Among Friends

[151949]

When we were kids my Mom always made us go to bed early - 8 PM.By the time we were in high school we were allowed to stay up until 9  but we were in the habit of going to bed early so I usually did anyway.Then in my senior year I got an after school job that kept me up until 11PM - that was very difficult for me.All through my nursing career I had to work rotating shifts plus be on call as well - it was murder - I swear I was sleep deprived for 40 years.I learned to sleep anywhere , anytime and no amount of noise or light keeps me awake when I'm tired. Since we retired I sleep about 7 hours every night and wake refreshed. During menopause I did have some insomnia but it passed.

[Imadickens]

@YorkieonmyPillow  Sleep? What's that? I have acute sleep apnea and sleep using a BiPap machine on a very high setting! (22/18). A BiPap is a machine that sends constant air pressure at a rate that is just high enough to prevent stoppage of breathing. (I stop breathing 69 times per hour and get zero minutes of REM sleep without my machine!) But, on top of that, I have started having insomnia! Either I don't fall asleep at all, or I wake up after a few hours and I'm wide awake for the night! I have slept with my machine for 15 years so I'm sure it's not that. Nothing has changed except my age! lol. I hear other friends speak of same problem so I'm guessing it's age related? It began when I turned 60 last year! Anyone else have it?  p.s. I have always needed nearly 11 hours sleep so getting through the day on 2-5 hours is not easy for me!

[circles]

I never fight sleep....staying asleep is my major problem...

I see that many of you get eight hours a night...I can't remember ever sleeping that long...wish i could do it..I am lucky if i get three or four hours of sleep....

[Imadickens]

@circles. I see we're both part of the club! Miserable, isn't it? My sleep doc tells me that after 20 minutes I'm to get out of bed and read a BOOK (not Kindle, something about the lighted screen). Also, bed is ONLY for sleep and sex. NO tv allowed! They are all problems for me! If I get out of bed, my dogs think it's play time and time for food! Plus, I'd turn the tv on for world news ( a no no due to light emitted plus, the news upsets me!)Some things are just not feasible to do, so I just get more upset, thus, losing more sleep!

[Imadickens]

@DiAnne AMEN!  With my apnea I always needed way more sleep than normal, finding myself "sleeping" (I didn't know I was getting no restful sleep whi jpg is why I constantly needed so much sleep!) Doctors accused me of being depressed and using sleep to escape! They had me believing it!

[on the bay]

@Imadickens~

I tried the bpap as much as I could for about a month but I started getting insomnia and I felt it woke me up every 2-3 hours too!

Very interesting that you said that. I've never had problems getting to sleep before and hadn't woken up every few hours before either.

I decided I must be one of those people who just can't do it unfortunately. The more I tried it, the more I hated it.

I didn't mind the mask (and I tried 3 different kinds) but I couldn't stand the straps and things on my head-felt claustrophobic and I've never been that before either.

Other things too made me glad to return it-the cleaning of the hose, replacing the mask every month (I somehow missed that part).

So I'll just have to resume naps and sleeping at night.

I wonder if other people have said the same things with the 2-3 hours etc.

The people at the sleep office were very nice about it, bery helpful with the masks and patient but did say some people just can't do it. So I didn't feel like I failed or that it was out of the ordinary.

I started wondering too if just like colonoscopies, all of a sudden everyone has a bpap machine-is it marketing, ? for Money?. 

But the guy said before we didn't have anything to really treat it that worked as well.

[Imadickens]

@cotton4me. My dh is the same way!  He goes to sleep after the news (between 11 and 11:30 depending on the news he watches) and wakes between 5 and 5:30. His dad was worse! The were both POs and my fil was 2nd in command. He would go around town at 4 am and make sure things were ok ! My dh was in charge of the Juvenile department and liaison with school district. Many nights he'd be called in to work for any one of a million reasons, and often stay and work the full day! So, his internal clock began to work on that schedule!

[Imadickens]

@Goldengate8361. After reading all these posts I find it easier to understand how someone gets hooked on propofal! I've had it for out patient surgical procedures and find it gives me the yummiest sleep! As a young girl I had severe food poisining. The doctor said all he could do was have me sleep! He gave me a shot of Nembutal. I fell asleep the minute I got into bed and slept for two days! After that, I got wonderful nights sleep for about 10 more days!

[Imadickens]

@YorkieonmyPillow. I'm a snuggled! So, when my kids needed to go to bed I loved getting in with them for a few minutes to snuggle and get my "head and neck" kisses! (I loved to kiss the tops of their heads after they washed their hair! It was always so silky and smelled so good! I also loved to kiss the sides of their nicks, right under the ear! It was always so soft and tender and reminded me of when they were tiny babies! Yummy! When it was time for me to leave them, I was wound down and ready for my own bed!

[Imadickens]

@on the bay. I'm sorry to hear you had so much trouble! In the very beginning I had trouble, too. So, I fell asleep without it then but the mask on as soon as I knew I had fallen asleep once and would be easy to fall asleep again! I also wonder if it's certain machines? My first machine was much easier to sleep with. If it woke me, I hit the ramp button and I fell back to sleep easily. My newest machine doesn't have an easy ramp button! I have to turn the whole spicy le off then restart it. I often fall asleep while it's off waiting to start it! I also have lost lots of weight and I find I can't get a good fit on my mask! They all leak unless I make them so tight they eat into my skin! I've tried them all! My pressure is so high it comes out my eyes! I haven't given up as I said, I stop breathing 69 times per hour ( that's more than once a minute!) and I have awakened twice when my lungs were completely empty and had a long, scarey gasping inhale to begin breathing again! When I've been in the ER and they put the ox meter on my finger, I set the alarm off if I fall asleep! I'm so afraid of dieing that I keep trying with the masks, leaks and all!