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Does going to a sleep study REALLY help anyone?

Tired of being sick

Senior Member
Messages
565
Location
Western PA USA
I
Does amitirptyline help a lot in terms of getting deep restful sleep and good clarity and brain function? Basically sleep apnea is a terrible silent killer disease because your oxygen plummets and your brain and other organs are slowly destroyed. I still have problems speaking and remembering simple things now after 8 years of this

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Absolutely, for ME that is
Since I started the MAX dose of 150 mg on May 1st, this is what happened:
I had a sleep study on august 13th and I reached all 4 stages of sleep and managed to stay asleep for 5+ hours which was impossible since the age of 12

Sleep is no longer one of my gazillion problems!!

To me AMITRIPTYLINE is better than Xyrem(AKA GHB-date rape drug) even though I never took it,

There are people here who have but they could not handle the side effects
 
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Messages
18
I think it is worthwhile to get a sleep study if you've never had one to find out if there are any serious problems I think doctors here in the United States go crazy with them because insurance companies cover them. Most of us already know that we have problematic sleep the real key is finding what will help solve the court issue. I have been to many sleep studies they all tell me the same thing: I wake up a lot. I do you sleep apnea machine or CPAP whatever you want to call it and I do take sleep medications I know there is a downside to them but not sleeping is not an option I want to explore any further. If we can figure out what causes the heightened state of arousal or hyper vigilance I think that is the key.

I totally agree with you on the "not sleeping is not an option I want to explore any further." Back in the States I'd found basicly a functional medicine doc who was willing to listen and work with me but I haven't had that luck in France. I was also having a serious bout of depression recently so I went to a psychiatrist but he thinks the poor sleep is a result of depression. If anything, I think it might be a major cause of my depression, these days anyway! So I'm kind of back to square one and need to find a sympathetic doc who understands how important it is to sleep!!!
 
Messages
759
Location
Israel
.... I was also having a serious bout of depression recently so I went to a psychiatrist but he thinks the poor sleep is a result of depression. If anything, I think it might be a major cause of my depression, ...!

You are so right!
I have this exact same problem.
I went to 2 different psychiatrists and they both said that insomnia is cause by depression. I was trying to tell them that it is not cause by that, but they would not listen.

I read on this board that Lavender oil in capsules helps like benzos. If anyone knows a good safe brand that might ship internationally, let me know.
 

WoolPippi

Senior Member
Messages
556
Location
Netherlands
had a study, am fixing insomnia now.

TL; DR: The sleep study only helped in that it ruled things out. Sleep Restriction Therapy helped with showing me I need less than 8 hours sleep and that's important to take down time during the day. This therapy is NOT suitable for ill people. Challenging assumptions about sleep and about life helped. Being more calm overall helps me now sleep. end of TL;DR

I had the study in July. They were able to rule out sleep apneu, restless leg syndrome and snoring as causes for my insomnia. They also determined I cycle through all the stages so that's good. And that's all a sleep study can do for you. Perhaps test hormones too if they have the facility.

Experts don't know much about sleep. They don't know how it works. What it's for.
They hardly know about neurotransmitters or hormones.

But sleep experts do have the advantage of numbers. They see lots of people and a lot of them can be helped by changing their outlook on sleep. Lots of people who worry about sleep have insomnia because of that. They can be educated to think differently. Lots of assumptions about sleep are not correct. Sleep's a very malleable phenomenon.

Also, there's a forceful therapy called Sleep Restriction Therapy. Not suitable for ME people! Too harsh! But in healthy people it has a result score of more than 70%. They don't know why it works. But it does work.

Basically you don't get to bed before eleven and you're to be kicked out at six. That'll teach your body to use those precious bed hours to get some sleep and not lollygag laying awake. Once trained to sleep through the night you can increase the bed hours, by 15 minutes at a time. You'll be sleep deprived during the day in the mean time.
(you see why people with ME shouldn't do this therapy, it's madness.)

I am healing of ME as of May 1st and felt good enough in August to try this therapy. It works for me (although on a much slower rate than for healthy people and I had to be very careful not to wreck my health)

One of the things I learned is that I am a person who naturally needs less than 8 hours sleep. If I sleep 8 hours I'll be tired during the day. If I sleep 7 I feel fresh.

The other thing is that during the day I need to take serious down time. Change pace. Rest up. Healthy people need to lounge about during the day, not run around being efficient all the time.

As a third I have found that for me too, my mental outlook on sleep influences my insomnia. Not that I worried. But during the day I've been too wired, too alert, too adrenal about life in general and this spilled over into my nights. My body never quite relaxed. Always Fight or Flight.
With me there are psychological reasons for this attitude towards life. I lack a basic feeling of safety, as a baby an attachment disorder was created in me by my parents. I'm learning (my body) to feel safe now. Have done EMDR for the sorrow.
Also perfectionist. Urban intellectual. Having too much media and upbeat examples in my life. This is all learned behaviour. Not necessarily indigenous character.
I'm changing these things now, with psychotherapy (DIY. No therapist)

Not saying the psyche causes insomnia. Not saying therapy will cure it.

I'm saying sleep is a fluid thing, connected to your nervous system, to your subconsiousness. It's influenced by the state of wiredness you experience during the day. It can be approached by the psyche, by your consciousness.

As a fourth: I need a happy gut to sleep through the night. Nothing too exciting gets in there. Just chicken soup by the bucket. No vegetables, no grains, no egg whites. Nothing to upset it. Nothing to spike blood sugar. Sufficient supplements too.

But mostly I need a happy mind, a quiet mind full of confidence that I will sleep and I will sleep good.

TL; DR: The sleep study only helped in that it ruled things out. Sleep Restriction Therapy helped with showing me I need less than 8 hours sleep and that's important to take down time during the day. The sleep psychologist helps in that he makes me challenge assumptions about sleep and about life.
 
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physicsstudent13

Senior Member
Messages
611
Location
US
I'm not sure how I was disabled and crippled by sleep apnea and asthma. I was healthy before going to teach on faculty in Indonesia and I developed lung disease. The sleep studies are great and essential, I found I had oxygen of 65% in one study with a central apnea and PLMD seizure like disease and obstructive apnea and a high AHI. Your brain develops white matter lesions of damage after years of sleep apnea and it damages your heart, you get arrythmias and liver disease and diabetes