Friday Evening Vanity - Sleep Disorders

me

[West Texas Chuck]

I've had issues with sleep for a lot of my life, off and on. Currently I have the "can't stay asleep, can't go back to sleep" form of what my doctor has diagnosed as insomnia. Mild to moderate Sleep Apnea appears to be at least a contributory factor.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

“Analyze that one!”

When you were little and being potty trained, did you have a little chair by the toilet to stand on and pee into the bowl? Sometimes sleep walkers will dream that they are in another place, at another time. I have dreamt that I was in one of my old apartments, and ended up walking into walls, because in my old place, that’s where the door was.

[Gay State Conservative]

Having worked at a major medical center for years all I can say is...get yourself to Dallas,Phoenix or Denver (whichever is closest).Serious conditions require serious medicine.

Just my 2 cents' worth....

[Red Boots]

I could write the book on things to take for sleep maintenance:

Ca/mg, or just magnesium add vit d3, zinc and k3 for max effect- may cause digestive looseness, just sayin

Relora- an herb, sold for weight loss, but it removes excess cortisol- this has really helped me, especially if your mind tends to excessive thinking in that two or three hour stretch while awake

5-htp, b6 may helps if your lack of sleep is due to lack of seratonin

Melatonin- gives me a massive headache the next morning, your mileage may vary- start with half a 1 mg tablet

L-theanine, an amino acid from green tea, relaxes, sometimes sold with melatonin And 5-http- effective and no side effects for me anyway, but doesn’t help with sleep maintenance, only falling asleep. ,

Valerian- nasty taste- made me cranky in the morning

Chinese herbal sleep remedy- worked but caused an increase in startle reflex- didn’t continue

Chamomile tea, nighty night tea- sometimes helps- make it double strength

Potato starch- supposed to help your colon produce the chemicals needed for sleep. Maybe helped- does increase dreaming- I stopped after one bag, and I didn’t really notice much difference.

Keep room very dark, use red night lights and clocks, don’t get on your iPad after dinner, sound machine

Exercise - actually I seem to sleep worse after a day of heavy exercise

positive affirmations, hypnosis tapes, meditation- sometimes work- I have tried a lot of them

Nothing works consistently for me, I just sort of rotate through a variety of supplements and techniques. I even gave up caffeine completely for a time- it didn’t seem to make much difference. I emphatically can relate to all my fellow suffers!

[sergeantdave]

All I have for you is think positive or funny thoughts while trying to fall asleep or run a favorite prayer through your mind over and over.

Best wishes.

[MisterArtery]

I think you’ve forgotten what you have.

[Dr. Scarpetta]

I am an insomniac since menopause. Used to take Hormone Replacement Therapy & I could sleep, but that’s not recommended anymore. I take 5 mg of melatonin lately but it doesn’t help much. Getting very little sleep these days...

[Falconspeed]

Most excellent post. Thanks for sharing. Sorry to hear about sleeping issues. Prayers. Problem: 60% of Americans sleep poorly. Sleep is very fragile. Solution: Exercise, eat well, take a vitamin at dinner, and move focus from word-making to image-making. If I am stressed, then I form words (”I need more money!). If I am sleepy, then I form images (picturing silly stuff like my brother walking on the beach).
What others have said here: Honey, warm milk, chocolate milk, red wine, avoid sugar, Somnupure, Sominex, Nyquil, Melatonin, Magnesium, Herbal muscle relaxer, Adventure fiction, chin strap, tv, soft music, nature sounds, eye mask, C-pap machine, yellow glass for reading late at night.

[greeneyes]

You have my sympathy. My mom used to call such episodes “wide awakes”. I have them too, but I also often have trouble going to sleep to begin with.

I had the little test at home - 02 stats went down as low as 70s and quite a few events, so it had started impacting my memory, and I was so tired, I could barely move.

When I went in for the sleep study, I was dozing off in the waiting room and had less than 3 hours sleep each night for 2 nights, but I never went to sleep at all till about an hour before wake up time.

Had to go back, and this time they gave me Ambien. Anyway, I have CPAP and O2. It has helped a lot with better energy, and better memory, but I still can’t go to sleep without Ambien.

I just won’t take it every day though. Some times I go to sleep at 3am and wake up at 6am. Sometime I can drink a little milk and go back to sleep at 7am.

Sometimes I can’t go to sleep at all and go 24 - 36 hrs before I go to sleep. Dr. said to just sleep whenever I can, and try to get 8 hrs. even if it’s just cat naps or short periods.

So a lot of times, after an hr. of no sleep, I just get up and wash dishes or read a book, or watch TV. It’s the pits.
I wake up exhausted, and go to bed wide awake. How freaky is that?

[right way right]

” I had no idea that there were this many of us with sleep disorders. Best of luck to you.”

It’s been an extra long 7 1/2 years of world Obamadamnation.

[right way right]

Yeah, I did have little pee chair to stand on come to think of it. Now I have Obama targets I float in there. 😂

[Rastus]

I take 2 Benadryl every night. It’s not technically habit-forming, other than I can’t sleep without it. Lately, I’ve been waking up a couple of hours early. I do have a very uncomfortable mattress.

