rest for the weary

By Marco Buscaglia

Upon retiring last year, Chris Santiago says he had an hour or two of “fog” every morning when he woke up. “When I was working, I’d jump out of bed around 5:30 and I’d be out the door by 6:30. Now, I wake up around 7:30 or 8 and it seems like it takes me two hours to get going,” says Santiago, 64. “I need two cups of coffee and some time on the treadmill before I feel like myself.”

Despite his mornings in slow motion, the San Antonio, Texas, resident says his doctor advised him to sleep less, not more. “I’ve gone to bed at 9:30 p.m. for 40 years and that didn’t change when I retired.”

But instead of getting eight hours of sleep as he had in the past, postretirement Santiago was getting close to 11. “That’s too much for me, at least according to my doctor,” Santiago says. “He advised me to either go to bed at 11 or wake up earlier. He says my circadian rhythm was all messed up.”

Feel the rhythm

According to the National Institute of General Medical Science, the circadian rhythm is present in most living things and includes the physical, mental and behavioral changes within a 24-hour cycle with an emphasis on responses to light and darkness.

Dr. Thomas Wright, chief medical officer and senior vice president for medical affairs with Rosecrance Health Network in Rockford, Illinois, says a person’s sleep cycle changes dramatically throughout his or her life. According to Wright, changes in the circadian rhythm mirror changes in a person’s physical, social, psychological and biological makeup. At approximately the age of 13, a person’s need for sleep peaks and begins to decrease by about 14 minutes per year until they reach the age of 20. After that, the sleep requirements are fairly similar as people age, usually six to eight hours per night, although adults 65 and older may be able to gain the positive effects of sleep with as little as five hours per night. Still, it’s important to get the proper amount of sleep. According to Wright, even limited sleep deprivation can result in cognitive challenges, psychological problems, hallucinations and delusions.

Make the adjustment

For some, retirement or even a change in household dynamics, like children moving out or the introduction of a new pet, can result in new sleeping patterns. No longer tied to a traditional 9-to-5 schedule, many people 50 and older stay up later to watch movies, read books or write. Despite the cliche about the 3:30 p.m. dinner special, there are plenty of people who enjoy meeting up with friends at night for coffee or a few drinks. The problem is that old habits can take a long time to break. “I think the most difficult part of getting used to not working is figuring out which schedule works best for me,” says New York City’s Thomas Russo, who recently turned 66. “I love staying up late but I can’t sleep past 6 a.m. so I feel like I’m cheating myself if I go to bed later. And I feel much worse than I do on four or five hours of sleep than I do on six or seven hours so it’s something I have to figure out.”

Russo says he’s talked to his doctor about his sleeping issues but doesn’t want to add a new prescription to his blood-pressure-and-cholesterol-treating regime. “I’m past that phase of my life where I have to take a pill to cure anything. I want to find a solution that’s natural, not based on chemistry,” Russo says.

To help shift his sleep schedule, Russo says he’s following the advice of his daughter, a preschool teacher in Burlington, Vermont. “She knows all about naps, I guess. She basically talked to me like she’d talk to a 4-year-old kid who wouldn’t stay on his mat during nap time,” he says. “I have a ritual now. I stay up until midnight, have heavy blinds that block out the sun and turn off all my electronics until I get out of bed at 8 a.m., whether or not I’ve been awake since 6 or not.”

Santiago is taking a slightly different approach. “My daughter moved back home and she has a dog who feels the need to let the entire city know he has to go to the bathroom every morning at 6:30, so I’m out of bed early,” he says. “I take him for a little walk. It’s nice, actually. I told my daughter that when she moves out, the dog stays. He’s my alarm clock.”

As far as staying up later, Santiago says he tried it but couldn’t pull it off. “I’m like a zombie after 10 at night,” he says. “I’ll fall asleep where I’m standing.”

Russo says he’s a work in progress. “I’m getting up around 6:30, maybe 7 if I’m lucky,” he says.

Ask Russo why he just won’t just adjust his schedule back to 10 p.m. and his answer is as charming as it is practical. “I started dating a woman two years ago who works the second shift and we like to go out for dinner and maybe some dancing,” he says. “It’s some of the most fun I’ve had in my life. If there’s a reason to stay up late, that’s it.”