What Zombies Can Teach You About Sleep Deprivation!

November 01, 2022  Patrick Heller / Janet McCue
 

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Below are some of the links we mentioned in this episode - ** Some links may take you to Amazon's Website**

Why We Sleep
Unlocking The Power Of Sleep And Dreams

Preeminent neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker, PhD provides a revolutionary exploration of sleep, examining how it affects every aspect of our physical and mental well-being.

WKRP Drunk Reflex Test

This is the episode that we talked about Johnny Fever getting faster reflexes the more that he drank.

 

Episode #061

Patrick and Janet talk about how easy it is to get into a slump after a meal. You know that carb-coma that so many people fall into after eating. They go over foods they love for flavor and versatility. Only to discover that they are also great choices to energize you.
Episode #062

Doopy Doopy do boo boo. Welcome to the 18 Wheel Podcast Show. Oh, look at you singing. You're funny. Welcome, welcome. Well, hello there, Janet. Hello, Patrick. What what are we going to talk about today? On the podcast show. Well, everybody in the world likes zombies, right. Zombie apocalypse, except when they catch me and want to eat my brains.

Well, well, technically I gotta have a brain for them to want to eat, I guess. Yeah. Besides, there's those brain eating things in Lake Mead. We don't need to worry about that. I know it's a, it's a what, what do they call it? An ameba? I think so. Somebody died from that, a juvenile, they called it, they like juvenile brains the best, so we're safe.

Well, the only way they can, the only way they can actually get infected. Mm-hmm, is it the, The goes through their nose. It goes up the nose and into the brain. If you swallow it, it can't, you can't get infected because the acid in your stomach eats it, I guess. Okay. Then note to self nose plugs. least that's what I read about, God knows how new, how true that is.

Nose plugs for life. Okay. So especially if you're on Lake Mead. Yes. Back to our story. Yes. Hey, I wanna talk about zombies and zombies. They prefer adult brains over juvenile brains. Okay. Do you know what else, what? Zombies never sleep. This is true. That's where we're going. Well, almost everyone has encountered a zombie-like feeling.

Mm-hmm. I know that. This is true after a night of like no sleep or very little sleep. This is true. I, I'm, I'm for one as you know, ohhh coffee!

Yeah. I'd just like to thank all the people out there that send me coffee and like to keep me outta jail. Yeah. Right. Coffee does that to me because I sometimes feel like a zombie, Janet, without coffee. Whew. Scary. I have seen it once. say it isn't. So it really wasn't that scary. Really? Yeah. You were kind of just like a mope all day.

Oh, imagine me for a month without it. No caffeine. Oh wow. So any who we're talking about back to the show, what zombies can teach you about sleep deprivation? Okay. So if you feel extremely tired during the day, that's like one of the hallmark signs of sleep deprivation, not like a Hallmark card. Okay. But if there was one for this, I'd send it.

All right. So if you're feeling extremely tired, like if you're always tired, just go all day. Yeah. Always yawning, always tired. That's sleep deprivation, Possibly. Okay. If you have excessive daytime sleepiness, feel drowsy. Hard time staying awake when you need to, like say behind the wheel. Yep. This could result in what's called a micro sleep.

Now, I'd never even heard the word microsleep until I lookedit up. That's those moments, you know, like when you, you start to fall asleep in your head jerks or you, nod, whoa what, it could Where am I? What time is it? Yeah, you could doze off they say for up to 30 seconds and be a microsleep. Wow. Yeah. 30 seconds, 30 seconds.

It felt like an hour. Mm-hmm. Well, that'd be a good nap. I know, right? Right. So some of the signs of microsleep are drowsiness. Trouble focusing heavy eyelids, blank staring, yawning. Some of these sound familiar, like behind the wheel.

Oh, sorry, I was blank. Staring

So, you know, haven't you ever experienced something like that behind the wheel. Well, yeah, I, I used to be an over the road truck driver, that's why I mention it. And we've driven RV and cars and we've done a lot, you know. Yeah. I've, I've, And then what happened? You're like I need to pull over. How'd I get here?

Yeah. I just saw my, Well, how about to the last 10 miles of road ? Where'd my exit go? Yeah, right. I was just up coming up to it and it's gone. Then you gotta look at the mile marker in normal states. Mm-hmm. Where the mile marker matches the exit usually. Yeah. Normal states. Normal state, not New York. So anyway, anyway.

And then you're like, I was just at my two miles before my exit and now I'm 10 miles beyond my exit. How'd that happen? Turn around. Well, you're in an RV or a big rig. You can't in a car, you're not supposed to turn around in the median illegally. You know who said anything about just turn around on the highway and go back the other way.

Well, we're not talking about wrong way drivers. We're not talking about Phoenix and wrong way drivers. Nice try. Never heard of it as much as I have since, since we've been here. This is true. I mean, granted, it does happen in other states, but I mean it really happens here in Arizona and I just don't get it. Yeah. I mean, how stupid you gotta be.

Okay. Different subject. Anyways, Sorry. Back, back to sleep deprivation and zombies. It slows your thinking. That is so true. When I'm tired, I'm just like, my brain can't function. Okay. You've seen me when I'm really tired when I'm trying to keep your hours and I'm a morning person. Yeah. I know. Up till two or three in the morning and my brain says, And then, And then you're back up.

Then you're back up at 6:00 AM Yeah. Cuz the pugs. And I like the, but, but then you're stubborn and don't come back to bed after you go and take care of the pugs. Well, I try. No, you sometimes. No you don't. Okay, fine. You don't because I'm stuck. You, you feel that they're, they're, they take precedence over your sleep.

They will find a cozy spot to curl up and go back to sleep. You just have to come back to bed. Usually it's next to me on the couch. Well, you could just come back to bed. anywho, and curl up next to me. Next in the bed. Next, next. You know, hint, hint, hint. I took the hint. Okay next, Hint. Reduced attention span moving on.

