Can't get enough sleep
By suspenseful
@suspenseful (40193)
Canada
May 17, 2009 10:55pm CST
All the sleep I get is dream sleep, because my husband who had a stroke, wants me to turn him over every couple or less hours a night. I almost dozed off in the sermons today because I was just too tired and I had to shake myself to keep awake. I missed a good show tonight because I was too tired to go all the way through it. And I am diabetic as well. I have always had problems with sleep. Now the question is, does not getting enough sleep slow down your metabolism?
I heard the theories that the reason you gain weight is because you spend the extra time you should be sleeping going to the fridge and nibbling, but that does not happen. If you eat normally, how does the weight come on if you do not get enough sleep? I figured it has to be your metabolism slows down. Anyone have another theory?
1 person likes this
17 responses
@riyasam (16556)
• India
18 May 09
Most research suggests that a lack of sleep is likely to have the following affects :Increase the level of cortisol that is released. This hormone increases a persons hunger.Increase blood sugar levels and interfere with the body's ability to metabolize carbohydrates. This leads to higher insulin levels and more fat storage.Lowers the levels of Leptin released. Leptin is a hormone released by fat cells in the body to indicate if the body is starving or not. The body responds to low levels of leptin by increasing the craving for carbohydrates.
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
20 May 09
We did have a water bed, but we got rid of it. And besides they are heavy. I would love to get one of those miracle foam mattresses, but they are very expensive. I wonder if one can get leptin supplements, that might help.
1 person likes this
@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
18 May 09
Not really seems like it does slow down when you do sleep but to be sleep deprived.
IS not good at all .
You are putting your health in jeapady.
I have always got up every 2 hours just to go to bathroom and wonder around the house checking every thign out. My hubby did the same.
Even at that I cant sleep passed 6 hours but then I have to take a nap during the day that might be why I have gained weight the Doctors cant explain since I had cancer and am still cancer free since my operation!
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
18 Jan 10
That is what makes me annoyed. I do want to get more sleep, but because my husband has als, I cannot get that much. Even now when he is on new medication, I will have to turn him over about three times a night and before that it was about every hour or so. Yet when the medical authorities talk about not getting enough sleep, do they put us who have sick or dying spouses as an example? No, they think we are all studying for exams or engaging in all night parties and I am a natural light sleeper anyway. I have not gained any weight but that is because I often have to boost my husband on his chair and even with using the Hoyer to move him, you do need a little strength to do it.
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
18 May 09
I have heard that not getting enough sleep can cause weight gain and also sometimes to much of it. When your not getting enough you feel tired most the time and have no energy to do things so you don't do them and then end up eating more and doing less. So it can cause weight gain. I am not really sure how it works but that is what I have read. I have a slow sluggish metabolism as it is so I know about weight gain and if I don't get enough sleep I feel to tired to get up and do things and hen my body doesn't get to burn any of the excess calories I have consumed. Having to wake up every so often has got to be hard on you and your body because it is not getting the rest that it needs and by the time you settle down to a good sleep it is time to get up again. To bad their isn't someone to help you through the nights to turn him over so that you would get a decent nights sleep.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
19 Jan 10
My metobolism has been slow since I went into my 30s. And I have always been a light sleeper. When we first got married in my late 20s, I always needed to nap and the only thing that kept me awake was having something exciting to do, but of course, one cannot go and do dangerous things when one is married. I am the type of person who must not sit long at a time or i will get tired.
And with having a husband who needs a lot of care does not help much. It does not increase my appetite, to me it is the food being in close proximity since I cannot get out of the house alone that much.
I do think that even if there were not much food to eat, I still would gain weight by not getting enough sleep. I think that you work a lot of nervous energy off when you sleep, but I could be wrong.
@lingli_78 (12822)
• Australia
18 May 09
i am so sorry to hear about you and your hubby situation... i think you are right... when you are lacking of sleep, it slows down the metabolism in our body and it makes us can't do anything right... so i believe that sleep is very important and i try my best to get at least 6 hours of sleep every night to re-energise my body... hope you can get a good night sleep soon... take care and have a nice day...
