Day 8 - Extra naps worked, but were quite hard to manage
The extra nap plan ended up doing the trick. I wasn't as awake during my hell block as I am during the rest of the day, but I was functional. Of course, under the plan I was essentially sleeping 20 minutes out of every hour from 3am to 7am, so I wasn't terribly productive either :-) Falling asleep every 40 minutes is tough, even for someone who can normally sleep at the drop of a hat.
It's not a practical long-term solution, but I'll take it as a first step. Far better than being a zombie and risking over-sleeping.
Out of curiosity, I decided to video-tape my naps during the day yesterday and at night last night (which I of course transferred to the computer so I could do some analysis of the results... Am I a geek or what?). I was curious to see if there were any differences in the way I slept during different parts of the day. Sure enough, there are. At night, I snore and stop breathing regularly, even during my short naps. During the day I don't. I'm not sure why I sleep differently at night, but there are a few potential solutions to the problem now that I have something to attack.
First, I can use all my apnea tools (a BIPAP machine, a jaw positioning device, etc) and see how I sleep using those. Since this is just during the night naps it shouldn't be terribly inconvenient (I won't have to lug the stuff to parties for example). I wasn't able to tolerate the CPAP/BIPAP machine for a full night, but I might be able to for a 20 minute nap 2-3 times a night.
Secondly I can add naps during the night (not as many, hopefully) which should make up for the poor nap quality with quantity.
Thirdly I can try napping in other places/positions. Sitting up in a chair for example. That kind of thing can be painful for a longer sleep, but it should be tolerable for 20 minutes.
This is probably going to take a week or more to sort out, so I don't plan to keep a daily record of what I'm currently trying unless I hit upon something new or interesting. I'll definitely update with things that work and things that don't though. Maybe it'll be of help to another polyphasic apnea sufferer someday.
It's not a practical long-term solution, but I'll take it as a first step. Far better than being a zombie and risking over-sleeping.
Out of curiosity, I decided to video-tape my naps during the day yesterday and at night last night (which I of course transferred to the computer so I could do some analysis of the results... Am I a geek or what?). I was curious to see if there were any differences in the way I slept during different parts of the day. Sure enough, there are. At night, I snore and stop breathing regularly, even during my short naps. During the day I don't. I'm not sure why I sleep differently at night, but there are a few potential solutions to the problem now that I have something to attack.
First, I can use all my apnea tools (a BIPAP machine, a jaw positioning device, etc) and see how I sleep using those. Since this is just during the night naps it shouldn't be terribly inconvenient (I won't have to lug the stuff to parties for example). I wasn't able to tolerate the CPAP/BIPAP machine for a full night, but I might be able to for a 20 minute nap 2-3 times a night.
Secondly I can add naps during the night (not as many, hopefully) which should make up for the poor nap quality with quantity.
Thirdly I can try napping in other places/positions. Sitting up in a chair for example. That kind of thing can be painful for a longer sleep, but it should be tolerable for 20 minutes.
This is probably going to take a week or more to sort out, so I don't plan to keep a daily record of what I'm currently trying unless I hit upon something new or interesting. I'll definitely update with things that work and things that don't though. Maybe it'll be of help to another polyphasic apnea sufferer someday.
posted by Jeremy | 10:14:00 AM
2 Comments:
A few days ago, while walking around the neighborhood, I talked to Jeremy exactly about that (food before sleeping) and refered to Steve's comments about it. I guess he must of missed it, because he didn't see it. (So I had assumed that maybe I read it else where). He hasn't mentioned it on the blog, but he did change his eatting schedule.
Also, Jer, tell your wife that you have to have an account to comment on her blog. That might be why she's not getting as many comments. I know I'm not taking the time to create a log in.
Thanks for the reminder, I've posted an update about my eating schedule.
Glad my experience is helpful to someone else. When I first started this I did it mainly to keep friends up-to-date (and save me having to re-tell the story 20 times).
I never expected to get actual comments :-)
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