Reduced attention span. Ooh, butterfly, I dunno. Anybody butterfly away? I didn't know anybody that sees it's not butterfly. Who? Okay, now explain what you're talking about. All right. Do tell. So Janet will come over and gimme a kiss and say, I'm going to bed, Okay? Mm-hmm. and within, you know, a 10 minute time span, she's made it from the living room to the.

and has, you know, folded a a, a load of laundry and loaded the dishwasher and did you know, six other different things except go to bed like she said. So I gotta yell at her, say, Stop looking at butterflies and go to Frick the bed. Okay. But, but this has, this is not butterflies. This is how I was raised. Mm-hmm.

your house. You get stuff in order before you go to bed. Okay, well then next time tell me that. Don't tell me you're going to bed and then get the house in order. I'm going to bed, means I'm gonna straighten things up and then go to bed. No, that's just given. You're telling me you're going to bed. Go to bed.

There's a detour; silly girl. There's always a detour Patrick. There's butterflies. Okay, so bed means butterflies. Just keep that in mind. Reduced attention span is what that is. Janet's like oohwwhooo butterflies. Gotta do dishes. gotta fold the laundry. It was in the dryer. Okay. It, It can stay in the dryer and there will be wrinkles.

That's why we got the dryer that we got. And you push the wrinkle release and push start. And wahlaah. No more wrinkles. Okay, fine. So it worsens your memory. What? Exactly! I'm doomed

so I'm screwed. All right. End this program if you have chronic sleep deprivation. Okay. It can affect your memory. What? Yeah. Didn't we just say that? No. I don't remember. I don't remember. What were we talking about? And what can this re, what can this lead. Butterflies. Poor decision making or risky decision making.

Like, let's drive the heavy equipment. I've only got 50 miles left. I'm gonna keep on going. I can i can do it. I could do it. Rah rah reeh. That's why the accidents happened so close to home so many times cuz people are like, I'm only 50 miles from home. I can do it. I can do it. I got this, I got this. It doesn't matter if you're in your car, your rv, on your motorcycle, in your Big Rig, whatever, it's only 50 miles from home.

I know it's only, and I can do it, I wanna sleep in my own bed, but that 50 miles takes like four hours. Because you're like, you're all over the road. Radio go, radio gets turned up, the windows get rolled down. You're like, I can do this. Yeah. And then you're p chh ch ch ch on the steering wheel and you're bouncing all over, blblblb shaking your head, slapping yourself around.

Wake up, wake up, up. Wake up. Oh, butterflies. Oh, next thing you know, you're all over the road. I'm gonna, I'm gonna pull over right here. Take a little nap. 10 minutes becomes an hour or two. Yeah. Yeah. You might as well have just pulled over to begin with it at the last rest stop. It also leads to the lack of energy.

Oh, I don't know (snoring)what you talking about, I got a little energy. I got a nappy in there. Although, Although we did, we did do an episode prior to this one on, on food that'll give you energy. So we'll leave a comment down a link. We will link to that episode in the show notes. That's a good idea. I just, So you're telling me that when I'm tired, I should eat behind the wheel.

Well, there's food that you could have, you know, nibbly food that you could eat that would give you some energy. Oh yeah, this is true. You know, so, Oh, and by the way, thanks to, you know who you are for finding our little Easter egg in our description. Oh yeah. Your, your prize is on the way. Yep, Yep. It's in the mail.

Oh. So yeah, be sure thank you for reading, Be sure to read our descriptions cuz you never know what you're gonna find. Mm-hmm, there might be a hundred dollar gift card in your future. I'm just saying could be something else. You never know what we're gonna be doing. This is after all our three year anniversary. This is true. We are three years old and you know, we, we, I've been telling people I'm 29 now.

You're telling me I'm only three. The podcast shows. Oh, shoot. Had me worried there. I know, right. I'm like, Dang. Julian's older than me. It's taken us that long to get to three. Wow. Took three years to get to three? It took forever. Wow. Wow. But yes, we are three years old. Pardon me? We are three years old. 18 Wheel Talk Podcast show.

Three years old. Tell your friends, tell your family, Tell your enemies. Don't tell your grandmother, cuz we swear a lot. Well, I swear a lot. If grandma's got a trucker's mouth or a sailor's tongue, then tell her. This is true. But hey, listen, if we make you laugh, if we at least make you laugh, at least leave us a comment below on if you're watching us on video or leave us a review on your favorite podcast player if you can please.

And if not, if not, you can always go to iTunes, and leave us a review. There's a couple other podcast players out there that you can, I just can't think of 'em. I think good pods is one of 'em. So you're saying worsened memory. Yeah, exactly. I'm like, I'm like, I got worsened in memory. I, Anyways, it would greatly appreciate it.

It would help out the show. And, and again, I didn't mean to get off track, but thank you for, for reading our description, Patrick, and, and finding our little Easter egg Patrick. Yes, Janet Zombies also talk about sleep deprivation leading to mood changes such as anxiety, irritability, and stress. Are you going for an Academy Award?

Yeah, actually I was. How'd I do?

Wah wah waahhh No. winner winner chicken dinner. The horror Anyway. Yes. Stress and anxiety and irritability are also signs of sleep deprivation. Boy, I know some people that must never sleep. That's why I retired from my last job. I must have suffered from sleep deprivation. I gotta retire. But all the other people obviously never slept.

Stress, anxiety, and irritability. Boy, I had all three of 'em. I know someone who has all those and, and I thought they slept all the time, but obviously never you talking about me. Nope, you, nope. Other people. Anyway. Other people? Yes, other people. Ohhohhoohh do tell do tell. So Nope. Off the air off the air. I'll tell you, so, but if I'm talking about you, you know it.

Behave yourself. Butterflies. Anyways, thank you for joining us today. We greatly appreciate it. Be sure to like, share, comment Patrick. Memory loss. No, you just said that. I know. I just wanna reiterate it, because sometimes you gotta say it more than once to get people to do things. Yeah. Especially those people with memory loss.

We, we do greatly appreciate everyone that watches our videos and listens to our podcast show. Yes, we do. And be sure to check out our Patreon. There's links all over the place to get to our Patreon. This is you go to our resources tab on our website, 18 wheel talk.com, and be a hobo with us. You could, Yep.

Yeah, just check it out. Just check out some of the fun, fun names that we, we got on our Patreon account. I mean, and thanks to the Patreons, we do have you wanna be a bum for a couple of bucks a month. Hey, that, that greatly helps out the show keeps us on the air. You wanna be a hobo? Same as a bum. It's just gonna cost you dollar more to change the name.

