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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

#111

Post by madaxe_again »

Sweet Jesus. The illness this young man has is an advanced case of capitalism, not sleep apnoea.

While I still worked at the technology mill, my sleep was terrible, I had apnoea, I ground my teeth to stumps, and suicide was a frequent point of contemplation.

I changed my life, entirely. Stopped subjecting myself to the incessant cruelties we are expected to accept as simply normal.

We have an entire planet filled with people who absolutely know that something is wrong, but they can’t see the thing right in front of them, as it’s so normal and all-pervasive that it doesn’t even register as a thing that exists - so they go get the pills, the devices, the apps, and treat the symptoms so they can continue their good work at the torture factory.

Things are better for me now. It required stopping giving a damn about career, success, and all that crap, and going and doing entirely my own thing.

And they wonder why the birth rate is in the ditch. Stressed creatures in captivity do not reproduce.

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

#112

Post by jstx1 »

Can something like a fitbit be used as an initial screen? Mine detects multiple very short sleep interuptions every hour during sleep and I have no idea how to interpret this.

(I'm chronically tired and distracted and I have no idea where to start - sleep apnea, ADHD, food intolerances...)

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

#113

Post by sgtnoodle »

ehnto wrote: post #24
djmips wrote: post #18

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.

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.

I'm not a smoker, but nicotine does have an anti-inflammatory effect. Maybe it balances out if you're the one smoking?

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

#114

Post by jaggirs »

jstx1 wrote: post #112

Can something like a fitbit be used as an initial screen? Mine detects multiple very short sleep interuptions every hour during sleep and I have no idea how to interpret this. (I'm chronically tired and distracted and I have no idea where to start - sleep apnea, ADHD, food intolerances...)

If you are chronically tired you should go see a doctor regardless of what the fitbit says.

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

#115

Post by Wagthesam »

sweetsocks21 wrote: post #45
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 appreciate you sharing your story. I had a similar journey over the last couple years because of the pandemic. Looking back now it was definitely an issue at least as far back as early teens. I used to work out a lot, and very intensely as that was the only thing that made me feel "awake". It wasn't until the lockdowns when I couldn't get to the gym that it got bad enough that I also started my own journey to this…

I used to be known as someone that partied hard. Even at work I was the guy on the technical teams that found all the degenerates on the sales teams to go out with. Then after the hangovers got too much (probably due to sleep apnea), I switched to extreme sports. Snowboarding in high consequence terrain, kitesurfing, motorcycle track riding, dirt biking single track. Anything that took the edge off and similarly made me clear headed

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

#116

Post by ansc »

jstx1 wrote: post #112

Can something like a fitbit be used as an initial screen? Mine detects multiple very short sleep interuptions every hour during sleep and I have no idea how to interpret this. (I'm chronically tired and distracted and I have no idea where to start - sleep apnea, ADHD, food intolerances...)

I believe that's completely normal (at least that's what my fitbit says). Unless I'm also suffering from sleep apnea of course.

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

#118

Post by spirit557 »

findthewords wrote: post #107
Llamamoe wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Either sleepy or tired-but-wired feeling. Reflux. Mouth breathing during sleep(dry/stinky mouth), jerking awake while falling asleep, waking up with a headache, breathless or more tired than you went to sleep. Bruxism. ADHD-like and memory problems. Low blood pressure with cold extremities. Nightmares.

I've been dealing with similar problems for a few years now, ever since all my wisdom teeth were removed.

I have wondered if children's diets precipipate this problem. Because so many kids grow up with varying levels of processsed or pre-digested foods (pulverized fruit pouches, not enough crunchy whole foods that require chewing etc) the jaw does not develop fully - so wisdom teeth removals and orthodontics for expansion seems like standard of care nowadays - but really it should not be that way. These cases should be rare but instead they are assumed common and normal. I quick search about this shows there is a relationship but I havent looked much into the details.

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

#119

Post by bowsamic »

> I had reached a stage of mental illness. One that is not aesthetic and talked about to spread awareness. But one where people would avert their eyes. This period was a dark era in my life.

This is actually all mental illness, we just seem to be really bad at dealing with it as a society. It's quite shocking how little empathy or support people seem to have for "unfashionable" mental illness.

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

#120

Post by marstall »

mfgs wrote: post #108

For anyone using or considering a CPAP device, you should also do some research into mandibular advancement devices (MADs). They’re basically a mouth guard that opens your airway by moving your lower jaw forward. They are lesser known than CPAPs but are much simpler and way less invasive. They’re often well suited for people who are thinner and/or have milder OSA symptoms. I couldn’t use a CPAP but using a MAD has he…

I have severe sleep apnea and made the switch from CPAP to MAD a couple years ago. Expensive but covered. Never looked back. Much simpler on every level, works about the same. My wife confirms I don't have apnea episodes.
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