In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
I feel very fatigued lately due to this. I was fine before this.
And yes, this is my theme song:
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
I feel very fatigued lately due to this. I was fine before this.
And yes, this is my theme song:
Everyone's situation is different, but I'd emphasize the "sleep hygiene" concept. I have multiple layers of blinds/curtains so it can become pitch dark in the bedroom. That's become so important I travel with black tape to cover over all the various LEDs in hotel rooms.
I'm a huge advocate of white noise - in my case, a small room humidifier. Since I live in pretty quiet suburbs, even a butterfly coughing outside the window is comparatively very loud. The white noise raises the base ambient noise level so I'm not as conscious of outside noise (but still easily hear anything abnormal or alarming).
I often wake up in the middle of the night and my brain is near-instantly hyperactive - like everyone shouting at once! Annoying, to say the least. I use a couple of visualizations to help calm down, just from experiences I remember. One is sitting under a big umbrella during a heavy but warm rain on a big lake, so lots of soothing sounds and minimal visual details. Another is just imaging I'm petting our big cat, and he's purring and relaxing and it's relaxing to me.
I'm curious you find the CPAP makes a difference, especially since you mentioned you're 175 pounds. Curious how tall you are? I'd thought CPAPs and sleep apnea more often affect more heavyset folks?
BoulderG said:I'm curious you find the CPAP makes a difference, especially since you mentioned you're 175 pounds. Curious how tall you are? I'd thought CPAPs and sleep apnea more often affect more heavyset folks?
It's puzzled me, too, BoulderG. Tuna has the physique of one of those 4x4 posts one uses to hold up a fence. I, too, have always thought the whole CPAP thing was more of a condition associated with being overweight.
I've always had trouble sleeping, but recently I started taking Inno Supps Night Shred, and while I can't vouch for any of the supplement's other claimed benefits, I have noticed that when I take it I'm able to fall asleep easier and stay asleep for the entire night but still wake up feeling good/not groggy in the morning. Something about the combo of ingredients seems to work for me personally.
Might be worth giving a shot?
volvoclearinghouse said:BoulderG said:I'm curious you find the CPAP makes a difference, especially since you mentioned you're 175 pounds. Curious how tall you are? I'd thought CPAPs and sleep apnea more often affect more heavyset folks?
It's puzzled me, too, BoulderG. Tuna has the physique of one of those 4x4 posts one uses to hold up a fence. I, too, have always thought the whole CPAP thing was more of a condition associated with being overweight.
I was a little surprised, but my pulmonologist was even more surprised. I did some investigative self-diagnostic work prior to the appointment with him years ago, there's an app that records when they hear noise, so you can hear yourself choking on your own tongue. It was clear as day but it was happening lots of times per night. So I go into the pulmonologist, and without looking at me still focusing on the chart he says " you know all of my sleep apnea patients are obese, right? You probably have narcolepsy, let me say you up for a sleep study for 24 hours in a clinic..."
I interrupted him, said hang on and listen to this, and played the audio. He goes " oh you have sleep apnea ".
That was the last time I saw the guy
I got a CPAP machine, was amazingly refreshed, and never looked back.
And FYI, despite my lack of vanity, I'm a little bit better built now than when you saw me last, VCH, but still around 175 lb.
I had a similar experience to yours over the past few years. With 4 kids, two dogs, work, and a million projects (home, yard, car, and everything in between), I would find myself waking up in the night and not being able to shut my mind down so I could fall back asleep. I definitely tend to be on the high-stress side, but think this was the first time I ever really experienced anxiety over a longer period of time, likely because of all the projects weighing over me.
Things that worked for me:
- Trello - free tool I use for tracking what needs to be done. This is my version of a million sticky notes, it helps me get organized, plan what I'm doing, and most importantly feel like I've accomplished something. I tend to even put small tasks like (wash dishes, do laundry, go to the dump, etc.) on my board so I feel like I'm making progress. It's not efficient, but it's had a significantly positive impact on my mental health. Feeling like I've accomplished something before I've gone to bed helps me sleep better, and have less anxiety if I do happen to wake up in the night.