And look cuter maybe. And if you wanna get into our Witness Protection program, Hey, we're, it's there. We'd name you, but you're in Wit-Sec. So we can't, So anybody kinda like the pugs, Anybody that has already currently been a part of our WIT-Sec program. Thank you. We can Mum's the word. You know who you are.

Yes. So anyways, back to the show. doodly doot doodly doot So did you know there's a lot of studies that compare sleep deprivation to alcohol impairment? I, you know, I've heard that. Mm-hmm. I've heard that it's been compared to being under the influence of alcohol. Mm-hmm. And I mean, if you, if you think of it some, some of the symptoms of sleep deprivation makes it sound like you're drunk.

Well, when you're driving tired, think about it. When you're driving tired and you're weaving back and forth, cop can't tell if you're drunk or tired. Right. Same thing. Exactly. They, they'll pull you over and give you sobriety check, you know, cognitive and motor performance. They're equivalent. Touching it to legally prescribe levels of alcohol.

You do the hokey pokey and, you turn yourself about Oh, sorry. So there was even a book written about this. Okay. I believe his name. Yeah, it's Matthew Walker. He has a PhD. Okay. And the book he wrote was called Why We Sleep. Okay. So how drunk are you Without Sleep? I, I don't know, studies, studies have conducted and replicated and, and replicated to determine how long a person needs to be awake before impairment is measurable.

Mm-hmm. now, how the impairment progresses and how long it takes to recover. Yep. It's measured by counting lapses in attention. They actually sat people down and made them stay awake. What? It's a really cool book. Butterfly. Butterfly. Butterfly. So they're made between fully rested subjects and sleep deprived subjects and legally drunk subjects.

Oh, I was so would want a wanna been in that. You know what that reminds me of That, that W-K-R-P episode where? Where? Where they were doing shots. Oh, and then the drunker he got, the better he got at doing his job. Yep. However, here's some of their better results or more meaningful results relative to a fully rested person.

A person who has been awake for 16 hours has measurable impairment. Now think about it. What does that mean? Measurable impairment? Noticeable. Oh, okay. Gotcha. What are hours of service for driving. For driving a truck, for instance, that they can drive for 10 hours. Last allright. Last time, drive, drive. 10 and hours of service for fourteen.

Okay. But if you're driving to work, like when I drove in New York, okay, it took me 45 minutes to get to work, okay? 14 hour day, okay? 45 minutes to get home, all right? By the time I was on my way home, I was on my 16 hours because you don't just drive to work, boom, start working. You drive to work, you do some stuff, you punch in.

But technically it's hours of service for a truck driver is the minute they get in that truck. Punch in. Punch in because you, the job I had, we had stuff to do before we got behind the wheel. But you driving your own car to work and back doesn't count as your hours of service. No, but I'm pointing out that I'm not talking about hours of service.

I'm talking about hours behind the wheel, hours awake. Oh, I gotcha. I gotcha. You're talking about awake hours. Oh, okay. From the time I got up at two o'clock in the morning. Okay. I was at work by three-thirty, okay. Okay. I punched in by four o'clock. Mm-hmm. I drove till two o'clock. Okay. I punched out by three-thirty or so.

Been been there, done that. I was home by four-thirty or at the gym by four-thirty. I worked out for an hour. Then I went home. I didn't go to bed until eight o'clock at night. By which time I had been up for, you know, well over 16 hours yes. Yep. That's legally impaired. And that doesn't even count if I went out to eat or out to the bar and drank.

What I know. Right. Left right, left, right, left, right. Ha. So yeah, the person who's been awake for 19 hours is as cognitively impaired as a person who was legally drunk. That's so I was legally drunk. So that's what you're saying? Yeah. You were legally drunk after 19 hours of being up. Yeah, because I. I slept four, about five hours a night.

Your allergies are kicking your butt today. I know they are. Even with an allergy pill that hasn't kicked in apparently. Well, you gotta start taking it earlier first thing in the morning. Oookay fine. Take all your drugs all at once. All at once. Anyway, so I know people that only sleep for three or four hours a night.

I used to be that way, but it also my opinion, different people need different types of sleep. Different, yeah. I mean different. I mean, when I was younger I could, I could function on three, four hours of sleep. Yeah. Now not so much. Yeah, me too. Now I need like 12, 13 hours of sleep to be fully functional. This is true.

So being like; What? wait a minute! I tried to sweep that under the carpet you ain't getting away with that, sweeping under the carpet. Miss. I gotta see butterflies before I go to bed. I like my butterflies. I know. I like to clean. Can't help it. Well, could don't do it before you gotta go to bed because then you won't go to bed. I do to.

Go to bed eventually. Mm-hmm. So, Anyways, back to the show. Being awake for 24 hours produces more than four times as many missed responses in reaction time. Mm-hmm. , so it wasn't measured because the subject never responded to the stimuli. It was almost as if they were asleep for a second or two. Wow.

it's worse than that, measured for a person that was awake for 19 hours or legally drunk. Okay. So once you're awake for 24 hours, you're beyond legally drunk, you're screwed drunk. You're screwed. You're screwed. Yep. You're, you're S.O.L., that's what I call it, Shit out of luck. Mm-hmm., S.O.L. Shit out of luck, as opposed to S.O.S., which I like, shit on a shingle.

Mm-hmm. Oh, okay. Well, you're the cooker. This is true, as long as it's not shit out of the backyard. I'm good. Ew. Okay. Back to sleeping. Go ahead. Sleeping six hours a night for 10 days, which do a lot, leads to impairment equivalent to a person who's been awake for 24 hours. Worse than drunk, six hours a night for 10 days.

Leads to. Equivalent to a person that's drunk who's been away for 24 hours or drunk, worse than drunk. What? I get six hours a night almost every night. But if you take a nap during the day, that helps. Do I take a nap during the day? Yes, you do. Oh, you get up. Okay. Make our shakes take a nap. Oh, that helps.

Oh, okay. Yeah. So I get up, I eat breakfast, then take a nap. Yes. It's cuz I get wore out from eating breakfast. I know the carbs kill me. It's cuz it's got carbs in it. That was a workout all on its own. So if you sleep four hours a night for six days. Mm-hmm, the impairment is equivalent to a person who's been awake for 24 or yeah, 24 hours.

