That's sage advice - my wife is currently working as an occupational health advisor and is a registered nurse, she often gives similar sleep hygiene tips day to day.
I don't think I have any connective tissue disease as I've had the same identical symptoms since university (96-99) and they mainly manifest only as extreme daytime mental fatigue (just want to sleep all the time, 'sleep drunkeness', concentration problems, brain fog etc) - there's been no real change or deteriation that I'm aware of and I don't have other physical symptoms.
You're right on the sleep duration - 10 hours is the very least I'd expect to be in bed, it's often closer to 11. As it stands it takes me typically about 45 mins on average to get off to sleep (no matter when I go to bed or how tired I am!) and I tend to wake at the same time each morning then spend about 30-40 mins awake before falling back to sleep for another couple of hours. The difference now though with the therapy is I'm not getting up to use the bathroom as often as I was before!
I think the sleep consolodation by trying to force myself into a 9 hour fixed routine is a very good suggestion... it's a bit harder to do that while we're on lockdown here (it never ends in the UK!) and I'm not in full time work. I don't drink alcohol at all (stopped 3 years ago) and only have coffee in the mornings... also try not to eat too close to bedtime. My diet's pretty healthy and I try and run 2-3km at least 3 times a week while the restrictions are in place.
I'm definitely going to heed some of your advice though as it's common sense really - I'm all about getting better quality sleep now as it really does affect everything
Thanks again,
Chris
Miss Emerita wrote: ↑Sun Mar 07, 2021 12:20 pmChris, given that the O2 levels are not an issue, you might want to consider returning to the ResMed machine, which you found more comfortable.
If you haven't already, you might want to ask your doctor for blood tests to see whether you might have a connective tissue disease. (This is a category of autoimmune disease; fatigue is a common presenting symptom. Specific CTDs include rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and scleroderma, but mixed or undifferentiated disease is common.)
I notice you spend 10 hours in bed. I'm sure that's because you're trying to piece together adequate sleep. (Been there myself.) But you might consider a reset to something like 9 hours, to see whether that helps you consolidate sleep to some extent. And on this general subject, you might look on the web for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for insomnia (CBTi), which helps some people reduce night-time wake-ups.
And it never hurts to review the general advice for better sleep:
• Keep a consistent sleep schedule. Get up at the same time every day, even on weekends or during vacations.
• Set a bedtime that is early enough for you to get at least 7 hours of sleep.
• Don’t go to bed unless you are sleepy.
• If you don’t fall asleep after 20 minutes, get out of bed.
• Establish a relaxing bedtime routine.
• Use your bed only for sleep and sex.
• Make your bedroom quiet and relaxing. Keep the room at a comfortable, cool temperature.
• Limit exposure to bright light in the evenings.
• Turn off electronic devices at least 30 minutes before bedtime.
• Don’t eat a large meal before bedtime. If you are hungry at night, eat a light, healthy snack.
• Exercise regularly and maintain a healthy diet.
• Avoid consuming caffeine in the late afternoon or evening.
• Avoid consuming alcohol before bedtime.
• Reduce your fluid intake before bedtime.
It is so frustrating and debilitating to have chronic daytime sleepiness and fatigue. I really hope you'll experience improvement one way or another.
