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Get better sleep – Anecdata and sleep tech

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Re: Get better sleep – Anecdata and sleep tech

#61

Post by loudtieblahblah »

Noma wrote: post #32
drpancake wrote: post #23

Don't do this! Sleep tracking/optimisation and generally obsessing over sleep can trigger insomnia for a lot of people. I've had chronic insomnia for two years and I wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemy. If your sleep is good enough, leave it alone.

It's ok to try to improve your sleep. But I agree that obsessing over optimizing your sleep can cause issues. I used to get sleep anxiety and would have trouble sleeping. Even sleeping pills didn't work. Luckily I made the realization pretty quickly. I still track but I don't obsess about getting X hours of sleep and such. If I lose some sleep, I know I can just make up for it. Being able to work at home does make th…

If you're insomnia stems from stress or anxiety, tracking it is really risky and will make it more than likely worse.

Re: Get better sleep – Anecdata and sleep tech

#63

Post by xorfish »

ianai wrote: post #59
Zenst wrote: post #56

Having sleep issues, I set up a Zoom H4N pro inside a 1meter cardboard box to track low frequency (sub base) noise disturbances and was blown away. Tracked many culprits down and still working on a few (need new windows and pushing landlord upon that). But instances of say another flat up in the wee hours banging about, you get a loud thud, you awake and none the wise and with my setup, was not only able to identify…

There’s sound dampening as a route. Have you tried ear plugs? It won’t block all frequencies, but might be a low investment, high return area. Or adding background noise? I’ve used brown noise before and it seemed to help. No idea how to help with the low frequencies though. At least, not that wouldn’t make your apartment/flat a problem to those around it. Sleep is a fundamental need for everyone. For me, it’s migrai…

I got custom fit ear plugs a few months ago. Normal ear plugs tend to fall out during the night, are less comfortable and block out less noise.

They really seem to help.

Re: Get better sleep – Anecdata and sleep tech

#64

Post by konietzschewa »

I used to sleep really bad, in part this was because I thought I was sleeping really bad. In a way I convinced myself that I (always) had awful sleep and it became a self fulfilling prophecy. Waking up in the middle of the night would cause severe stress about bad sleep which would then lead to bad sleep.

What helped me snap out of it was having a sleep dairy. Everyday for a month or so I would write down the qualitative experience of my sleep and soon realized that sometimes I might not sleep that good but most of the times I did. So now when I wake up in the middle of the night I just enjoy lying in bed awake resting knowing that it is not all bad.

Also, taking 100mg of 5HTP before going to bed transforms my (now) good sleep into pretty damn good sleep.

Re: Get better sleep – Anecdata and sleep tech

#65

Post by waffle_maniac »

xorfish wrote: post #63
ianai wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s sound dampening as a route. Have you tried ear plugs? It won’t block all frequencies, but might be a low investment, high return area. Or adding background noise? I’ve used brown noise before and it seemed to help. No idea how to help with the low frequencies though. At least, not that wouldn’t make your apartment/flat a problem to those around it. Sleep is a fundamental need for everyone. For me, it’s migrai…

I got custom fit ear plugs a few months ago. Normal ear plugs tend to fall out during the night, are less comfortable and block out less noise. They really seem to help.

My custom made earplugs block less noise than the ones stuffed into the ears. And my understanding is that is to be expected.

I plan to have another pair of customs made and possibly see if I can get some custom ones for AirPod Pro tips. Running in the third world can be a kind of hell with the honking, construction, and fireworks.

By custom I mean lab made.

Re: Get better sleep – Anecdata and sleep tech

#66

Post by dsr_ »

duk wrote: post #62

Get a sleep test. It turned out that I had severe sleep apnea and using cPap has been god send. I rarely dreamed before cPap, but now I dream almost everyday and dreams are vivid too.

If you're doubtful about getting a sleep test, set up a camera to record your sleep.

Events that should trigger you getting a sleep study: long pauses between breaths. Snoring. Gasping. Touching your face with your hands while asleep.

Re: Get better sleep – Anecdata and sleep tech

#67

Post by hasmanean »

They mentioned how the sound of rain and white noise improves sleep quality, but throughout history humans lived and slept in tribes. In the spring there would have been sounds of waking babies, and in the warm summer night the sound of making babies.

I wonder if silence produces anxiety and poor sleep…a spring without babies should be a trigger for the tribe to take some sort of action.

Re: Get better sleep – Anecdata and sleep tech

#68

Post by merpnderp »

hasmanean wrote: post #67

They mentioned how the sound of rain and white noise improves sleep quality, but throughout history humans lived and slept in tribes. In the spring there would have been sounds of waking babies, and in the warm summer night the sound of making babies. I wonder if silence produces anxiety and poor sleep…a spring without babies should be a trigger for the tribe to take some sort of action.

I mean don't we all have enough data on this? When I lived in apartments, the neighbor's babies crying through the walls definitely kept me up. People making babies make it hard to sleep. Barking dogs definitely make it hard to sleep. People talking loud next door make it hard to sleep. Just last night the high winds kept waking me up.

No one makes or would want a device that mimics the noises we're trying to drown out to sleep.

Re: Get better sleep – Anecdata and sleep tech

#69

Post by criddell »

najra wrote: post #48
urthor wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is important is having a fixed bedtime/wake time so your circadian rhythm settles in. How much sleep you can get in a night? Lucky dip, sometimes you just can't. Matthew Walker's book is the one I'd go to. Always find it weird how blog oriented a lot of information has become. If you want to know something... why not find the best researcher in the field and get their book.

Just a heads up there's been some controversy around some of the claims he makes in the book: https://guzey.com/books/why-we-sleep/

Walker has addressed some of that here: https://sleepdiplomat.wordpress.com/2019/12/19/why-we-sleep-...

On Peter Attia's podcast, he address a bunch of the criticism as well. The second edition of the book has been updated to correct errors.

Re: Get better sleep – Anecdata and sleep tech

#70

Post by sy7ar »

drpancake wrote: post #23

Don't do this! Sleep tracking/optimisation and generally obsessing over sleep can trigger insomnia for a lot of people. I've had chronic insomnia for two years and I wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemy. If your sleep is good enough, leave it alone.

Login just to agree with this. I've been a chronic insomniac for almost 3 years, it happened not long after I started tracking my sleep and read Matthew's book.
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