A (very) positive update to my March 3 thread

[robysue]

Back on March 3 I started a thread called Fractured sleep, Ambien, dial wingin' and other things where I wrote (once again) how things were not going in the right direction. Much to my surprise, the thread remained pretty active until March 21, when it came to an end when Sludge got got me to agree to call my problems DSP rather than insomnia. Towards the end of that thread, Sludge wrote:

We'll quit calling my problem insomnia.

OK, that'll make creating a plan far more simple ("you have to know...").

However, (and in "IMHO"), that does not mean that some degree is not present.

...my already pretty good sleep hygiene...

Although it is very difficult for me to bring up anything that might result in controversy, I think I might disagree with this point (to some extent, anyway).

One of the most important concepts in sleep is don't think about it, just do it.

So I'm looking at March 18 where you put up 17 (SEVENTEEN!!) RS-sized posts, so I'm thinking, "Whoa, she's so wound up, she ain't sleeping a wink tonight!"

Of course, you might say that's a canoe full of bat crap cause

...I've now had the extremely rare occasion of two exceptionally good night's sleep in a row.

However, sleep is exceedingly complex, and the Company Line is still Do Not Spend A Lot of (Any)Time Concerned (Obsessed) About Sleep.

The first and most important update is:

My sleep has remained very good since March 21---both subjectively in the sense of how I feel when I wake up and how I feel during the rest of the day (most important) and objectively in terms of number of remembered wakes, number of wakes in the SH data, sleep efficiency, and AHI data. And this has been the longest stretch of really good sleep since sometime last summer, or perhaps even a full year ago.

I don't have the foggiest idea of what changed right around March 15-20. All I know is that I'm happy it did. I can speculate on a few things, but I'd rather not spend time obsessing about a problem that (for now) is not a problem.

I know some of the things that are coming into play in a positive way are:

1) I've restarted the trigger point injections and I'm back on a muscle relaxant in order to control the tension headaches. And so the tension headaches are now trending in the right direction. And the vertigo is stablized, along with the migraines. The daily headaches are not yet eliminated, but they are starting to decrease and I am now having some headache free days. And so the old nasty feedback loop of "... cause more headaches cause more sleep problems cause more headaches cause more sleep problems cause ..." is finally being replaced by a good feedback loop of "... fewer headaches leads to better sleep leads to fewer headaches leads to better sleep leads to ..."

2) The back/knee pain that plagued me all winter has been addressed through physical therapy and I'm no longer in pain from the injury caused by the fall last October. Let's hope I can get through the summer without tripping and injuring myself yet again. In the last week or so, I've been able to start taking my long walks again, and they do make me feel better. Between the cold, the snow, the ice, and the knee and back pain, I basically did no serious walking all winter, and (much to my surprise) I've missed it.

3) The sleep schedule is settling down again into something that (mostly) fits my life: On my own I'll get sleepy by 2:30 on most nights, and I'll even get sleepy by 1:30 on occasion. I'm waking up pretty consistently between 8:30 and 9:00 without an alarm clock, and that's early enough for my schedule this spring. And on most mornings I wake up feeling pretty rested and even somewhat refreshed. Unlike back in late February and early March, I am no longer having to drag myself out of bed. I'm still taking 2.5 mg of Ambien on an "as needed" basis. That usually means I take it when I the BiPAP causes me to become more alert right after I go to bed and mask up. That doesn't happen every night, but it does still happen at least one or two nights a week. Fortunately the 2.5 mg of Ambien no longer seems to make me feel as hung over in the morning as it once did.

I'm still on vacation from the sleep log. For now, I intend to stay on vacation from it for some additional time. (Who knows, it may become a permanent vacation.) And I'm now hopeful that I won't have to start a headache log---it really looked like I would have to when the headaches were getting worse.

In other words, I'm at a point where I think I am (finally) making some real progress towards following Sludge's Company Line: Do Not Spend A Lot of (Any)Time Concerned (Obsessed) About Sleep. and I may have finally (re)learned the lesson: One of the most important concepts in sleep is don't think about it, just do it that Sludge been telling me for some time.

[HoseCrusher]

I love it when a plan comes together.

The idea to stop thinking about sleep and just do it seems like a good way to go.

[Kennerly]

Thanks for updating this thread. Since I've had issues with sleep latency I was following closely when you and sludge reached that point in the dialog. Glad to see you're making progress with it.

[PartlyCloudy]

I'm new here and don't really know the history, but I'm glad to hear things are looking up. I have chronic pain and it's definitely a sleep buster. I also like the idea of not thinking about sleep and just doing it. I can feel when I'm starting to go into obsessive mode and can shut it down for the most part. My husband cannot, however.

Anyway, sleep.....it's a wonderful thing!

[Madalot]

Robysue,

Thanks for posting this update. I hope that you continue making forward progress. Enjoy the feeling of waking rested.

I'm very happy things are improving for you.

[2 B Sleeping Soundly]

Robysue,

Though I have no experience in what you have been going through, my heart has been going out to you as you chronicle your struggles in your posts. Most of us will never know all the frustrations, extreme efforts, and the complexity of what you have been dealing with for so long now. I am right now overjoyed to read of the positive change that has happened for you and hope that it continues ad infinitum; you deserve at least that .

And the amazing thing to me is that through it all you still selflessly give back as much as you are able to those who come here seeking help and understanding while going through their own journey... thank you very much for doing that, and thank you for all of the other things most of us here may never realize that you have done and continue to do here!

John

[robysue]

Thanks for the kind words folks.

Sleep wise, things still seem to be going well---even though I did have a (rare nasty) migraine yesterday that left me feeling like I'd been run over by a truck.

Last night I got to bed a bit early for me (turned the machine on at 1:16) and pleasantly enough I didn't need to get back up to take an Ambien within 15 minutes of going to bed. (With the residual migraine at bedtime, I was a bit concerned about Kaa causing me to wake up more and irritate the headache with sensory overload.) The Kaa data shows there were 5 or 6 times when I woke up enough to turn Kaa OFF and ON; I remember only three of the wakes, none of which was long. I was hot at the first one, and so I took my robe off and went back to sleep. Second remembered wake was a "don't know why I'm awake and I don't really care"---after turning Kaa Off and On, I snuggled back down and got back to sleep almost immediately (I barely remember this one.) Third wake was well after daybreak. I thought about getting up (and probably should have) since hubby was not in bed. I made the decided effort to sit up, and turn the iPod on to look at its clock---because I knew that it was likely close to wake up time---and it was around 7:30 or 8:00am (I can't remember which now), but I was so damn comfortable that I didn't want to get out of bed (the headache had gone away.)

So after lying in bed for a few minutes (with Kaa OFF), I decided I really wanted to not get up. So I turned Kaa back on and pulled the covers back over my head. And fell asleep and started to dream a very elaborate dream involving spies among other things. Next thing I knew Hubby was calling up the stairs saying it was 9:30 and that I really needed to get up. He woke me up in the middle of the dream and that did mean I was a bit confused right at waking. But I climbed out of bed feeling rested and (dare I say it?) refreshed.

Kaa was on for just over 8 hours last night. And I'd guess that I was asleep for 7.5 of those 8 hours.

It does feel good to wake up feeling rested and even somewhat refreshed.