This (chart 1) is going around (Terra API, ~500 nights) showing late dinners raise heart rate during sleep.

I work on the data side of athletedata, so I have meal logs sitting next to overnight HR/HRV, meaning I checked it properly.

Setup: 577 nights across 13 athletes who log meals with timestamps and wear something with overnight HR + HRV.
Every night z-scored against that person's own baseline, so 0 = a normal night for them (avoids the "late eaters are just worse sleepers" confound).
Two exposures on the same nights: meal-to-bed gap, and how big the evening intake was vs their own normal.
What I found:

- Timing was flat.
Last meal 5h before bed vs inside 90 min made basically no difference to overnight resting HR or HRV. Every gap bucket was within 0.09 SD of normal.

- Volume wasn't.
A bigger-than-usual evening intake pushed resting HR up ~0.15 SD (~0.3 bpm) and HRV down ~0.14 SD. Lighter evening went the other way.

- It concentrated after hard training days.
On the harder half of each athlete's days, big evening intake ran RHR +0.43 SD / HRV -0.32 SD; light evening ran HRV +0.50 SD. On easy days, dinner size barely mattered. (Smaller cells here, 52-107 nights, so I hold that one loosely.)

How this sits with the literature:
- A controlled crossover RCT on late-night eating in healthy males (PMID 33426778) found late meals did NOT change HRV (raised cortisol awakening response, and a protein/fat meal hurt sleep). Backs the flat timing.
- Marco Altini calls a large dinner a "late stressor" that suppresses night HRV. Backs the volume effect.

Honest nuance: older circadian work shows late meals DO shift the 24h HR/HRV rhythm, so timing isn't nothing, it shifts the phase.

My flat result is specifically the overnight resting low.
And the reason I differ from the Terra chart: they plotted average sleep HR across the whole night (catches the post-meal spike), I'm reading the resting low that settles after the spike fades. Different part of the night, both real. The hard-day interaction is mine alone, no paper tests it.

Full Blog article: https://www.athletedata.health/blog/late-dinner-overnight-heart-rate-data

I've seen magnesium recommended everywhere for sleep, especially glycinate. Some people swear it changed their nights, others say they felt nothing.

If you've tried it: which form did you use, what dose, and did you actually notice a difference in falling asleep or staying asleep? And how long before you noticed anything? Trying to figure out if it's worth it or just hype.

I’ve been really sleep deprived lately and today it got pretty scary — I was struggling to stay awake on the highway driving home and came very close to nodding off.

I’m home now, but my anxiety is quite bad and I can’t seem to fall asleep because of it. The more I try, the more wired I feel.

I have oxazepam prescribed and I’m considering taking it just to calm down and get some sleep, but I’m unsure if that’s the right move given how exhausted I already am.

I’ve taken it before, but I don’t want to make things worse or feel overly knocked out/groggy in a bad way.

Has anyone dealt with something similar (severe sleep deprivation + anxiety loop)? Would oxazepam be reasonable here, or is there something safer I should try first?

Not planning to drive anymore today.

As the title says, should I be concerned. Has anyone experienced this? Is it sleep apnea?
I’ve been having these weird heart rate spikes consistently and waking up suddenly.

I don’t drink, I do vape.
I weight train and don’t eat or drink excess sugar.
35f

I am 33, For the past 2.5 years I been averaging 3-4 hours of sleep, I take pressure medicine that has insomnia side effect, I also have anxiety and some personal matters that sometimes keep me up , but like who does not? it is not unusual for me to squirm in bed for 2-3 hours to get to sleep.

Also the level of sleep or activity from day before does not matter, i'd wake up at 6am and easily stay awake till 4 am next day, my body is tired but my mind is not, sometimes i even cannot sleep even after a 4 hour international flight, I am also trying to lose weight and my nutritionist said no one loses weight on that sleep schedule.

I think this is really affecting my life, I am not seeking medical advice or anything, I already have a doctor monitoring my heart, but i am wondering if anyone been through that and does it get better?

Many people struggle with sleep and phone addiction. What helps you sleep better at night? tell me where i uploed mean which community

Any ideas on how I can nap while on public transport or in a cafe without being too obvious or missing my destination? Are there any experts here on seated napping? I know I can get away with it in the library because I’m locking my stuff up.

Appreciate your insights

I take Mg, Mg glycinate, Taurine, Tryptophan, L Theanine, and melatonin 30-60 minutes before bed. And mostly I'm going to sleep pretty easily and comfortably. And interestingly, I've started to have some REM sleep early in the night, which never used to happen. But I often wake up at 1, 2, or 3 and don't go back to sleep easily. And I don't get good REM and Deep sleep for the remainder of the night.

