going to bed for the night consistently

@LadyShadow @divine1966 @SquarePegGuy

I am getting a discount off the electricity bill through Pacific Gas and Electric company. There was some form that the office of the sleep medicine doctor filled out and submitted directly to the utility company and my discount kicked in. It is considered vital equipment (not using the precise term, but you get the point). Does your utility company offer discounts for CPAP users, too?

Oh I don't know! I thought the point of letting the utility know you have medical equipment is so that they will prioritise power restoration in your area. I'll definitely look into it, thanks!

That, too, and placing yourself on their special list of getting texts or emails about power outages.

10:33 PM good night!

PS I have an event to go to tomorrow. It will run from 10-4, so I plan to, as an exception, take Dexedrine in the morning.

But should I even go? I just got this:

"The National Weather Service (NWS) forecasted an intensified storm on Sunday, increasing the risk of flooding, fallen trees, downed power lines, power outages, and hazardous roadway conditions.

A High Wind Warning will be in effect from 10 p.m. on Saturday, February 3, 2024, to 10 p.m. on Sunday, February 4, 2024, for the Santa Cruz Mountain areas of the County and the East Santa Clara Hills. Forecasted sustained winds of 40 mph or more are expected, accompanied by gusts exceeding 68 mph at elevations between 900 and 2500 feet. Saturated soils increase risk of runoff to creeks, streams, and roadways that may increase the risk of flooding and mudslides.

Avoid driving if possible."

When was the last time your area had a storm with winds that high? If not in recent memory, there's a good chance that trees will blow over. And flooding and mudslides are even more dangerous.

Although it does mention that this weather is taking place on Saturday and Sunday, which was yesterday and today. So maybe you'll be fine weather-wise. But you might have an issue with road closures.

Added: Oops, now I realize that you did write that on Saturday night. Sorry for any confusion -- Hope you are okay!

Here's a link to a website that provides online streams of emergency scanners in CA:
https://www.broadcastify.com/listen/stid/6

Gosh guys, I had no idea how much you can learn by just being on this thread! I definitely have to look into the utility company thing, because I had no idea that existed.

My money woes are getting worse on top of me trying to get over my husband. I owe almost $1000 in taxes because I got a 1099 from my employer. Mind you, it was HER decision to pay us off the books and then turned around and gave us all 1099s. I could have prepared myself if I had known this was going to happen.

I think I am getting too much caffeine at night - either from my Diet Pepsi or these supplements I take, and that's what is keeping me up at night. Last night, I was dead tired, then woke up wide awake at 3am. It took me moving to my couch to get some more sleep, (change of scenery maybe?) And then I napped at my parent's house for another hour or two. This napping has got to stop.

I am going to attempt to go to bed at midnight tonight - going to force myself off of the computer.

Have a great night's sleep guys!

Thank you for that website link Square Peg Guy! I only now read the message.

I went to my event today and now I feel simply lucky to be alive. The event was great and thanks to Dexedrine ER taken in the morning, I was not sleepy. I came home, worked some and then had 60 minutes of strength training. I already feel that I sometimes need to swallow saliva that pools in the back of my mouth in small quantities, a side effect of Dexedrine, but it is not annoying yet. It is not yet something that makes it impossible to think of anything else. I will definitely skip Dexedrine tomorrow before the side effect worsens.

On my way back home from the event, I drove around huge fallen tree branches.

At home, when I went to get yesterday's mail, the path was blocked by a whole fallen tree. I took pictures and sent to the property management company.

Clearly, I am lucky that nothi g happened to me this weekend, that these trees did not fall on me.

I will monitor the updates before venturing outside again.

10:28 PM good night

took Zyprexa and not Seroquel as I am overly excited and I was concerned that Seroquel would not cut it tonight. Zyprexa is a stronger hypnotic for me.

Have been up since before 6AM. Have been productive. Weird: I slept, per OURA, only 4 hours 6 minutes with 0 deep sleep, and yet I feel fine. Let us see where it takes me.

I realize that I built up suspense and then did not deliver. On that night when I stayed late, I was frantically doing web searches. Earlier that day, out of sudden curiosity, I did a web search for my ex husband's name, discovered new results and then, one click and search leading to another, unearthed a major case of fraud. He represents one image of himself to the court but in reality is a completely different person and I found many traces of that online. The next hearing is on this coming Friday and my attorney will use this evidence to impeach my ex husband, undermining his credibility. The fraud is on a large scale; he has continued over the years to make misrepresentations to the court, but the evidence online paints the opposite picture. If my attorney is successful, the hope is that this will bring the drawn-out case to closure and I won't have to think about my ex husband anymore. He exploited me majorly in the past and it was not until I found this wonderful current attorney of mine that I started seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

I'm glad you're safe, @Tart Cherry Jam. I hope the hearing goes well!

