OT: calling light sleepers, how do you remedy?

zonker wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 10, 2019 11:34 am

i'm a wee bit miffed at costco, however. i don't know if this nationwide or merely in arizona. but locally, they've stopped cooking the "polish" hotdog and offer only the plain one.

Unfortunately, they stopped offering the polish dogs some time back, nationally.

I'm miffed that they stopped baking their fresh country french bread, and wrote them a sternly worded customer comment form.

palerider wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 10, 2019 1:03 pm

I'm miffed that they stopped baking their fresh country french bread, and wrote them a sternly worded customer comment form.

So now, can we expect W. Craig Jelinek to post here with accusations of harassment and cyber-stalking?

Dog Slobber wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 10, 2019 1:09 pm

palerider wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 10, 2019 1:03 pm

I'm miffed that they stopped baking their fresh country french bread, and wrote them a sternly worded customer comment form.

So now, can we expect W. Craig Jelinek to post here with accusations of harassment and cyber-stalking?

Well, probably never, since he's not a raving lunatic.

palerider wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 10, 2019 1:03 pm

zonker wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 10, 2019 11:34 am

i'm a wee bit miffed at costco, however. i don't know if this nationwide or merely in arizona. but locally, they've stopped cooking the "polish" hotdog and offer only the plain one.

Unfortunately, they stopped offering the polish dogs some time back, nationally.

I'm miffed that they stopped baking their fresh country french bread, and wrote them a sternly worded customer comment form.

okay, i guess i feel slightly better, then.

wouldn't want the rest of you enjoying something i couldn't.

no, i'm not petty, why do you ask?

zonker wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 10, 2019 3:24 pm

palerider wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 10, 2019 1:03 pm

zonker wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 10, 2019 11:34 am

i'm a wee bit miffed at costco, however. i don't know if this nationwide or merely in arizona. but locally, they've stopped cooking the "polish" hotdog and offer only the plain one.

Unfortunately, they stopped offering the polish dogs some time back, nationally.

I'm miffed that they stopped baking their fresh country french bread, and wrote them a sternly worded customer comment form.

okay, i guess i feel slightly better, then.

wouldn't want the rest of you enjoying something i couldn't.

no, i'm not petty, why do you ask?

Oh, don't worry, There's lots of people enjoying things at Costco that you can't, mr petty pants.
Things in the food court around the world:

Australia: meat pies
Canada: poutine: french fries topped with gravy and cheese curds.
France: melty ham and cheese croissants with mustard as well as chicken tenders and fries.
Japan: bugogi bakes, adapted from the Korean dish of grilled beef, onions and spices.
Mexico: Piña Colada flavored smoothies and pizza pastor, (with pinapple and pork
South Korea: chicken teriyaki and nasi goreng, a stir fried rice dish.
Spain: Bocadillo (cured ham and brie cheese on a baguette roll)
Taiwan: clam chowder, bulgogi bakes, mago shaved ice and seafood or corn topped pizza
UK: Cottage pies, (meat pies filled iwth ground beef and a crust of mashed potato) and jacket potatoes (stuffed baked potatoes).

(from January's Costco Connection magazine).

Looks like almost every possible cause or solution has been discussed already. I found that what didn't work at one time may help at another because there's so many varying factors over time. That piece that made an effort unsuccessful may not be present at another time.

In retrospect I think I undervalued the process of healing and reprogramming the brain for healthy sleep. The brain likes habits and doesn't relinquish them easily. I spent a very long time providing an environment in my body, brain and home that was conducive to taking the path to sleep, then trusting the process and that my brain would want to find it's way back to what was once natural. I tempered my expectations with a healthy dose of reality, and developed an appreciation for those snatches of good sleep between the wakeups that eventually grew to sizeable blocks of good sleep. All any of us can do is continue to seek ways to support healthy sleep and pursue our personal best. The hard part is knowing when to be satisfied - that's personal too. For me, addressing my longtime jumpy legs (PLMD) was key. However, even after getting off of problematic meds and calming my legs, years later my brain was still trying to heal - and still is. I walk a fine line and my sleep will regress with seemingly little provocation. However, if I'm honest with myself, aside from the pain disruptions, I am generally the architect of my own demise when my sleep tanks. Because of my years of misery rarely sleeping more than a few minutes without a wakeup, I am particularly sympathtic towards those struggling with poor sleep. Because of my relative success, I am an eternal optimist that others can find some degree of improvement too. Hang in there.

kteague wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 10, 2019 5:33 pm

Looks like almost every possible cause or solution has been discussed already.

thank you for kind words. it's always good to read what you write because it's always sp thoughtfully xpressed.

in the end, i guess, it's like comedian laura kightlinger siad "i AM the otter of my own fat!".

too long to explain, but reasonably self explanatory???