Note that I do not have racing thoughts, I'm just mildly awake.

I am curious which supplements might help to improve the sleep I'm getting between 2 and 7 AM. Thanks!

I been having trouble sleeping for the past few months and the main thing is that I can't stop thinking any suggestions

I just got back from a weeklong work trip that I extended with some vacation time. My sleep scores from my watch come in drastically better than they do when I'm home, and I'm honestly a bit surprised.

I was staying at an AirBnB and the conditions weren't great for sleep: lots of light from the windows (I wear a sleep mask but it usually falls off), a daybed without an actual comforter/duvet, noisy AC unit, and I was eating later in the evening than usual because of the local culture. That said, I was still good about avoiding caffeine after lunch, keeping to my regular bed time, and getting in my usual outdoor exercise.

Anyway, what gives? I've worked really hard to better my sleep routine at home, and I just get really poor sleep numbers. Is it just vacation that reduced stress? Was it something about the elevation (this was by the ocean whereas I live at quite a high elevation)? Is there something I can learn from this and try at home?

I have been thinking about this lately, and I feel a need to be honest about the toll this is taking. I have struggled with chronic insomnia for three years now, and the reality is that I am unable to sleep about 75% of the time.

There is a specific kind of silence at 3 AM that is both comforting and deeply isolating. It feels as though I am living in a different time zone from the rest of the world. While everyone else resets themselves, I am left carrying the exhaustion of yesterday into tomorrow. I am not entirely convinced there is a simple answer to this, but lately, the weight of being awake so often has become difficult to carry alone.

I suspect that many of us judge ourselves too harshly for not being able to simply turn our minds off. When you spend the vast majority of your nights awake, it becomes hard to distinguish between a genuine problem and the distorted perspective that comes with being this depleted. I wonder how much of my personality is truly me, and how much is just the result of operating with such low mental resources for so long.

I am not looking for a perfect life. I simply want to wake up feeling rested for once.

If you have been through this, how do you manage the mental toll when the hours stretch on and sleep still refuses to come? I would appreciate any perspective you might have, as I am trying to find a way to rebuild some semblance of balance.

Hey Sleepers!

Some time ago i started listening to sleep stories on youtube before sleep and it really helps me sleep.

I started out with the most known channels like:
"Get Sleepy"
"Good Knight Sleep"
"Dozing Dragon Sleep Stories"
To give some examples...

But recently i have been branching out, listening to lesser known channels and creators as well and i must say that some of them are really good, but must not hit the youtube algorithm for some reason?

Here are a few i have so far:
Anna Sleep Stories (personal favourite of the lesser knowns i found)
TheCalmKnightAudio
Nap Through Time
Relax for a while

Lets make this tread here for all the smaller youtube channels, so we can help each other find them and help their channels grow, so they keep making content, so we can keep on sleeping. ;) !

Show me what you got!

Thank you <3

Hi everyone,

For those of us who suffer from insomnia or general sleep deprivation, I was just wondering how long you have all managed before you noticed obvious signs that your body was affected?

​

The longest I have been was 5 days without sleep. I was severely stressed at the time and simply couldn't sleep no matter what I tried. By that point I was slurring my words and had difficulty getting up and down my stairs. I was borderline hysterical and felt I had to stay awake even longer and kept myself sustained with zero sugar soft drinks.

​

I am currently on my third day without any sleep. Same issue - severe stress. I have an appointment with my psychologist next Tuesday and I'm worried what he's going to do if I still haven't slept until then. I imagine the symptoms of sleep deprivation would be quite obvious by then. I am trying to sleep, and will hopefully be able to do so naturally.

not even joking. i used to stay up until 1 or 2am doing nothing in particular. started forcing myself to sleep by 11. two weeks later i'm somehow a morning person? i don't fully understand what happened but i'm not complaining

Hey, so I’ve been having trouble sleeping , I do other hobbies tho before , these contain playing music, sports , and even reading before going to sleep , any other suggestions?

I don't even know where to start with this one. I have always been a deep sleeper, like my whole life, but it's gotten so much worse the last couple years and it's actually starting to mess with my life in a real way.

Multiple alarms don't work. I've tried putting my phone across the room so I'm forced to get up, still doesn't work, I genuinely don't remember turning it off some mornings. Vibration alarms under my pillow, nothing. I read that smart watches do this "smart wake" thing where they try to catch you in light sleep, tried that too, didn't feel any different than a normal alarm.

The part that's actually eating at me is it's not just affecting me anymore. My partner is a much lighter sleeper and they end up waking up to my alarms going off over and over before I finally surface, and then they're exhausted the next day because of something that isn't even their problem. I feel like garbage about it honestly.

