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Sleep Disorders Community

Reply: What is the Best Mattress for You?

The history of Sleep devices. I have slept on duck down mattresses, which are...

Posted by sleepingmikeawake

2 Replies | Reply | Watch This DiscussionReport This| Share this:What is the Best Mattress for You? The history of Sleep devices. I have slept on duck down mattresses, which are...

Reply: filling with air

Hey there fellow wearer of the CPAP. I have been on this therapy since 2009. ...

Posted by sleepingmikeawake

6 Replies | Reply | Watch This DiscussionReport This| Share this:filling with air Hey there fellow wearer of the CPAP. I have been on this therapy since 2009. ...

Reply: Sleep Vacations

Hi Caprice! My daily routine is set on key points. My wife and I make the bed...

Posted by sleepingmikeawake

2 Replies | Reply | Watch This DiscussionReport This| Share this:Sleep Vacations Hi Caprice! My daily routine is set on key points. My wife and I make the bed...

Reply: Sleep Awareness Week!

Hi, It is frustrating when the majority of people don't understand or even...

Posted by sleepingmikeawake

Hi,
It is frustrating when the majority of people don't understand or even belittle the difficulty of being prepetually tired and sleepy to the point of collapse. Being looked at as if we were some what less of a person.
I am a Electronics Tech. (now), I have had to make a few life changes in the past 25 years because of the onslaught of Narcolepsy w/C,HH,Sp, and Mixed Apnea. I have had a MSLT and sleepstudy done 25 years ago and had another in 2009. It has greatly affected my quality of life and is running me into the ground.
The battle to "keep up" in the work-force has been a long one and not without its' losses. I have tried almost everything chemically but have found that eventually the treatments become intollerable or they simply stop working and the amounts of the Med. cause other neurological problems. This past year I have ended up in the Hospital 3 times. all the symptoms of Gall bladder attack but nothing found but a "fat Liver with a syst on it."
I have been diagnosed with IBS now and I have given the diet change more than 8 months, adding the daily fiber that is prescribed...this only makes other problems which add to the stress of the sleep disorder which in turn is probably the root cause of the IBS along with having spinal stenosis and the ill effects of all the strain that sleep deprivation and REM intrusions cause....only to hear a coworker say:"well ya need to go to bed earlier and get more sleep."
(That kinda tears at my heart.) Especially when you know you are doing everything you can to live day in and day out with this disorder and stay safe and not cross the lines when driving.
It has come to the point of trying the only thing I havn't tried, that is giving up on staying in the work-force and just sleep when the attacks happen. I am sure mentally I'd probably be better off. I am a member of a really good support group on line. Which I have found to be very helpful in communicating on an understandable plane. I am always looking for ways to help others that walk in the fog of sleep. That's why I replied to this post. We call people that don't know how it is, "Norms". They do not understand and unless they suffer it themselves they wont get it. It is because sleep is taken for granted and so abused in all of it's forms. To onlookers it goes on unseen or ignored or passed off as burning both ends of the candle. It is a silent, almost invisible disorder, until some one gets hurt. Then it is elivated to irresponsableness on the part of the person who has the disorder and that is just the result of scociety not recognising that sleep disorders are serious and life threatning.
To much frustration takes it's toll...It is so hard to keep emotions under control when left unchecked trigger Cataplexy in some form or another or a full on sleep attack or a REM "dream" intrusion happens in mid sentence.
I had heard about Drs saying that narcoleptics don't fall asleep in their plate. Well, I have. Recently at a hospital stay for my IBS(3days on clear liquid diet) ...when they brought me some food that tased so good I let my emotions go and just the taste of good food caused me to go into a C attack. Yep, right in front of the Nurses, face down in my food. Life with a sleep disorder is never dull, and the struggle to cope is a constant struggle. Having some one to get the word out there to let Normal people know that we are out there and a lot of us are still working and behind the wheel of an automobile.
Might just make them think, even just for a second.
Ta TaView Thread

Posted bysleepingmikeawake

8 Replies | Reply | Watch This DiscussionReport This| Share this:Sleep Awareness Week! Hi, It is frustrating when the majority of people don't understand or even...

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