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Sleep habits may have long-term benefits

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Re: Sleep habits may have long-term benefits

#51

Post by vjk800 »

elric wrote: post #26

I'll keep saying it: sleep apnea is vastly underdiagnosed and undertreated. I had so many weird symptoms for so long, which all gradually started to disappear as I started to get my sleep apnea treated. Unless you're fat, doctors will rarely even consider the possibility. And once you do get a polysomnogram, the usualy course of action is to throw a CPAP machine at you and send you on your way, without much followup.…

How did you get it treated? I've heard of the machines for this, but its not a very appealing option. I've also heard of exercises for neck/throat/jaw region, but do they work?

Re: Sleep habits may have long-term benefits

#52

Post by galenko »

jb1991 wrote: post #46

Any advice in overcoming insomnia? I’ve tried everything I can think of. Melatonin, various vitamin supplements, exercise, dietary changes of a wide variety, nothing seems to help. Always waking up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep.

I picked up meditating daily in an attempt to address one of my mental disorders.

Falling asleep is much easier for me now, whereas I used to struggle with it a lot.

My thoughts used to feel unstoppable and the moment I would wake up in the middle of the night, they started going and I was wide awake and no longer sleepy within seconds.

Now it’s like I’m observing them, but no longer get excited. I still have bad days, it’s not a 100% consistent solution, but it’s helped me massively.

Re: Sleep habits may have long-term benefits

#54

Post by Xeoncross »

cies wrote: post #41
Xeoncross wrote: post #20

I've seen enough mental issues in people (depression, schizophrenia, etc...) that seem to have a high correlation to poor sleep and/or lack of sleep to make sure I stay on top of getting enough sleep. Depriving your body of food, water, oxygen or sleep is no joke.

> Depriving your body of food, water, oxygen or sleep is no joke. Though fasting is a thing, and when well performed has health benefits (self reporting here). And I've -- probably for good reasons -- never heard of oxygen of sleep fasting :)

Yeah, I'm not talking about self-directed fasting here.

Re: Sleep habits may have long-term benefits

#55

Post by haswell »

isoprophlex wrote: post #48
smeej wrote: post #38

I really wanted there to be controllable habits listed in this article, but instead it was about sleep characteristics. Telling me that "having trouble falling asleep," or "having trouble staying asleep," or "not feeling alert upon waking" are working against me is useless to me. These aren't "habits." I'm not choosing to do them until they become routine. They just happen to me. Tell me how to FIX those things. Tell…

This annoyed the hell out of me as well. I thought, oh cool, some advice to improve my sleep. Point 5: "feeling well rested after waking up at least five days a week" But of course! I'll fix my sleep by ensuring I wake up well rested.

Research and summaries of research will rarely hand out advice. In recent years, there has been an explosion of content that provides practical advice on getting better sleep. Most of this advice involves habit changes, and many of these habit changes are hard (e.g. avoiding screen time for ~2 hours before bed is tough if you always watch Netflix in the evenings).

I added links as a response to the sibling comment with some practical resources, and I think it's important to recognize that work focusing on the impact of sleep or the lack thereof is not necessarily in the same category as work that seeks to provide remedies / improve sleep.

Thankfully, as we continue to learn just how important sleep is, we also continue to learn about ways to improve it.

Re: Sleep habits may have long-term benefits

#56

Post by alostpuppy »

schwartzworld wrote: post #33
elric wrote: post #26

I'll keep saying it: sleep apnea is vastly underdiagnosed and undertreated. I had so many weird symptoms for so long, which all gradually started to disappear as I started to get my sleep apnea treated. Unless you're fat, doctors will rarely even consider the possibility. And once you do get a polysomnogram, the usualy course of action is to throw a CPAP machine at you and send you on your way, without much followup.…

Two relatives in my family who are highly symptomatic were turned down by their primary care when they asked for a sleep study. One for being too skinny and the other for being "too cheerful". If you want to criticize the pap manufacturers, there's a lot more than just that too. There's a shortage of machines because of the negligence of the Philips company. Documents have shown that they knew their machines were cau…

This is a huge problem! If they are in the US most insurers allow you to go straight to a specialist. Unsure if that helps them but for anyone reading this, if you can, go straight to a sleep specialist. My treatment was delayed for 3 years because I didn’t snore (another common reason for rejection of a sleep study).

Re: Sleep habits may have long-term benefits

#57

Post by haswell »

_fat_santa wrote: post #37

I've currently got two issues with my sleep: I'm a chronic couch sleeper and I am incapable of sleeping in. The first problem is most nights, about half my night, from 11-3am usually, I sleep on the couch before getting up and going to bed, I don't feel tired the morning after but I know there's an impact. The second issue is that I just can't sleep in, if I go to bed at 11pm, I wake up at 7am, if I'm out late with f…

As a former chronic couch sleeper, this one hit close to home. You're describing my sleeping patterns over the past few decades pretty well.

