else I'm noticing, is that I can't ride hard or do anything strenuous after about 6pm. If I do, I just cannot get to sleep. I'll lay there twitching and buzzing well into the wee hours, tired but wired. Glass of wine? Nope. Hot relaxing bath? Doesn't help, either. Don't want to start playing with sleeping meds, so I try to finish my rides early in the afternoon. That helps.
I need about 8-9 hours' sleep a night, or I'm Frankenb*tch in the a.m.

[sarahlou]

I had to vote 5-7 because the sun barely sets here (you know what I'm talking about CWR). But ask me again in 6 months and it would be in the 8-10 catagory (because my body hates waking up in the dark).

[LBTC]

Well, I voted 5-7 because the best I get on a weeknight is 7, but it is often 6 or 5 1/2....
I function best on 8

Lately, I will often have an after work nap.

I get up just after 5 am so that I can do yoga, and take my time as I feed pets, get ready, and catch up on the forum. I am not a morning person so I despise hurrying to get to work on time.

I can not remember a time when I did not get up at least once in the night to pee. I read in some bike magazine a few years ago that you can tell that you are adequately hydrated if you pee once per hour during the day, and about every 4 hours during the night. So, yes, at least according to that article, it is perfectly normal to get up during the night for a pee break! Thank goodness!

I used to sleep in really late on the weekends - 9 was an early wakeup. A couple of years ago discomfort would wake me up earlier....I think it was an early sign of Crohn's. I definitely feel it these days and recognize that it's my internal organs tired of gravity! heh. Nowadays sleeping in until 8 on the weekend is a huge luxury! No worries, though, naps are readily available on non-work days.! whew!

Just about every night as I fall asleep with or without a book bonking me in the head, I am grateful that it is only a problem getting to sleep when I'm getting the flu. It's one thing this body is actually good for! Yay!

Hugs and peaceful sleepy butterflies,
~T~

[trekin']

I only need 6 - 7 hours of sleep to feel rested. Everyone seems to think that is too little, but I read an article somewhere on the internet (when I find the link I'll post it on this thread) that postmenopausal women don't require as much sleep as when they did in their 20's and 30's (middle aged men require 8 hours or more, as is evidenced in my DH's sleep patterns!).

My problem is staying asleep. I drop right off when I go to bed, then 2 AM comes and, wham! my eyes pop open, and sometimes I feel like it's time to get up for the day. I usually have to go the bathroom, then I start thinking about things, then the tossing and turning starts....and then I'm up with the cat, reading a book. I fall asleep again about 4:30, then it's time to get up by 5:30, and I feel like I haven't slept in 3 days....

Most of the insomnia information deals with people who can't get to sleep in the first place, so I was perplexed by this until I heard a naturopath on the radio mention that waking in the middle of the night was often the result in a drop in blood sugar levels. He recommended keeping a small piece of cheese or a small handful of nuts by the bed...something that would raise blood sugar without spiking it...I now keep 1/2 a mozarella cheese stick on the bedstand and eat that when I wake up, and it has worked wonders for me! I have also eaten a few nuts or small bit of cheese just before bedtime, and that also seems to help me get through the night.

So, that's my epic story about sleep...

[pooks]

i always am getting a hard time about how much i sleep. i just want to see how i compare to the rest of you girls.

i can function great on 9-10 hours of sleep. anything less than 7 for more than a day, forgit it. Bad News Bears! i can sleep for 10+ hours no problem, but i try not to so i don't mess up my whole sleeping pattern.

i don't know how anyone does it doing rotating shifts or being on call. hats off to you that can.

I've always been the same way. I also come from a long line of women who nap. One of my grandmothers actually took off her clothes and put on her nightgown for her nap!

I haven't been getting 8 hours at night for a long time, mainly because I just didn't want to go to sleep early enough to do that. But since I joined spark people I have been making myself get 8 hours and I feel SO much better, and haven't suffering from so much exhaustion during the day that I have to nap. (Although I always hit that point in day where I'm tired and want one; but if I don't get one, it doesn't kill me.)

