Hello Old Friends - I Need Help

[sleepycarol]

My son has put his alarm clock on a metal pie pan so that the vibration of the alarm also sets the pan to making noise. This is put across the room. If it is just the alarm, even next to him he can sleep through it -- but the metal pie pan makes enough noise that it is distrubing and since it is across the room he has to get up. He makes sure he does not lay back down (otherwise he back to sleep).

[DreamStalker]

You need to reset your biological clock. Weekends are the best time to reset your clock. Do whatever it takes to get out of bed as early as possible and then exhaust yourself with exercise during the day.

Are you getting any exercise? Consider walking, swimming, or biking 30 minutes to an hour in the afternoon after getting off work.

It takes about 3 or 4 days for you to gradually reset your clock. That is why absolutely hate having to change back and forth with that idiotic daylight savings crap. Should be eliminated and if the people can ever take their government back from business interests.

Believe it or not, Dream, I'm already doing that! A couple of months ago I started walking four days a week after work, as far as I could until I was ready to drop (and then I'd turn around and head back to the car and walk that same distance over again (lol). Though I'm walking a LOT for a person of my, erm, stature (even my doc can't believe how much I'm walking) I'm still seeing no weight loss and no real boost in "energy" even after a couple of months. It physically wears me out to walk but still I'm not "mentally" tired enough to sleep when I get into bed unless it's late. Getting up on the weekends is something I know I need to do but haven't been, though. You're absolutely right!

That's great on the walking.

One other thing that came to mind is your mention of no wieght loss or energy too. Have you been checked out by an endochrinologist ... for thyroid, adrenals, POCS, etc?

Also, I remember Snoredog used to suggest melatonin. As I understand, melatonin is tied directly to the endocrine system's circadian rhythms.

If you have insurance coverage, I would strongly suggest you get thoroughly checked out by an endo specialist as you may have other underlying hormonal disorders going on.

Good luck.

[elena88]

Sorry you are having trouble with the sleep times.. I know how that is..

My doctor sent me home with a home test you send to a lab for adrenal and melatonin.. Its just a saliva and urine test kit.
You might ask about that..

Its not very expensive..

Perhaps if you tried changing your bed time fifteen minutes earlier each night.. and try to be consistant, that might help.. but I know
when youre wired, its awfully hard..

I have noticed after three months, instead of hours to fall asleep, Im actually falling asleep in a half hour.. so I think that must be my reaction
to the cpap. I dont know why you are having so much trouble..

I JUST WANTED TO SAY.. OMG, YOUR GRAPH IS FABULOUS!
how do you get it like that?

DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO GET GREAT NUMBERS LIKE THAT? WHAT IS THE SECRET???

[WillSucceed]

Oh sheesh!! I agree with Ozji... making a substantial change in your life is difficult, painful, challenging, whatever. Think "Nike." Just do it. EVERYONE has challenge in their life and difficult things to overcome. You can talk about it or you can do something about it. It's up to you.

[kteague]

Hey long-time-out-of College Girl! Always good to see you drop in. Sorry to hear your sleep schedule is jeopardizing your job. I do understand how hard it can be to sleep on cue, after all we ran into each other many a time in late-nite chat "back in the day". I still pull many a late nighter, but I can say I can go to bed and go to sleep pretty much at whatever time I choose. Since my problem now is in staying asleep, I often choose to get that short sleep closer to morning. Getting to where I could fall asleep early took a very long time. In the end it took forcing the issue, a no excuses approach. Found out if I deprived myself enough, I WOULD fall asleep eventually. I think it was my 3rd day of a concerted effort that I was yawning and watching the clock and waiting for it to be late enough to go to bed. Unfortunately, allowing myself leeway is a slippery slope. Having two daughters both much older than you, I feel the impulse to mother-talk you, but I'll try to keep it at an older friend level. Don't let this thing rob you of a livlihood, or even your life. You KNOW short sleeping is bad for your health. May even be contributing to your difficulty losing weight even with the walking. You KNOW what time you need to get up to fulfull your job obligations. You KNOW there is nothing you could be doing during the time you should be sleeping that is more important to your present or future than getting that sleep. You KNOW this is not gonna just happen, you have to take charge. Whatever it takes. You showed incredible strength and determination finishing college even with years of OSA then time of adjusting (diligently I might add) to CPAP. Don't make this a half way journey. Take this to another level and be the very best you you can be. Please don't persist in unhealthy habits when you KNOW better. You don't want to look up one day and be in your 50's and be ME. Whether there's a name on why you stay up late or not isn't gonna make a lot of difference. You still have to work to make this right. You have to love yourself enough to stop abusing yourself. Make your evening so quiet that you'll be be attuned to the subtle ebbs and flows of energy, journal to look for patterns. Work with your body's natural inclinations. The late nights aren't you. They are the result of years of OSA, bad sleep habits, and artifical energy born of stimulation. Quiet your life and find you.

