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With minor editing to highlight interesting points
quote:...sleep deprivation can seriously diminish the immune system...decrease body temperature [ie burn less calories], lower the release of growth hormone, and even cause an increase in heart rate and blood pressure.
...young adult men placed on a restricted sleep schedule of four hours each night for six consecutive nights showed altered metabolism of glucose. Their insulin-resistance pattern was similar to that observed in elderly men and in people developing diabetes. ...there is an association between sleep loss and obesity and diabetes. A lack of sufficient sleep leads to increased appetite...and to decreased physical activity. One hormone, ghrelin, which triggers appetite in humans, was found at higher levels in people who regularly underslept. Another hormone, leptin, which lets the body know when it is full and should stop eating, was found at much lower levels in people who did not get enough sleep.
I have two primary sleep disorders - obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and periodic limb movement disorder/restless leg syndrome (PLMD/RLS). PLMD and RLS are considered to be the same thing by some docs, and separate things by other docs. Either way, they cause sleep deprivation when not treated.
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Anna - I'm not severely sleep deprived now. I'm on a CPAP machine for my apnea, and it works extremely well. For the PLMD/RLS, I'm using alternative therapies, but that's a longer story.
There are at least a few other people on here who also have OSA. It's been brought up recently in another thread.
It's those who are not yet diagnosed that I worry about. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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I'm really starting to think that Nathan has some sort of sleep apnea. When he sleeps on his back, he snores LOUDLY, and keeps catching his breath. It sounds scary, the breath thing. He's also always tired, even if he sleeps for awhile. Short term memory problems, too. I thought it was ADHD, but I really doubt that now. If he sleeps on his back or side, he sounds fine.
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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*thwap* It isn't THAT. Though, he did tell me once, "Look, if you ever randomly wake up in the middle of the night and are in the mood, remember, I don't need as much sleep as you think I do when it comes to that."
quote: When he sleeps on his back, he snores LOUDLY, and keeps catching his breath. It sounds scary, the breath thing. He's also always tired, even if he sleeps for awhile. Short term memory problems, too. I thought it was ADHD, but I really doubt that now. If he sleeps on his back or side, he sounds fine.
If, by "keeps catching his breath", you also mean that he stops breathing, then yes, it's apnea, and it's definitely worth checking out before it starts causing more serious problems.
quote: When he sleeps on his back, he snores LOUDLY, and keeps catching his breath. It sounds scary, the breath thing. He's also always tired, even if he sleeps for awhile. Short term memory problems, too.
I read this and immediately thought, "Yup. Jaime's first time living with a guy."
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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Boris, have they determined the cause of the fractured sleep or the insomnia? Is your PLMD and OSA under control? If so, have you had a sleep lab since then to determine what's causing the rest?
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Well, they haven't found an exact cause. I've done two sleep studies, one without the CPAP and one with. The first showed OSA and FSA, the second showed PLMD. The insomnia was what I went in for to begin with. But as to the cause, they haven't figured anything out yet and I can't afford to go to the sleep doctor anymore. I was diagnosed with ADD about two days ago, and that probably has something to do with the FSA and PLMD. They have me on meds for the insomnia and PLMD. I'm actually doing okay, but if I forget to take my meds I wake up feeling like I haven't slept in a week or two.
Posts: 3003 | Registered: Oct 2004
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When you have the money to go back, your best bet wouold be to have another sleep study while you're on cpap and on meds for PLMD. That way, with those two sleep disorders out of the picture, they can get an unobstructed view of what's going on.
With me, during my first sleep study, they couldn't get a fair idea of how bad my apnea was because my PLMD was causing me to wake up too frequently for anything else (2-4 times a minute). Once that was resolved, they could see what else was going on. You'll likely be the same way.
What meds are you on for PLMD? Mirapex (for Parkinson's) worked great for me with minimal side effects, but the bennies, benzodiazapam family, didn't work at all.
Edit to add: And for the sleep study, off the insomnia meds. Because insomnia is just a nice, general term for undiagnosed or unidentified sleep disorder, in my not so professional opinion.
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I have insomnia. So I take seroquel. It takes care of it (most of the time). But the insomnia is related to the mood disorder and to the ADHD. Stupid brain chemicals. WORK PROPERLY!
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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Actually, Mirapex was the first thing they put me on for PLMD. I take Lorazepam for the FSA. Going on meds for ADD (I don't actually have the Hyper-activity part.) seems to be helping the insomnia troubles.
Posts: 3003 | Registered: Oct 2004
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I originally just thought it cute that clicking through different sites for my own amusement brought up related material, ThePixiest. Then remembering all the dieting, insomnia, and video gaming threads, I thought that others might be interested.
Especially popping up that EverCrack -- the game infamous for players who spend a greater percentage of time online than a normal workweek; time which has gotta come from somewhere, such as physical activity and sleep -- now makes it convenient to order pizza lest one be tempted offline by hunger.
I don't know about other folks here, but I tend to get adrenalized when playing videogames. And everyone else I've observed seems to get similarly buzzed.
Now the thing with adrenaline is that if ya don't burn it off -- remember, the hormone is to enable "fight or flight" -- with physical activity, ya end up with being stressed&distressed by cortisol.
quote:While those physiological processes worked well for our prehistoric ancestors, they're not as useful in a world where physical dangers are few. The trouble is, whenever we're stressed these hormones are released into your system. Though adrenaline levels plummet as the stress subsides, cortisol remains in the body much longer. Since, physiologically speaking, your body thinks you've run a mile or two or done something active in response to the 'threat', the hormone sends signals to refuel the body as soon as possible. [Cortisol is] a biological green light to indulge in foods loaded with carbs and fat that leads to weight gain in the chronically stressed. It's a vicious cycle of stress, followed by elevated cortisol, followed by that scone you don't need.
In other words, EverQuest provides the stress, creates the addicting down/depression of not playing, uses time that might otherwise be used for physical activity and/or sleep, induces the munchies, and delivers the high calorie pizzas and sodas. Other video games probably have the same general effects, but EverQuest rubs salt into the wound they inflict by making money advertising easy access to junk food.
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