Sleep update

[alexxkay]

I'm still keeping a sleep diary, but I'm no longer going to post it unless something particularly interesting comes up. I have, for the time being, abandonded the CPAP as ineffective. I will probably give it another shot in a few months, after a round or two with an allergist. With luck, it won't be needed. It seems more and more to me that my sleep woes are likely to be tied to my allergies, and that the apnea is just a relatively minor symptom. We'll see...

An idea floated through my head in the early-morning hours: chirpy birds are a denial-of-service attack on my sleep time. Luckily, my countermeasures (white noise machine combined with earplugs) are generally effective :-)

Comments

White noise earplugs

[(Anonymous)]

have you seen this device? It's a white noise machine with foam earplug tip which goes into your ear. See http://www.snorestore.co.uk/contents/en-uk/d7_snoremasker.html

Re: White noise earplugs

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

Interesting. But my current countermeasures are effective for the vast majority of my needs, and at least an order of magnitude cheaper.

[baron-saturday.livejournal.com]

I abandoned my CPAP months ago. I just had a second sleep study done. They're going to hook me up with a new machine and a new mask. Plus possibly some other combined treatment. I'll let you know how that works out.

[russkay.livejournal.com]

I too am having another sleep study done, first one in 12 years or so. I stopped using my CPAP last summer after some experimenting showed that I didn't sleep any better with it than without it since I lost all that weight.

But some months later, another sleep problem arose, serious problem falling asleep at all with the result that I'm many nights getting no more than an hour or two's sleep. Saw my PCP, and he suggested iron tablets to counteract restless leg syndrome (which I know I have, but which I doubt is all the story).

Interestingly, the first two sleep studies I had done, back in the mid-90s, the consulting doctor was a neurologist. Now at my HMO it is in the hands of the pulmonary people. Unfortunately I don't see them for another six weeks.