Still worse than being drunk. So no matter what, if you're sleeping a little bit, you're drunk basically is what I hear. So you're better off just being up 24 hours. That's what I hear. Yeah. Party . . No. No, because sleep deprivation leads to steady increase in impairment. All right, so you're saying it is bad unless you sleep the worst.

Your impairment is right. So, all right. So what you're saying is sleep deprivation, leads to steady increase of impairment. Mm-hmm. That's what you just said. That's what I just said. So the test perform of subjects gets worse. Mm-hmm. and there's no evidence to support the maximum impairment. Correct. they haven't found that it stops, so you just keep getting worse and worse.

So if Johnny drinks more vodka, he got better. Does he? From W-K-R-P in Cincinnatti. Oh, that's true. What was his last name? Dr. Johnny Fever. Yeah. I think it was Johnny Fever. Johnny Fever. They called him Dr. Johnny Fever. Yeah. Anyway, Johnny got better drinking vodka. You don't get better with less sleep. I know, because it was just, they were like, they couldn't believe the more he drank, the better he rocked.

This is true. Yeah. And they were like, there was like, there's no way. Cuz I think there was a bet. Mm-hmm. and I think the other guys were out after like three shots or four shots. Oh, I wish I could put a link to that episode. That was, that was funny. I'll have to see if I can find it. See if I put that. That's just for shits and giggles.

Yeah. I'll have to see if I can put a link to, to that episode. On, on YouTube. Yeah. That'd be funny. I'll, I'll see if I can find it on YouTube and I'll put a link in the, in the, in the, in the description. Mm-hmm. So now I forgot where we were. Chronic. Chronic sleep restrictions. Mm-hmm. All right. So routinely getting less than seven hours of sleep a night.

Mm-hmm. for a week requires more than three nights to recover sleep, to return to fully rested levels of test performance. You know how they say you can't make up for lost sleep? ok. Remember how they used to say that? Yeah. Well, if you don't get enough sleep during the week, you can't make it up on weekends.

Wanna bet; you can it depends on how much sleep you lost during the week as to whether you can make it up in two days. I've, I've done that. Yeah. I've, I've slept 10, 12 hours because a certain, somebody decided to. Let you sleep because you needed it. Leave me be, for whatever reason when I tell her I don't wanna sleep all day and yet I sleep all day.

You don't sleep all day, just like 10 hours. So anyway, sleep. That's like half the day's gone. It is not sleep from when I went to bed to when you wake me up. Yeah. The day's gone. Patrick, you've already been up like six hours. Patrick. Yes, dear. Sleep deprived individuals do not accurately self-assess how sleep deprived they are.

In other words, you think you're alert enough to drive or function or doing I'm fine or do a podcast, but you're not. What today you are, because I let you sleep. Wait a minute, how does that wait no, no. I can do a podcast at any time. I can do a podcast in my sleep. He said that's right. I, I Wait, what happened?

What'd I miss? So this is all out of the book. Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. and we'll have a link for that. Yeah, we'll put a link in a in a in a Description. Because it's a really interesting book. Yeah. Ah, I think it is. Yep. So, so this, like I said, if you're interested in, in getting his book, we will definitely put a link in a show notes so that you can go get it.

Yeah. I, I found it really interesting. It was kind of a funny read in my opinion, but I like stats. I'm a you're a stataholic. Well, that's why I did the job I did in the Army. What? I know, right. Wait a minute. Anyway, back to the show. It's estimated that sleep deprivation affects about one third of all American adults.

Wonder what the rest of the world. I never looked up to see what the rest of the world, One third, one third of American. But the rest of the world, like Europe, they only work four days a week, so I'm guessing they get more sleep. So what's the population of the United States? A lot. Is it like seven point something billion chirp, chirp million?

Chirp; Billion; chirp. I don't know. It's a lot of peeps. Chirp. Why are you chirping at me? Because I have no idea. I'm just chirping in the wind. I don't know. No, they may, a handheld device. We could just, Yeah, you could, you know. But mine's outta reach because we're doing a podcast. It's right there. It's up there charging and there's like wires and everything.

I don't wanna disrupt the cameras. wahwah wah wah you know, I mean, we got cameras there. We got a camera over here. Oh my gosh. Hi everybody. You know we got a camera over there. I'm just saying I will find out. That would be awesome. Oh, okay. Right. While she's looking at it, so, So she's saying that it's estimated to effect around one third of American adults and it picked up what you said, not what I said.

Well, I'm sorry. That's okay. Keep talking. Okay. I'm talking. Chirp. Chirp, chirp. Chirp chirp, 329.5 million people in the U.S. And that was as of two years ago. How many? 329 million. Okay, so what's one third of that? A hundred million. Okay. 110 million roughly. You're the stat person. That's why I asked. Okay, so now there's 332,403,650 people, so 110 million.

And some change. And some change. A little chingle. A little chingle with your jingle, a little chingling. So 110 million people. Roughly are affected by sleep deprivation. Imagine if they're all on the road at the same time. Just let 'em hit each other. Oh, we're screwed. Have you seen the people that drive in Phoenix?

That's what's wrong with Phoenix. I know. Everybody's sleep deprived. The whole city is sleep deprived. What this just in Phoenix is sleep deprived. Phoenix is sleep deprived news at at 10, 11, and 12 because they forgot what they were doing. So they did the broadcast again. A wait a minute

Okay. While short term impacts are more noticeable, chronic sleep, depress deprivation can heighten the long term risk of physical and mental health problems. Mental health too, not just physical. Oh man, we are fucked. Ohhh the language. I'm so horrified. Oh, stop it. It's not the first time you heard that word.

Yeah, it is. The whole time I was in the military the whole time I drove a truck, I never heard that word. Not in the hospitality industry, never. First time. Oh baby Jesus pray for me. Anyway, that's a bunch of bulls spit right there. So mental health problems, sleep deprivation, leads to mental health problems.

I dunno, whatcha talking about, he's got a little bit of a twitch there. I dunno whatcha talking about. I'm mentally fine. So I'll let you do the next one cuz I wanna argue it.

All right. So, And go. All right, so, So the needed amount of sleep, which for adults ranges from seven to nine hours of sleep per night. That's where I wanna argue. Okay. I still say that not Everybody; I need at least eight to nine hours. Okay. But not everybody does. Will they say set between they, they say the range is between seven and nine hours sleep.

