Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Night of the living brain fog dead or how I hacked myself better via open source

decodebytes.substack.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

271–280 of 334 posts

Re: Night of the living brain fog dead or how I hacked myself better via open source

#271

Post by zdragnar »

Spooky23 wrote: post #256
Levitz wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>He recognized the signs of sleep apnea and pursued treatment with sleep apnea devices, getting confirmation of the problem with the help of his doctor. It actually baffled me that it wasn't his doctor who picked this up. A person waking up several times with confirmation from someone sleeping besides him that he has stopped breathing, I'm no doctor and gee maybe it's because there are a few cases in my family but th…

Especially now. Sleep apnea is a big cash cow for medical networks. Normally if you mention a problem even somewhat in the neighborhood of sleep apnea you’re shoved into the funnel for sleep studies and CPAP devices.

Yeah, I said "I caught myself stopping breathing while I was drifting off to sleep, and my wife believes it has happened since" to my primary doctor, and got a referral to a specialist, to whom I repeated that statement, who referred me to a sleep study.

That first meeting with the specialist was a profound waste of money, but at least it got me in the door. Since then, the CPAP has helped some, but it is just as likely to wake me up too early (I toss a lot in my sleep and it doesn't always stay sealed).

Re: Night of the living brain fog dead or how I hacked myself better via open source

#272

Post by senectus1 »

LoganDark wrote: post #145
ghusbands wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You sleep better by consciously breathing through your nose at night? Or during the day?

Probably by falling asleep with their mouth closed so that they breathe through their nose for the night.

yes this

Re: Night of the living brain fog dead or how I hacked myself better via open source

#274

Post by CapstanRoller »

ipaddr wrote: post #266
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The standard of care doesn’t mean it’s optimal for everyone. Doctors will often explore alternative treatments when the first-line measures aren’t working optimally. It’s a mistake to ignore proven, first-line treatments and skip straight to less proven alternatives, though. Some people have built an anti-mainstream bias that puts too much emphasis on the unproven, alternative treatments while downplaying the most pr…

The biggest mistake anyone can make is to blindly jump into medical treatments first when common home treatments with lower side effects can handle the job. If you do that you'll be in blood pressure meds by 35 instead of reducing your salt.

>instead of reducing your salt

Salt is not to blame, it turns out

https://archive.is/pWUI0

Re: Night of the living brain fog dead or how I hacked myself better via open source

#275

Post by xattt »

015UUZn8aEvW wrote: post #176
jrm4 wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly this. I've also dealt with the whole CPAP thing, and the extent to which the whole industry is obviously infantilizing-for-profit is infuriating. Over the years, it's gotten increasingly difficult to just "buy the supplies yourself," (aka easily and/or cheaply) and the extremely condescending "reasoning" we get is "oh, it's medical equipment and therefore dangerous so we get to control it." And here , having…

One way that you can identify rent-seeking disguised as safety is to compare the degree of risk considered acceptable across industries. For example, you can buy and use a chainsaw and similarly-dangerous power tools with basically no constraints whatsoever. But chainsaws are definitely more dangerous than CPAP machines or many prescription-only drugs. I'm sure that professional tree clearing companies would like it…

> But chainsaws are definitely more dangerous than CPAP machines or many prescription-only drugs.

The elements of direct and indirect dangers are more apparent and immediate with a chainsaw than say, unscrupulous use of an SSRI, a bronchodilator or a high-potency NSAID like diclofenac.

Re: Night of the living brain fog dead or how I hacked myself better via open source

#276

Post by CapstanRoller »

sawyna wrote: post #237
lapetitejort wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you share an example of an unproven treatment that works better than standard care?

I used to have pretty bad sinus. I used to take antibiotics for 10 days a month and would be good for 20 days and this goes on each month. After 6 months, my immunity has gone to shit. The doctor recommended clearing out my sinus by a surgery but apparently that doesn't solve the root cause. It can happen again and again. I tried multiple doctors, treatments, tips etc and etc nothing worked. I finally visited a homeo…

How does coconut water deviate one's septum or cause sinus infections? What's the mechanism behind this?

Re: Night of the living brain fog dead or how I hacked myself better via open source

#277

Post by lazyasciiart »

martindbp wrote: post #164
n8henrie wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me, it certainly seems to suggest an environmental cause (or at least significant contributor). Certainly doesn't seem evolutionarily adaptive for such a large proportion of the population to live with profound mental and physical fatigue. Obesity is an obvious confounder, but these seemingly frequent front-page HN sleep apnea posts usually abound with anecdotes of normal / thin individuals with significant issues…

Always wondered if not most of our sleep issues would go away if we spent a few days or weeks camping in the wild without electricity. Unfortunately not a long term solution.

An easy hypothesis to check given the millions of people who do exactly that each summer. The answer appears to be that if your sleep quality issues are lifestyle related and you are simply unable to make yourself practice sleep 'hygiene', then yes, it shift your sleep cycle to fall asleep earlier. If you do already practice proper sleep hygiene but still can't sleep normally, or if you have any kind of physical problem like sleep apnea, then no.

Re: Night of the living brain fog dead or how I hacked myself better via open source

#278

Post by hirvi74 »

ipaddr wrote: post #267
lapetitejort wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you share an example of an unproven treatment that works better than standard care?

Reducing salt vs taking blood pressure meds. Aloe vs cortisol for skin issues.

What evidence do you have that either of these methods are more efficacious than standard care?

While anecdota tend to be of little value, I can at least attest to the latter not working well -- at least for my condition.

Re: Night of the living brain fog dead or how I hacked myself better via open source

#279

Post by seventytwo »

Spooky23 wrote: post #256
Levitz wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>He recognized the signs of sleep apnea and pursued treatment with sleep apnea devices, getting confirmation of the problem with the help of his doctor. It actually baffled me that it wasn't his doctor who picked this up. A person waking up several times with confirmation from someone sleeping besides him that he has stopped breathing, I'm no doctor and gee maybe it's because there are a few cases in my family but th…

Especially now. Sleep apnea is a big cash cow for medical networks. Normally if you mention a problem even somewhat in the neighborhood of sleep apnea you’re shoved into the funnel for sleep studies and CPAP devices.

As it should be, honestly. Not getting quality sleep is a huuuge health risk, and can be solved very simply. It’s a wonder medical networks aren’t handing CPAPs out for free.

Re: Night of the living brain fog dead or how I hacked myself better via open source

#280

Post by alx__ »

rolisz wrote: post #208
alx__ wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, there are many things it could be. Doctors are only so helpful (and most are even less so) Here's a list of things I tried that sorta helped with my tiredness spells. Recommend doing any of these changes separately: - Sugar fast for 4 weeks (helps reset your cravings) - Switched from coffee to green tea - Reduced caffeine intake to one a day or 3x a week - Acupuncture - 15 min walks or bike ride every…

Sugar fast.... Seems impossible. Most I've done is one week and it was absolutely horrible. I was always hungry, despite eating a lot.

Yeah, it's pretty rough the first week. It can help to modify the definition of sugar to be processed sugars.

I kept fruit in. Some people allow honey

Post reply on HN