Posted on 07/20/2007 2:09:28 PM PDT by tlj18
I have a question for you all. I'm kind of curious. I have a tendancy to sleep for very long periods of time when I don't set my alarm or sleep through my alarm. I will almost always sleep for around 12 hours without an alarm. I can get up no problem without the alarm. Normal people might sleep for 8 hours. Two nights ago I slept for about 15 hours, although I was up for 34 hours before that (that has made this whole week hard to keep track of what happened in what day :-) ). Yesterday I was up for 15 hours, then slept for 11 hours. Yeah, 34 hours is a lot, but still that amount of sleep is typical, unfortunately. I have enormous resistance to seek medical help, considering my occupation (Soldier) and my aspirations (U.S. Army Special Forces). I suppose it could be stress-related. I'm somewhat vulnerable to stress, but I will get the mission accomplished, no matter the stress level or other intervening stuff.
Any ideas?
If you're in the 50%, though, it's a miracle. I had the UPPP procedure, and I can't even tell you how much more energy I have and how much better I feel. I did have to really fight to get the surgery, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
Just for the record for those that have sleep apnea and are considering the surgery. I had the surgery. I have an enormous pain tolerance. They discharged me in 2 days. I was in so much pain ( I could not swallow even water let alone pills) I had to be readmitted to the hospital and was on IV morphine for 5 additional days. Furthermore I did not DRINK for 11 days and did not eat anything for 17 days.
For those that wonder what the surgery is like ??? I tell people if you can get on your roof and attach jumper cables to your tonsils then jump off and then hang there for about 10 days..... then you are ready for the surgery.
On the lighter note I dont snore anymore, and my breathing seems somewhat normal “says my wife” I never had too much trouble sleeping before the surgery so there is not a lot i can compare it too.
I will say if your life is hell because you are not getting the rest you need you can get a tracheotomy and bypass the air way all together. I did not choose this for a number of reasons the biggest one is I am in the water alot.
Apparently you have to be tested extensively with specific results in order to have your insurance pay for the operation.
Anyway, I’ll be trying the machine for a while first. Maybe it won’t be all that bad.
When I was young and physically active, I required lots of sleep. I could sleep 12 hours or more if and when my schedule permitted it. When you are going and going and day after day you are in a sleep deficit, as soon as you are allowed to or have the time to, your body will try to make up for that deficit. It’s normal.
I can’t remember exactly how the saying went, but it had something to do with warriors. All the way back to the beginning of recorded history, warriors had to go without sleep. Therefore, whenever possible, a warrior would get some sleep in the strangest places and times and sleep through anything. If you are one that falls asleep everytime you get a little bored or sit doing nothing for a few minutes, you are a warrior. I tend to fall asleep everytime i try to watch TV. That’s why I rarely turn on the TV. When I was younger and had very physical jobs, everytime I was givin a 15 minute break, I would fall asleep. Some think this is a weakness. It isn’t. It is merely a well trained warrior. But if you fall asleep when your aren’t supposed to, then you have a problem.
You know, my son has done the same thing. He can sleep and sleep and sleep—12 hours, like you. He nearly lost his job before he dealt with himself and has made himself get up when the alarm goes off. The company told him that if he was late to work once over the next 6 months, they’d fire him. He’s made it more than 6 months.
I really thought that he had a sleep disorder. Now, I think it was a self-control disorder. I just can’t figure out how he can sleep so long.
I’m really glad it worked for you!
How was the pain? Was it as bad as walkingfeather says in the post after yours?
This is so weird that this thread popped up the day I had my sleep study.
Two possibilities:
1) some people are “long sleepers” (as opposed to short sleepers)— the human body is set to sleep about 8 hours a night unless it is “trained” to sleep less. But then, sleeping less ends up as a mild sleep deprivation.
On the other hand, long sleepers generally sleep more than the eight hours — like maybe 10 to 12 hours a night.
We can’t make up the sleep we lose, but we can make up the REM sleep — that time in our sleep cycle when rapid eye movements say we’re dreaming. And even for those people who say they never dream, they do dream. They just don’t remember their dreams.
2.) It could also be what we call “hypersomnia” which is one of the criteria for depression. But hypersomnia is reserved more for people who want to stay in bed for long long periods of time with the proverbial blanket pulled over their heads. Doesn’t sound like you’re hypersomniac but rather, a long sleeper.
(Hypersomnia is the opposite of insomnia)
Sleep cycles and the brain were my students’ favorite units when I taught psychology. But college students tend to be short sleepers, and sleep deprived. Short sleepers also tend to drive drowsy — so they’d all be a bit better off going toward the long sleepers.
— Jane
“Most people need somewhere in the negihborhood of 8 hours sleep a night ...”
The average amount of time that adults slept at the turn of the century (1900s) was 9-1/2 hours a night. The fact that we’ve turned that back to an average of 8 hours a night says a lot about cultural expectations.
Cave studies put research participants at about 10 hours when they are left to their own devices and without any external cues to tell them what time it is or how much time has passed since they last slept.
— Jane
Oh man, mine was bad but not that bad! I took two weeks off and recupped at home, was on a morphine "patch" for those weeks. I could drink some, but didn't eat for ten days and tried to sleep through the worst of it (although NO position is comfortable, I dozed in the recliner for the first couple weeks, couldn't tolerate any other position!) My throat didn't feel really normal for two months. Sounds like that was a walk in the park compared to you, though.
I'd still go through it all over again. I was a zombie before, sleeping 12 to 14 hours and then needed a nap in the afternoon, didn't even feel like walking or shopping. Fell asleep at work, in front of the TV, fell asleep once in church (so embarrasing!) afraid to drive sometimes. It's like night and day, the pain for me was worth getting my life back.
See Post 50 for my experience: it wasn’t anything like Walkingfeather, but it wasn’t a day at the beach. Plan to take AT LEAST one week off, two if you can get it (I needed the extra week.) My results were so spectacular though I would go through it again in a heartbeat. If you have very bad apnea, you’re a total zombie. It’s no way to live.
Yeah didnt have those kind of symptoms but the doctor said mine was the worst case he had ever seen and wanted to just to a Trach right away. I said forget about that. Still would do the surgery.
That’s good to know. The doctor looked down my throat at my first appointment and told me he didn’t see anything but flesh. He said that a normal throat would have a dark tunnel going down the esophagus.
It’s a good thing my company gives us a PTO day every month. I have 30 racked up so far so I won’t have to use vacation.
OMG! I could not imagine the pain. Although it does sounds like a good interrogation technique for WOT.
Judging by the fact your Doc saw flesh, it’s possible that you may succeed with the surgery! But don’t forget that the test results may show the brain function is the KEY....therefore the operation would be moot!
Billy Idol rocks!
Also, note that the laser surgery is less traumatic, but is usually not covered by insurance.
Possible, but I highly doubt it. I also sleep very well when I sleep. I rarely wake up while sleeping.
I think it started around 14, 15 years old - I started sleeping more. And it’s continued. I think it is how my body is wired. Would be nice if there was some way to “re-wire” my brain, though.
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