Sunday, July 20, 2014

Sleeping, or not

I have problems sleeping these days. On a good night, I get to sleep for a solid 12 hours. I'm not kidding. I hope to do this once a week at least. Not this weekend. If I can, I save my big sleeping nights for the weekend because I don't have to get up in the morning.

Friday night I slept from about 10-330. Then I dozed off and on until 6 when I gave up and got up. Last night, I slept from about 930 to 4. Then I couldn't sleep so I played games on my phone (because my phone was nagging me to get caught up on words with friends) for about half and hour and then dozed for a while and finally got back to sleep for a bit. I am feeling a bit sleep deprived as a result.

I have spoken with my many doctors about this and my PCP said she wants me to have a sleep test to figure out if I have apnea or other issues.

Sleep tests can determine other problems as well. According to Dr. Wikipedia:

"Polysomnography is used to diagnose, or rule out, many types of sleep disorders including narcolepsy, idiopathic hypersomnia, periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD), REM behavior disorder, parasomnias, and sleep apnea. Although it is not directly useful in diagnosing circadian rhythm sleep disorders, it may be used to rule out other sleep disorders."

My PCP said that now they do sleep tests where they send you the machine at home and you can sleep in your own bed. However the hospital set me up for an overnight sleep test there. They claim the room is like a motel room. I hate sleeping in motel or hotel rooms by myself. I want my husband there to protect me from intruders and scary monsters or zombies. I also want the cat. I'm not sure I can bring either.

I got the schedule in the mail late Friday afternoon when it was too late to call. Then I got the information brochure in yesterday's mail telling me all kinds of useful information. Dress in comfortable clothes - not pajamas. It doesn't sound like you can wear pjs. They do not have shower facilities either.

I like this part where it says if you drink every night you should do so before coming - but you can't bring any alcohol and you must have a driver bring you if you are drinking. LOL. I find it funny that they specify this. Obviously some have driven drunk to the sleep test or brought in a bottle or two.

But I don't think I can get sleep there which is the whole point of the test. And what if I want to gt up and pee in the middle of the night?

First thing Monday I will call my insurance company and make sure they cover the test at home instead of there. Then I will call the hospital and see about having a home test if I can and ask all my other questions - can I bring my tablet to read a book on before sleeping? What about PJs? What about bathroom visits? Lots of things to know.

All I know is I need to sleep more. And this might help.

Lack of sleep causes both crabbiness and crankiness.

2 comments:

apu mridha said...

Very informative post. .:) enjoyed reading every bit of it ...

Thanks for sharing ..

Apu

apu mridha said...

Very informative post. .:) enjoyed reading every bit of it ...

Thanks for sharing ..

Apu

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