Tom's Sleep

[Tom]

Just waiting on Tom and Mr. Analog's characters to be uploaded, and for you both to join the Roll20.net game.

Sorry about that. I ended up going to bed at 5pm last night, and woke up at about 5am today (had a 1-2 hour phone call with the mom at about 8ish... so I wasn't asleep the whole time).

Still recovering from not sleeping enough the past several weeks/months. I just can't do regular 8 hour sleeps for long periods. I get completely drained and my mind turns to complete mush. Makes it really hard to work and generally do anything. So I've been letting myself recharge by not forcing a proper sleep schedule.

I'll try and get it done this morning/afternoon when I have some spare time.

[Mr. Analog]

It's really tough but getting into a normal pattern of sleep is really important, if you're interested I can give you contact information with the sleep clinic I go to and they can help you get into a regular pattern.

[Tom]

It's really tough but getting into a normal pattern of sleep is really important, if you're interested I can give you contact information with the sleep clinic I go to and they can help you get into a regular pattern.

That would be cool.

Though getting into a regular pattern is what leaves me completely drained after a few weeks. 8 hours is not enough, 9 isn't but 9-10 is getting on the "too much" side in that I start getting testy and depressed, yet I'm still tired all the time, though not as bad as with 8 or less.

I'm not kidding at all. After a few weeks of a regular 8 hour pattern, I have to fight to stay awake after 6-10 hours of being awake, even with caffeine.

append: foregoing the strict schedule frees up a bit of stress I otherwise would have, and it helps me recharge. After a few days, or a week or two, I get back into a more normal schedule, and I'm not so brain dead.

[Mr. Analog]

Again, this could be the sign of a sleep disorder. I didn't know I had sleep apnea until I took the test, and while I used to be able to sleep for 12+ hours on the weekend I was still completely spent, turned out that the quality of sleep I was getting was actually harmful.

This is why I mention it.

Then with other afflictions (like anxiety) you get into really bad patterns where you don't really get any sleep for days and function like a Romero zombie, being able to de-stress in these situations is important but again making sure the quality of sleep you are getting is good is so important because then you really can function on 4 hours for a while day because your body actually got what it needed by sleeping.

[Tom]

Again, this could be the sign of a sleep disorder. I didn't know I had sleep apnea until I took the test, and while I used to be able to sleep for 12+ hours on the weekend I was still completely spent, turned out that the quality of sleep I was getting was actually harmful.

This is why I mention it.

Then with other afflictions (like anxiety) you get into really bad patterns where you don't really get any sleep for days and function like a Romero zombie, being able to de-stress in these situations is important but again making sure the quality of sleep you are getting is good is so important because then you really can function on 4 hours for a while day because your body actually got what it needed by sleeping.

Yeah, I know. The quality of my sleep seems to be crap. Has been since I was a kid. It's like half the time I'm sleeping is spent not resting at all.

With the job, I have more of a reason to keep a strict schedule most of the time. But that hasn't really helped much. I mean, it does a bit. But not nearly enough.

[Mr. Analog]

Holding yourself to a rigid timeline is really important, it's been a challenge to do that since I can work from home, there are a few nights I'm up late now because I know I can sleep in to 7:59 AM haha... or rather there have been some days where I start working at 5 AM for no good reason and then pay the price when I can barely function after work (thereby destroying my free time)

So yeah, let me know, I have their business card right here.

[Tom]

Holding yourself to a rigid timeline is really important, it's been a challenge to do that since I can work from home, there are a few nights I'm up late now because I know I can sleep in to 7:59 AM haha... or rather there have been some days where I start working at 5 AM for no good reason and then pay the price when I can barely function after work (thereby destroying my free time)

Yeah. I'm saying the schedule does help. But not enough. I still tank after a few weeks of keeping a schedule. To the point I can't keep my self awake in the afternoon.

So yeah, let me know, I have their business card right here.

Yeah, please. It'd help a lot to fix the sleep issues. The less tired I am, the less stupid I am.