So if I say I, if I go seven hours of sleep, that should be good for me, correct? Most of the time. Most, But you need to catch up. But like my brother, when he worked for a big car, manufacturer. I'm not gonna say which brother and which car manufacturer. Okay. When he did, he got like three to four hours of sleep.

One of my other brothers does the same thing now. And then sometimes on his day off, he'd sleep for, you know, 10 hours. But he, he did really well on three to four hours of sleep. I could function on three or four hours to sleep. But he, he'd climbed top of buildings. He, he, you know, I rough house with machinery right now.

I know, but you know what I mean. I'm just saying I could do it, it could be done. It can be done. Your body does adjust. I, I don't recommend it. I didn't re I used to get all, I didn't recommend it either. Yeah. But I used to tell 'em, You're not getting enough. You need to sleep more shit happens. You know what?

Life happens. That was kind of his attitude. Life happens. I still wanna be there for my, And I know, Hi. I know him. He, he probably said, I'll sleep, when I'm dead. No. I'll sleep eventually. Yeah. Yeah. I think he used to say, I used to say that. It's like, Yeah, you ain't getting enough sleep. I'm like, Yeah, if I sleep, sleep as mediocre, I'll sleep when I'm dead.

I will definitely be asleep when I'm dead. That's for sure just saying. So you're saying death is just a big sleep maybe. Oh, okay. The big sleep, So the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, Uhhuh, That's a long sentence. Classify sleep deprivation and sleep insufficiency. Okay. In different ways. Okay. I didn't know there was a difference.

I didn't know there was a difference either. Acute sleep deprivation refers to a short period, like a few days or less when a person has a significant reduction in their sleep time. Okay. Like when you drive that few extra miles to get somewhere in a few days and push your own limits to get there. Right.

Like when my brother and I had to go back to Missouri. Okay. We pushed it. Yeah, we drove straight through. We didn't like stop for the night or anything. We drove straight through from here to there. Right. That was a because, because we slept when we got there, there was a reason why. Yeah. Everybody has their reasons.

My screen just did something. Hold on. What did it do? There. Whew. You're playing with buttons. I touched it. I don't, don't, So that would be acute sleep deprivation. Listen, you, you do something for a reason. Not I'm the one screwing up, not you anyway. It's not the norm. Correct. It's not once in a, you know, blue moon type of thing.

Blue moon. Do you know what a blue moon is? It's blue-ish, correct? It's every couple months. That's what it refers to. I know. Oh, well you knew and you didn't say it. I just said it. I just answered your question. You asked. Asked me if I knew what a blue moon was. It's when the moon is kind of bluish in color.

But you never said it happens every couple of months. I didn't. Well, I know it happens anyway. Just didn't realize it was like every couple of months. Chronic sleep deprivation is also known as insufficient sleep syndrome. I just chronic sleep deprivation. You don't sleep enough three months or longer. I, I know people that do this.

All right, so, So if you don't get enough sleep for three months or longer, it's sleep. Sleep syndrome insufficient sleep syndrome. Yeah. Iss. Okay. So what's that? Insufficient sleep syndrome like what do you mean? Oh, oh, oh, let you, Oh, you want me to give you a for instance? Yeah, for instance. Oh, oh my God.

All right. So, so like the, that extra job that always takes you know or, or always take that overtime. Mm-hmm. taking an extra load. Mm-hmm still try to do all of your home time. Be a super parent. Mm-hmm. or spouse. Yeah. Either or. Get everything done around the house, go out with the friends, et cetera.

Yeah, no. Well, there's people that do that. No, because I mean, if you're, They take the extra load, they put in the extra hours, and then when they get home, they still wanna do everything. Yeah. And unfortunately, sorry, but don't work. That doesn't ever work that way. We know someone who's young, who tried doing this and then missed some things that she paid for and paid cash for. Then was like, I can't believe I slept for a day. Well, hello? We told you. Well, we didn't say, we told you. We just said, Oh, imagine that. I told you so. No, I just said, Imagine that inside. I said, Ha ha. We told you you didn't listen, I, I did say you must be getting older than you think you are. She didn't wanna listen to the experts, people who have not slept enough because, cuz, cuz we are, we, we are here to help truckers and travelers in their pursuit a health, happiness and a better life behind the wheel.

You know, the one advantage people in an RV have and people that drive over the road have, which is they have their bed with them. If you are a place so tired, pull over when you're in an RV or in a semi that has a sleeper. Mm-hmm. when you find a place to park, you can pull over and park. There are overnight parking places.

Yes, we talked about this. We did. Where to find them. Link in the show notes. Link, the show notes. Let me make a note. Ah 35 minutes in Link in the show notes overnight parking.

Anyway you actually made a. I actually made a note. You actually made a note, because otherwise I would forget that one. I forgot what I was saying. We were talking about the, Okay. They have that advantage now. The disadvantage now for truckers is they have the electronic logs. Yes. Yeah. Back in the, which, Yeah.

Back in the day, you could kind of fudge the numbers a little. You could fudge the numbers, take a half hour sleep behind the wheel, or climb back in the bunk and you'd be okay. Now it's like everything's electronic. You used to have to average. See, I used to log, log on the average of mile miles per hour.

That was, So if I was on the interstate mm-hmm. and I was doing 65 miles, you know, the, the speed limit 65. Mm-hmm, if I did xYZ in miles divided by the miles per hour. It would tell me how long it should have taken me to get there. And if I got there a little earlier, I kind of say, Oh look, I got, I gotta let my logbook catch up.

I'm gonna take a nap. Yeah, I did that too. I'm just, But I'm just saying if I got to a certain point to where I was tired mm-hmm. and needed. Close my eyes for a a little bit. Usually it's like you call letting your log book catch up to you. Yeah. That's how I did it. I know right now, Now you penned a second book.

Or a third book maybe. See, I never did that. I never did three books much. I tried to do a second book and I, and I, nah, I screwed it up. So I was like, Yeah, no, thank God I was on a seven day off to, to be able to do a full reset because I, I screwed it up. Yeah, I, I did, usually did two books, honestly, because they can't do anything now.

