| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| art |
Posted - 05/28/2007 : 08:02:39
Yikes. I've not been getting much sleep lately. The other night I was in the kitchen, waiting for the toaster to toast. The next thing I knew, I was crashing into the counter. I got pretty banged up actually. What had happened was I'd simply fallen asleep on my feet and since I'm not a horse, I went down...
This is not the first time this has happened..I wouldn't call it narcolepsy, but I would call it a little weird. This ever happen to anyone else? Sometimes when driving I have to fight like hell to stay awake, occasionally opting for pulling over and a quick nap...
Clearly, I'm not getting enough sleep at night I would say. |
| 18 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| spiritcloud |
Posted - 05/31/2007 : 13:47:41
Thanks, Tom. I appreciate the vote of confidence. :)
I had 3 or 4 sleep studies before they diagnosed sleep apnea. Don't bother with the in-home finger monitor. They recorded reams of data that way--all inconclusive(typical?). It took the overnight study at the hospital and an MRI to see what was really up.
Weight plays a role with sleep apnea, but it's not necessarily the director. I would wake up constantly gasping for breath. My sleep study recorded something like 90+ events during the night, with a 15% sleep efficiency. The MRI showed polyps in my maxillary sinus.
And remember. If it comes to needing a machine to help you get decent sleep, a CPAP isn't the only choice. I couldn't sleep with a CPAP because it felt like I couldn't breathe out against the pressure. I ended up with a BIPAP, which detects when you breathe out and lowers the pressure. It took some getting used to, but it really helped me feel more rested during the day.
I've lost about 100 pounds over the past couple of years(don't know why), and it has made me feel that I don't need the BIPAP anymore. I rarely wake up gasping for air now. Still, sometimes I wonder if I would feel more rested if I used it again.
Hey, everyone's different. As for the study, I think they count on the patient being restless. They can learn a lot from that, too.
One thing that always helped me to stay awake while driving was eating ice chunks(gum isn't enough). I would go to a drivethrough and get a cup of ice for the drive home. Another thing was stopping and running errands to break up the drive. Cold temps were better than hot. Yadda yadda. Driving was one of the main reasons I stopped working. I was risking my life every day. It wasn't worth it.
(I recently learned that my kid's friend's dad was laid off because he kept falling asleep on the job! How embarrassing and damaging to his self-esteem! How do you explain that one?!? He was tested and diagnosed with severe sleep apnea.)
Good luck with whatever you decide to do, art! |
| art |
Posted - 05/30/2007 : 10:26:27
Ann,
Thanks so much...See, that's my initial response to this thing, what you said..that it's some sort of TMS wackadoo..SLeep studies I'm sure are valid and useful things, but I so dread getting sucked into that whole conventional medicine vortex..They'll find stuff cause that's what they do, their reason for being...
I suffered from restless legs for years...That's almost gone, only to be replaced by this restless body thing...It's really quite uncomfortable..I've no problem falling asleep at night, it's staying asleep that's the problem...I'll hit the sack at 11 say, fall asleep almost right away, sleep for thirty minutes or so, then be wide, wide, wide awake..
I love the night time hours..so it's not all bad...I feel outside of time somehow, and deliciously all by myself..I'm a committed introvert, and I love that feeling..
Anyway, veering off track...For the meantime, I'll take your good advice Ann and see what develops
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| tennis tom |
Posted - 05/30/2007 : 09:49:58
quote:
Originally posted by Scottydog
Hi Art,
I've had sleep probs for years but am convinced they are TMS, in my opinion sleep studies are the MRIs of insomnia. They will come up with loads of medical twaddle as to your probs and their difficult solution.
I'm with you SD, I was at Canyon Ranch once for Arthritis Week and they wanted to do a sleep study on me--No way, Jose'. They were looking for as many things wrong as they could. All the tests of course were added to the resort's bill at check-out.