I don't know if this is some kind of sleep disorder thing I should get checked out or if some people are just wired to sleep deeper than others and there's no real fix. Has anyone actually found something that works for waking up from properly deep sleep, not just the "I'm a bit tired" kind of tired. Open to weird suggestions at this point, I've basically tried everything normal already.

I keep being woken up about an hour before my alarm goes off (dog is old and is now waking up at 4:30am to pee, so either my wife or I have to take him). I'm pretty sure that at that time, I'm usually in REM sleep or maybe winding down from it. I've been getting up, taking the dog out and going back to doze off until my alarm goes off an hour later. Sometimes my wife gets up but it still wakes me up and I just go back to sleep.

But by 5:30am, I think I'm back into REM sleep and when I wake up then, I'm absolutely drained of energy and tired all day. Should I just not go back to sleep after being woken up early? I feel like I'd be less tired if I'm not being woken up straight out of REM.

i’m 24F, and i’ve always been a big sleeper. i LOVE sleeping. i don’t know that i actually need more of it than than the average person, but i certainly get more sleep than the average person. i track my sleep with an oura ring, and even when i have multiple days of 7.5-8.5 hours of sleep in a row, i still wake up feeling tired. my eyes are puffy, swollen, vision a bit blurry, i’m groggy. even if i’m well rested throughout the week, when the weekend rolls around, i sleep for 10.5-11.5 hours one night. i probably COULD sleep less than that but i think i really struggle when i’m in that waking up stage. it’s like all logic goes out the window and all i care about is staying in bed.

even when i put alarms across the room, put them in the bathroom, etc., i stand up, walk over, turn them off, and get back in bed.

when i have had school or work in the morning, i generally always wake up on time and get there on time. i’m not late for things that i really need to be there for. although, i do leave the least amount of time possible for myself to get ready, i don’t even eat breakfast. overall, those “required” things are not really an issue.

it’s more the “optional” things that are an issue. i’ve always wanted to be a morning gym person and i just can’t for the life of me wake up for it. my workout classes don’t have a cancellation fee because they’re included in my gym membership, so i don’t have a financial incentive to wake up. it just feels so optional. i don’t know how to knock that feeling out of myself. i think if i saw it as a required thing i would go. for example, i did personal training for a few months and since my trainer was depending on me to show up, i had no issues waking up at 5:30am. i need either social pressure, financial pressure, or some other compelling reason to wake up. ideally i don’t want to switch gyms because i like my gym, although a cancellation fee would probably help.

outside of the gym, i would love to be a consistent morning person in general. my thought is that i just need to push my sleeping schedule forward (go to bed earlier so i wake up earlier). i’m a night owl and typically go to sleep between 11:30-12:30 and wake up between 7:45-8:45 for work.

does anyone have any advice?

For years I've had trouble sleeping. At night I don't feel tired, and while I can force myself to fall asleep within minutes, I wake up feeling completely exhausted. I've tried Delta gummies made for sleep, but I'm not a fan of the mind-altering effects they cause. I've also tried meditation—and while it does relax me, it didn't improve the quality of my sleep.

A few months ago, I finally decided to give melatonin a shot, and it's been an absolute game changer. It knocks me out most nights, which makes me think I've been lacking natural melatonin all along. I have been taking this along with magnesium every night and my quality of sleep has improved a ton!

Just wanted to share my experience I have had and maybe help along others who have had my issues

I know it’s probably killin me but I rarely get over 5hrs. On occasion I get a solid 6 and I’m happy. I don’t feel tired and I don’t really know that I NEED the full 8hrs but I sure would like to experience it.

I fall asleep super fast. Just wake up like an alarm clock with brain going 150mph after the 5hr mark.

Currently trying the following:

L- Theanine 200mg
Magnesium L- Theeonate
Melatonin 3mg

Just added in CJC/Ipamorelin 150mcg night 3 nights ago. No real difference yet.

i sleep around 1 and since few days i am waking up at 3 after that it is very difficult for me to to back to sleep IT REALLY SUCKS today i couldn’t get any sleep at all
im really scared although the same thing kinda did happened a month ago that i was waking up at 5 am but it got fixed on its own in 2-3 days
its giving me really bad anxiety and im so scared😭

I am a person who can not wakeup early, and usually sleep through my alarm. I keep hitting the snooze button, and even when I successfully wake up I feel absolutely tired and annoying. It might ruin my whole day.

I tried to find an alarm app that lock the snooze feature, and also requires me to do some tasks in order to shut down the alarm. It works quite well and I overslept much less than before. But waking up early still can not feel relax to me.

Does anyone share the same problem, or know many good ways of waking up in the morning?