[nittalagh]

I read through most of the responses so i don't think this has been mentioned, but sorry if it has. Do you use your laptop/ipod/etc right before bedtime? I read somewhere(maybe here?) recently that all the bright screens we look at all the time can mess with sleep schedule. Those lights make your body think the sun is still shining so you don't get tired like you should. Maybe try to avoid the computer for a couple hours before you should be going to bed?

[djr1215]

I've considered putting the alarm clock across the room as you (and other people in my life) have suggested, but I'm forced to wear earplugs as I share a home with a roommate who works the night shift, and when he comes in in the wee hours he wakes me up if I don't have earplugs in. If I have the alarm clock across the room, I simply don't hear it with the earplugs. Maybe one of those "light machines" would work to wake me without hearing it - definitely worth a try.

There are alarm clocks designed for the deaf and hard of hearing that have bed or pillow vibrators attached. Perhaps one of those would work to get you up. Google vibrating alarm

[AndrewB]

Clocky!

http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/lights/91f2/

[LinkC]

And thank you for mentioning daylight savings time..idiotic is the right word.

Two words: Hawaii Arizona

[rested gal]

Good advice from everyone. Can't think of a thing to add to what they are suggesting.

CG, I hope you get a handle on your current problem as successfully as you have handled your OSA problem.

Great results you're getting!

[Kevin G.]

The information on getting to sleep is useful but for those times that you cannot sleep in I have found an effective solution. Plug your machine into a timmer that turns the machine off when you need to get up. The machine turns off and you will wake up. The downside is that if you did not get enough sleep you will be sleep deprived that day but sometimes you really cannot sleep in.

[CollegeGirl]

Don't remember if it was mentioned about eating too late at night or not drinking coffee or tea past mid-day. And I turn the clock away from the bed, and even the night light in the hallway disturbs me. Your reports are fantastic so I hope you find a simple solution soon.

Thanks, Dori! That’s a good point. I do usually drink tea with dinner, though even vast quantities of caffeine have never had a noticeable effect on me. It’s worth trying, though. It can’t hurt! My clock is already turned away at night, so that’s something good already. There’s very little light in my room – I like it nice and dark.

My son has put his alarm clock on a metal pie pan so that the vibration of the alarm also sets the pan to making noise. This is put across the room. If it is just the alarm, even next to him he can sleep through it -- but the metal pie pan makes enough noise that it is distrubing and since it is across the room he has to get up. He makes sure he does not lay back down (otherwise he back to sleep).

THIS is a little piece of genius. Thanks, Carol. I literally did not hear my alarm for 12 minutes this morning, so maybe this will help!

That's great on the walking.

One other thing that came to mind is your mention of no wieght loss or energy too. Have you been checked out by an endochrinologist ... for thyroid, adrenals, POCS, etc?

Also, I remember Snoredog used to suggest melatonin. As I understand, melatonin is tied directly to the endocrine system's circadian rhythms.

If you have insurance coverage, I would strongly suggest you get thoroughly checked out by an endo specialist as you may have other underlying hormonal disorders going on.

Good luck.

Thanks again, Dream. I’ve actually already been diagnosed as hypothyroid by my GP, and I take a small amount of a medication (levothyroxine) to help with that. I will admit I’ve noticed no difference at all, but my blood thyroid levels seem pretty normal on it. Maybe it’s time to see an endocrinologist – good idea.

I tried melatonin at one point and saw no result from it. I’ll add it to my list of things to try again, though.

Sorry you are having trouble with the sleep times.. I know how that is..

My doctor sent me home with a home test you send to a lab for adrenal and melatonin.. Its just a saliva and urine test kit.
You might ask about that..

Its not very expensive..

Perhaps if you tried changing your bed time fifteen minutes earlier each night.. and try to be consistant, that might help.. but I know
when youre wired, its awfully hard..

I have noticed after three months, instead of hours to fall asleep, Im actually falling asleep in a half hour.. so I think that must be my reaction
to the cpap. I dont know why you are having so much trouble..

I JUST WANTED TO SAY.. OMG, YOUR GRAPH IS FABULOUS!
how do you get it like that?

DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO GET GREAT NUMBERS LIKE THAT? WHAT IS THE SECRET???

LOL at that last part Elena. I had to fight really, really hard when I was first diagnosed to get the right machine and mask for myself. I had a stubborn sleep doctor who refused to acknowledge the possibility I was titrated poorly. I wasn’t feeling better on the 6cm they titrated me at, so he bumped me up to 8, but refused to go further. It was my GP prescribing an auto for me (I asked her to at this forum’s suggestion) that turned things around – I learned that (as you can see from my data) I need 12 cm rather than 6. Huge difference! With the right machine and the right mask, these are my results (I even have 0.0 nights occasionally). Not sure why I’m that lucky, but I’m grateful for it.

That kit sounds interesting – I’ll definitely ask my doc. It might be easier to just push bedtime back 15 minutes a night, but I don’t know – I think I’d rather just go cold turkey and have a really rough week and just adjust to my new bedtime by force. Lol!

