going to bed for the night consistently

I am trying a new mask. It goes over eh noise and mouth and fits snuggly. I think this is gonna be th winner. Will try for a few more nights befor deciding. I am not writing from home now - when I get home, I will post what model it is. The sleep tech at the sleep clinic gave me one to try.

Lady Shadow, what a nice avatar photo! You are literally glowing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tart Cherry Jam Lady Shadow, what a nice avatar photo! You are literally glowing.

Thanks so much! I am glad you like it! Sorry I haven't been on this thread lately, it kinda got lost among all the traffic, lol.

My sleeping is getting better. Last night I did 7.14 hours because I had to get up early for church this morning. Usually, I average 9.5 hours.

I will be honest with you guys; I had a really hard time with my CPAP in January when I came out of the hospital - it took me a whole two months to get back on a regular schedule with it. That and I rotate with my masks now. I use two at a time and alternate between them each night, (wash one, let it dry, use the other).

Hope you guys have been sleeping well and got adjusted to the Daylight Savings.

I try to go to bed by 11pm every night and wake up at 8am if I can.

I have been sleeping without the BiPAP and I see no difference. It can be good and bad, but it was good and bad at times with the BiPAP. But I will get a fitting and hopefully with a well-fitted mask I would go back to using the BiPAP. I like your idea of using two masks, Lady.

Got news - in June there will be a sleep study and I will be tested for hypersomnia. I will need to lower the dosages of psych meds during the two weeks before the study, but I won't need to completely stop the meds.

I slept the last two nights without the CPAP. It was awful. At one point my snoring was waking me up every ten minutes! And I had to pee five (or more) times.

I didn't sleep enough last night and it was not safe to drive. I needed a nap. So I missed my fitting appointment.

I have been sleeping pretty good - last night was tough to fall asleep - the CPAP says I only got six hours. Going to try to keep my schedule of 11am to 8am consistent.

Today is the second time in a row I woke up early and was not tired. I mean, it had been happening a lot, but before, I would go back to sleep for a morning nap, and now I feel completely alert. Yesterday, I went to the gym for an hour of cardio, followed by 20 mins in the sauna and steam room combined, then a shower, and today I am going to the gym again. We will see if I am going to be able to make this a routine. I suddenly feel that the pleasures available to people who do not struggle with sleep have become available to me. Fingers crossed!

Yesterday, I started sleeping in a night mouth guard to protect my recently done dental work that took so much time, money, and effort. I was able to fall asleep in it at least three times (as I wake up several times during the night, I had to go back to sleep). The mouth guard felt uncomfortable, but I was still able to fall asleep in it. That made me very happy.

Today I picked up a new mask for my BiPAP. it is AirFit N30, small. I was fitted a the DME provider's office. I look forward to resuming using the BiPAP. If I can get the mouth guard and the new mask play together nicely, that would be super.

Was able to fall asleep quickly in my night guard and wearing the new mask, but I think I pulled off the mask in my sleep yesterday, I must have, as I only got s3 hrs 17 minutes on the machine and I was in bed over 5 hrs. Still, it was a good start and the machine shows no leak.

When I woke up, I had a mix, but it is getting better. I also realized that I wasn't wearing my silk night cap, the one I wear to protect my hair from getting too tangled. I must have forgotten to put it on last night because I was preoccupied with the new mask. So, I need to wear three things for sleeping: the mask, the mouth guard and the slip cap. That is a lot!

I continue using the new mask and the new mouth guard.

I have also started doing various breathing exercises with the Oura app. Each exercise shows that my finger temperature went up during the exercise, which is considered a sign of relaxation. So, I must be doing something right.

Breathwork is very underrated, IMO.

Wim Hof recommends a night-time stretching routine that he claims will help the sleeper breathe better. The idea is that if your rib cage is constricted, you have a harder time drawing in air.

Welcome to the Official Wim Hof Method Website

My son was into him some years ago, but it was in the realm of cold water immersion and not breathwork. I will look up the information on his website.

I had an almost uninterrupted night of sleep and the mouth guard and new mask both work great. Then I did breathing exercises in bed, while still hooked to the BiPAP. And then in the middle of the day I did a 5 minute breathwork session while sitting but hooked up to the BiPAP. With this new comfortable lightweight mask, I actually enjoy how fresh and cool the air is that my BiPAP pushes. The old mask was not comfortable and detracted from the enjoyment of fresh air.

Yes, you're right, the Wim Hof Method (WHM) does include cold water immersion (ideally) or cold showers. His book starts off with that, and I think it turns off many people. I've not been able to do a cold shower; however, I regularly splash cold water on my face.

Anyway, the WHM also features breathwork. If you've tried Kundalini Yoga, you might recognize the process from one of the many kriyas. One chapter or paragraph from the book describes a routine to practice in order to make it easier to breathe at night.

I'm glad that your new mask is improving your sleep! I've tried breathwork while using the CPAP machine. But when I review the detailed report (which includes air volume) I don't see any difference during the breathwork time period.

