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Poor sleep drove me insane, and my long path to recovery

writing.samsonhu.com

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Re: Poor sleep drove me insane, and my long path to recovery

#11

Post by brundolf »

hindsightbias wrote: post #5
Wagthesam wrote: post #3

This is quite raw and I'm actually somewhat afraid to share this. But I think sleep apnea is criminally under-discussed and underdiagnosed. It can f your life up sideways and can take years to diagnose. So sharing my story and hope I can advocate for it. If you have sleep apnea, no amount of sleep gadgets, good habits, exercise, will help you. You must fix the root cause

While I sympathize > If you have sleep apnea, no amount of sleep gadgets, good habits, will help you Is a blatant lie. A CPAP works for millions, including me.

Also- sleep apnea can be exacerbated by weight, so losing weight ("good habits") can actually help with the root cause

Re: Poor sleep drove me insane, and my long path to recovery

#12

Post by AmericanChopper »

Wagthesam wrote: post #3

This is quite raw and I'm actually somewhat afraid to share this. But I think sleep apnea is criminally under-discussed and underdiagnosed. It can f your life up sideways and can take years to diagnose. So sharing my story and hope I can advocate for it. If you have sleep apnea, no amount of sleep gadgets, good habits, exercise, will help you. You must fix the root cause

> You must fix the root cause

The main cause of sleep apnea is obesity, which ruins your health by just about every other metric you could measure as well. It’s good advice to address sleep apnea, but you’d have to dig a little deeper to get to the root cause (in most cases).

Re: Poor sleep drove me insane, and my long path to recovery

#13

Post by Wagthesam »

AmericanChopper wrote: post #12
Wagthesam wrote: post #3

This is quite raw and I'm actually somewhat afraid to share this. But I think sleep apnea is criminally under-discussed and underdiagnosed. It can f your life up sideways and can take years to diagnose. So sharing my story and hope I can advocate for it. If you have sleep apnea, no amount of sleep gadgets, good habits, exercise, will help you. You must fix the root cause

> You must fix the root cause The main cause of sleep apnea is obesity, which ruins your health by just about every other metric you could measure as well. It’s good advice to address sleep apnea, but you’d have to dig a little deeper to get to the root cause (in most cases).

For most people with sleep apnea this may be true. I didn't dive into the details but for a subset with UARS, people are typically thinner, younger and fitter. This group suffers from structural issues. In my case congestion and allergies. For others bone structural and require MMA or MSE to treat.

Re: Poor sleep drove me insane, and my long path to recovery

#14

Post by satvikpendem »

boppo1 wrote: post #7
Wagthesam wrote: post #3

This is quite raw and I'm actually somewhat afraid to share this. But I think sleep apnea is criminally under-discussed and underdiagnosed. It can f your life up sideways and can take years to diagnose. So sharing my story and hope I can advocate for it. If you have sleep apnea, no amount of sleep gadgets, good habits, exercise, will help you. You must fix the root cause

But I don't wanna wear a machine! What will I tell lady friends from the bar?

There are also silicone devices which keep your tongue out of your airway by keeping it pulled outside. Studies show they work almost as well as a machine yet are much less likely to be rejected by users as opposed to a CPAP.

Tongue stabilizing devices: https://www.verywellhealth.com/tongue-stabilizing-device-for...

Re: Poor sleep drove me insane, and my long path to recovery

#15

Post by tsunamifury »

Had this, definitely nearly had a mental break down and panic attacks.

Solution for me ended up being: 1) Drinking less as relaxed breathing triggered it 2) Walking long distances while practicing breathing deeply and hill climbing to build cardio and stronger lungs.

After that I had almost no issues, fixed it like a charm. YMMV

Re: Poor sleep drove me insane, and my long path to recovery

#16

Post by RangerScience »

Wagthesam wrote: post #3

This is quite raw and I'm actually somewhat afraid to share this. But I think sleep apnea is criminally under-discussed and underdiagnosed. It can f your life up sideways and can take years to diagnose. So sharing my story and hope I can advocate for it. If you have sleep apnea, no amount of sleep gadgets, good habits, exercise, will help you. You must fix the root cause

I sometimes have sinus issues enough that sleeping lying down is nearly impossible - my camping recliner is a life saver in those situations, as I can adjust to my needs (I’m also a side sleeper, so it’s non-trivial).

Anyway! Strong recommend.

(Also, in other rare circumstances, adding a humidifier is amazing)

Re: Poor sleep drove me insane, and my long path to recovery

#17

Post by swatcoder »

Wagthesam wrote: post #3

This is quite raw and I'm actually somewhat afraid to share this. But I think sleep apnea is criminally under-discussed and underdiagnosed. It can f your life up sideways and can take years to diagnose. So sharing my story and hope I can advocate for it. If you have sleep apnea, no amount of sleep gadgets, good habits, exercise, will help you. You must fix the root cause

It's wonderful that you've made progress on the puzzle you found yourself facing. But in reading your essay, the subtext that comes through more strongly than the medical dilemma is a sense of disorientation, loneliness, and anxiety. Even this comment hints at it in its opening disclaimer.

For all I know, you see family every weekend and have friends over for drinks and games every night, but the story suggests that your inner experience of navigating a deep personal struggle involved a lot of private worry, disappointment, and lack of practical culturally implicit skills like how to develop a relationship with a doctor.

Since you seem to have some momentum in self care at the moment, you might want to consider a deeper look at what's going on for you there. You might find consistent therapy helpful as you do so.

Re: Poor sleep drove me insane, and my long path to recovery

#18

Post by djmips »

I had some issues like this but only manifested when I was on work trips which lasted weeks to months. I can tough out several days of sleeping in a hotel but the longer the stay the more I react to whatever is common to hotel rooms and the problems breathing / and sleep apnea gradually push me around the bend.

Returning home cures me after a recovery period.

Re: Poor sleep drove me insane, and my long path to recovery

#19

Post by pushedx »

Wagthesam wrote: post #13
AmericanChopper wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You must fix the root cause The main cause of sleep apnea is obesity, which ruins your health by just about every other metric you could measure as well. It’s good advice to address sleep apnea, but you’d have to dig a little deeper to get to the root cause (in most cases).

For most people with sleep apnea this may be true. I didn't dive into the details but for a subset with UARS, people are typically thinner, younger and fitter. This group suffers from structural issues. In my case congestion and allergies. For others bone structural and require MMA or MSE to treat.

You did cover this in your article : )

Re: Poor sleep drove me insane, and my long path to recovery

#20

Post by modestmc »

Wagthesam wrote: post #3

This is quite raw and I'm actually somewhat afraid to share this. But I think sleep apnea is criminally under-discussed and underdiagnosed. It can f your life up sideways and can take years to diagnose. So sharing my story and hope I can advocate for it. If you have sleep apnea, no amount of sleep gadgets, good habits, exercise, will help you. You must fix the root cause

I have nothing but the highest respect for you in how you went about this and sharing your success with others. Long term, sleep apnea interferes with the glymphatic function; I’ve heard rumors this then correlates to various dementias. Sleep function really deserves more money thrown at it.

Here’s something fun. Do you wonder what biologically was really going on here? Personalized medicine is a when, not an if. There are wild things just around the corner like this: https://youtu.be/_YOEq7mHsw4

May the odds continue to be in your favor, thanks for sharing.

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