Today is Friday, Nov 6, 2009, and I have been polyphasic for 5 days. I routinely wake at 5 am anyway, so on Monday, when I first read about these sleep cycles, I took my first nap upon arriving home. I have since settled into a schedule of sleep from 2-5am, with 20 minute naps around 1100, 1630, and 2230.
So far, the nap at 2230 seems the hardest, perhaps because that is when I was going to bed before to wake at 5am. It only seems refreshing for about 30 minutes at most. The other two naps are very refreshing and the increased alertness seems to last for a few hours. As of day 4, I was noticing I would get decidedly sleepy about an hour before my nap times. Sometimes I am initially slightly groggy upon waking, but it quickly passes, with the exception of the 2230 nap. I am considering moving the 2230 nap to 2130 or 2200 to see if that helps keep my body from thinking it is time to go to bed for the night.
Days 3 and 4 I did notice slightly decreased sex drive, but not outside the range of normal variation. Sometimes you just aren't in the mood for reasons beyond my understanding, and this could easily be coincidence. Coincidence does not imply causation. My wife has been very understanding and supportive so far during this transition.
Morning of Day 5, it was very difficult to wake up and I had to fight to keep from drifting back to sleep. I also forgot to turn on my second alarm that I plugged in purely for this experiment since my cell phone normally does the job so well. That could have been a substantial setback for my adaptation.
I will provide more background and motivation later, and attempt to regularly update with how the adaptation phase is going, any downsides and benefits.
