Comments on: Does adapting to polyphasic sleep hurt your performance?

By: Sandra

Sandra — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 17:41:39 +0000

I do hope you find a schedule that’s healthy for you, fd, and it seems like you have some good circumstances and motivation going for you.
My comments were mostly prompted by your statement that “None of the naysayers have ‘tried’ it longer than a month”. But sure, I didn’t blog about it.

By: future dymaxion

future dymaxion — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 17:06:52 +0000

I am not jumping into this unwarned, Sandra. I have read a lot of reports and I am worried to a degree of not adapting in the time I’ve given myself- I have saved up 3½ weeks of time off from work already and plan to use this time for adapting. In addition, I know myself- waking up is my arch nemesis, I suck at it regardless of whether or not I’ve slept 15 or 1.5 hours. For this reason I have not only planned many kinds of wake-up alarms but also my partner will be ensuring I wake up. He is already going through adaptation for everyman and is good at waking up, a feat I admire.
I figure if I can make it through adaptation I’m set. I don’t have much room for error but I will have a supportive assistant and some hardcore dedication- hopefully that will be enough.

I sleepwalk pretty bad and I have trouble sleeping monophasic, I workout regularly and I eat healthy so this is simply an effort to see if it’s a schedule I can handle to help with my sleeping, and the extra time couldn’t hurt. I am willing to give up if I fail, but I have to try first.

By: Sandra

Sandra — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 15:01:56 +0000

This was three years ago. It took me a while to get back to fine and I’ve got a lot of problems with hypnagogia. I’ve tried adapting to überman again, several times, but never made it past the first nap those times. I might try everyman.

During those two months, I would usually go six days without a single oversleep (this week-like cycle happened many times) so you can imagine why I thought my multiple alarm clocks would work even on the sixth day (especially since I was usually the most tired on the third day, not the sixth) but you’re right.

By: puredoxyk

puredoxyk — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 14:51:13 +0000

Yup, Sandra, “trying to adapt” is DEVASTATING on your performance; I’ve been there too. That’s why I always advise people to QUIT TRYING if they can’t adapt after about two weeks; any longer than that and the buildup of sleep-dep can really become harmful. I’m really sorry you went through that, but I’m glad you seem to be okay even after two months (yikes! I went 3 weeks trying to adapt and I thought I might lose my mind!). If you ever decide to experiment again in the future, at least you’ll know that you need to do more to make sure you wake up on time: It’s normal to occasionally not be able to sleep for a nap during adaptation, but oversleeping is a 100% MUST NOT. You may need a person to physically come get you out of bed for a few days, if nothing else works. And of course, you’ll know to quit WAY before two months, if you can’t consistently keep to the schedule.

The errors don’t have to be frequent, BTW; what you describe is plenty to make an Uberman adaptation impossible — even one a week will drastically slow things down. The brain is under a ton of stress while you’re adapting, I think, and if the schedule isn’t adhered to *perfectly* for a few weeks, it just doesn’t seem to take.

Lastly, I TOTALLY AGREE about the hype blogs — they drive me crazy, too, for *so* many reasons. Ugh.

By: Sandra

Sandra — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 03:37:56 +0000

I spent two solid months trying to adapt to uberman. Never made more than one crash-free week (I would crash for like about four hours once a week). I missed naps because I could not fall asleep when I was with others, but I did manage to stick to the schedule for days and days in a row. Usually several days, followed by an occasional missed (as in “lying still, eyes shut, earplugs in, but not full sleep”, not goofing about) nap, followed by another day of strict schedule, followed by a short crash (say around four hours, not the 14-hour crashes others reported). During these two months I never gave up and I never voluntarily strayed from schedule. Only “couldn’t fall asleep” and “didn’t wake up”, both despite trying as hard as I could with multiple alarms, and both types of errors—especially the latter—rare.

During these two months I was a wreck and some of my friends were very relieved when I gave it up. I never really “went gold” for more than a day or so.

I gave it up after a serious, and dangerous, breakdown after two missed naps.

Future Dymaxion: Don’t hype it before you’ve tried it. That was the most frustrating thing as I was trying it, reading all the hype blogs.

By: future dymaxion

future dymaxion — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:29:47 +0000

I’ve been really researching polyphasic through online blogs and other first hand accounts for almost a month now. I have not yet tried it but plan to when I move in a few months (as right now my living situation allows me no opportunity to busy myself, a necessity for the transition from what I read). I will definitely keep everyone updated once I start.
In all my research I’ve been a bit miffed by the naysayers. None of the naysayers have ‘tried’ it longer than a month, which is barely within adaptation, and most didn’t stick to schedules during their trials- and admitted so- so in response I feel “what do they know?!”. Until it is studied, blind and with a control base, we will NEVER know, so they should stop with the adamant naysaying! I am more than willing to hook myself up to an eeg machine if any sleep scientist would cooperate, both now in my current monophasic lifestyle and during my transition and afterward after I adapt. I have pitched this to a few local universities and sleep centers- I have had NO takes on this offer.
My biggest peeve by naysayers is a small article mentioning that one cannot process deep thought or learn well on polyphasic. This is what I aim to prove wrong. My reason for transitioning is to have MORE time for learning, and I will show that both logical standard activities such as mathematics as well as theory and profound sciences such as high level physics, can and will be understood and processed AND remembered on a polyphasic schedule. I even plan to study a few other languages and further develope within the ones I know, a feat one article said was impossible. From my experience with sleep dep alone I highly doubt my creativity will be LESS than now, as some have alleged. Polyphasic IS my chance to have time to learn things I *want* to learn, not just things I am required to for school or work. I will definitely post on here once I do transition, and especially if any sleep scientists contact me back for the chance to study a mono-to-poly transition and all the in-between.

By: puredoxyk

puredoxyk — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 21:33:36 +0000

You know, I didn’t get sick while I was on Uberman, and I’ve often wondered what one would do about it. I do believe in sleep as a restorative, and I don’t think restricting one’s sleep while ill would be healthy. On my current schedule, I just sleep my butt of if I’m sick, and it’s not hard at all to get my schedule back — then again, this is a relatively flexible schedule and I’m very thoroughly adapted to it. I think if you weren’t totally adapted, it would ruin you. But maybe if you were, it wouldn’t be too hard to get back on it. Just a guess though, I’m afraid.

Thanks!

By: Adrian

Adrian — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:25:19 +0000

While you were doing uberman, what would you do if you got sick?

As a monophasic sleeper I would just sleep more each night to ensure my body had enough time to recuperate. I’m currently adjusting (a few days in) to uberman and i’m curious to find out if it will be necessary to perhaps take a day off from the nap cycle (would this even be possible?) if you contracted an illness.

Could you shed any light on this?
Thanks.