Sleep deprivation

[josephga]

anyone else suffer from this? I can go weeks only sleeping 2 to 3 hours a night and never sleep more that 5 hrs in a night my whole life. I even take 2 Tylenol pms every night. sometimes ill wake up like gasping like there's no air and I sleep walk allot I wear a a cooled down eye mask to bed ever night too. its effecting my mood. iv lost alot of weight because the lack of sleep is effecting my eating habit.

I saw on Devon Hunters blog he has this really bad too. anyone else?

[corndog]

sometimes ill wake up like gasping like there's no air

 

This sounds like a common symptom of sleep apnea. I highly recommend that you get tested for it. The treatment isn't glamorous, but, from my personal experience, the quality-of-life improvement is extraordinary. I immediately felt about 15 years younger.

[jgoo]

Sleep apnea sounds like a real possibility and getting a sleep study as corndog suggested is the way to go. Are you very tired through the day? The standard treatment for sleep apnea is a CPAP machine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_airway_pressure) but for very serious conditions there are surgical procedures. Since getting diagnosed with sleep apnea I was amazed at how many people I know that have it as well. Sleep deprivation can be very serious so get it checked out by a doctor/trained professional as soon as you can.

[Guest countryboywny]

This sounds like a common symptom of sleep apnea. I highly recommend that you get tested for it. The treatment isn't glamorous, but, from my personal experience, the quality-of-life improvement is extraordinary. I immediately felt about 15 years younger.

 

I agree. I was diagnosed about 4 years ago and the overall change in my mood and energy was unbelievable... I don't go anywhere with out my CPAP!!

[leigh.bess.toad]

Well everyone who kinows me would immediately nominate me. 2-3 hours is a good night. For a stretch there I went every other day with 2-3 hours and every other day with zero. I saw the title of the thread and I wondered who in the hell was talking about me. I'm up to 2, 3, 4 AM and grab a quick nap and then hit the gym by 5 and we're off for another day. And it's rarely in bed -- normally sleeping in a recliner-rocker. If I sleep in a bed 2 days a week I'm really luxuriating. With me it isn't can't go to sleep it's doesn't want to go to sleep. I'm up all night on-line. Any number of forum members have expressed their concern for my health but it's the way I've always operated -- ever since college and that was about 3 centuries ago. In the immortal words of Rod Hagen -- "I can sleep when I'm dead".

 

But joseph -- your's is different from mine. I agree with the others. Your's definitely sounds like sleep apnea. Please get it checked out.

[josephga]

Iv known people with it b4 but most of them were over weight which i'm not, my dad had it really bad he was about 40lbs over weight and he snored allot which i dont snore at all according to others. i'm tired pretty much allday its effecting my eating. i normally can get to sleep but it doesn't last really long

[jgoo]

There are a few different types of sleep apnea.

 

Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common type of sleep apnea. It occurs when the soft tissue in the back of your throat relaxes during sleep, causing a blockage of the airway (as well as loud snoring). I tend to believe this is often the result of being overweight as one possible cause.

 

Central sleep apnea is a much less common type of sleep apnea that involves the central nervous system, rather than an airway obstruction. It occurs when the brain fails to signal the muscles that control breathing. People with central sleep apnea seldom snore.

 

Complex sleep apnea is a combination of obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea.

 

Not trying to diagnose your situation but the lack of snoring and not being overweight may indicate one form over the other. Again, it is important that you get a sleep study done to know for sure what is going on as sleep deprivation is something you don't want to take lightly.

 

From a web site I came across, some of the other side effects of sleep apnea that may result are the following:

 

Waking up with a dry mouth or sore throat

Morning headaches

Restless or fitful sleep

Insomnia or nighttime awakenings

Going to the bathroom frequently during the night

Waking up feeling out of breath

Forgetfulness and difficulty concentrating

Moodiness, irritability, or depression

 

The above came from: http://www.helpguide.org/life/sleep_apnea.htm

[leigh.bess.toad]

Obesity can be a contributing factor but it is not determinative in and of itself. It's the gasping for air that scares me joseph. You reallyi need to get it checked out. You are probably stopping breathing during the night. Your other symptoms all line up with sleep apnea as well.

[gcursor]

You know what I've found helps? Either reading the tax form instructions or the small print on anything that comes in a box.

[adriano46]

Iv known people with it b4 but most of them were over weight which i'm not, my dad had it really bad he was about 40lbs over weight and he snored allot which i dont snore at all according to others. i'm tired pretty much allday its effecting my eating. i normally can get to sleep but it doesn't last really long

 

Joseph -- I have had these symptoms in the past (but not lingering) and my physician told me it was sleep apnea too - the waking up gasping for air was the worst, and twice I was badly injured. While overweight people may be prime candidates, they are not the only ones, and so I would listen to what people are writing here -- and see a doctor.

