The Sleep and Pee Paradox
Hi fellow Hiveians,
Today I wanted to throw some random thoughts out there about ruining sleep and how much it sucks!
The Sleep and Pee Paradox
As I get older.. the things that end up ruining my sleep are really annoying LOL.
I wonder when I will transition to someone who needs less sleep as I get older. I know that I've heard a lot of people say, some people in my family included, when they are in their 50's or 60's they just sleep less for whatever reason. Is that because they are taking an afternoon nap or something and not adding it to the story? Or is it that they just don't need as much sleep at that age? I am curious indeed!
I've got a few things that really annoy me because it totally jacks my sleep up, and ends up causing me to feel pretty crappy the morning after. One of them is a given - alcohol. I don't drink alcohol very much because it just ruins my damn sleep. I certainly enjoy a drink or two, but at the same time I know that sleep is incredibly important for me in so many ways so I try to limit my alcohol intake these days. The joys of getting older.. haha.
Sort-of related to the alcohol end is getting up in the middle of the night to pee! Damn that one is a real pain in the ass because it's a struggle to stay sufficiently hydrated during a day. Not so much for me lately but some days I try to add in extra hydration, and I've been fine-tuning my evening water intake so that I only drink JUST enough to have a great night sleep and let my body detox the junk it needs to, but don't have to wake up in the middle of the night to pee.
The fine line of just enough water and too much water is a hairy one that's for sure! I'm trying to use a specific glass to drink before bed so that I know how much I can fill it, take my vitamins, and hit the hay so that it won't wake me up. It doesn't always work.. but many times it has worked.
If I drink a beer though, I'm screwed hahaha. I almost always wake up in the middle of the night to pee if I drink a beer and then drink my water with vitamins. I enjoy beer for sure but not that much!
The struggle for me when I get up to pee is that it is such a pain to fall back to sleep! I've gotten a lot better these days at getting to bed in a relatively easy manner, compared to a few years where I had pretty bad insomnia. These days I can fall asleep but the important thing is staying asleep. If I get interrupted, then it's almost a done-deal that I won't sleep the rest of the night which sucks.
It certainly goes back for me to thinking, will I ever be one of those people who just requires less sleep? I don't think so, really. When I was a kid I was always the one who slept in the latest even if I went to bed at a good time. I just love to sleep it seems LOL. It's certainly changed a little bit as a parent, where I am way more aware of my kiddo and if he needs something and will wake up pretty quickly or easily if the need arises, but thankfully those are not very common these days. I'm wondering if another kid, however much unplanned it would be, would really send me for a loop haha.
I had a few days in a row where I made mistakes and drank, and ended up waking up in the middle of the night to pee.. so I seemingly needed to flesh it out in a post!
What about you, have you been pretty aware of your sleeping habits especially when it comes to the ones that cause you to get poor sleep? Let me know in the comments!
-CmplXty. Real human written content, never AI. All pictures are mine unless otherwise stated
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I’m 52 and yes it can be a problem for me from time to time. Recently it’s been getting more frequent. My sleep these days is poor compared to how it was. Weirdly I had a late beer, last night and slept like a log!!
Haha that's good! I like when that happens, sometimes I drink wine and if it's a good variety or whatever I will sleep like a champ. Funny how that works!
One of the things I've been digging into is kegel / pelvic floor exercises for us men. They are important for our ability to pee and hold it longer!
I love wine but drink less of it these days, mainly because we started to consume way too much of it a few years ago. “Wine?”, one of our friends would say. “Why not! It would be daft not to”, in a James Bond style voice.
It was starting to become a problem, borderline alcoholism!! The whole friend group, cut back on going out all of the time. We now drink in moderation and only go out in the very occasional binge!
I’ve never considered pelvic floor exercises. Perhaps might help keep future problems at bay?
Yeah wine is great but for sure all of the alcohol is best in moderation especially as we get older!
Pelvic floor exercises are for sure really good and important! Plus you can do them in the car while driving or sitting at a table or something. Gets to be helpful to get in a little routine.
I always try to make a trip before I sleep.. So far it's ok maybe 98-99% of the time. I think most of the time I get woken up by maybe thunder when there is a downpour in the middle of the night.
Haha yeah me too! Every night immediately before I get into bed for the night I pee so that it's all out and I can sleep!
I love thunder in the middle of the night! Probably because we don't get it much, so I'm sure if it was frequent it would lose its cool factor lol
The worst for me is when you have to pee but it is only an hour or so before you know your alarm goes off. Do you lay there in agony trying to fall back asleep for the next hour or do you just get up and do it and then risk not being able to fall back asleep at all. Getting old sucks!
