Everyman adaptation, post-core

[Mike]

Hello everyone,

I'm seven days into Everyman (3h core x1, 20m nap x3). One nap session
mid-week went an extra 10 minutes because I wasn't falling asleep and
decided to restart my sleep track halfway through. Other than that
shift in a single nap time, I've stuck to the schedule. I feel OK
throughout the day. My body feels a little tired, probably because I'm
sitting in my home office chair instead of lying flat in my comfy bed.
I think I'm a little more irritable around my kids.

The problem is waking up from the core sleep. The alarm goes off at
4am and I want to cry. For 90 minutes I feel awful. It's exactly like
every other time in my life I've woken up at 4am: eyes sting, body
aches, eyelids won't stay open, bright light hurts, can't form
complete thoughts. Generally I feel seething hate toward every atom in
the universe.

I am hoping this is simply a normal part of adaptation, but it feels
like it's been getting worse, not better. I love having an extra four
hours of waking time a day, but it's not worth it if only 2.5 of those
hours are usable. I usually associate early-rising hell with getting
to the airport to take a trip somewhere fun, so it's a net-positive
emotion. But experiencing it every day for the rest of my life? No
way.

Does this sound like a typical adaptation so far? If not, is it too
early to start playing around with the schedule? The tweak I have in
mind is shifting core so that I wake up when it's bright outside; my
instinct is that much of the pain is my body saying it's still dark
out and not time to get up yet.

[Joseph Stoppelbein]

Hey Mike,
I'm on the same everyman (3hr core with 3 20 min naps). For me the
worst adjustment time was about days 6-9.
So where you are at, I believe is the worst part. You are right where
most people quit.

Stay active for those first 90 minutes after your core especially. You
are changing a sleep schedule that you have spent your whole life
adjusting to.
Go out for a walk, watch an action movie or anything else you're
interested in.

When I got to day 10 I felt I was about 90% adjusted. I wake at 2 AM
and am perfectly able to sit and read, study, etc.
But you must hang in there, and you cannot cheat, even a little.
About day 30 you will be fully adjusted and you will never want to go
back to monophasic. (At least I don't).
Good luck
Joe

[Aya Hu]

My twin was able to overcome this aweful phase by literally running in
place and doing pushups right when she got out of bed. She had to
remain active in the sense that she would fall asleep if she so much
as sat, not matter what. It is hard, but keep on plugging, it's worth
it!

[Mike]

Hey Joe,

When the alarm went off after my most recent core, I flipped on the
table lamp and stuck my face as close as I could to it, hoping that
the light cue would tell my body we were getting up for real. Unknown
whether it worked, but waking up this time wasn't quite as bad as past
days. So either the light theory is correct, or I was getting past the
hard part already anyway.

Thanks for the support. I know I'll get past the adaptation stage, if
for no other reason than to be able to say that I did it.

Mike

On Jul 5, 5:08 pm, Joseph Stoppelbein <pastorjo...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Joseph Stoppelbein]

Well that sounds like good news! Hey if the light theory works for you
then keep it up.
I've found with people I've talked to that polyphasic sleep schedules
are very individualized.
After you are fully adapted (30 daysish) you may yet tweak a little here
and there.

But don't change a thing in your schedule now. I hope it keeps getting
better for you.
Joe

[Keighsie Hu]

I am Aya Hus twin and as she said, getting up was KILLER for hours
sometimes! So I started jogging in place. If I felt groggy and in
pain, my eyes, nodding off, just this overwhelming feeling of
awfulness (I suddenly feel for the characters in the books I read who
go on long journeys to defeat evil) I would jog in place. Head
lulling forward? Jog. Eye's feel like they're bursing out of your
skull? Jog. And the most important rule? NEVER SIT! If you come
near anything remotely comfortable get as far from it as you can.
Don't use the computer unless you are standing, don't read, don't
watch TV, don't do anything, concentrate on staying awake.
I didn't schedule anything important at all during that time because I
knew I would be an incoherent mess. After a few days, I only felt a
little bit noddy if I sat down for long periods of time, but otherwise
felt pretty good. After about 20 days I didn't have the problem at
all anymore. I'm at more than 30 days now and I will never go back,
all of those things that lingered with me at first have gone
completely away. I sleep, I wake up feeling great, repeat.
I hope to encourage you and I hope you make it through these
impossibly horrible times so that you can come out the other end. For
me, it was definitely worth it.

[Mike]

> And the most important rule? NEVER SIT!

I wish I'd read this advice earlier today. Twice I suddenly woke up
while sitting on the couch. Each was probably 10 minutes of sleep.

I'm sure the two extra sleeps will delay adaptation, but that's OK.
This experience has been physically and mentally difficult, but
intellectually it's an interesting experiment that I'd like to see
through to the end.

[rook]

> > And the most important rule? NEVER SIT!

I use a gymball (http://www.fhtonline.co.uk/fht_imagestore/
1323_lg.gif) to sit. That way I have to maintain balance and am
prevented from sleeping. And it is good for your posture as you keep a
nice straight back ^^.

[Aya Hu]

Great idea in general!