I just hate sleeping and think it's very boring. I think the need for 8 hours sleep is part of a cultural imperative to have a well rested work-force to oil the machinery of industry. You don't want sleepy-heads down in the mine, ladling molten steel or behind the controls of a locomotive.
Napping when you feel sleepy is good. Falling asleep with-out a warning may be less narcolepsy, than not paying attention to the needs of one's mindbody--a TMS'ers trait.
It may be a good idea to do the study as I'm sure in a few rare instances there may be a legitimate structural issue. The problem with doing such a study is the interpretation of the results--is it TMS or real? And are you going to be sold something that you are gonna' be saddled with for life.  [|) [|)
Some of my favorite excerpts from " _THE DIVIDED MIND_ " :
http://www.tmshelp.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2605
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| Scottydog |
Posted - 05/30/2007 : 01:39:48
Hi Art,
I've had sleep probs for years but am convinced they are TMS, in my opinion sleep studies are the MRIs of insomnia. They will come up with loads of medical twaddle as to your probs and their difficult solution. Must admit I haven't had one but reading insomnia messageboards for years has given me some insight.
When you wake through the night try to get into the fidgety / anxious feelings, ask yourself what it is that's the problem, what is the deepseated issue that you are being distracted from. After doing this I can sometimes become calm and get back to sleep.
Insomnia and it's side effects are GREAT distractors especially fear of falling asleep at the wheel or not coping with your job adequately due to tiredness. Sounds suspiciously like TMS doesn't it?
Anne |
| Penny |
Posted - 05/29/2007 : 21:41:31
quote:
Originally posted by art
Yikes. I've not been getting much sleep lately. The other night I was in the kitchen, waiting for the toaster to toast. The next thing I knew, I was crashing into the counter.
Hi Art,
A friend of mine was on the phone with her hubby. She was driving home, and he was at home. In the middle of a sentence he stopped talking to her, and she heard a crash: He had completely blacked out/fallen asleep ... whatever you want to call it. She got home a few mins later and he was still out and she tapped him and he woke up.
The next day he saw his doc ran series of tests to rule out everything, and he had a clean bill. IMO, my friend's hubby is a TMSer and this was a way of tuning out (akin to physical pain distracting us from an emotion), but for you, this may be one of those times to depend on medicine to rule other possible causes out.
Do you have any idea how long you were asleep for? Do you remember exactly what you were thinking about before zonkville? (Other than extra butter for your toast  )
Don't want to scare you, but since my friend's doc wanted to run a bunch of tests, and his experience sounds similar, I just wanted to share this so you can get yourself checked sooner, than later.
Hugs,
>|< Penny
"Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain."
The Great and Powerful Oz |
| CrystalP |
Posted - 05/29/2007 : 13:01:13
Art,
I won't lie to you the sleep study can be a little uncomfortable but it's only one night. You will need to get the appointment thru your dr then just show up around 8PM. The technicians attach some electro wire things to you and you just hang out, watch TV, read until 9:30 or 10. During that time they are recording all your vitals, baselines etc.... Then they have you go to bed and basicially they monitor you thru the night. I felt like I had not possibly actually slept enough for them to have gathered any useful information and I made that remark to the tech that was working with me. She assured me that I had slept some during the night especially once the CPAP therapy was started (that is the split part of the study) You spend half the night without CPAP and half with CPAP. You leave around 6AM. If you are found to have OSA you will be set up with your own CPAP machine and shown how to use it. It takes a bit of persistance to get used to it but I would not dream of sleeping without my CPAP now. You can also get good info about different machines on the CPAP forum www.cpaptalks.com. |
| art |
Posted - 05/29/2007 : 11:47:29
Thanks agin for all the good info...Dr Z, you're probably right, I should do a sleep study...