- My wife and I try to have conversations about finishing one project before starting another one. Neither of us is great in this area, but we're trying to improve.
- Sleep mask - I track my sleep time through my Garmin watch, an noticed a solid 30-45 minutes of REM/deep sleep. Darkening the room, blacking out as much as possible also helps.
- Earplugs would work for me, except with my wife wearing them, I always get nervous about not hearing something. But when I'm traveling, I use them and they help.
- Sometimes I would get up and start my day early. This had the double whammy of accomplishing some stuff that was keeping me up anyways, and would make me so exhausted that I would sleep through the next night
- The Andrew Huberman sleep cocktail (30-60 min before bed)
I discovered the sleep cocktail after taking a melatonin supplement my wife had bought for the kids that they had never used. It worked great for me (even in small doses), but I listened to the Joe Rogan podcast with Andrew Huberman and he said that melatonin messes with hormones and to take his stack instead, so that's what I did. I don't take it very often, but if I'm feeling that I'm not getting good sleep, I go back to it.
I also have tried to improve my work/life balance. I think part of the reason I was so stressed was that I was working so many hours for work, that I wasn't feeling like I was accomplishing any of my non-work projects. So I've tried to become better in that regard and make sure I was making progress in my personal life as well as my work life.
I hope some of that helps you!
Nicole Suddard said:I've always had trouble sleeping, but recently I started taking Inno Supps Night Shred, and while I can't vouch for any of the supplement's other claimed benefits, I have noticed that when I take it I'm able to fall asleep easier and stay asleep for the entire night but still wake up feeling good/not groggy in the morning. Something about the combo of ingredients seems to work for me personally.
Might be worth giving a shot?
Maybe. The only thing it has geared towards sleep that the Olly doesn't have is Magnesium, and I really should be getting enough out of my diet and my blood test in August shows that those levels were fine, and I took a multivitamin just in case as part of my diagnositics.
tuna55 said:Nicole Suddard said:I've always had trouble sleeping, but recently I started taking Inno Supps Night Shred, and while I can't vouch for any of the supplement's other claimed benefits, I have noticed that when I take it I'm able to fall asleep easier and stay asleep for the entire night but still wake up feeling good/not groggy in the morning. Something about the combo of ingredients seems to work for me personally.
Might be worth giving a shot?
Maybe. The only thing it has geared towards sleep that the Olly doesn't have is Magnesium, and I really should be getting enough out of my diet and my blood test in August shows that those levels were fine, and I took a multivitamin just in case as part of my diagnositics.
They have a 30 day money back guarantee, so maybe it's worth a shot. Have you used it long?
In reply to dj06482 (Forum Supporter) :
Thanks. I am generally extremely skeptical of anything Joe Rogan, but I'll look into it. I'll just restate for the rest of the class that melatonin did nearly nothing for me.
Also I work 37.5 hours per week period. I have the work/life balance thing licked, other than the "life" bit being a bit overwhelming at times. Four kids, trumpet for one, 3x dance for one, climbing for three of them, aquarium volunteering for one, a job for one of them. I have deacon volunteer duties and Trail Life volunteer duties, guitar lessons and, you know, a job. Plus I do dishes and laundry and bedtimes. Also, there's this truck...
In reply to BoulderG :
I would be in the same boat. Far from overweight but been a world class snoring champion for as long as I know. Sleep study said it pulled me out of REM a hundred times or so per night. CPAP solves the Apnea but is in itself a new problem in that I hate it and find it very hard to fall asleep with the device installed...Key that scene from "Predator" . But is has only been about 10 years so I might yet get used to it.
NOHOME said:In reply to BoulderG :
I would be in the same boat. Far from overweight but been a world class snoring champion for as long as I know. Sleep study said it pulled me out of REM a hundred times or so per night. CPAP solves the Apnea but is in itself a new problem in that I hate it and find it very hard to fall asleep with the device installed...Key that scene from "Predator" . But is has only been about 10 years so I might yet get used to it.
