Helped Over 500,000 patients with 98%+ satisfaction.

Connect & Get Personalized 1-to-1 Answers from Expert Doctors

DoctorSpring > Question Home

Sleeping in the daytime

Resolved Question:

I sometimes do not get enough sleep at night (especially when I am very busy with my studies) so I try to compensate it with day sleep. So I was wondering to what extent the day is actually effective and how it affects my body and my night sleep later on? Also, if I get a day sleep, does that mean that I can get less night sleep then?

Lots of thanks

Category: Internal Medicine Specialist

Ask Your Own Question

Category: HIV- AIDS Specialist
 31 Doctors Online

Hello,
Thank you for choosing DoctorSpring.

Most of the data on sleep comes from the data obtained from the population based sleep studies . While this fits the majority of the population in around 10-15% of individuals this data might not be accurate.
Please allow me to quote from my reference material

"It is difficult to determine what constitutes a normal quantity of sleep for a given individual. One approach involves determining how long a patient would sleep if left to awaken spontaneously. An alternative approach involves determining how alert the patient feels after different durations of sleep. Alertness is normal if the patient wakes feeling refreshed and is capable of moving through the day feeling alert without effort, even when placed in boring or monotonous situations. This sense of easy alertness should be distinguished from alertness that exists when the individual feels pressure, since the latter may persist despite sleep deprivation.

Once the normal quantity of sleep for an individual (ie, the nightly sleep quota) has been determined, the sleep deficit can be estimated as illustrated by the following example. If a person who has a nightly sleep quota of eight hours sleeps only six hours, there is a two hour sleep deficit. That sleep deficit is carried over to the next day. A 14 hour sleep debt will accrue after seven days if two hours of sleep are lost nightly, which is nearly equivalent of two full nights without sleep."

- So basically what you are currently doing is right
- Do remember there is lot individual variation. I sleep 4-5 hours in the night, and almost never sleep in the morning. (without any cognitive or functional impairment )
-Timing of the day - There is no comprehensive data on this. Most preferred time seems afternoon. But whenever you feel sleepy is the best time !

Please note, if you are feeling sleepy easily in the day time, feeling tired, poor mood, irritability, low energy, decreased libido, poor judgment, inattention it is possible that your sleep quality or quantity is not good and it is time for revaluation.

Hope this helps
Feel free to ask followups
Thank you


Dr. Jaydeep Tripathy
Category: HIV- AIDS Specialist
Experience: 
MBBS from Sri Ramachandra University in December 2011
M.Med (Family Medicine) - TNMGR University, Chennai
MBA-MPH in Public Health in March 2016, SRM University
Finished AFIH in March 2016, SRM University
MRCP ( UK ), Internal Medicine, Royal College of Physicians, June 2016
Fellowship in Diabetology from Martin Luther University in January 2017

Currently Resident Physician, in MD Radiodiagnosis - Kamakshi Memorial Hospital, Chennai
Dr. Jaydeep Tripathy and 4 other Medical Specialists are ready to help you

Users who read this, also read:

Make informed and better medical decisions.

Join the 500,000 people who found a smarter, quicker way to get Answers, Recommendations & Expert Opinions.

Expert Doctors at fingertips

Recommendation on next step. Second-opinion.Multi-specialty.

Save Time

Average time for answers: 6 hours.

Save Money

$35 for typical specialist consult vs. $120 for a local appointment.

Free Follow-ups

Clarify, ask further questions for free in private conversation.

100% Satisfaction

Money back guarantee for the 1st reply. MEDNET Quality Board.

Start My Consultation

CHAT NOW

About DoctorSpring.com

Doctor Spring is a novel online Doctor consultation platform where you can get your medical questions answered by leading Doctors. Just Submit your question and rest assured that you will consult a Doctor easily. Once you submit the question, the Doctor from the concerned specialty will reply within hours. You can always ask more questions or add details with follow-up question options and make it an online doctor chat. You may use this service to consult a specialty or for getting medical second opinion. All paid services come with a MEDNET quality assurance and 100% money back guarantee.

DoctorSpring in news