And Spiritcloud, that's extremely helpful...It's really immensely comforting to know you're had the exact same symptoms...It seemed so weird to me, that I must be the only one...Oh God yes, the car...Screaming, and singing, and slapping myself, anything to keep myself awake...It's insane,'cause many times I'm perfectly awake feeling when I get into the car, but something about the environment in the car acts like a powerful soporific...If I really feel like I might fall asleep, a terrifying thought, I just pull over and take a nap...All it takes is a couple of minutes and I'm fine..
One time, and this is scary, I was standing at the top of the stairs one night, waiting for the dog to come in...I started to fall asleep and just barely caught myself before tumbling head first down the steps...
As to the apnea, doesn't that involve some sort of extreme snoring? I'm a middle-aged male, so I must do my share, but I'm not overweight in the slightest, plus, no ones ever complained that my snoring was too loud or anything...I think I'd have heard by now..
What does the sleep study involve? Is it a one night thing? I'd be in agony prolly because no doubt I'd wake up after a half hour or so, and be terribly restless...It's a terrible feeling...do they let you wander about?
And CRystal, thanks so much for the website..I'll check it out right away!! |
| CrystalP |
Posted - 05/29/2007 : 10:22:12
Hi art!
I have to agree with Littlebird. You say you don't have sleep apnea but have you done a sleep study? Preferrable a split sleep study? If not you really do not know whether or not you have OSA. Check out the site www.cpaptalks.com. It is a great source for sleep sufferers and I highly encourage you to get a sleep study. Best, Crystal. |
| tennis tom |
Posted - 05/29/2007 : 10:00:33
quote:
Originally posted by spiritcloud
I'm new to the group, and to TMS in general, so I don't know what's expected as far as suggesting actual physical solutions for TMS issues. From what I know so far of TMS, the symptoms are supposed to be resolvable without meds and such. If I overstep my bounds, I apologize. I just thought your fatigue symptoms were so similar to mine I couldn't help posting.
No worries, SC, and welcome aboard the TMS galactic cruiser. Your above paragraph exhibits TMS "goodist" tendancies and is your ticket in.
Don't worry about saying something wrong, most here are very nice and gentle souls do to years of TMS repressing/suppressing, their urges to wring people's necks.
If anyone jumps on you, either Shawn, or I, who hold a liberal interpretation of TMS freedom of speech will come to your defense (or pile on you ourselves).
Making mistakes and f-ing up is good for TMS'ers to practice to overcome their "perfectionist" tendancies.
Cheers,
tt  
Some of my favorite excerpts from " _THE DIVIDED MIND_ " :
http://www.tmshelp.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2605
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| spiritcloud |
Posted - 05/29/2007 : 09:38:56
P.S. hah...
I also have the restless body thing. That can definitely augment any poor feeling. I take neurontin for pain, but it also seems to help that restless body feeling. Definitely a good bonus. |
| spiritcloud |
Posted - 05/29/2007 : 09:34:26
Hi, art. Sounds like you are where I was about 3 years ago, as far as fatigue goes. I had the same problem with driving--like I had to scream and cause myself physical pain to even stay awake. Kinda felt like some overwhelming force was pulling me towards unconsciousness. I even did the fall asleep standing up thing, or while eating, or while talking to someone...not a good thing on the job. ha!
That said, I was put on Methylphenidate(the generic of Ritalin), and it was night and day. I was also later tested and found I had sleep apnea. Using a c-pap or bi-pap machine at night helped a lot with daytime sleepiness.
I'm new to the group, and to TMS in general, so I don't know what's expected as far as suggesting actual physical solutions for TMS issues. From what I know so far of TMS, the symptoms are supposed to be resolvable without meds and such. If I overstep my bounds, I apologize. I just thought your fatigue symptoms were so similar to mine I couldn't help posting.