[Chickensoup]

There is a recently discovered connection with substantial Benadryl use and increased dementia in the elderly and dementia over time.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

I hope your Dad slept with his mouth closed!

[Chickensoup]

I recommend it:

Relaxation Breathing

If you just can’t seem to switch off at bedtime, this simple breathing technique could be the answer.
Dr. Andrew Weil’s 4-7-8 breathing technique, has been described as ‘a natural tranquilizer for the nervous system’. The easy-to-learn technique mimics some of the de-stressing elements of meditation, and relaxes you body almost immediately.
Dr. Weil recommends practicing the ‘relaxing breath‘ (sat up with your back straight) twice a day for six to eight weeks to perfect it.
Once you’ve mastered it, Dr. Weil promises the technique will become more and more effective. He also claims that can be used to deal with tension and even cravings.

Start practicing it now with these six easy steps:
1. Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound.
2. Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of four.
3. Hold your breath for a count of seven.
4. Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound to a count of eight.
5. This is one breath. Now inhale again and repeat the cycle three more times for a total of four breaths Pretty soon, dropping off at bedtime could be as easy as 1, 2… *snore*

Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2015/01/27/the-4-7-8-breathing-technique-is-your-new-bff-for-a-good-nights-sleep-5038429/#ixzz3f1rwbc6r

[catnipman]

“Man, sometimes I am so fatigued that it takes me an hour and a couple of cups of strong coffee to become functional for work. Then in the afternoon I am often overcome with fatigue and have to take a nap. I’m just lucky I work from home and can sneak some shuteye occasionally when my situation is severe.”

Those symptoms are classic sleep apnea symptoms.

I HIGHLY recommend this flow generator:

http://www.cpap.com/customize.php?list=Product+Page+%28Not+a+list%29&listPosition=1&PNum=4983&PAID=0

autocpap is the way to go as it’ll automatically adjust pressures, and the aflex option on this machine can be set so you don’t have to exhale against the cpap pressure, not to mention the data collection of this machine is outstanding.

personally, i think fixed-pressure machines are a waste of time and money and don’t even know why they’re still made.

humidifier option is a MUST or your sinus membranes will dry out and crack open and get infected. the humidifier controller on this machine is really nice as it autoadjusts humidity based on measuring the external relative humidity. fixed humidity machines can put too much moisture in the air, causing the excess moisture to condense in a cold hose, resulting in the hose filling with water, waking you up to a very unpleasant situation.

also, recommend you learn to access the secret menu to select your own upper and lower pressures.

You can read the SD card yourself by installing this FREE software on a PC and be able to monitor how cpap is working for you:

https://sourceforge.net/projects/sleepyhead/

I also recommend this mask:

http://www.cpap.com/productpage/resmed-mirage-quattro-full-face-mask-headgear.html

if you’re gonna do CPAP, take control of the situation and don’t rely on a bunch of fools at Lincare or the like.

btw, if sleep apnea IS the major cause of your day time symptoms, then it’s bad enough that, if untreated, it will shorten your life by depriving your brain and heart of oxygen while you sleep and raising your blood pressure. untreated sleep apnea is REALLY bad news.

and finally, most surgeries to “cure” apnea either don’t work or don’t work well. whatever you do, don’t the route of one of the dental “appliances”: they’ll destroy your jaw function by destroying your TMJ.

[Rastus]

Thanks for the info. I’ll study up on it and maybe look for an alternative.

[wally_bert]

I always seem to have very vivid bizarre dreams that I can remember for a while after I wake up.

Most involve walking or driving vast distances to and from cities and towns. Everything seems too real. Not nightmare necessarily but hardly good or happy stuff.

[jch10]

I have RLS too. Try an ice pack on the bottom of your feet. That has been a lifesaver for me.

[TheNext]

Oh nonsense.

Qualified sleep specialists are deceiving folks with expensive unnecessary tests and equipment for $1000s of dollars. Coupled with mandatory regulation, industry is scamming gullible folks.

Medical science wants pill poppers and hook people up to ther expensive machines when natural, normal solutions are out there.

Exercise, food, and mental health are a good start to avoid dependency on somebody’s patented machine and pills.

[TxGrandMom]

I flunked my sleep test.

I couldn’t go to sleep in a strange bed. They had me take a device home.

I have used an auto CPAP for several years. I use it regularly; I’m afraid not to. Before diagnosis, my brain would wake me up by my dreaming I was dying—which I was. Horrible, horrible. I would wake choking, gasping, heart pounding and with that apnea headache caused by lack of oxygen.

We are shaped differently, so different masks work better for different faces. Sometimes, you have to keep trying.

For me, it’s not a complete cure. I have shallow breathing while asleep and occasionally make little throat noises that can wake me. But I no longer have dying dreams.

As you can see, there are different tips for different people. I do (or just look at) pencil puzzles before sleeping. I also do my TaiChi “frog” breathing, which relaxes my whole body.

Best of luck to you.