PSA: I laughed at my coworker for tracking her sleep on a spreadsheet for three months, then I tried it myself and noticed a real pattern between my 6-hour nights and getting sick every winter.

After I got my fifth cold in six months I finally caved and logged my sleep for 60 days straight, and sure enough every time I dipped below 6.5 hours I ended up sniffling within a week has anyone else seen this link in their own data?

3 comments

3 Comments

sean78223d ago

Read somewhere that the body actually releases certain immune markers during deep sleep that help fight off viruses before they take hold. So if you're cutting that short, you're basically turning off your body's early warning radar.

hayden_nelson8524d ago

But isn't it possible the sickness itself messes with your sleep first, so the low sleep is a symptom not the cause? I'd be curious if your spreadsheet could tell which came first.

gibson.sarah24d ago

Oh totally, you just reminded me of this time my cousin was convinced her insomnia was a separate thing, but then she got diagnosed with mono and it turned out the fatigue was ruining her sleep cycle for weeks before she even had a fever. She kept a journal too, and looking back, the restless nights popped up a good 4 or 5 days before any sore throat showed. So I wonder if for some bugs, like the one that starts with a scratchy throat, the sleep disruption is just the body's early warning system. Have you ever noticed something similar, like feeling wiped out a day before you actually get sick?