from Hacker News

In Search of Forty Winks: Gizmos for a good night’s sleep

by BDGC on 2/16/16, 6:41 PM with 25 comments

• by Someone1234 on 2/16/16, 7:43 PM

  What a load of strange voodoo devices. Seems like if you slap an LED onto something you can sell anyone snake oil...

  If you're legitimately struggling with sleep/tiredness, go do a sleep study at a doctors, if you're worried about the cost of a sleep study you can buy a cheap (under $30) pulse oximeter and pre-screen yourself for several conditions (e.g. obstructive and central sleep apnea, some heart issues, some other breathing problems), and only then go get a real sleep study if you have them.

  Then once you get diagnosed spend $150 on a CPAP/APAP/BiPap which you'll use for up to five years, and it will do far more to improve your sleep than some magical set of glasses or w/e these snake oil salesman are selling this week. Plus a legitimate medical device gives you useful diagnostic information (e.g. AHI level) and you can continue to take advantage of your oximeter even with the CPAP to monitor your sleep/condition.

  I am just saying this is one area which medical science DIDN'T forget.

• by nfriedly on 2/16/16, 9:07 PM

  They should add birth control to the list :P I think I've had maybe 3 nights of uninterrupted sleep in the year and a half since my son was born.

• by agentgt on 2/16/16, 8:46 PM

  This is just anecdotal but the problem with spending a large amount of money on a great bed, pillow, and other comforts is that you get extremely use to it (ignoring medical issues).

  So once you go to a hotel, friends house, etc it becomes impossible to sleep there.

  For example what is the deal with hotels not having fitted sheets. Or just spending a little more for higher thread count. I remember as a kid I could sleep on anything. Sadly now if I don't have 500 thread count Egyptian cotton and down pillows.. its going to be a shitty night.

  Thus some sort of travel bedding solution might interest me otherwise if I start traveling again I'm thinking about practice sleeping on the floor since that is at least consistently available :)

• by codyb on 2/16/16, 7:31 PM

  This was a good read. A nice anecdote full survey of the better sleep inducing gadget market and the myriad of ways people are attempting to tackle it.

  Gives some real credence to the old adage "There's more than one way to skin a cat".

  And it just goes to show, even if a space is crowded, if you can think outside the box there's probably a way to get in.

  Especially when it's something as fundamental as a good nights sleep.

  Plus a few good laughs never hurts an article. Cheers to the New Yorker for providing me with a weeks worth of interesting articles for my subway rides without fail every issue.

• by sandworm101 on 2/17/16, 2:53 AM

  >> In 1879, a Canadian medical journal recommended hemlock. Presumably, no repeating was required.

  That hemlock was almost certainly not THAT hemlock.

  "Tsuga [...]is a genus of conifers in the pine family Pinaceae. The common name hemlock" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsuga

  "Conium maculatum (hemlock or poison hemlock) is a highly poisonous perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the carrot family Apiaceae, native to Europe and North Africa." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conium_maculatum

  I seriously doubt that the Canadian journal was suggesting the same hemlock used on Copernicus.

• by jmorphy88 on 2/17/16, 12:28 PM

  I really miss Wakemate. Despite the wristbands being not terribly well-made (I went through three of them), it's the only system that did exactly what I needed it to do, which is to wake me up within a 20-minute window at a point where bodily movement is higher than usual. Worked like a charm for me. There are apps that do this but they require you to sleep with your phone next to you on the bed, and I can't imagine that they work as well as a wristband...

• by fallingfrog on 2/17/16, 2:24 PM

  "As a child, I was convinced that turning in meant missing out on illicit fun." Hahahahaha.. Just wait till you have kids. What goes around, comes around. You're going to hoard sleep like it's the last cup of water in the Sahara. Since my first was born I remember sometimes with amazement that there was a time when I could just go to sleep anytime I wanted, but yet I chose to stay up late.. I must have been crazy.

• by mmanfrin on 2/16/16, 11:32 PM

  The only modern device I've found that did tangible good was a sleep app that woke me up within a time range based on how active my body movements were. I found it was much easier to weak up.

  The Phillips light was also decent, but not as good as the app.

  The main problem was that it felt weird to have my phone laying on my bed, and I worried it'd fall on the ground.

• by te_chris on 2/16/16, 9:40 PM

  I bought a phillips wake-up light alarm clock from Amazong for about £75 (the one with the colour spectrum light). Seems to help.

• by teawithcarl on 2/17/16, 12:13 AM

  Four things that actually help -

  1) a shower before sleeping.

  2) stop using iPad/iPhone and TV two hours before sleep. (I also use orange light bulbs which don't emit blue light near bedtime.)

  3) begin sleep and wake up at regular times.

  4) settling down mentally for the day gradually two hours before sleep.

• by Havoc on 2/16/16, 10:16 PM

  I must admit I have little faith in any electronic device solving sleeplessness (aside from medical issues). White noise generator...maybe...if you can't fix the underlying issue - bad environment.

  For me a combination of right temp (coldish), melatonin (500mg), flux (the PC app) and rooibos (because no caffeine) does the trick.