 

I did do certain things to reverse this (lost weight, and still ma losing it; read myself to sleep; do NOT watch TV in bedroom; do NOT each for at least 2 or more hrs before sleeping).

[Guest greatness]

oh my should I give you a visit and make you some hot soup or something... I hope you feel better soon. Hugs~~~

 

anyone else suffer from this? I can go weeks only sleeping 2 to 3 hours a night and never sleep more that 5 hrs in a night my whole life. I even take 2 Tylenol pms every night. sometimes ill wake up like gasping like there's no air and I sleep walk allot I wear a a cooled down eye mask to bed ever night too. its effecting my mood. iv lost alot of weight because the lack of sleep is effecting my eating habit.

I saw on Devon Hunters blog he has this really bad too. anyone else?

[josephga]

One problem im sure of is my mind isn't shutting down at night, i take stress to bed with me

[adriano46]

Joseph, that is why I learned to read - to distract my mind and relax it. It is a habit I began in college when I majored in English Lit and had to read so much just to keep with the course work. I travel a lot and always have one or two books with me (I have yet to buy a Kindle). I usually keep 2 or 3 books on my bedside table and read for about 20-30 minutes before sleep, and in 90% of the time, it works (the other 10% watching porn and whacking off works).

[Guest Merlin]

It is not a good idea to take Tylenol PM every night, since the Tylenol can damage the liver. You can get the same sleep diphenhydramine, in several other forms, including Sominex, Unisom, Benadryl etc.

I assume you have tried reading to get to sleep. It is a passive brain activity which helps the active brain to close down to sleep.

[Mark450]

Also have your blood sugar checked for highs and lows. Sometimes your body produces too much insulin while you sleep and your body literally runs out of sugar. You wake up suddenly because your body thinks it is being deprived. Like when you hold your breath a long time, your body starts to fight that feeling.

[Guest greatness]

I know that's is the case for some people but I can't sleep after reading at all. I get hyper and sometimes end up reading the whole book. I eat oatmeal for dinner instead of a heavy meal if I have trouble sleeping. Warm black bean water can help you too. You soak black bean in the purified water and cook your oat meal in it. It relaxes you and make you sleepy. I hope this can help. Hugs~~~

 

It is not a good idea to take Tylenol PM every night, since the Tylenol can damage the liver. You can get the same sleep diphenhydramine, in several other forms, including Sominex, Unisom, Benadryl etc.

I assume you have tried reading to get to sleep. It is a passive brain activity which helps the active brain to close down to sleep.

[josephga]

not often but a few times iv passed out. getting really dizzy and the room spinning then id lay down for about 30 minutes until it pasts. iv had those spells for a few years.

few weeks ago i couldn't get out of bed i opened my eyes and the room was spinning

[raulgmanzo]

It is not a good idea to take Tylenol PM every night, since the Tylenol can damage the liver. You can get the same sleep diphenhydramine, in several other forms, including Sominex, Unisom, Benadryl etc.

I assume you have tried reading to get to sleep. It is a passive brain activity which helps the active brain to close down to sleep.

 

I agree with Merlin that Tylenol PM is probably not a good idea. Keep in mind that TylenolPM can contribute to dehydration which can cause a host of sleeping, congestive and other health problems.

 

I would immediately switch to straight Diphenhydramine as Merlin suggests and if you feel the need for a painkiller also then take that separately. With a lot of water. The point of taking them separately is that you can now reduce either the pain killer or the anti-histamine/sleep aid (diphenydramine is an anti-histamine) individually. But both can contribute to dehydration.

 

Please don't let worry about getting up in the night prevent you from drinking a glass of water before sleeping. Getting up in the middle of the night to piss can be good for your circulation. Though I admit -thanks to a great bladder- I rarely need to pee in the night, still I would rather get up, or hell even piss in a bottle, anything than ever go back to trying to sleep without enough hydration. Also the first thing I do upon waking, even before getting out of bed is to drink a glass of water.

 

I have taken a LOT of Diphenhydramine and related things in the past. Mostly because I used to suffer tremendously from from insomnia, allergies and sinus problems. Which all improved dramatically with increasing my water intake and reducing the amount of dairy and sugar in my diet drastically. I also make a point of avoiding refined grains which often have a glycemic index just as bad as sugar.

 

Now I rarely take an anti-histamine, and one more reason is that it sometimes affects my sexual abilities. I also found things like diphenhydramine take many hours after waking to clear my system and until that happens I'm dragging. Though forcing myself in the morning to immediately have a healthy breakfast helps tremendously and getting on my bicycle for a brisk 5 to 20 mile ride will wake me up considerably and also make it more likely that I will sleep well later that night.