[Melbosa]

These are the guys I dealt with for my test and my equipment: http://www.rhscanada.com/

[Darren Dirt]

Still recovering from not sleeping enough the past several weeks/months. I just can't do regular 8 hour sleeps for long periods.

obligatory College Humor sleep-related videos...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpAKGugtMzk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK71B6kr1uk


srsly though, sleep issues = no laughing matter. GL Tom, I am presuming it's more than just the inability to resist mental over-stimulation in this electronic interconnected age.

[Mr. Analog]

Getting into a good sleep habit is only half the battle, actually getting benefit from it is another.

You can get insomnia from bad sleep, because there's a point where your body can no longer determine the difference between being awake or not.

[Melbosa]

For me the largest and still struggle has been making myself accept the mask all night.  I've been using mine now for over 6 months and have changed the Mask once already to a different model.  But still I haven't done a whole nights sleep with the Mask and Unit on.  In my sleep I take it of and shutoff the machine.  My wife has watched me do it, and then asked why I was only to wake me up in the middle of the act - scared the piss out of me when she did.

But I am slowly going longer and longer with the machine.  One day I should get my minimum 5H with it on.  Either way I feel more rested even if I'm under the magic 5H mark.

[Mr. Analog]

Once you get past having to wear the mask you'll actually find it less comfortable WITHOUT it (it's bizarre but true). In my last year I only went 3 days without it.

It's so natural now I don't even think about it (but I do miss it if I happen to fall asleep without it, like on the couch or something).

The only real time I don't wear it is when I'm congested due to cold, but then usually not much sleep is happening then anyway

[Tom]

If I end up with the mask... I can't sleep on my back without being so incredibly tired that I just collapse. I have never been able to fall asleep on my back. I don't know why. It took months of training when I was younger to manage to fall asleep on my stomach. Used to be I could only fall asleep on my side.

It'd be mighty tough to actually get to sleep with it on.

[Darren Dirt]

For me the largest and still struggle has been making myself accept the mask all night.  I've been using mine now for over 6 months and have changed the Mask once already to a different model.  But still I haven't done a whole nights sleep with the Mask and Unit on.  In my sleep I take it of and shutoff the machine.

A suggestion that might help: wear oven mitts when you go to sleep. Not joking; it seemed to help someone suffering a more serious sleep issue where it was critical for him to not have the use of fingers + opposable thumbs during deep sleep: comedian Mike Birbiglia, as he documented in his excellent film, based-on-real-life-struggles, called "Sleepwalk with Me". (Watched it on Netflix.ca, was even mostly kid-friendly!)

Birbiglia also mentioned that he found some helpful info in the book "The Promise of Sleep: A Pioneer in Sleep Medicine Explores the Vital Connection Between Health, Happiness, and a Good Night's Sleep".
(author info: William Charles Dement (born 1928) is a pioneering US sleep researcher and founder of the Sleep Research Center, the world's first sleep laboratory, at Stanford University. He is a leading authority on sleep, sleep deprivation and the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders such as sleep apnea and narcolepsy. For this pioneering work in a previously uncharted field, he is sometimes referred to as the father of sleep medicine.)

[Mr. Analog]

If I end up with the mask... I can't sleep on my back without being so incredibly tired that I just collapse. I have never been able to fall asleep on my back. I don't know why. It took months of training when I was younger to manage to fall asleep on my stomach. Used to be I could only fall asleep on my side.

It'd be mighty tough to actually get to sleep with it on.

I sleep on my side usually with the mask on, it's not a problem. And like anything else you can get used to it, at first it's just annoying but after a while you don't even notice it (well, you MISS it if it's not there, but it never gets in the way of sleep)

The fact that you can't sleep on your back could be due to sleep apnea actually, tissue will hang down and block your sinus which may be cutting off your air supply when you sleep. A lot of people with sleep apnea adjust to this by sleeping on their stomach (myself included) just to keep the airway open.

I would not be surprised to find that you have sleep apnea, I was HIGHLY skeptical of the mask when I first heard about it too but it REALLY works actually and not just for me but for over 90% of all sleep apnea sufferers.