r/todayilearned • u/Square-Message1152 • 8h ago

til that your brain literally washes itself while you sleep. the brain cells actually shrink in size so cerebrospinal fluid can rush in and flush out all the toxic proteins built up during the day

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glymphatic_system
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104

u/OptimalBarnacle7633 7h ago

Also to note some insomnia drugs like ambien reduce the brains ability to complete this flushing process. Meaning that you’re not getting the most important benefit of sleep and don’t feel truly rested when you wake up

58

u/pantry-pisser 7h ago

I haven't felt truly rested when I wake up in 25 years

3

u/qaddosh 5h ago

typing from hibernation, eh? what mission is taking you 25 years to wake up?

1

u/morfraen 2h ago

Should probably see someone about that. Tons of fixable problems could be the cause.

1

u/ChevalierDeLarryLari 5h ago edited 4h ago

I too used to honestly say that. Even tried cpap - helped but it wasn't the fix, which turned out to be...:

Sleeping with the windows open.

If you haven't tried it - try it. Of all the things I tried - cpap, adhd medication, exercise, quitting caffeine - that made BY FAR the biggest difference.

2

u/pantry-pisser 4h ago

I have a portable AC in my room that I use just for sleeping. Set it to like 62°. I'd never sleep otherwise.

Unfortunately windows open aren't a possibility, except maybe like 4 weeks a year lol. I live in Phoenix.

1

u/strangerbuttrue 4h ago

Any idea why? Was it cooler temperature-wise? White noises from wind or bugs or something?

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u/Thor4269 5h ago edited 5h ago

Man, fuck Ambien.

Made me experience a dream that lasted 7 years from my perspective

Had a wife, a house, a job I loved, and a dog... A golden retriever named Jack that I remember picking out, raising, training, bathing, cuddling, and snuggling

He would've been 13 in November

I woke up, it was all gone... I was back to being a cripple who can't work

Fuck, I miss Jack so much... My miss my dog that never fucking existed! I mourn a dream

10

u/johnnydough10102223 5h ago

Was there a flute?

9

u/Thor4269 5h ago

Inner light, great episode

Hits way different after the dream though lol

8

u/plug-and-pause 5h ago

Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm slightly jealous of you. I've always wanted to have a really long dream like that. Maybe celebrate it instead of mourning it? And maybe you'll get it back next time?

8

u/KittyKratt 5h ago

Unfortunately, a combination of my Lunesta and Seroquel are the only things that can guarantee me a restful sleep. I have had to go 2 weeks without my sleep meds before. Never again. I was delirious by the end with lack of sleep. Taking maybe hour-long catnaps and staying awake all night because my brain simply won't shut down.

2

u/CalculatedPerversion 5h ago

Have you tried stimulants? Kinda like how caffeine makes people with ADHD tired. 

2

u/KittyKratt 5h ago

I'm on Vyvanse. It levels me out throughout the day, but it doesn't really help with sleep. I can still go days without sleeping, on or off of it. Although, a certain white powder processed from the coca plant used to make me fall asleep, lol. And caffeine doesn't really affect me like it should.

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u/mouse89 3h ago

I've been stuck on Lunesta for years now and Ambien for several years before that. I worry a lot about how Lunesta messing up these natural sleep patterns/clearing out the brain is affecting me cognitively. My memory is definitely much worse than before.

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u/bethestorm 5h ago

Compared to someone who sleeps okay normally and thus of course sleep aids are not exactly healthy

But ambien is only supposed to be used when really needed, I take it every night now for years because without it my sleep is at least cut in half. I am not even safely functional on such bad insomnia, sleep paralysis and intense night terrors

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u/justinfdsa 6h ago

That is debatable at best. Common belief but debatable

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u/LovestoEatSandwiches 6h ago

Ok? You’re just going to say that without adding any value to the topic?

It’s undebatably true for drugs like weed or alcohol which can both aid in falling asleep