But you're talking, I mean, but three books occasionally. And when I went from Montreal to here in Phoenix, Well, you had. I had a reason. You had reasons. And I did three books successfully, and I actually went through several D.O.T. Stops without being caught. But at the state line here from New Mexico to Arizona, I was so tired, honestly, that the cop could see it in my eyes.

And he asked me the reason and I told him, and he made some phone calls and then he put the sticker on my window and said, You can just go. Awwe And then he told me when I got to Phoenix, let my books catch up with me.

All of them. Make sure your books catch up to you. Yeah. Anyway, that's a moment. Yeah. Because I didn't wanna not be in Phoenix when I needed to be, and my dad yelled at me. I'm like, Who do you think taught me two log books? He said, definitely not me. And he crossed his fingers when he said that. Yeah. I don't believe him.

He running two logs. Your dad? No straight as an arrow. So anyway. Oh, you just threw him under the bus and ran him over. I know. And he's listening. All right, so. Chronic sleep deficiency is ongoing sleep deprivation, poor sleep that occurs because of sleep fragmentation or disruption, such as it's reserved for those special people that never get a truly good night's rest.

And the smallest things wake them up like, like Janet and the pugs or mommy's. This is mommy's syndrome in my opinion. Yeah, Mommy's the with the new, new baby or daddy's that stay home with the new baby? Listen, when? When my kids were born, mm. Didn't matter how many hours I worked. I heard him, I heard him whine in the middle of the night.

Yeah. I got up with him in the middle of the night. Yeah. And my nephew is suffering from this a lot since his baby's been born. Yeah. Because he's the stay-at-home dad. Mm-hmm. And he's really having a hard time sleeping because he hasn't, he hasn't, he hasn't got out the baby. He hasn't adjusted till the baby schedule.

Yeah. He hasn't. That's what he has to do. He has to learn to sleep when the baby sleeps. Yeah. When the baby goes down for a nap, you go down for a nap and, and you gotta make yourself do it. Okay. So another reason is sleep apnea, which is a breathing disorder and dozens of nightly awakens, even though you don't come fully awake.

Mm-hmm, you're far enough awake that you don't get a good night's sleep in duration or quality. Yeah. This, this D.O.T. Checks for now. Yeah. And they didn't used to. I know, like the fat tongue thing, I don't even, still don't get it. I don't, I I don't get it. But they say if you suffer from sleep apnea, you're, you're, you got a, a wider or a fatter.

But I have a fat tongue and I don't have sleep apnea. It's, I guess, I don't know, Say not that fat. Yours is skinny. Mine's fat, but you know what I mean.

you just want, you just wanted to stick your tongue outta me anyways. Mm-hmm. They now. Now you wanna curl your tongue? Yeah. I wanted to roll my tongue at you. That was what I was going for anyway. Anyways 40, 40 minutes into the video if you wanna see it. Janet rolled her tongue and stuck her tongue out at Patrick.

Damn you. So you were saying, I'm sorry. I said, I was just saying, yeah, D.O.T. Now checks for it. I don't know how they state, They could tell by you sticking your tongue out, whether or not you may or may not suffer from sleep deprivation. I think it has to do with you, when you stick your tongue out, it has to do with something in, in, in the neck area.

Oh, that makes sense. Kinda like, you know what I mean? Yeah. Neck glands, all that, you know, cuz they're just looking at the texture, I guess, of your tongue. Really? I was just trying to see if I felt any different. Really? I looked like a God dang marionette you do it looks like a puppet. Like somebody's like, you know, opening my mouth.

Opening your mouth. Where's the, where's the ventriloquism when you need it. So other mental and medical prob. Health problems such as pain or general anxiety disorder can also interfere with quality and quantity of sleep. Now I, So I may, I, I may have to admit that I, I, I think when I was over the road, I probably suffered from sleep deprivation.

I know I did. Few, a few times, it's like they made a movie with Patrick Swayze called Black Dog. Mm-hmm. That was a good movie. And that was where, where you see, like a dog ran out in front of you? Mm-hmm. I didn't quite see a dog run out in front of me. I saw a slug bug pass me that there wasn't even a slug bug there.

Okay. What was there Nothing. Black of night. My niece saw a bear, but then again she hit it. So it was a bear. I was on 88. Mm-hmm, heading home. Okay. From bingo. And I, I thought I saw a slug bug pass me and did one of these and there was nothing there. Now I, I mean, nothing. Now the black dog thing. I've definitely seen animals that weren't there when I was driving and that's when I'm like, okay, I'm seeing shit that ain't there.

That's what I mean, pulling over. That's what, and I did. I got off the next exit and then got on the on ramp, pulled on the shoulder road and just zonked for like an hour and a half, almost two hours. I was, I was literally, well and I 45 minutes from my home exit. So I think the state police in almost every state lead to sleep deprivation in anybody.

That travels, car, truck, rv, anything. Because it used to be you could pull off on the shoulder on an on-ramp or exit ramp, okay. And take a nap, sleep, whatever, because you didn't feel safe driving because you were that tired. Right. I don't feel safe enough to get to a truck stop to stop or correct. Or a rest stop.

Or a town you, you know, wherever. Cuz just because there's an exit doesn't mean there's a town right now. They ticket you. That's crazy. Which again, you know, I've, I've argued myself out of a ticket. I've dated myself out of a ticket, but still they tried writing me a ticket. Hey, gotta do what you gotta do. I gotta do, I dated the cop to get out of the ticket, you know, but hey, you know, they write you tickets now for, I'm like, Okay, but there's nothing near me and I'm tired.

What am I supposed to do? Drive tired. Fall asleep and wreck the truck. Yeah. No, sorry. No, keep driving and stay awake was what one cop told me. Oh, okay. But I went to court and talked to the judge. I'm like, I was that tired. I don't know why, but I was that tired. Yeah, it happens, you know, so it happens. Yes.

And as for the, the anxiety, I, I've never had anxiety so bad that it interfered with my sleep. Stress. Yes. I've been so stressed over something or a problem with someone that I, I tossed and I turn and all I can do is think about it. Like my brain won't shut off. Yep. That I've had now if that's considered anxiety.

Yeah. Cuz you even said to, what were you dreaming about last night? You were like all over the place. Oh yeah. You mean when I woke up with you on top of my, I don't know what you're talking about. You rolled, rolled over and I opened my eyes and your back is on top of me. I. I have no recollection of the event in question.

