Some papers on sleep and sleep disorders

In researching some personal issues with sleep disorders, I came across several papers that were interesting to me.
These are technical papers not for the faint of heart. One of the most interesting things to me was the relationship between an endocrine hormone, norepinephrine, and the ability to go to sleep and to stay asleep. The is a short discussion of this topic in the third paper - just search of "norephineprine". Norepineprine is a stress hormone that can be secreted as a result of stress or percieved stress.

Normal Human Sleep Chapter 2
Normal Sleep Patterns and Sleep Disorders
The Neurobiology of Sleep

Thanks for the info. I see in you have RLS and PLMD. If in your research you find anything new and interesting on that subject I'd be interested.

Since you ask, I'm seeing my neurologist, who was also a sleep doctor in a former life, next month.
In my most recent sleep study my RLS/PLMD frequency increased from 51 per hour three years ago to 76 per hour about 8 weeks ago. That change was enough to get my attention. My sleep doc up at the Mayo Clinic said not to worry if it wasn't preventing my falling asleep. Especially if my ferritin levels were OK.

Do you have a ferritin level check routinely?

I don't have my ferritin checked frequently, but the last time it was checked it was up to the 60's. Doc wanted it closer to 100. On your studies, was the one with 51/hr with or without CPAP? And the one with 76/hr? For me it seems the better my OSA is controlled, the worse my limb movements are. From what I've read, that's not unusual.

The first study was without CPAP and done at The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.
The second study was at Georgia Regents Health Center and was an ASV titration study.
What units are you using for ferritin measurements. My labs come back in mcg/L with a range of 30-400.
Current value is 274, a little above mid range.

JDS74 wrote:What units are you using for ferritin measurements. My labs come back in mcg/L with a range of 30-400.
Current value is 274, a little above mid range.

Ferritin can be elevated due to inflammation, even if your iron levels are in fact too low. To get a real picture of one's iron levels, it's best to also measure serum iron, % saturation, and TIBC, in addition to TIBC.

Thanks echo.

Did all those and they are all normal - so like other things, my RLS/PLMD is idiopathic.

I just asked the question because kteague's numbers looked low if the same scale is being used. Different labs report differently so its hard to compare without knowing the units and the normal range.

I try to convert all my lab results into Z scores so that the results from different labs can be compared.

I don't have the paperwork to check how the ferritin was measured, but it was in the normal range for the way my lab reports. I am overdue for iron studies. Although any supplements I've taken haven't made an overt difference, I continue because their support may play a role in why the TENS Unit is able to be effective for me. Don't want to rock the boat.

One can be "within range" and yet still not optimal. It's where you fall in the range that's also important.

Here are the values I aim for:
http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/lab-values/

For example, my iron was within range, but on the low end. Once I got my iron up into the optimized range, my hair loss stopped.

Echo

That's exactly why eveyone should keep careful records of all labs, convert the results to Z-scores to make comparisons easy and not accept that if you are in the so-called normal range, everything is fine.

The normal range only tells you where your results fall wihin the general population, not whether or not your values for you are normal. I take B-12 injections even though my B-12 levels fall within the low end of the normal range.