going to bed for the night consistently

My biggest habit challenge is going to bed consistently and on time.

10:50PM tonight. Not too bad. My immediate goal is to always go to bed no later than 11PM.

Had a terrible night and then day. Bit also in a good way because I was so tired by the end of it, I went to bed last time between 9:15 and 9:25.

Had a great night. Yes, woke up and got up many times, but was able to go back to sleep right away. Did not use audiobooks at all. Had insightful dreams. Got up at 7 with an alarm.

Since i started injecting insulin at night, that has become a real bedtime ritual for me. Much more than just taking my night time meds. Maybe because there are more steps than taking oral meds? It really signals bedtime for me, even if i then watch BritBox in bed!

I once binged on the Poirot series from BeitBox and tbh, I am ready to rewatch them all!

9:55 PM is my bedtime tonight.

A note to myself: I planned it to be 9:15PM but realistically finishing everything up, taking nighttime meds, filling up the humidifier chamber of my BiPAP machine with distilled water, straightening the duvet and extra comforter I use in winter (I never put the heater on, so I sleep under two comforters in winter), putting dirty dishes from the day into the dishwasher... all these things, they... they take time! time just flows by.

Am tired. Have been up since 7AM, no nap. for me, it is a long period of being awake non-stop.

Could not fall asleep without an audiobook for a long time. Ultimately got up, put on an audiobook, and then was able to fall asleep. But in the middle of the night (I wake up many times in the middle of the night), I was able to fall back to sleep without an audiobook. So, something good to report.

Tonight, I won't even try. I will put on an audiobook right away.

10:01 going to bed. Will start an audiobook right away.
Am very sleepy despite a late nap: got up at 5PM. I hope it means I will fall asleep fast.

Oura ring shows that I fell asleep at 10:57 PM last night. This agrees with my subjective experience of listening to my audiobook for a long time, almost till the end of the story (it is a story i have on repeat).

I first woke up at 3AM from a very interesting and insightful dream. I thought I would go back to sleep but no: I was hungry. Had to get up and eat a little bit. Thinking of increasing Topamax from 25 mg to 50 mg to bring down this dreadful hunger. Will think more about it, as I am concerned about worsening side effects of Topamax.

Next time I woke up, it was a few minutes before 7AM when my alarm was set to go off. Again, it was after an interesting dream and both dreams involved persons from my childhood and adolescence.

I felt well enough and alert enough to go to an Orangetheory workout at 9:30AM and really enjoyed the workout. And I do not need a nap now. I am starting to cook as I am hosting a party in the evening. A many course meal, you know. I did all the shopping yesterday night, going to three different stores, and today is the day of cooking.

Just now when I sat down to record that letter to myself, I realized that I only woke up only once in the middle of the night. This is so good, for me. I sometimes wake up umpteen times.

I think the morale of the story is that going to bed no later than 10PM and starting an audiobook right away really pays off.

Tart, when do you take your topamax? I take mine at bedtime.

I am going to try not eating after 6 pm. That is how i was raised.

I take Topamax first thing in the morning, together with Levoxyl, but I am considering taking another pill at bedtime specifically to prevent hunger at night.

Good for you if you can avoid eating after 6PM!

I had to switch all my meds to nighttime because i was needing a nap before work! Then they later discovered that night was actually better for some of my meds - the beta-blocker, i think. Basically i just could not tolerate them, either my stomach or my brain would get upset at all this jazz going on. Then drive to work and have coffee? Big nope!

This is exactly how it is for me, too. It's a race to get all the night-time chores done so I can get into bed when I want. Sometimes I'll have chips and hummus for supper (or skip it entirely) just to collapse into bed by 10pm. Or I'll skip my meds or brushing teeth. I used to read really good fiction in bed before going to sleep. But if the book is too good, I would delay bedtime and even get wound up. So I've decided to read just non-fiction in bed or nothing at all.

I wonder if you review the sleep reports from your BiPAP machine to figure out why you're waking up. In my case I found that the mask was leaking, so I adjusted it and got fewer episodes of waking up. But I still have the apneas a few times each night.

the problem is that my particular BiPAP machine does not have a bluetooth connection. It has an SD card. Only the doctor's office can download the report. I do not get daily feedback, unfortunately. My next appointment is only in July 2024. But I do know when the mask leaks because that is visible on the machine itself and then, as the sleep medicine doctor told me, I replace the nasal mask (in addition to replacing it regularly) and everything is good again. What I do not do is the chin strap. Maybe I should. I just did not find it comfortable, but maybe I should try again.

My machine also has the SD card. I'm able to connect the SD card to my computer and read it with the SleepyHead computer program.