Oh, like when you elbowed my face, I did no such thing. Did I? Yeah, I'm sorry. I clearly recall because I remember almost punching you in a face by trying to get my arm out from under your pillow. Yeah, I remember that too. I got stuck. The joys of a relationship. So in reality, sleep is more about the quality of sleep and waking up refreshed.

Okay. Right? Yeah, I'll agree. So, so rather than, rather than hours of sleep, different people need different amounts of sleep. That's what I was saying. Exactly. So, so really is, is more about sleep insufficiency or sleep deprivation. It's more about sleep insufficiency or deficiency, which is it? They're the same thing. Is it?

Yeah. Is it As opposed to deprivation, as opposed to not getting enough sleep? It's about the insufficient quality of sleep. Oh, okay. Is what my notes mean. I gotcha. So so what you're saying is

some people need that eight hours for others, five or six is enough and they feel refreshed. That's what I'm saying it so, So if you go back to the guy's book Yes. Where he says seven to nine hours. Quote recommended. Correct. And, and everybody's different. You and I even know that. Yes. It's like, like seven hours for me and seven hours.

Seven hours for you might not be enough. Seven hours for me might be perfect and there's some nights when four hours for me is perfect. I don't think four hours for you is ever perfect. I'm just saying. I'm talking about sleep. I am too. You're going. I went there. You you went there. I went there. What you gonna say?

What you gonna do about it? I'm gonna punch you Patrick. I didn't do nothing to get punched. I'm just saying, you know you get crabby on four hours of sleep. Just saying, I'm gonna give you crabby. I'm gonna give you crabby mememe Me anyway.

So I'm saying four hours of sleep is no good for nobody. Tell my brothers that. But in reality, they, what they're saying is four hours of sleep is no good. No bueno. No. There's my Spanish for today. Oh, look at you. You learned a word. Okay. Really? So many people say. Really? You gotta go there. Everything in our house is turned to Spanish.

Okay. Now explain what happens when I turn my computer onto Amazon. Janet, Janet has been learning Spanish and now every, everywhere we turn. Something, it's coming at us in Spanish. Like Amazon. Amazon when I explain it, commercials on, on some of the, the apps that she uses now in Spanish. Our TV I've even, our TV commercials are now coming across in Spanish.

That's like, listen, I haven't figured, I haven't figured that one out. But Amazon, when I log in, even though I've never bought anything in Spanish from Amazon, Sometimes when I log in, everything's in Spanish, which I think is hilarious. I think it's hilarious. I think you're, you're changing your language.

I'm not, I think you are. I, I Subconsciously you said, You know what? I'm gonna see if I could do this in Spanish. Nope. Anyway. Mm-hmm. back to the show. Mm-hmm, you're sleep deprived. That's what it is. Many people say, I'm not sleep deprived, I'm just an insomniac. So what's the difference? That's a good question.

People with insomnia have trouble sleeping. Even when they have plenty of time to sleep. Like me, I could sleep all day. The only thing that happen is the house would get dirty and the pugs wouldn't go outside. They'd go inside. Okay. I think of those people who have time to sleep and they say things like, and I just said this, My brain doesn't shut off or shut down at night.

Okay, so what's the cure for that though? How do you get your brain to shut down? Drugs. Okay. I'm not talking to go out and do meth, or I'm talking about pills from the doctor. The things that make Yeah, they have, they have like that. What? What's it like Ambien, They use that anymore. I think so. I, I don't know, because for me, I meditate.

Well, I mean, they also got that music that zquil. Yeah, there's, there's over the counter things. Melatonin. Is that, that? Yep. Melatonin is over the counter. But you can also meditate to shut your brain down. Sorry. You can listen to music to shut your brain down. There's calming exercises you can do, and I'd still do those.

One other way is what? Shut off everything electronic like an hour before bed or half an hour before bed. Get off your computer. Get off your phone. Get off your tv. Mm-hmm . Listen to some music. Calming music. Not hard-acid. No. Not heavy metal. Not not Satan music. Nothing. No. Stay off the Satan music, please.

There goes all the fun. I know. But anyway, that'll help calm your brain down. Okay. Listen to something soothing. That's why they always, the waterfalls, the indoor waterfalls. Yeah. There, there's an app now what's it called? Calm? Yeah. Something like that. Yeah. There's a calm app. Simmer down over there. I bumped my fingers.

You're getting outta control. My fingers got cold. I had to put 'em between my knees. Anyway, anyways, that helps shut your brain down. And I know that from experience when something's bothering me, I get off of all the electronics and you get off the book of face. Instant Twitter face, instant Twitter face, as I call it.

Yep. I get off of that and off of the apps that I do puzzles and games on. Mm-hmm. and I either read or listen to music and I snuggle a pug. Animals help animals help calm. You get proven fact, you get your pug heaters on, you're out within 30 seconds. Oh God. That's, I don't care what time of day it is. I get one on each side of me.

I'm out. They turn their heaters up. It's like Janet Jan. Mm. Mm. Thank God they don't do that when I drive. I know. Well, thank God they're not in the car with you when you drive. Well, they are. When I take 'em to the vet or to the groomer, They're too busy. They're too busy looking out the window at everybody.

Like, Hello, look at me. I'm cute. Pet me. Mm. Pretty much. Anyway, so on the other hand, people with sleep deprivation don't have enough time allocated for sleep as a result of their behavior choices or everyday obligations. Okay? People that work 15 hours a day or have two jobs or Right. Have a job and kids and et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, right?

And they're the people that are trying to catch up on their sleep or on their days off. Yeah. It's like they said that used to be said, Oh, that's not possible. But they've since discovered. You know what? That is possible on your days off sleep more if you know. I know. It's great news, Patrick. I know it's great news.

That's why I let you sleep more on your days off. But I don't want, I don't wanna, He says I don't Like it, tough. So really, if you're suffering from or trying to figure out what your sleep issue is, see your doctor, go see your doctor. I mean, we're not, that's the best thing. We're not trained professionals, but we're not trying to cure it.

We're just trying to explain what we know and what we've researched, what we've researched, what we've gone through in our, in our. Experience, personal journeys. in in our experience. Yeah. You know, we, we've suffered from this and this, especially when we both drove or when we drove the RV or drove a car.