So I'm now a believer in making time for my night's sleep, even when I'd rather not.

[cosc]

Pooks, I had a set of grandparents that religiously got up the same time 5:00 -off to bed at 9:00 and napped every day. When we would visit Ma we knew a pallet on the floor about 4:00 would be ready for us. I sleep around 7 hours waking up at least once to pee. That number varies lot according to job and etc. I have a bike tour in a couple of weeks and hope to change my internal clock to early to bed so I can be ready to unzip my tent at 5 morn for the tour.:eek:

[Jacki]

I voted 5-7. I used to sleep like a rock, but now, i don't know, i just don't sleep well. I consider it a really good night if I get 7 hours, but usually it's 5 or 6.

[missymaya]

I absolutely have to have at least 8 hours of sleep or I just fall apart and become a zombified freakazoid, no kiddin'. And there are those rare occasions where I would sleep for 12 hours OR MORE:eek: , which I think is built up residual tiredness. Of course, this doesn't happen often at all.

[Shiraz]

I voted for 5-7 hours. After having to wake up at 4:40 am for 13 years of day shift nursing I can not sleep past 5:30 or 6:00 am. But it so hard to get to sleep before 1030 p - 1130. I wish I could sleep longer.

Sadie, meetings do count as sleep:D :D Hilarious!! I guess I could few more hours a week .

[surgtech1956]

I'm in the 5-8 hour range - most nights its about 7. When I started menopause, I could not sleep I would guess for about 2 years, waking up, not being able to fall asleep, hot flashes - did I cover everything. Thank goodness I'm back to sleeping like a baby. I start a new job Monday and I'll be working 6:30a-5p and having to get up by 5am, I'm use to getting up between 6 and
6:30a - I'll have to get to bed earlier than my 11pm usual time - I definitely function better with a good night's sleep.

[redrhodie]

Looking back at this makes me sad for all the TEers we no longer hear from :(

I wonder if they get tired of riding.....or us?

[jesvetmed]

Looking back at this makes me sad for all the TEers we no longer hear from

I wonder if they get tired of riding.....or us?

I was thinking the same thing -- there are so many that have dropped off! Maybe when they are bored over the winter they will return!?

[crazycanuck]

Denise223 is still around on hotmail, CWR pops in once in a while, Saralou i think is still in Norway with their boat.

I for some reason, can't stay away...:rolleyes:

[bmccasland]

I never thought I'd be saying this.... but.... as I get older, I'm finding I need less sleep. I used to be a 9 hr person, 8 minimum. Now, cough, cough, grumble, mumble, that I'm approaching 50, I sleep 7 to 8 hrs - 7 on week days, and 8 on weekends. OK, sometimes 9 on weekends, I sleep all the way to 7 am.

[surgtech1956]

I agreed with the less sleep as I get older. When I was in my 20's and 30's I would probably get 9 hours of sleep. Now at age coughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh 52, I don't get anywhere near this. I think 7 is now the new 9.:D

[solobiker]

I was getting about 3-4 hours due to not being able to fall asleep or stay asleep. DH would often say "maybe you don't need as much sleep as you think" However my Dr. finally adjusted my thyroid medication and I can now sleep for about 6-7 hours. Love it!!

[Miranda]

I voted 5 or less, and I am dead right now. One of the last visits to the gyno for the yearly, I said, "ghee, from what I understand, perimenapause can cause some sleep issues...". The doc says, "Oh, that doesn't happy until full blown menapause, like age 50+, then you have 'major' sleep disturbances...".

Umm, ok, doc, whatever...

I say to the GF with similiar hormone stuff, "I wonder how he defines 'major'... does waking up at what I call the witching hour, about 3am, and staying up for the duration count as 'major'?...".

One does wonder.