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I lay in bed a lot. 12-14 hours a night if I can manage it.
Why? Because it takes me 2+ hours to fall asleep, then I wake up constantly and can’t get back to sleep. Rinse and repeat until I officially “wake up”.
One of my EllisLab cohorts, Mrs. Flinger, as well as one of my dear friends, Chris, and one of my pals from Smith (thanks Ginny!!!) have done sleep studies and encouraged me to do the same, to find out what the heck was wrong with me and my inability to sleep.
So I called my doctor and they gave me the number to a sleep study group. The first night I had a pulse oximeter which showed I had Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). But this isn’t good enough to get an Automatic CPAP (APAP) machine. So I had to do a two night sleep study with all the gear attached.
Did I mention that I was lucky and got to do this in my home? My own mattress. My own dogs. Mali by my head.
Of the 12 hours with the sleep study gear on over 2 nights, they got 4 hours of data.
It was enough.
Thank god, because I was turning into a bumbling mass of “who wha where? what do you mean I’m sleeping standing up?!”
Today they called with the results, after consulting my physician. I have full-blown OSA (something like I quit breathing 15x/hour). So I’m getting an APAP machine to make sure I actually breathe.
I’m not an expert on these things, but apparently I’m going to learn from first-hand experience.
The fellow I’ve been working with said that I’ll soon feel like a new woman. I’m starting running again this week - my toe is finally better. I’ll get some sleep and maybe I’ll actually have some energy. Maybe my lack of energy isn’t purely a fitness thing. If there’s a sleep component - and I feel there must be - this could be the first step down a whole new energetic road.
Because always feeling dead on my feet is not really the most fun thing in the world. Oscillating between that and “so tired I’m bouncing off walls” is also not that much fun.
Cheers to a new beginning, starting with a good night’s rest.
Next week!
-Lisa, on January 12, 2011 at 4:41 pm