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
19 Jan 10
I was able to get 4 hours of sleep last night all at once. It is that waking up in the night and moving my husband that does not help and I do not like napping much in the day time - 15 minutes is all right - but a whole hour is not that good. My husband now has some new medicine that makes it easier for him to not get cramps and for his legs not to stiffen so much so it is helping me get more rest.
@magda191919 (391)
• Romania
7 Jul 09
Yes, your metabolism is slowing down when you cannot get enough sleep. Among other things, the physiological stress caused by sleep deficit is materialized by a faster accumulation of ... kilograms! Is not necessarily to eat while sleeping, like that woman in the UK.
There is an exercise that might help in this situation - Try to wake up 10-15 min before you have to. Allow yourself a 10 min. nod, a doze (take care not to fall asleep) and you will see that you feel full of energy and ready to face a new day.
Metabolism, the burning of fats are also slowed down by stress, medicines (pills to combat high blood pressure or migraines may also facilitate fattening - try to replace as much as possible with natural products), hypothyroidism, menopause - oh, there are so many!!! ... however, sleep is essential, lack of sleep affects the level of hormones in the body.
By the way, do you know that from all the 'recipes' (sun, music, curry, healthy food) sleeping good is the first condition to loose weight?
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
19 Jan 10
I know about lack of sleep, but I cannot help it since I have an invalid husband to take care of. But I will try tht 10 to 15 wake up and doze time and see if it will help.
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
19 Jan 10
I do not eat more but I do have an invalid husband to care for so I cannot exactly abandon him. Sort of would not be nice of me would it? And when I am too tired, I am too tired to go to the fridge and snack.
@tigerdragon (4297)
• Philippines
18 May 09
i had my share of not having enough sleep during the times my father was sick.what i did was to go into meditation to relax my mind,body and soul. i know it would be very hard to this for the first time but meditation is a matter of mind over matter principle. we all are aware that the mind dictates how our body functions.so, for me to help me overcome the stress due to lack of sleep is i get into a deep breathing exercise and clearing my head and replacing it with the thought of energizing my whole system. just tell your body what you want to happen, focus on yourself so you can help your husband more.
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
19 May 09
I can try that. I have been napping in the day, but I want to get going not just fall asleep all the time.
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
18 May 09
I am sure that is what it is. The trouble is that with my husband wanting me to move him more when he is in bed, how am I going to get the extra sleep? Does napping in day time help or would that be a wasted effort?
@slickcut (8141)
• United States
18 May 09
Not getting enough sleep can really harm your health...I would not be surpised if it did affect your metabolism...I would not be able to turn him over ever couple of hours...I do get up in the night to potty, that would be his turn over time & then i would be back to bed...Its not fair for you to ruin your health.......
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
18 Jan 10
He did get some extra medication that now I only have to turn him over about three times a night, but he wants his hands on his face a certain way, wants me to bend his legs and since he is so stiff, that is hard to do. I try to make it up by napping in the day time, but I really do not want to do that since I have other things to do with my time besides sleep.
@posham (1236)
• Philippines
18 May 09
Yep, they say that when you sleep, your body repairs itself and in turn use energy for that. In addition, having no sleep disable your body in breaking down sugar which slows your metabolism making you prone to diabetes. I work at night and every weekend, I can't help but sleep at nights as well. Right now, it's monday here and I woke up at 3AM, I need to find a way to be able to sleep before I need to go to work again tonight... Sigh...
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
20 May 09
My husband wakes me up and has me move him because he had a stroke, and then I go back to sleep, but I am afraid I do not get enough deep sleep. I get lots of rem sleep, because I am always dreaming something, but it makes me a bit tired during the day. I already have diabetes and I guess not only it was because my father had it, but because I had trouble staying asleep. It is not as if I willed myself to stay awake, in fact, it was the opposite, I wished I could sleep more, but could not.