Hahaha yeah I hear you dude. I just get up at that point. For me the worst is peeing in the MIDDLE of the night. I go to bed at like 1030, and then if I have to pee at 130 or 2, there's almost a guarantee I won't be able to fall back to sleep. That's a killer! I think the only times I can fall back to sleep is if my son wakes up sick or something and I'm taking care of him which is funny and strange.
Getting old ain't what it was cracked up to be hahaha
I do have to admit, I love it when I have to pee in the middle of the night and I wake up thinking it is two in the morning and really it is only 11:30. That's a great feeling 😃
This is certainly a common perception, @cmplxty:
Is it true? Particularly when focusing on the word "needs?" While the fact is it not uncommon to sleep less with age, I would not necessarily agree that means it is less needed. It is an important topic, when it comes to our overall health.
Two books I have read relatively recently on the topic, both of which have a lot to say about sleep:
As a bonus, if it is of interest, they both taking different directions in addressing the same basic question of how our existing medical system is letting us down. For the Americans, with the appointment of RJK, Jr. to HHS Secretary, it will be interesting to see what unfolds, in addressing this.
Drinking enough water is not a trivial topic. Timing is key, as your post suggests. If we get that wrong, it definitely has an impact on our sleep. Years ago, I finally established a pretty consistent routine of drinking half my weight in ounces of water. It really was beneficial, in a number of ways.
To overcome the challenge of it waking me up, though, I had to consistently get it all down in the morning and early to mid afternoon. With the goal of being finished by ~ 5:00 or so, in the evening. That allows plenty of time to let it pass through, before going to bed.
Yeah I know both of those people well, though Casey isn't really a doctor because she only finished medical school not residency, so there's a bit of an odd element there - a little like false credential.
Sleep is for sure important - it's one of the best ways for us to repair all the synapses from the day and for men it's how we help our bodies produce testosterone in sufficient amounts. Lots of reasons why we need it!
I think the challenge becomes doing what we need to do in a day, which is a lot, and getting adequate sleep.
Before bed I will usually drink 6 ounces of water or so for the vitamins I take, and then I'm ok! I won't wake up to pee which is good, except if I drink a beer haha.
I think beer is what makes you wake up in the middle of the night to pee... that's why it's better to drink wine. LOL. I also try to limit my alcohol consumption to sleep better at night, although I still can't sleep for many hours in a row for a long time, even if I'm very tired or haven't drunk alcohol. Only 4 or 5 hours and I'm already awake 🙃.
Oh man that's way too short! I can do that once in a while but not every night lol. I need 7 hours minimum and preferably 8 or 8.5!
Yeah I really enjoy wine a lot more! The challenge is you have to drink it kind of quick otherwise it goes bad. I want to have a glass at night and then maybe not drink for 3-4 nights and it will often be no good by then sadly! At least the American wine with additives in it.. haha
Peeing and sleeping. Yes, I also understand this. I like you like to keep hydrated and I try to limit water intake at night but still often get up 2-3 times in the night to pee. As a result sometimes when unable to sleep again will just get up and start by day at 2am.
This is unsustainable as later in the day I feel a bit like an old crusty sock.
So, it's certainly a balance as needed. I've found also the quality of the water can change the frequency of pee. At least it's one factor I've been observing. I switched waters coming to a farm and the rainwater here although great its rainwater seems to be full of microbes my body needs to process through my kidneys or some such rather.
Previously I settled for buying water and adding a dash of apple cider vinegar and had full sleep nights, sleeping to the ripe time of 4-5am (which is good for me). As you might realise from my writing, I am a morning person - well at least I've adapted to my brain/body's own sleeping patterns and become one regardless!
Why fight it, when you can just change according to the new pattern the body sets out.
And as for alchohol. I'm exactly the same - I can get to sleep easy enough but am rudely interrupted in the night - having slept only a couple of hours - not necessarily by peeing but by lack of ability to relax - it's like my body demands I am conscious while I am processing the alchohol I drank the day before.
As a result, my alchohol intake has also declined rapidly because well, sleep is so damn important and I can't afford to be a grumpy bum all the time.
Hope you enjoyed my rant on your rant. Hope you're doing well
Haha good to hear from you man!
That's interesting about the water you are drinking - it is certainly related to the things in the water that your body is trying to process. Microbes, minerals and other things that we aren't used to can for sure have those types of effects. It's like eating something a little suspicious before bed and then all night your stomach is grumbling and making noise. Not exactly sick but just working overtime to get the thing processed. Doesn't make for a good night sleep!
I fully hear those sleep needs man! I've always been a heavy sleeper my whole life so I've needed it more, although as I've gotten older I've sadly limited it more and more which sucks but I feel like a morning person is far healthier than a night owl. Being up and about with the circadian rhythms of the sun is wonderful!
Feel free to drop by any time with some perspective and wisdom man! :D
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Boy are you in for a treat if your this sensitive to it now. I was also and it blows my mind. Those afternoon naps are the shizzzz. Just woke up from one.