Sleep Is Good, I Hear :: Mike Neir's Page

Yet another long while between posts. I suppose anyone that reads here should be used to that by now. There's plenty of stuff worth mentioning here, I suppose, but I rarely have the desire to sit down and type something up.

One thing that has made my life significantly more unpleasant lately is a general inability to get a good night's sleep. For the past two months, at least, I wake up feeling like I slept half the time I did, and its cumulative effects are the pits. My attention span is shorter, I have a harder time remembering things, and on bad days, I just lose topics of conversation in mid-sentence.

Erin is reasonably sure that I have sleep apnea, or something close to it. She's observed shallow breathing followed by fits and starts pretty much every time she's watched for it. From what she sees, I mostly wake up once every 15 minutes or so on the typical night. That would surely explain while I feel like a wet bag of crap every morning these days.

Jonny K :: 03/25/2009, 1:23 pm :: Reply

Dude, sleep is the foundation of good physical and mental health. You need to get at least a solid 7 hours every night or you're not going to feel very good the next day. I recommend Ambien, and for your purposes Ambien CR (constant release - that one helps you to stay asleep throughout the night). Plus Ambien gives you a cool, trippy high every night, and it's perfectly legal.

Mike Neir :: 03/25/2009, 4:19 pm :: Reply

I don't think drugs would help at all. If I've got sleep apnea (the signs point 'yes' on that assumption), I've got physical airway blockage that causes me to stop breathing for measurable intervals while I'm sleeping. No drug is going to fix that.

Sleep apnea is what Dre has, and why he wears the breathing mask when he sleeps now. I'm guessing one of those is in my future.

Russ :: 03/26/2009, 3:02 am :: Reply

I have been using a cpap since septemer. It really helps. The test is kinda cool and they can do it late night. Mine was done from 4 am in the morning to whenever I woke up They can schedule it for your normal sleep schedule. Don't let them change that it is important that you do it at the normal time that you sleep.

Make sure you have the cash. The sleep study was expensive and 20% of expensive is a lot. but still worth it. The cpap is a rental 110 and month they pay 80% but you have to take it in once a month for them to read the card to make sure you are using it enough so they will still pay for it. Kind of a pain in the ass.

We can talk about it anytime you want. Just let me know

Jonny K :: 03/26/2009, 3:58 pm :: Reply

After I posted I realized that not only would drugs not solve it, but they could actually be dangerous since you have sleep apnea (you might stop breathing and be so out of it that you wouldn't wake yourself up to start up again). So, good idea, bad thinking. I just recommended it because it's worked so well for me. But, sleep apnea is much more severe than the occasional problem falling asleep that I've got. Do whatever you need to do to start getting a full night's sleep.

Averyl :: 03/28/2009, 5:56 am :: Reply

I've been an insomniac all of my life, however things improved for me when I realized that my body wants to be asleep by 10 and up by 4. I only need 5-6 hours sleep and I am good to go. Not everyone needs 7-8 hours. It's really the quality of sleep. Also, I take a short nap in the afternoon which also helps. I have also found that my diet affects my sleep quality. If I eat a lot of chocolate or sugar I do not sleep well at all.

Jonny K :: 03/30/2009, 1:05 pm :: Reply

Excercising helps you get a good night's sleep too. I know you're not big into that, but it does help. Excercising burns a lot of energy and releases stress, all of which helps you relax and fall asleep at night.

Mike Neir :: 03/30/2009, 6:29 pm :: Reply

I definitely agree that it would help if I was having trouble falling asleep. The problem I'm having is that I can't get to a deep restful sleep, so my sleep isn't effective. I have zero trouble falling asleep, really. On most days, I actually feel like I could just lay down and be asleep in 5 minutes at any given point in the day.

My sleep study is scheduled, so things are moving in the right direction.

sneir :: 05/27/2009, 2:34 pm :: Reply

I think it's high time you updated your blog.

Dan :: 06/04/2009, 8:52 am :: Reply

The more weight I put on - the more I snore and breath badly - the worse my sleep is - the more I feel like poop the next day - the more I pick myself up with a nice snack etc etc etc. Not saying it's the same for you but here's to sharing

Justin L :: 09/01/2009, 12:25 pm :: Reply

a solid six months without an update, eh? you trying to best my record? :)