After I encountered the book "Why we Sleep" and heard some podcast interviews with the author, I was convinced that I needed to change my habits and started taking this seriously. Here's what I did:

1. If I slept on the couch, I'd stay there. My first priority was to start getting full nights of sleep. This involved "giving in" to my couch sleeping, and stocking the couch with sheets/blankets so I could set myself up for success. I found that once I was no longer "oh shit, I did it again", I could actually sleep through the night.

2. I started a morning mindfulness habit. Over time, this helped me notice more clearly each morning how I was feeling, and how my choices the night before improved or degraded my day. If I passed out while watching something, I would always wake up less rested.

3. After getting some regularity in my schedule, I started feeling more rested, and my meditation habit seemed to be providing even more clarity. One day, I started internally questioning why I was sleeping on the couch when my bed was far more comfortable.

So I went to bed on time. And then I kept doing it. For the first time in over 30 years, I feel like my relationship with sleep and going to bed has fundamentally changed.

I realized that my poor sleep was more about bad habits I'd been clinging to since I was a kid, and the more I improved my sleep, the more clearly I could see this.

YMMV, but figured I'd share how this went for me.

> if I'm out late with friends and stay up till 3am, I'm still up at 7am.

This was a hard pill to swallow, but as I dug more into the sleep research, it became clear that the body is not well suited for the occasional (or regular) 3AM morning. The body seems to be optimized for regularity/consistency, and adding a 3AM night is never without cost.

This doesn't mean I never stay up late, but I now do so knowing exactly what to expect.

Re: Sleep habits may have long-term benefits

#58

Post by clsec »

elric wrote: post #26

I'll keep saying it: sleep apnea is vastly underdiagnosed and undertreated. I had so many weird symptoms for so long, which all gradually started to disappear as I started to get my sleep apnea treated. Unless you're fat, doctors will rarely even consider the possibility. And once you do get a polysomnogram, the usualy course of action is to throw a CPAP machine at you and send you on your way, without much followup.…

I'm not so sure, my experience tells me differently..

I am a thin guy with very low body fat. As soon as I told my doctor that I had woken up 2-3 times with my soft pallet dry & semi-collapsed, also that I would wake up regularly with a dry mouth, he immediately sent me for a sleep test. I went and did the test and the results were that I had mild sleep apnea. The sleep doctor told me that they were ordering a CPAP machine for me. I asked why I needed it for mild apnea and also told them I wouldn't use it. They ordered it anyway and told me to take the issue up with my doctor.

While all this was going on I was in the process of reducing the amount of meds I took (bad accident in 2010). I also started reading up on & studying sleep apnea. One of the first things I learned, and that worked, was keeping my mouth shut during sleep (many ways to accomplish that). The other thing I learned is that Big Pharma/FDA does a horrible job of listing medication side effects. I say that because "causes sleep apnea" was not on the list of side effects for carbamazeine (used for my peripheral neuropathy). As soon as I stopped the carbamazepine the apnea symptoms vanished. I have no need for a CPAP, it was ordered and I've received many calls about it, but there it sits at the sleep doctor's office..

Re: Sleep habits may have long-term benefits

#59

Post by rco8786 »

clsec wrote: post #58
elric wrote: post #26

I'll keep saying it: sleep apnea is vastly underdiagnosed and undertreated. I had so many weird symptoms for so long, which all gradually started to disappear as I started to get my sleep apnea treated. Unless you're fat, doctors will rarely even consider the possibility. And once you do get a polysomnogram, the usualy course of action is to throw a CPAP machine at you and send you on your way, without much followup.…

I'm not so sure, my experience tells me differently.. I am a thin guy with very low body fat. As soon as I told my doctor that I had woken up 2-3 times with my soft pallet dry & semi-collapsed, also that I would wake up regularly with a dry mouth, he immediately sent me for a sleep test. I went and did the test and the results were that I had mild sleep apnea. The sleep doctor told me that they were ordering a CPAP m…

This seems to jive exactly with what OP was saying.

In that they diagnose you with apnea, throw a CPAP machine at you, and then do no follow up.

I’m curious what part of this you are saying is not aligning with OP?

Re: Sleep habits may have long-term benefits

#60

Post by nerdbaggy »

keyle wrote: post #28
michieldotv wrote: post #13

I've been going through another episode of sleeplessness lately. Just like it had before, it has serious detrimental effects on my overall wellbeing. I'm less trusting of others, more inclined to shirk social situations, more sensitive to antisocial behaviors in others. I struggle with telling cause from effect, because these things literally stress me out even more, exacerbating the sleep problem. I just _feel_ the…

Have you considered talking to your dr about a little sleeping pill or mirtazipine? I had a serious episode of ptsd after a natural catastrophe and I couldn't shut both eyes for months. Meds became a life saver. Sleep. It's underrated.

Can you sleep without the pills now? That’s my worry
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