<div align="right"><font color="red"><font size="1"><i>Nobility is not a birthright--it is a way of life.</i></font id="size1"></font id="red"></div id="right"> |
| drziggles |
Posted - 05/29/2007 : 07:45:45
Art, it's possible that what you have is narcolepsy. It is not normal to fall asleep standing up and collapse! You should really see someone for a sleep evaluation, possibly including a sleep study, to diagnose your sleep problem. We don't want the next time this to happen to be when you are behind the wheel of a car, or for you to injure yourself in a fall... |
| art |
Posted - 05/29/2007 : 07:13:47
Thanks all,
Littlebird, I don't have apnea fortunately. I just tend to wake up at night and experience a lot of restlessness. It's not a restless leg thing, more a restless body type deal. It can be quite exhausting and I rarely get more than 5 or 6 hours of sleep. I've also occasionally sleep walked. Clearly, I've got some sort of sleep disorder, which might be a form of TMS in the manner of RLS...So that's the answer to your question electra.
Wavy, toast is a healthful and relaxing snack in the middle of the night. Just be sure to do what I do, which is to slather each piece with plenty of butter. Also, while you're at it, you can take another page from my book by adding your favorite baked goods..Doughnuts are especially nice at that hour..
T, I've got to think about that "swing with the force of gravity" advice..If I understand it correctly, sounds like it would be perfectly applicable to the golf swing...I played yesterday with the girlfriend and her son and my friend...The son is a big hitter, tall, athletic and most of all young...I hit the ball pretty well by anbd large, but couldn't putt my way out of a paper bag...I 3 putt half the greens. Pathetic. Not to mention frustrating.
I hate putting. It's a completely distinct part of the game, as if one were to play 20 minutes of full court basketball then go in the other room and knit for a minute, then come out and play basketball again..
Silly.
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| Wavy Soul |
Posted - 05/29/2007 : 01:13:36
Oops - here I am having fallen asleep early, now woke up and can't get back so I'm here.
I'll try making some toast in the kitchen!
xx
Love is the answer, whatever the question |
| Littlebird |
Posted - 05/28/2007 : 14:23:14
Hi Art,
A situation that's much more common than narcolepsy, which can cause people to fall asleep suddenly during the day, is sleep apnea. Do you snore? If so, it would be good to check out the sleep apnea possibility, as it not only causes sudden sleeping, but it affects your overall cognitive function and puts stress on the heart. Even if you're not aware of snoring, it might be worth checking it out. Just a thought. Hope you'll get some good rest soon. |
| electraglideman |
Posted - 05/28/2007 : 11:43:58
Art, sorry to hear about your fall. I knew a guy once who would fall asleep at the drop of a hat. He claimed he couldn't sleep at night so he napped all through the day. One day he crashed his car into a ditch and spent a couple of weeks in the hospital.
Is there any particular reason you haven't been getting a good nights sleep?
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| tennis tom |
Posted - 05/28/2007 : 09:21:47
Sorry to hear about your mishap Art. Gravity can be a powerful force. This was proven to me, once when I fell asleep while a passenger in the backseat of a car, (no I wasn't driving).
I was holding onto the grab-handle at the top of the window, when my hand released and my arm fell with quite a heavy thud, taking me quite by surprise. My tennis coach was always talking about not over-hitting the ball, instructing to "swing with the speed of gravity".
That heavy force was demonstrated to me in that moment and I understood clearly, for the first time, what my coach was talking about. I imagine Sir Issac Newton had a similar revelation when he was hit on the head by that apple.
I learned this lesson once again, on returning home from a long bike ride. Stopping at the Stop sign across the street from my house, I neglected to take my foot out of the toe-clip of the pedal and slowly fell over sideways. Fatigue is a great force too.
Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld, said yesterday on Fox News, (Sorry Art, et al), that "new studies", demonstrate napping can help prevent heart-attacks and prolong life.
Sounds like you may be a good napper, Art. Napping I'm sure is good for TMS'ers to recharge their batteries, reduce stress and helping to do the TMS work.
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| skizzik |
Posted - 05/28/2007 : 08:35:52
yikes indeed.  |
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