Speaking of programming the brain... Have you taken a light inventory of what you are exposed to prior to getting ready for bed?

I had a lot of sleep maintenance insomnia as well. I know you said this was off topic for CPAP, but I'm going to share my story anyway. It may or may not apply to you of course, but I'm sharing it anyway because it's not completely obvious. My apnea rate was fine (below .2) but I experiemented anyway due to the numerous wakeups. slowly raising my pressure. as I got higher the apnea's got worse, then got better as I got even higher. my interpretation of the data is that while I had "enough" sleep I was waking up to apniac events, thus preventing full blown apnea's, and thus not raising the count on my machine (what looks like arousal events supports this on sleepyhead as well). then as I raised the pressure I got into a more relaxed REM state and deep states of sleep as well. changing the AHI profile. then raising it more eliminated the more relaxed state Apnea's thus lowering my AHI and clusters of apnea's again. Right now I'm sleeping most nights through or sometimes with 1 arousal. It's hard to experiment with a higher pressure though because I'm at 19.2. I started at 7 with a .2-.4 AHI. then there was like a bell curve of raising the OSA then lowering it again as I raised pressure. The OSA peaked at around 14.

Right after Costco announced they were dropping the polish dogs, Sam's Club announced they were bringing them back. One of the few redeeming things Sam's has done.

Okie bipap wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 11, 2019 10:55 am

Right after Costco announced they were dropping the polish dogs, Sam's Club announced they were bringing them back. One of the few redeeming things Sam's has done.

Costco is so devoted to keeping their 1.50 hotdog and drink at that price, that they built their own hotdog plant when their suppliers were raising prices on them.

so, just to yank this back on topic of the off topic thread-

here is what i've done so far-

1. before this week, i drank 6 cups of coffee per day. starting this last sunday, i've eliminated 2 cups.

2. starting this last monday, i haven't taken any magnisium or potasium.

3. i've put on my sleep mask upon turning out the light. (before, if you remember, i'd only donned the mask at around dawn.

none of this had made much change in my sleep pattern. however, i AM encouraged. cutting back on the caffeine or eliminating the magnesium has made me feel better in the late afternoon and evening. i wish i could explain the feeling better. but mostly, i just feel looser, somehow. or maybe calmer. i'm not sure. i never felt jittery before, so i can't say it's a reduction in that.

the sleep mask, of course, makes it harder to verify the time that i think it is with the clock.

i'm not discouraged. i'll see how this goes. i fully realize that i'm drinking coffee past noon and for some, that's a no-no. it may well be for me, too.

meanwhile, i keep on keepin' on.....

so, almost a week after the above post. i still at the point where i've only eliminated 2 cups of coffee. i now have 2 in the morning and 2 at lunch, which is at 1:30. don't know if i'll ever work up to cutting out the two at lunch. maybe down to 1 and see where i go from there.

here are the only "things" i take in pill form in the morning-

D3 50 mcg (2000iu) x2

zinc 50 mg x1

low dose aspirin x1

i still haven't taken any magnesium or potassium and i've yet to be visited by leg cramps in the night. had a slight twitch last week, but it never developed into a cramp.

i continue to feel more loose, maybe more comfortable? in my body. i'm not carrying around as much gas as i once did. pardon me if TMI, but bowel movements stronger.

the gas generated while i'm on cpap is greatly reduced and more easily eliminated.

i'm sleeping more soundly at night. it's been a slow process but i think i'm heading in the right direction. i'm beginning to see that i'm not waking up quite as often. and going back to sleep a touch more quickly and easily. last night, i slept for 5 straight hours without waking up, that i remember.

will continue down this path before i consider any further changes, such as cutting down the coffee intake.

pretty pleased with where i am.

excelsior!

Black out curtains, box fan, sleep mask and as of a couple months ago, Xanax. I'm sleeping like a baby.

zonker wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 09, 2019 11:03 am

remstarcpap wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 08, 2019 10:49 pm

Hi Zonker,

Alcohol is a known culprit for poor sleep in the middle of the night.
<snip>
Also, caffeine can be an issue even if you only have it in the am. There's a $12-14 Gene test for the speed with which you metabolize caffeine, and slow metabolizers may suffer poor sleep if they consume any caffeine at all.

the alcohol is a known culprit to me, too. have cut back and may do more so in the future.

i'm intrigued by this gene test. (who is gene and why should HE care? ) is this available as a home kit? or is this something i should consult with my doctor about?

Here you go: https://www.amazon.com/d/Home-Drug-Test ... H3YQ8?th=1