Does a lack of sleep seem to bother you differently?

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I posted a dream thread earlier today, and posted in a sleep-related thread too. So... here's another sleep issue.

A bad night's sleep is honestly one of my worst "everyday" fears. It's something that can ruin what could otherwise be a good day, and that really bothers me. But, I've never ever heard of anyone ever having the exact same problem that I have. Basically, I need a minimum of 6 hours of sleep, or else I feel dirty all day. It doesn't matter that I shower just like I always do (I need a shower to properly wake up), it doesn't matter if I wash my face in the middle of the day. There will be this grimy oily feeling on my body, especially my face, all day long. Now, the thing is, I don't think I'm actually dirtier because I haven't slept... I can run my finger across my forehead later in the day on any day, and find it's a bit greasy. But I don't feel it. It's only when I've had less than 6 hours of sleep that I feel this way, and it irritates me so bad that it virtually ruins the day.

My mom tells me it's all just in my head... well, yes, I do believe that's the case. I don't think I'm actually any dirtier after a bad night of sleep. But it doesn't change the fact that I feel it, and it's really bothersome. It seems like no one can relate. Most people just get some caffeine and move on. I for one rarely drink caffeine (never coffee), and it seems to have almost no affect on me anyway. It certainly doesn't make me not feel the "grime."

Again, I don't have a diagnosis, so I have no clue what this could be related to... but since I've been thinking so much lately about how I probably have AS or something similar, I can't help but wonder if this is related.

Does a bad night of sleep have a similar or other strange affect on you?

Yes I have had bad nights sleep and then the next day I have felt like my face needs a good scrub. It is a horrible feeling to feel like your face is grimy. I don't know why it happens. Except it may be due to dehydration. Also alcohol and too much cafeine will cause it I reckon.

For optimum functioning I need 12 hours of sleep a night. I can get by on 10 hours though. Less than that and I will feel tired all day, how tired depends on how much less sleep I got. No amount of caffeine, showering, or washing my face will make me more awake or alert.

I don't have the dirty/grimy feeling you are describing, but a lack of sleep will definitely ruin my day. I will end up spending all day yawning and sitting around doing basically nothing, just waiting until I can go to sleep again.

And I can't take naps either. A nap will just make me more tired. If I go to sleep it has to be for 10-12 hours, so I don't even bother with naps.

My face looks different when I havent' slept. My skin is bad a bit like it sometimes is when I've been on a plane journey.

Usally I'm very awake and alert and my brain is over-active to the point where I'm exhausted. Then I get a few hours of sleep and I'm back on track. Even when I dream I feel the same rush of thoughts and my dreams are complex, confusing, move at a fast pace and are sometimes very disturbing. I feel awake but I know I can't be getting enough sleep, so I try sleep as much as possible (8-10hours, in highschool I slept 6 hours a day and it seemed to be enough). The problem is that I have a disturbed sleep pattern. I can only sleep for about 2-3 hours at a time. The scary thing is that I sometimes don't always realize when I'm awake. This is affecting my sleep quality and my dreams are sometimes blown out of proportions this way, to the point where I'm not sure if I'm dreaming or not until I' fully awake. My sleep pattern is also a bit messed up. I stay awake till 02:00-7:00 AM. I hoped that anti depressives would take care of these issues, but it's only made things worse.

edit: the 'dirty' feeling you speak of, I've had it but not because I didn't sleep well. Sometimes I've had it because I could somehow 'feel' that my pc had virus/wasn't clean. When such thoughts enter my mind I can't help but wanting to facepalm myself because it's not rational to think this way. I've also had such thoughts about myself not being 'clean' or other objects, but I'm not a neat freak. It is a strange feeling indeed, it feels like a sixt sense but in reality it's only a delusion of some sort.

I'm always suffering from lack of sleep. I always have what I call 'microsleep episodes' around 9-11AM, and then again around 4-6PM. Yet I am very alert at other times, even during the night when I'm supposed to be asleep.