Cross country. Cuz we've driven a lot of U-Hauls across country. Yeah. It's like they say, they say staring at the lines on the road is hypnotizing. It is. You know, you gotta get out, stretch your legs, doesn't matter what you're driving or riding like a motorcycle, it doesn't matter. You're staring at the lines, it'll hypnotize you.

White line fever. Hey, there was a movie named that. What? I do believe so, Oh, I'll have to look it up. I have to look it up. There's a lot of reasons for sleep issue. Things like, did you know there's a thing called poor sleep hygiene? What? I didn't know that. I had to look it up. I didn't know that. What's that?

Refer to? Your healthy habits, behaviors, and environmental factors that help you get adjusted to a good night's sleep. Life choices. Work all day, party all night. That's not good. Sleep at, That's not good. Unless you're a rockstar. That's the only time you can do it. Well, that's not good sleep hygiene as they call it, which Oh, okay.

But, but it's good if you're a rockstar. Okay. I'm just saying. Well, then they catch up on their sleep on their days off on the bus, I guess. On the bus. Yeah. They, they sleep all day, party all night. Good to know. I wanna, No, I wanna be a rockstar. Me too. A country star. I wanna be a country star. I just want the money.

That's it. I just want the money. I just want the money and the fame. I don't want the fame, I just want the money. Oh, I want the fame. I want people to say, ah, that's, that's, that's, that's what's the name? That's, No, I'm not M&M! Popcorn. That's Popcorn. What? Dj? Crunchy Popcorn. Crunchy Popcorn. Yo, that's Poppy over here.

Yeah. So work obligations or shift workers. Okay. If you work a rotating shift, Oh, that'll suck. Been there, done that. That really, It's like every three weeks. Usually it's like every, It's like when your body finally adjusts to that schedule, they change it. I also, way back when would work? Two morning shifts, then an afternoon shift, and then two evening shifts, and then after the evening shift, they'd have me work a mid-shift, come in at 11.

After I got off at five o'clock in the morning, I had to be back at work at 11. See, that's insane. I'm like, that's what I tell 'em. So then when I took over scheduling, like my first management job, I never scheduled anyone for that. And we were 24 hours. See, that's, I made a point to not schedule people like that.

And, and people work it. People they do do it because they need the money. I have to, I have to. I needed the money. I, No, there's other jobs out there. You go get a different job that doesn't make you do that. Okay. But I lived in a small town, there weren't a lot of jobs, and I was with someone who didn't work then get out of town.

I did. I got outta town. Get out of town. Anyway, so those things keep you from finding, it makes it hard to find get the amount of sleep that you really need. Right. And of course, like we talked about, sleep disorders, anxiety or medical conditions that keep you from sleeping. This is true. You're, and, and if you're suffering from many of, of this, see your doctor, you know, only you and your doctor could figure it out.

Or mental health professional. There's, yeah, there's, well, there's tests that can be done to help figure out, okay, what can we do to help you get more? Correct. You know, Hey, try this. Hey, try that. Let's try this. Let's, And if they think you didn't suffer from sleep apnea, they'll do a sleep apnea test. They an actual test, not just have you stick your tongue out.

Yeah, they, won't just say muuua, that, that just throws me. Stick your tongue. I don't understand that at all. I check for sleep deprivation. Yeah. But like I said, I don't understand how your tongue. I don't get it. I don't either. I don't ask. I, I just, I asked him one time and he says, Well, it's supposedly I could tell if you're sleep deprived.

I'm like, by looking at my tongue. Okay. Okay. I said, I don't buy it. You quacks all went to school for X, Y, Z. Yep. So, Patrick, are you sleep deprived? Do you have chronic sleep deprivation? All the above. I'm kidding being with you. You let me sleep all the time. I do not. I should be well rested. Well, so should I. But I'm always tired.

I know, I eat. Eat the energy foods that we talked about in our Another episode. Yeah. Oh my God. You're not doing it. I do too. No, not if you're sleeping all the time. Not everybody has an iron deficiency, Patrick. Oh, Oh, okay. Right. Well eat stuff higher than Iron then. Anyway. Whoopshh got you. Now I did, I got, pchch chch You're going there?

Yeah, I went there. Oh. Anyway. Anyways, that's everything. If you're, if you're interested in the book that, that Mr. Matthew Walker. Matthew Walker, wrote had wrote, I forget what's the, what's the name of that? Why We Sleep? Why We Sleep. We will put a link in the show notes for you. I know why we sleep to get that book because we're tired and

Oh, you funny gal. There'll be other links, thousands of comedians outta work and you wanna be one. There's gonna be a link for overnight parking. Yes we did do an episode and we, you know, on overnight parking, so if you're feeling sleep deprived and you need to pull over somewhere, listen to that episode.

That gives you some key ideas as to where you could park your large vehicle, correct. Or automobile. Yes. Planes, trains, and automobiles. That was fun. Yeah. I don't think we have a place to park the planes though. No. A lot of people do tend to park 'em on interstates lately. Or or in, or, or in houses or, or, or in the canal.

Yeah. This is true. We had one go down in the canal recently. Yeah. I forgot about that one. Just dropped out of the sky. I don't know what happened! phoom It was there. It just, it wasn't, it, it wasn't until, and now, it was, it wasn't until it was. Oh my God. Buffy, yes. Anyways, say goodbye, Patrick. We thank you all for joining us today. Yes, thank you.

Thank you, and we'll see you in the next episode. Bye. Okay, bye-bye.

Below are some of the links we mentioned in this episode - ** Some links may take you to Amazon's Website**

Episode #055

On this episode, Janet and I went over different places to park overnight. So this way, if you're traveling around, if you're in a big rig, you're in an RV you're towing a camper and it's, you know, you just gotta kind of get a little bit of shuteye. Stop for the night. Well, that's what we talked about. We talked about different places that you could, actually pull over and park your rig. No matter what you're driving for the night.

Why We Sleep
Unlocking The Power Of Sleep And Dreams

Preeminent neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker, PhD provides a revolutionary exploration of sleep, examining how it affects every aspect of our physical and mental well-being.

Episode #061

Patrick and Janet talk about how easy it is to get into a slump after a meal. You know that carb-coma that so many people fall into after eating. They go over foods they love for flavor and versatility. Only to discover that they are also great choices to energize you.