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Re: 5 days so far...they said try to keep it on for 4hrs
Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 6:43 pm
by DoriC
McS, I didn't read robysue's article yet on sleep hygiene so don't know if it's mentioned, but have you thought about foregoing those beers you're having 2-3 nights/week or at least until you've adjusted to cpap? Another thing that's mentioned as part of good sleep hygiene is not to eat too close to bedtime.
Re: 5 days so far...they said try to keep it on for 4hrs
Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 12:01 pm
by robysue
Big S wrote:
Robysue wrote:
So do yourself a BIG FAVOR and MAKE the MENTAL COMMITMENT to make CPAP work for you NOW. And then work hard over several weeks and months to actually make it happen!
Robysue is rewriting the book on insomnia. I think it is written in blood, so when she writes, I sit at attention and try to absorb each thought.
Thanks for the complement, Big S! I do feel like I'm relearning every thing I thought I already knew about insomnia and I do think I'm writing it in blood sometimes.
The good news is that there is some good, slow steady positive progress towards capturing that ol' insomnia monster and gettin' him caged up properly this time. And since I want a CBT, non-drug approach, in the long term I know that it will be a long, slow process. On days following "so-so" to "ok" to "decent" to "almost good" nights I'm quite pleased with the progress I've made so far since Dec. 30. So is the PA. And the proportion of "bad" and "disaster" nights has dropped dramatically since beginning the sleep restricted schedule and other serious sleep hygiene work. Has it been easy? No. Has it been worth it? Yes.
Here's hoping that sooner or later my 52-year old body will finally learn how to sleep consistently for more than 2 hours at a time without waking up for no particular reason ... And the FIRST night on the lower pressure was a great night---I actually slept for 3 hours straight (from 1:40 to 4:50 without consciously waking up! Probably for the first time since Sept. 23, when I started CPAP. When I woke up, I actually thought it was close to 7:30 and time to get up! That's why I looked at the clock. Went right back to sleep in about 10 minutes too and had only one more wake up before the alarm went off. A pretty good night for the insomnia.