 

Nowadays, if I have difficulty sleeping I much prefer to take a little Melatonin. The pills often come in 3 or 5mg sizes but I find that half or less often does the trick.

 

Nowadays I tend to sleep well most nights as long as I don't have to get up early in the morning, because in that case I often stress too much about needing to get to sleep right away and well nothing gives me insomnia more than the stress and worry about insomnia.

[Guest Wetnwildbear]

You Don't Need to be Overweight . . .

 

Iv known people with it b4 but most of them were over weight which i'm not, my dad had it really bad he was about 40lbs over weight and he snored allot which i dont snore at all according to others. i'm tired pretty much allday its effecting my eating. i normally can get to sleep but it doesn't last really long

 

I have a friend who is 5'2 and 120 who has Sleep Apnea. The CPAP did not work because in this case it was not soft pallette obstructing the airway (among the most common causes) but rather a jaw issue. A mouth guard which

holds the jaw in proper position while sleeping remedied the apnea.

[+ deej]

From a web site I came across, some of the other side effects of sleep apnea that may result are the following:

 

Waking up with a dry mouth or sore throat

Morning headaches

Restless or fitful sleep

Insomnia or nighttime awakenings

Going to the bathroom frequently during the night

Waking up feeling out of breath

Forgetfulness and difficulty concentrating

Moodiness, irritability, or depression

 

And all these years I thought I got rid of those symptoms by giving up clubbing and partying.

[josephga]

I forgot to mention i wear a night guard iv had tmj since i was a teen i even chipped a tooth in my sleep b4 getting the guard

[instudiocity]

Please get the Sleep Study Completed...

 

For whatever reason your doctor asks, please get a sleep study completed. If it's obstructive sleep apnea, Neurological Sleep Apnea, or a dependency on the Tylenol PMs, or whatever else, get tested. It's the only way to figure it out and make the change in lifestyle you need.

 

To date, counting myself, I can name 12 people in my spheres of influence who are today either sleeping with CPAP machines, had the corrective surgery, or found another diagnosis. Seven of them were told they wouldn't have lived 5 more years without having been diagnosed. That's seven friends in their 40's and 50's (and one 24 year old) who would be gone PERMANENTLY from my life if they had ignored their symptoms.

 

Everyone needs 5-7 hours of sleep per day, except maybe Lee and he's just got extra energy from his extremely high testosterone levels. LOL!

[Guest Wetnwildbear]

For whatever reason your doctor asks, please get a sleep study completed. If it's obstructive sleep apnea, Neurological Sleep Apnea, or a dependency on the Tylenol PMs, or whatever else, get tested. It's the only way to figure it out and make the change in lifestyle you need.

 

To date, counting myself, I can name 12 people in my spheres of influence who are today either sleeping with CPAP machines, had the corrective surgery, or found another diagnosis. Seven of them were told they wouldn't have lived 5 more years without having been diagnosed. That's seven friends in their 40's and 50's (and one 24 year old) who would be gone PERMANENTLY from my life if they had ignored their symptoms.

 

Everyone needs 5-7 hours of sleep per day, except maybe Lee and he's just got extra energy from his extremely high testosterone levels. LOL!

 

I dont know about Lee. However, I wholeheartedly agree you need to be tested. I got the test years ago - and the tech never said there was a

 

problem so I kind of forgot about it. About 4 weeks later the Pulmonologist called me at work wanted to know why

 

I hadnt been back to see him -- and reeled off this list of dangers from apnea - Im not scared easily - but he scared the shit out of me - as he went

 

on - as memory serves quoting:

 

"Do you know that you are 5 times more likely to die of a heart attack, 8 times more likely to have a stroke, 5 times more likely to cause or suffer

 

and die in a car accident - and may kill someone else" Those were the highlights that still ring in my ears years later.

 

2 Weeks on a CPAP and I felt 10 years younger and 20 years wiser - lack of sleep had dulled my creative juices, my joie de vive, and my sex drive

 

increased DRAMATICALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know at least 10 ppl with apnea. And based on the symptoms

 

I believe that it is what killed my father an otherwise healthy robust man in his 50s - when I was a teen and

 

the condition had yet to be recognized.

 

Joseph you seem like a nice guy - You already have health issues that you have discussed in other threads - Please get the Test!

[leigh.bess.toad]

Joseph you seem like a nice guy - You already have health issues that you have discussed in other threads - Please get the Test!

 

Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[josephga]

iv had colon cancer, diagnosed with cluster headaches in 06 that one was the worse of them all pain wise, TMJ, IBS at 14. Then MS in early 09 only thing I haven't had is a std or those childhood stuff like chicken pox, or mumps