Cold showers, contrasting showers, cold baths, one time immersion in a cold pond in late autumn, pouring buckets with cold water on myself -- those were all hallmark events of my adolescence and young adult years in Moscow. I enjoyed them greatly.

Now, I cannot force myself to take a cold shower or even a cool shower. I can immersed myself in a cold plunge (all the way with the head), but only by way of contrast, after a sauna or steam room. I very rarely do that, because our local Korean spa is expensive and I usually do not have enough time, either. I cannot even splash my face with cold water these days. But I have started filling a plastic bucket with water in the bathtub at bedtime and pouring the water, by then cold, on my legs in the morning. It is exciting and maybe, just maybe, I will pluck up courage to pour cold water on my torso and not legs.

I know that my breathwork is doing something good because each session shows a positive change in the skin temperature of the finger. This is supposed to signify relaxation. I need to try doing breathwork with and without the BiPAP and compare the temperature change curves.

I continue doing breathwork using the exercises inside the Oura app. The skin temperature curve is getting steeper. Hopefully this is a good sign.

I am also getting used to the whole bedtime get-up:

- wear the mouth guard
- put on my silk cap to protect hair from getting tangled
- put on the mask and turn on the BiLAP machine
- do one Oura breathwork or what they call meditation exercise
- switch to an audiobook

I continue doing breathing exercises and observing how my skin temp rises in the process

Typically, I do them while hooked up to my BiPAP and wearing a mouth guard, but today I discovered an exercise I needed to do without those, because it involved deep inhales through the nose alternating with exhales through the mouth, as if blowing out a candle. I liked the voice of the narrator and her accent. Not sure it was British but definitely not American.

These exercises are fun and seeing the skin temperature respond positively to them provides a reinforcement I like.

I exhale through the mouth when doing breathing exercises even while using the mask. I don't care if the machine doesn't like it.

I will try doing that

Tomorrow I have an appointment at the sleep clinic. I love my new mask and hope that the data download does not show too many leaks.

I haven't been back to my thread and haven't spoken with my friends on here in a long time.

My sleep-wake cycles are getting more regular thanks to my playing with temperature conditioning, if I may call it so. In the evening, I spend time in the sauna in the clubhouse of our complex (it has been here all along, but only these days I am using it at last). In the morning, I spend 3-4 minutes sitting in a cold bathtub and pouring scoops of water on parts of my upper body which are not submerged. It really helps to energize me for the day ahead.

Of course, it is the effectiveness of the Lybalvi, Naltrexone, Gabapentin combo and the finally comfortable and well-fitting new mask that are major contributors to the recent improvement, but temperature contrasts play their modest role, too, as an adjunct to pharmacological and BiPAP therapy

My sleep study is in mid-June. First, I will stay at the sleep lab for the night and then, I will spend the next day there at the lab, and they will test whether I fall asleep during the day.

Yesterday I fell asleep sitting on the couch, listening to an audiobook, and waiting for Voltaren gel to be absorbed by the skin on my foot where my old stress fracture flares up. I slept sitting upright, on the edge of the couch, and I dreamt. That O start dreaming right away is suggestive of narcolepsy. So, we will see after the study results are in. I am glad that I was allowed not to do a complete wash out without psych meds for two weeks prior to the study, as for me it would have been infeasible - I cannot sleep without meds, period.

Ahh, the sauna. I wish I had access to one!

It sounds like you have a good team taking care of your sleep. I've only ever had one study done. I take Nuvigil to combat daytime sleepiness.

It's been a while since I've been on this thread! I am glad to see everyone has been sleeping well. I am still doing well with sleep. My machine can be a bit temperamental at times, but I think I am doing well. I averaged 9.5 hours last night.

Sauna is a luxury indeed.

I jinxed myself - this morning, even after sitting in the cold bathtub for 4 mins and feeling transiently energized, I needed more sleep and ended up taking two naps, in the morning and in the afternoon. Afterwards, I had a good evening and made progress in cleaning the fridge and listening to an audiobook I needed to finish soon. But, alas, even cold water is not a panacea.

My insurance has approved the sleep study. We will see what the study findings are.

I tried Provigil and Nuvigil and they didn't do anything, but I was on Thorazine then. I have not tried them in combination with Lybalvi. I probably should try to see what happens.

Quoting your "this morning" and seeing that your post has a timestamp of "Today at 02:33"

So that would be yesterday (Friday) if you're still in the Pacific (West Coast USA) Timezone.

Humm, forgot what I was going to write!

Oh yes, I've gotten up to start the day only to go back to bed a short time later.

I think I do better on a mere six(-ish) hours of sleep. That's when I naturally wake up and feel the most alert (six hours after bedtime, I mean).

But then I convince myself I need to sleep more, so I go for another 90 minutes, at which time I behave like a groggy slug-like creature.

So why don't I sleep from 11pm to 5am? Good question. I think the answer is that sleeping is my favorite activity. If there were a fun and rewarding activity waiting for me at 5am every day, I'd probably follow that schedule.