I will let you know! The hearing is on Friday morning. I may have to take Dexedrine unless I am naturally alert that morning just because of the need to be (it sometimes happens to me). I won't go to court. I will attend remotely and my attorney will examine me. Since I won't have to travel to the court house, I won't need to wake up that early.

Yup, I am safe and today I did not step outside. Thank you!

I have been up since before 6AM. In the first half of the day, I was go-go-go, was worried about it, tried to take a nap but couldn't. Just rested. Also, could not get warm under 2 comforters. I am still cold. Since my youth, being underslept means being too cold for me.

In the second part of the day, I was no longer go-go-go. I was able to focus and be productive.

now I am going to bed and I hope to sleep enough but not too much.

good night! 10:31 PM

I cannot believe it. It is 11:37 PM. And what happened? I took a peek at updates to the threads I follow and ended up writing a response to a young woman in India. And I got carried away and did not notice the passage of time.

now, going to bed for real.

Hey there guys!

Thank God you're okay @Tart Cherry Jam that must have been scary with those trees and that wicked weather. And good luck with the case as well!

Good to see everyone checking in when they can too.

Things have been good. Been kind of obsessing with my phone lately- I have become one of those people who look at their phone a lot before bed, SO UNHEALTHY! Need to break myself out of this horrible habit.

Slept about 6 hours last night and will try again for a good night's sleep tonight. It is currently 11:27pm and I have to be up at 7am. Hopefully I sleep well.

Good night!

I hear you. I hear you.

10:24 PM night-night

I still cannot make myself warm enough. This is especially true for hands and feet. It turns out that I have very low ferritin which can produce this effect. Very low ferritin can cause extreme fatigue, too. Maybe this is exacerbating my symptoms.
The nurse from the hematology office wrote to me with suggestions. I am going to eat dried fruit and raisins. I do not like seafood, so that suggestion is not implementable. I already eat beans, meat, and leafy greens.

I continue being very cold and now I know why. I have very low ferritin. THe discovery came up by chance: I went to get lots of labs hoping to see improvements thanks to 1) exercise 2) upping my Levoxyl. I indeed did see those improvements, so I am doing something right, but it is also the case that the ferritin is low. Hemoglobin is normal.

Ferritin is measured by a venipuncture, so it is infrequent. Hemoglobin is measured after a venipuncture, too, but it is also measured by a finger prick each time I donate blood, every 8 weeks. It has always been normal and sometimes even high-ish. So I had no idea I could run into this low, low ferritin.

The hematologist will see me in May. Asked me to repeat the labs a week before being seen. His nurse wrote to me that my feeling very cold could be due to low ferritin. Especially hands and feet. Indeed my fingers are very cold. I have never felt that cold outside of having chills. This is different from chills: it is more hands and feet and there is no feeling of general malaise.

The nurse also wrote that low ferritin could cause extreme fatigue. So this might be a contributing factor why I need so much sleep.

I think I will stop blood donations for now, at least until the hematologist sees me and my ferritin enters the normal range.

The thing is, I have been taking iron pills faithfully, and in the form of iron that is best digestible and free of side effects. Who knew I would end up anemic?

I will be sad if I have to stop donating blood, but I will ba happy if there is something that can be done to make me less sleepy during the day.

Going to bed now. 10:40 PM Thanks for reading my long update! I have turned the heater on, something I never do.

@Tart Cherry Jam - I am so sorry you are so cold! That must be so frustrating and hard for you to sleep. Hopefully, the heater helps and you can get some rest if you're warm enough.

I have had a rough couple of nights. I can't seem to sleep with my CPAP. I have a very foggy light-headedness when I have it on, and it almost feels like it is suffocating me, (maybe claustrophobia?) I have never experienced anything like this before and I have been using my machine consistently for over a year.

I woke up this morning SUPER tired with a big headache when I put the mask back on at 2am (I slept till 8am). Even though I am credited with 6 hours sleep, I felt so dizzy and tired I had to lay down off and on till almost 1pm. Couldn't accomplish anything today till after 4pm and I am up now almost in a manic state and need to go to bed soon.

Will try to go to bed by midnight. Sweet dreams!

My neurologist once told me that a headache upon awakening is a sign of untreated sleep apnea.

Do you have a sleep medicine dr who can adjust the settings on your machine?

11:05PM going to bed. The hearing is tomorrow. I still need to prep in the morning. Will update you later.

The hearing went well!

Glad the hearing went well!

A family friend keeps telling me about a recall on some CPAP machines:
UPDATE: Certain Philips Respironics Ventilators, BiPAP Machines, and CPAP Machines Recalled Due to Potential Health Risks: FDA Safety Communication | FDA

If you have one made by Philips, please look into it. Mine is an ResMed Airsense.

Hope you sleep better tonight @LadyShadow!