Day 5:
This morning staying awake before my core sleep was difficult. An inexplicable wave of tiredness washed over me, which is weird considering how alert I'd been previously feeling during the day. I couldn't focus on anything. It was even so bad that I started having auditory hallucinations, and to top that I was so out of it that I started trying to interact with the voices. I managed to fight it off though. Definitely one of the weirder experiences in my life.
I slept from 3:30am to 8:00am like always. For some reason though, despite how tired I was, I couldn't fall asleep for ages, so when I woke up I have the suspicion that it was middle cycle, stage 3 sleep. I basically felt like hell and almost considered giving up the experiment. I discarded the idea though soon as it formed. I won't give up so easy.
The classic post core sleep drunken feeling that I've gotten so used to lasted for about four hours today. My body stopped aching from lack of sleep a few days ago, leading me to believe that my body itself is for the most part adjusted. I just have difficulty figuring out why it seems such a challenge to move during the inebriated like state after my core sleep.
Today I felt quite sleepy. I found my eyes closing in on themselves accidentally. It wasn't the type of tiredness that hurts like it does during a zombified state, it was easy enough to stay awake. One strange thing though is that despite the sleepiness, I still retained that general feeling of wellbeing. It's a very euphoric type feeling.
Apparently sleeping more frequently yet for lesser hours throughout the day increases levels of dopamine, which is basically like the body's own version of natural cocaine and is responsible for the emotional wellbeing of a person. I've always had low dopamine levels, so the feeling of being genuinely happy and elevated is new to me. Polyphasic sleeping is currently being studied as a form of effective cure for depression. I can personally attest that it works. Oddly.
My first nap of the day was at 2:40pm. I fell unconscious for a few seconds at the most, my high level of anxiety levels due to the idea of being woken certainly didn't help. It was disappointing to say the least seeing how sleepy I'd been feeling all day, and the lack of sleep certainly didn't help raise my energy levels.
My second nap was taken just recently at 10:10pm. I was super tired by this time and was starting to worry how I would make it through till the morning. Turns out I didn't need to worry though because one minute I was thinking about the plot line to Heroes, listening to my iso-chronic tones, and the next thing I know I'm being disturbed by my alarm clock wondering when on earth the music stopped playing, and why I didn't hear it stop playing. (The music track usually finishes about a minute before my alarm is set to go off.)
I fell asleep properly for the first time during a nap! I think I must've dozed off after about fifteen minutes, meaning I reckon I got about five minutes sleep. I know really it's not that much but I feel so incredibly better now. More alert and awake than I've felt all day. Personally those five minutes or however long felt like a miracle. If I hadn't've had my alarm on I'm pretty sure I would've fallen into deep sleep and would've failed to wake up till at least seven in the morning.
I'm still suffering from eye strain from time to time as well. It's not pronounced like it was on the second day though. Also, the dark circles under my eyes are still prominent and I've had to switch to a thicker concealer. Otherwise, not much has changed.
Overall, I feel ten times better on this polyphasic sleeping schedule.
Tomorrow's saturday and I'm begging for a sleep in, saturday usually being the only day of the week I can sleep in till at least 10:00am without being disturbed. My mum won't wake me up at 8:00am this time so I've set my alarm, unfortunately. Apparently occasional sleep ins are acceptable once I'm fully adjusted, but for now I'm gonna avoid them like the plague to prevent myself from messing up the integration of my new circadian cycle. Unfortunately.
I always have been a light sleeper, but extreme sleep deprivation can override even the sound of morning alarms set to maximum volume. Let's hope not.
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