I do this every few months or when I start to have issues.

The mask fit has to be very bad for the machine itself to alert me.

I run the SleepyHead 1.0.0-beta-2 version on Windows 10. It is free and Open Source; it can be downloaded from here: SleepyHead CPAP Review Software

Wow! But alas:

SleepyHead

SleepyHead Project has shut down
After repeated hostile takeover attempts, undermining, betrayal, and torrents of abuse,
I have no desire to continue subjecting myself to working under those condtions.
No Free & Open Source Software developer should have to endure that.

@SquarePegGuy I will pick your brain. You are a treasure trove of information about BiPAP. I probably am doing many things wrong.

My guests left not a long time ago. I had made a lot of food. I put the leftovers into the fridge but did not even start to clean up. That can wait until tomorrow. I need to go to bed. Took my Gabapentin and Seroquel, poured distilled water into the humidifier chamber, straightened out my comforters, and going to bed at 10:16 PM. A little later than I hoped for but definitely not staying up till midnight to usher in Year 2024.

Tomorrow morning my friend will come and we will go for a walk by the San Francisco Bay. I hope I will get good sleep as I need to be perky in the morning.

Oh bugger, Jedimark disabled the downloader! Don't despair!

I have the install file on my computer for Windows. The file name is:
SleepyHead-1.0.0-beta-2-Snapshot-Win32-OpenGL-20160422.exe

I was able to find it here: LINK...

It's identical to the installer I have. Let me know if you try it!

BTW, I use just plain old CPAP, not BiPAP. But we have the same issues, such as mask fit, insurance companies, DME suppliers, etc.

I hope you enjoyed your walk by the Bay!

I greatly enjoyed the walk by the Bay. My new Samsung watch auto-recorded 7500 steps, 3.41 miles, 1 h 17 mins duration. Average speed 2.6 mph: we had a leisurely walk, talking. It was utterly beautiful. We saw silvery dew on the grass and Canadian geese swimming in the Bay. Then we came home and my friend ate leftovers from the dinner I had prepared yesterday, except that I made fresh lamb chops for us. She really liked all the food and tool leftover lamb home with her. There was plenty of food. I was so glad. My late mother could not and would not cook and ever since I was little, I have wanted to be different. And the funny thing, it never grows old on me. I never get tired of being complimented on my cooking. I always keep learning new cooking methods and inventing new recipes or modifying existing recipes to make them my own. I am 53 years old but that little girl who wanted to teach herself how to be a good cook lives on in me. The relatives (they are distant relatives who are also neighbors) who visited yesterday night said "this woman can cook" and "this apartment smells so good" and I was so pleased. Unlike cooking which I started to learn as a child, keeping my place clean and smelling nice is something I only learned recently so it was plentifully satisfying to hear compliments on the upkeep of my place. But I am digressing.

I use a Mac. And I am not techie. But I have techie friends. Super techie, actually. Do you know if it is possible to convert a file for Windows into a file for Mac if I ask my friends?

My machine is a BiPAP. Before, I had had a CPAP. Then my new doctor after a new sleep study said that a BiPAP would be better for me. The old CPAP machine was a bluetooth machine. the new BiPAP machine has an SD card. I gave my old machine to someone I know in London who learned about his (possible, likely) apnea thanks to me and who wanted immediate treatment without waiting to go through the wait with the NHS. I recommended that he still get in line to get a proper sleep study through the NHS, but he does not seem to listen to me and I am not going to spend my time trying to convince him. So that machine is gone.

Yes, there is an insurance company, a DME supplier, all that kind of stuff.

Anyway, I am thankful for MSF for having e-met you @SquarePegGuy. And this morning I was up, again, on my own, a few minutes before the alarm went off at 7AM. I checked my phone, took morning meds, went through the dental care routine (flossing, tongue scraping, brushing, then waiting 30 minutes before putting anything in the mouth), cleaned up in the kitchen and dining area after yesterday's feast, had coffee, had my favorite sheep's milk yogurt for breakfast with fresh blueberries, took my morning vitamins and supplements (lutein, D3 and iron that I take due to the fact that I am a regular blood donor), put on sunscreen, got dressed, and cleared the passenger seat of my car in order to be able to transport my friend to the park by the Bay. I was ready when she arrived. I so often do not have time to put on sunscreen but today I had time for everything. All thanks to going to bed consistently. And this past night I did not have to eat or drink during the night. Hope this continues as a positive trend.

going to bed. 10PM. Distilled water poured into the humidifier chamber, comforters straightened out, now just need to put on an audiobook.

Had a great day today. No nap, have been up since 7AM!