Hey long-time-out-of College Girl! Always good to see you drop in. Sorry to hear your sleep schedule is jeopardizing your job. I do understand how hard it can be to sleep on cue, after all we ran into each other many a time in late-nite chat "back in the day". I still pull many a late nighter, but I can say I can go to bed and go to sleep pretty much at whatever time I choose. […snipped for post brevity] Take this to another level and be the very best you you can be. Please don't persist in unhealthy habits when you KNOW better. You don't want to look up one day and be in your 50's and be ME. Whether there's a name on why you stay up late or not isn't gonna make a lot of difference. You still have to work to make this right. You have to love yourself enough to stop abusing yourself. Make your evening so quiet that you'll be be attuned to the subtle ebbs and flows of energy, journal to look for patterns. Work with your body's natural inclinations. The late nights aren't you. They are the result of years of OSA, bad sleep habits, and artifical energy born of stimulation. Quiet your life and find you.

Hi, mom. I mean Kathy. <3 Your post actually made me tear up towards the end. I will say in relation to being you when I hit 50 that I think you’re the bee’s knees, so that wouldn’t be so terrible! But I know what you mean. Quieting my life will be hard – but it’s going to be something I try very hard to do, starting tonight. Thank you, as always, for the amazing advice (and the kick in the pants. Lol)

I read through most of the responses so i don't think this has been mentioned, but sorry if it has. Do you use your laptop/ipod/etc right before bedtime? I read somewhere(maybe here?) recently that all the bright screens we look at all the time can mess with sleep schedule. Those lights make your body think the sun is still shining so you don't get tired like you should. Maybe try to avoid the computer for a couple hours before you should be going to bed?

That’s a great idea, too. I do actually use my laptop up until about 30 minutes before sleep. I’ve always been a computer geek, so the laptop is what I do to relax and unwind, as well as being the way I keep in touch/connect with the man I’ve been dating for about a year since we’re long distance. Given his work schedule (he works until 8:30 p.m.) and the fact I’m going to try to go to bed around 10, I’m not sure how I’m going to make this work, but I’ll find some way to try to implement it.

There are alarm clocks designed for the deaf and hard of hearing that have bed or pillow vibrators attached. Perhaps one of those would work to get you up. Google vibrating alarm

Clocky!

http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/lights/91f2/

Thanks, guys! Djr, I actually found an alarm clock like you described on the website with the clock AndrewB posted – those both look great! There’s another one with a propeller that shoots up in the sky when the alarm goes off… lol. One of those is bound to work!

Good advice from everyone. Can't think of a thing to add to what they are suggesting.

CG, I hope you get a handle on your current problem as successfully as you have handled your OSA problem.

Great results you're getting!

I agree, Laura. These people are *amazing.* This thread has been so helpful and so full of wonderful ideas! Thanks for the best wishes. I definitely wouldn’t be where I am today in my results without all the help and encouragement and support (and many other things) you’ve given me! Thanks for posting.

The information on getting to sleep is useful but for those times that you cannot sleep in I have found an effective solution. Plug your machine into a timmer that turns the machine off when you need to get up. The machine turns off and you will wake up. The downside is that if you did not get enough sleep you will be sleep deprived that day but sometimes you really cannot sleep in.

Kevin, that is a GREAT idea. I do wake up when my machine turns off if the power goes out or something... I just wish I could be sure I'd wake up RIGHT AWAY... the idea of not waking up until I've had apneas scares me a little... still, if nothing else works, I bet that would! Thanks.

------------------------
Update:

Guys, just so you know, I went to bed “early” for me last night. Of course I tossed and turned until my normal sleep time, but my body is just simply going to have to adjust. I have been moderately tired today, and (as I said above) I managed to sleep through my alarm for 12 minutes today, but I finally heard it, and only hit snooze twice before getting up (I’m so bad about that! My goal is to wean myself off snooze entirely). I got to work 8 minutes early instead of 30 minutes late. It’s a start, thanks to all of you! <3

[Patrick A]

Clocky!

http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/lights/91f2/

Collegegirl
I need one of those!!!!!!
Sorry to hear that you are having that problem. I seem to suffer from that also. I try to go to bed after "She Who Must be Obeyed" is in bed and asleep also at the same time every night. I try to go to bed at a set time most nights, by 2345hrs. So I will be going to bed soon. It seems like if I don't take a Percocet most nights I lay there for about an hour before I finally fall asleep. Then I sleep until 0930 or 1000 hrs. in the morning. When I take a Percocet tablet (usually 2) I seem to go to sleep in a few minutes and I get up at about 0700hrs.
Good luck.

[gulfpearl]

Just wondering if you had any success with your sleep issues. I hope by now you have found some sort of solution.

[CollegeGirl]

Hi pearl! *wave*

Thanks for asking. I've been doing slightly better at getting to sleep earlier. I've implemented a lot of people's suggestions. Now it's just a matter of keeping it up.