Spend some time, if you have not already, with masks and hoses and such. I absolutely love mine.
In reply to tuna55 :
I think I'm about a month and a half into using it at this point.
Meditation.
Try Insight Timer or Headspace for an app.
It will teach you how to recognize thought patterns, separate what's important from what isn't and shut your mind down when you want to.
Worked great for me.
If I am somewhere that's not at my home , I often use foam earplugs to cut the noise of the AC or other odd noises,
on a plane it's ear plugs and a dark eye mask or beanie ,
But being of that age , I often need to get up to take a piss and then it takes some time to get back to sleep.
Good luck in finding something that works for you.
For me, when I wake up, and my mind immediately goes hyper active, rather than get up go downstairs and turn the TV (some nature show or something was my old go-to), I find a book on "tape" and some small ear buds helps. It helps my mind "shut-off", and I'm usually asleep shortly thereafter. It is a lousy way to listen to a book though as it keeps going after I fall asleep, and I'm forever trying to figure out where I actually left off.
No need to buy audio books anymore, every major library loans them out digitally, and you never have to leave your couch to pick them up.
When you wake up.. are you exhausted or just pissed (because you want to keep sleeping)?
For me it's the latter when my mind is very busy - which is almost every night... so I wake up annoyed but honestly not very tired. I will often roll around for an hour and then just get up. Since I'm not exhausted I've just tried to embrace the extra time in the day.
Hmm, thin, healthy guy not sleeping well, choking while sleeping, so bad he gets a CPAP machine...
Can you breathe through your nose?
In reply to tester (Forum Supporter) :
Seems like everyone needs a cpap machine these days.
I play word association. It works very well to empty your mind. Start with a random letter and think of words that start with it. As soon as you run out go to another letter. I rarely get past more than three or four letters.
What age range are you Tuna?
I can second not going too hard on melatonin; after ~15mg it has the opposite affects and keeps one awake.
Right now as a medical professional, I'm feeling this is a stress-related issue first THEN sleep quality. I like the idea of using phone apps to daily track things done to help you feel more accomplished- are you able to lower your daily stress in life more? Are you able to spend ~30 minutes or more reading before bed? I find if I do that I have no difficulties sleeping.
Podcasts have worked better for me than anything else. Cheap, low-profile earbuds that don't bother me, tho I usually only put one in. Meditation and heavy exercise haven't worked for me. The drugs I've taken suck.
I usually listen to Stuff You Should Know - two guys who are friends, read some websites about a topic, and talk about it. Interesting but not always fascinating, and they have mellow voices. They put me right to sleep.
Waking up in the middle of the night used to suck. Fire up a podcast and back to dreamland I go. It's my electronic Ambien.
I found myself having similar problems. Turns out, it's back pain that wakes me up and triggers my brain to start working. Taking an aspirin/advil before bed works for me.
ShawnG said:Meditation.
Try Insight Timer or Headspace for an app.
It will teach you how to recognize thought patterns, separate what's important from what isn't and shut your mind down when you want to.
Worked great for me.
I've tried headspace and it was sort of a waste
wake74 said:For me, when I wake up, and my mind immediately goes hyper active, rather than get up go downstairs and turn the TV (some nature show or something was my old go-to), I find a book on "tape" and some small ear buds helps. It helps my mind "shut-off", and I'm usually asleep shortly thereafter. It is a lousy way to listen to a book though as it keeps going after I fall asleep, and I'm forever trying to figure out where I actually left off.
No need to buy audio books anymore, every major library loans them out digitally, and you never have to leave your couch to pick them up.
I have no trouble coming down or going to sleep, it's literally minutes in the single digits.
OHSCrifle said:When you wake up.. are you exhausted or just pissed (because you want to keep sleeping)?
For me it's the latter when my mind is very busy - which is almost every night... so I wake up annoyed but honestly not very tired. I will often roll around for an hour and then just get up. Since I'm not exhausted I've just tried to embrace the extra time in the day.
Exhausted, can't function exhausted
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