Revisiting the Beast: Day 5

Well, this morning was the hardest yet. I tried to watch some netflix shows, tried to play games, drank green tea, slapped myself in the face and everything in between, yet every so often my head would fall back out of sheer exhaustion and I'd literally sleep for a minute or so. This is the sleep zombie that is so often spoken of in the polyphasic circles. While it was exceptionally difficult, getting out of the house and moving around (even if it was a rather rainy, dismal day) helped to keep me awake. The nap significantly improved my lethargy, yet it is coming back with less than an hour to my core sleep. My body knows when my sleep periods are already. I get tired around 2am and 3-3:30pm, ready for that pick-me-up.

I noticed -for the first time I can recall this week- that my mind was a mess. It took me time to recognize and react to situations, and many times today I forgot what I was thinking while thinking it. My short term memory was greatly impaired: I'd think of something and try to make a note of it, yet if something caught my attention at all in between those moments, the thought was virtually lost. A few times I managed to recall what I wanted to make a note of.

I have not been thorough with my collection of information this time through. I haven't calculated my average cycle length and haven't made note of foods or substances (caffeine) that have influenced my energy levels noticeably. This week has been less of a new experiment of biphasic sleep but more a continuation of my last experiment. I simply wanted to see how quickly and well I would adapt, and aside from this morning, the adaptation has been quite easy. I'll likely continue this a bit longer, mostly to gain the 4+ extra daily hours I'd be wasting sleeping. Though I don't know if that saved time has been particularly well spent...

Revisiting the Beast: Morning 4

Yesterday's nap was excellent. I felt great upon waking and had plenty of energy, only getting tired around 2am. This morning feels like the others, but not as severe. I drank green tea yesterday and it (paired with an apple) seemed to help curb my exhaustion. I'm going to try some Tazo Awake tea for this morning. While I normally don't like to use caffeine to keep me awake, this circumstance calls for some aid in the conditioning department. It seems I am adapting much quicker and more effectively than before. I remember Day 4 of my initial experiment, beyond what I blogged about: it literally took me minutes to form thoughts and type them out coherently. If I am experiencing some mental deficiency right now, I'm not sure in what capacity it affects me. I think I am thinking fine... but that's rather biased.

Revisiting the Beast: Morning 3

Though I may feel exhausted and my head is a mishmash of sensitive to light and strange pressures, I was fully functional the moment I woke, with clear thoughts and a body responsive to its surroundings. I was also exceptionally hungry. Again, there seems to be an obvious relationship to my lack of sleep and increased hunger. Likely, my body is needing more calories to fuel the basal activities of being awake for a longer period of time, despite my rather sedentary last few days.

When I go biphasic again upon my return from RECW, I may keep better track of my eating habits as well as my sleep times. But, more importantly, the goal for my second sleep experiment of the summer is to carry it on through the next semester and stay biphasic. It did not work before, but with less physical classes (most of my classes are online next semester), working around a biphasic schedule will be far more plausible.

Day 1: Night

I'm not nearly as tired as I thought I'd be. But again, we'll see if this energy keeps up throughout the next few days. I once again have difficulty getting to sleep when I want to, even if my body feels exhausted. So my nap from 4:30 to 6:00 pm wasn't immediate, sound sleep. I stayed in bed to get my body conditioned to that amount of time, but unfortunately, my alarm didn't go off until 6:40pm. So I went in and out of sleep for an extra forty minutes, but I'm not too worried about anything. I still feel alert and awake, despite the lethargy in my body (which mostly resides in my shoulders and head).

Tomorrow morning should be interesting.

Revisiting the Beast: Day 1

I went to bed at 4am last night and woke up at 7am. I almost decided to go right back to sleep, but I forced myself to stay awake. I am thinking like normally. I haven't noticed my reactions to be slower or paused, and I haven't found myself staring into nothingness as many polyphasic first-week zombies do. But the zombie state may come later as the effects of getting less sleep build up. The increased hunger already kicked in full force. I ate more than enough around 7:10am, but when 10am rolled around, my stomach felt as empty as this morning. I have been rather productive for only having three hours of sleep, working on some projects, getting forms and paperwork in order, even looking up potential class and certification options.

But, I am tired. I don't have a headache, but I do feel that pressure that could lead to a headache. It might be my hat is on too tight... And I have felt that slight exhaustion that encompasses your whole body, as if it were lying under your skin, constantly reminding you that sleep would be incredibly nice. I'll nap at 4:30-6:00pm tonight and see which way it tips me on the scale of sanity.

Biphasic for a Fortnight

I will be leaving in a few weeks for Recording Workshop, but before I do, I wanted to see how quickly and efficiently my body would re-adapt to my old biphasic sleep system. So, tomorrow night I will once again go biphasic! I'll post updates every so often (or possibly daily). It will be interesting to compare how quickly I can re-adapt to the biphasic sleep pattern to how long it took the first time. But I don't think it will be immediate, so expect delirious posts in the near future.

Hello!

I have not updated this in a long, long time. But, here is some biphasic news: after I return from a summer recording program, I will be doing biphasic sleep yet again! Following the same schedule I used before (sleep times of 4:30-6:00pm and 3:00-6:00am), I will continue from late July to the start of my last semester of college life. If I can continue through the semester, then I plan to do so.

But more on this when the time comes nearer. Take care!