how long do you stay asleep at a stretch - on average?

[ghosts in the machine]

It varies for me. Sometimes I can sleep for stretches of 3-4 hours, sometimes 30 minutes is difficult. I don't take any medication for sleeping.

My parents have said I've had trouble sleeping my whole life - even as a baby I didn't sleep much. When I was at school I averaged at 2-3 hours a night but now I find I need more sleep to function properly (although I might not necessarily get the extra sleep).

Right now I try to go to bed at about 10-11pm and I have to be up at 6am. I find it hard to initially fall asleep, and then I usually wake up 2-3 times a night from dreams and I have to spend a bit of time having a cup of tea before I can calm down enough to go back to sleep.

[random.swirls]

It depends on my mood!

When on the high side I don't need sleep so can go for days on an hour or two a night

When average I will sleep 8 to ten hours a night and whilst I will wake up I tend to turn over and go back to sleep reasonably easily

When my mood is low I need a lot of sleep 12 - 14 hours plus and again I'll wake but fall asleep easily!!

[Bluerev]

On average I get about 5 hours but often it is less - I go through phases of very little sleep and then a couple of months down the line it's like I have a major catch up

[xlaurenx]

With me i normally sleep about... 8-9 hours sometimes i can do longer and sleep 12 hours.

[not_so_insig]

I put longer as that is what the meds do to me.

However I did not take the meds on Sunday night, and it was about 2 1/2 hours.

[sherlock holmes]

I dont know how many people are aware of this, but Mirtazapine is actually the most sedating at 15mg and the least at 45mg.

Um, I get about eight hours sleep on average. Pretty much uninterrupted. Only on a very low dose of trazodone now.

When I was on Mirtazapine and Olanzapine I slept for up to 13 hours a night and that was bad.

[finding_reason]

im not a very good night sleeper, I never have been. I used to be medicated for it they didn't actually help me sleep only paralyzed my body and made it really tired, but i was still wide awake. so i gave up trying that years ago. now...i will get ready for bed at the normal 10-11 mark and be tired but give it 20-30 minutes and i will be wide awake again and that can last until 1 -4am where its just impossible to sleep. i will then sleep until 6ish i will wake up and its like as soon as my body knows its daylight i could sleep the day away and find it very hard to get up after that regardless of how pertinent my engagement is i really struggle.

i try to be good and not have naps during the day despite feeling really tired and enjoying the type of sleep that i experience when i do. if i do i try to limit it to no more than 2 hours or it will perpetuate the cycle.

i also can not sleep without sound i have to fall asleep to conversational noise so movie or tv show. but on the flipside of that i really really hate lights particularly LED lights when i am sleeping, some days my tolerance is better than others, other days my mind finds the tiniest of lights in the room and focuses on them.

[BridgesAndBalloons]

Quote:

Originally Posted by control freak

I dont know how many people are aware of this, but Mirtazapine is actually the most sedating at 15mg and the least at 45mg.

I'm on Mirtazapine and I didn't know that, thank you :) My sleep has been bad since I was eight, I have nightmares every night and usually wake every 2-3 hours. I've tried a few different relaxation things to try and help my sleep but nothing really significantly improves it. I fall asleep quicker since I've been on medication and generally sleep for longer, I used to have about 5 hours and now I have about 8. I like the falling asleep quicker side effect, as it used to take me hours to get to sleep.

[Porcelain Child]

Due to the meds i am on, they are quite sedating, so i sleep a solid 15 hours at night without waking up..

[potnoodle]

i stay up all night till about 5am then bed sleep all day usally until 4pm.