Milestone in losing weight: apnea diminished!

[pseydtonne]

I've lost at least another three pounds since last week. Since that loss is only relative to the last time I used that specific scale a week before, I can't say the exact amount I weigh now. I'll run on the assumption I've lost a net of 30 pounds since early December and that I'm on the right track. Heck, I added a new hole to my belt and I already need another.

However, I want to talk about sleep. Maggie figured out that I have sleep apnea. I never got it diagnosed, even though I used to live within walking distance of Lahey Clinic's sleep lab. She'd hear me stop breathing in the night and it used to scare the shit out of her. Then she got used to it.

During Arisia, I slept as I could. I'd assigned myself the duty to open the Net Room in the morning (10 AM). Friday night I got to bed around 1:30 and set an alarm on my cel phone for 9. My body instead awoke me around 8:30, possibly earlier. My rational mind wanted to go back to sleep. However, my body said to me "nah, we're cool. You might as well get off this massage table you're sleeping on and forage for grub". So I did.

The next night came the Other People's Psychodrama, wherein I got to sleep on a mattress but another person in the room proceeded to have a recurring whining fit. I got to sleep around 2:30 that night but was awakened several times by said person who shall remain nameless. arib, chaiya and others in the room were also awakened. Chai handled it deftly; Ari showed amazing restraint in not using physical restraints on the person and for that earned good karma as well. (His line was "The solution is simple: Haldol." I laughed hard at this but mostly inside) Then my brain decided during one of this person's yelps that my eyes needed to open to see whether it was 4 AM or 4:30. It was 8. My body chose to spring to life again.

Cut to Sunday night and how this sleep stuff ties into weight loss. I had a hard time slowing my brain down for sleep even though I was exhausted. I found the self-titled Portishead album on my iPod and hit play. I realize other people couldn't fall asleep to Portishead but i found it downtempo and oddly reassuring so I was out sometime in the third track.

I woke up after six and a half hours. Again I assumed I needed more sleep but my body wanted me to rise and shower. When I told hakamadare about that later, he said "wow, must be nice to feel well-rested. My sleep apnea never gives me that." That's when it hit me: wait, if I have sleep apnea but I'm sleeping enough to be well-rested and not need an alarm clock, then perhaps I've lost enough weight that my breathing passage isn't getting blocked. What a coup!

Last night I fell asleep for half an hour on the couch. Then I brushed my teeth, finished the LJ entry I'd started before I'd nodded off, and went to sleep at 2:30. My body woke me at 8:30 but let me waft back to sleep until 8:45. I need less sleep now that I am breathing through sleep the whole night. I feel well-rested. I'm typing rapidly and without massive error. Losing weight now means getting more time back in my life. Hells yeah! Bring on my skinny!

It's 9:35 as I finish this entry. My alarm is set for 10. Since there is fresh snow outside, this will give me ample time to perform ablutions and still prepare for a crappy drive up 93. Once I can couple the shortened sleep time (an hour shorter but still shorter) with a shorter commute, look out.

-rawk god pimp dude, Dante

By the way, hi to all the new folks I've friended.

Comments

[dobrovolets.livejournal.com]

Another way it relates: sleep deficits slow down your metabolism and cause your body to store more calories in the form of fat. Getting a proper quota of sleep is important for weight loss. You're still young enough that you should be in the eight hour daily range, so even if you're feeling more rested from six hours a night than you would have in the past, you'd probably do better with a bit more.

Again, this is advice of the "do as I say, not as I do type," as last night entailed yet another bout of insomnia.

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

Wooo! Yeah, that makes sense: weight loss can totally help with sleep apnea. It is probably still worth going to a doctor and getting a sleep test -- since good sleep is important for, oh, everything, maybe it would help you to sleep with a CPAP for six months. Who knows? Or maybe you've lost enough weight that it's all gone! Either way, woooo!

[hakamadare.livejournal.com]

heh - actually, pseydtonne, i bet you'd enjoy a sleep test; it's quite geek-friendly, especially if you get a chatty tech who's willing to tell you all about what he's doing (like i did).

i am intensely happy that you're getting good sleep. i sure am looking forward to that myself.

-steve

[lightfixer.livejournal.com]

Yay!

[dimers.livejournal.com]

I totally feel the "getting time back for my life" thing =) Glad you're feeling better all around; congrats!

[ceelove.livejournal.com]

Wait, how do you know D? You get around, don'tcha...

[dimers.livejournal.com]

Met him in person at a GLSE-hosted OPN, and spent more time with him at chaiya's turkey-day. Round round get around, I get around.

[ceelove.livejournal.com]

*smile* It seems all I have to say to you for the last month is "congrats! that's great!"

[grace-of-gemini.livejournal.com]

Yup.
Excess weight causes sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea causes daily fatigue.
Daily fatigue causes slower metabolism.

You got it, baby! Keep it up!