Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Sorry I meant sleep gadgets like cooling pads, not referring to medical devices
Poor sleep drove me insane, and my long path to recovery
31–40 of 370 posts
Re: Poor sleep drove me insane, and my long path to recovery
#32So if you're tired all the time, or you're a 'heavy snorer', or you're falling asleep during your morning routine, or wake up feeling like your drunk, get tested! They have at home test for it, it's not that bad.
Re: Poor sleep drove me insane, and my long path to recovery
#33This 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…
Creating some kind of regular time to process this long journey, however that works best into the day to day, may help set the stage for the next act.
Re: Poor sleep drove me insane, and my long path to recovery
#34I'm curious, did you track metrics past AHI and how rested you felt the next day?
Re: Poor sleep drove me insane, and my long path to recovery
#35But I guess monitor your breathing during sleep using WiFi signals is a better solution.
Re: Poor sleep drove me insane, and my long path to recovery
#36It seems like I very likely have something similar to what OP has but I don't know how to get diagnosed properly. It's really hard to get a hold of Kaiser's head and neck surgery department too since they only take appointments by referral and can only be reached by voice message on the phone.
Re: Poor sleep drove me insane, and my long path to recovery
#37I wonder if Apple Watch can detect/show signs of sleep apnea? It measures your breaths, so I theorize if you have sleep apnea, you will eventually stop breathing then wake up suddenly to breathe hard due to the lack of oxygen. So it might show as unevenly breathe rate on the watch. But I guess monitor your breathing during sleep using WiFi signals is a better solution.
Re: Poor sleep drove me insane, and my long path to recovery
#38I 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.
I wonder, do the hotels you stay at differentiate the smoking and non-smoking rooms? Where I live does, I once accidentally booked a smoking room and I could not sleep at all. It felt like I was burning my esophagus. I suspect smokers just don't feel how inflamed their airways are anymore, otherwise I have no idea how anyone could live like that.
Re: Poor sleep drove me insane, and my long path to recovery
#39This 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
Interesting. I bet close to all young skinny people with sleep apnea must remain undiagnosed. My generalist doc basically said "if you really insist we can do a polysomnography, but I'm pretty sure you don't have it, you're young, skinny and sporty. There isn't really much that helps that you can do about it anyway". I did insist and it turned out that I do have it. The changes in life I experienced are similar to yo…
Re: Poor sleep drove me insane, and my long path to recovery
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
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...