I hope the naps during the day help.
@himanshu1516 (32)
• India
18 May 09
sleep is a very essential part of your daily schedule, even i am not able to sleep from last 2 nights every night i have nightstands with one or the other girlfriends and in morning i need to go with my friends to hang out in the pubs or bars.. and now i am in a condition that may be i will not be able to complete this response and sleep on my laptop so please friends help me and give me some tips ssssssssssss
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
19 Jan 10
I have an invalid husband to look after and even though I get respite, I cannot abandon his care to someone else all the time. A much different from hanging out, as you say. So I would tell your girl friends that even though you like their company, maybe it would be better if you skip that night. I have no idea if you are going to college,or working, but I am sure that you would get better marks and be more alert.
I mean I have lots of friends and I would love to go out with them, but I cannot.
Oh and afternoon naps do help a bit.
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
18 Jan 10
I was told that if you have too little sleep that it confuses your appetite control system and you tend to eat more. I do find that I get confused as to what day it is because well those extra hours you should be sleeping can add to part of another day and if that part of the day is the part where you would be eating, that wrecks your appetite control. I am not talking of getting up in the middle of the night and snacking, it is just that you feel hungrier.
@Archie0 (5636)
•
18 May 09
Well i think yes, sleep does lowe downs your metabolism.Sleep has affected me a lot in a short term, but now i feel sleepy it just happens to me when i am too stressed out i cant sleep then, I sometimes feel that my weight problem is due to my sleep problem.But then again i feel this that my weight problems these days have increased as i am eating a lot of wrong food again because i am depressed and my exams too are going on. I think that the reason for the slowering metabolism is due to less sleep and i think there is even some imbalance with your diet, check that out too.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
19 Jan 10
I do not get the deep sleep and it is affecting me. Sometimes when I sit down for a while, I feel that if I am in a dream world. The last couple of nights because my husband's medicine is taking effect so that he does not get cramps and wants me to turn him over, is the first time for months that I have been able to get at least a little sleep. So today I needed only a fifteen minute nap rather then the hour that did not do any good.
I do wonder what all the lack of sleep is doing to people. They now have to work longer hours at less pay and you wonder why Americans are getting larger and not in the good sense.
@astrosoccergirl (71)
• United States
18 May 09
Not sleeping does affect your metabolism, as well as most everything else in your body, but not quite in the way you might think. When you sleep, your metabolism actually slows down about 15-20%.
The main physical things that happen when you dont sleep is that your body produces more cortisol (the hormone that makes you hungry), it increases blood sugar levels and decreases your body's ability to process carbs, and it lowers the levels of Leptin the body makes (low levels of Leptin make you crave carbs more).
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
18 Jan 10
I figured that was something like that. I have to look for something that will reduce the cortisol and increase the leptin since I cannot go and abandon my husband and since I do not want to put him in a nursing home.
I also wonder since most of what we are offered to eat, breads, buns, potatoes, rice, etc. are carbohydrates and even if they are good carbs like vegetables such as peas, whether trying to get rid of carbs in our diet or much of them is a losing battle.
I do try to watch what I eat and I use supplements, but if it were not for them well I would be gaining not losing.
@anangf (1146)
• Indonesia
18 May 09
Someday i have not any idea why i am not feel asleep until midnight. In next morning i told this to my friend and he advice me to drink a glass of warm chocolate. Then i follow his advice. And after that i feel better, and turn me easy to go bed and sleep. I think usualy the sleeping problem might be the full days activity at work. Some problem we may have could cause it. so, drink hot cholocate before go to bed maybe help.
@arquitecta (9)
• Dominican Republic
18 May 09
Sleep is very important because it regularize everything in your body. Not getting enough sleep affect memory, sharpness, energy, it messes up with your hormonal functions and that's why not sleeping can slow down metabolism
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
18 May 09
I figured it messed up the metabolism, but what happens if I cannot get enough sleep? Is the only way for me to get enough sleep is to put my husband into a nursing home?
