22 replies to this topic

[steelsky]

Is there any way to diagnose it by myself? Is there any way to diagnose any other sleep disorder by myself?

I will try to set an appointment for a sleep lab, but meanwhile I want to get a general idea. Since I'm suffering from excessive daytime sleepiness, I'm wondering whether I might have some sleep issues.

(However, my sleepiness is sudden and happens usually 3-4 hours after I wake up. If I have a sleeping problem it makes sense that I would have woken up tired from the start, no?)

[KimberCT]

I had the following before I got my official diagnosis.

Excessive morning sleepiness
Morning headaches
Waking up feeling like you're holding your breath or choking
People told me I snored

[steelsky]

I had the following before I got my official diagnosis.

Excessive morning sleepiness
Morning headaches
Waking up feeling like you're holding your breath or choking
People told me I snored

I only got two - sleepiness and snoring reports. none of the rest.

[doctordog]

I had the following before I got my official diagnosis.

Excessive morning sleepiness
Morning headaches
Waking up feeling like you're holding your breath or choking
People told me I snored

i'm going for a study in two weeks.

+ i never wake up feeling 'refreshed', but don't begin to feel excessively sleepy until 4pm-ish (that's when i have to lie down)

+ i wake up with headaches, though i also have a lot of neck tension, so they seem to linger most of the day

+ the third symptom rings true and i've been getting that a bit lately - i wake up feeling like i'm not breathing at all, and have to manually take over my breathing

+ my mom says i snore

i also have inattentive ADD symptoms, memory loss, loss of sexual desire, mood swings, etc.

seems like apnea could be a likely culprit; otherwise, i'm probably bipolar, so i pray it's the former

[BadPlasmid]

For a proper (certain) diagnosis of sleep apnea a sleep study is required.

Another method of checking for apnea, which often is done prior to a sleep study is an overnight oximetry in which blood O2 levels are measured during the sleep in search of desaturation events (which are typically caused by the apnea).

If desaturation does occur, typically a sleep study is used to follow it to determine the type of apnea (eg - central vs obstructive).

There is really no way to self-diagnose apnea, though you might get an idea based on symptoms. However, most people would have a hard time knowing the difference between symptoms of apnea and something like RLS without an outside observer.

Snoring occurs often with apnea patients, but not always. Nor do all snorers suffer from apnea.

Obstructive sleep apnea appears to occur more frequently in overweight/obese.

-BP

Edited by BadPlasmid, 06 August 2009 - 07:02 AM.

[steelsky]

Piracetam boost brain blood flow, mitochondrial metabolism, and prevents brain damage due to hypoxia, and as a bonus makes dreams so much more memorable! Very relevant for the case. Give it a try before bed, heaping teaspoon at least, and also three more spaced evenly thru the day.

My sleep has improved enormously during my year's dosing.

It's cute that you suggest stuff to help, as I've tried nearly everything. I am on a semi-daily regimen of about 1,200mg Piracetam (some days more, some less, some none), and I also take Choline and DMAE.

I didn't, however, try it before bed. Only when I wake. I doubt it'll improve things much but I'll give it a try. I do take GABA (500mg) before bed.

[chilp]

Steelsky,

I also have mild sleep apnea (air gets blocked only when I'm sleeping on my back). I use modafinil during the day, to prevent the sleepiness. However I've been trying 1gram L-Arginine before sleep and it seems it's helping since I feel more refreshed in the morning, though not ideally irefreshed.

[steelsky]

You have to take piracetam right before bed, because it only has a 4-hour duration during the day. During sleep metabolism and absorption slow down, so like me you can get 8 hours out of it but only while sleeping

What's the rationale behind taking Piracetam for sleep? How does it suppose to effect sleep in a positive way?

[steelsky]

It makes my dreams more vivid, I remember them more, and I wake up refreshed. It also prevents hypoxia - and brain damage due to said condition, so someone who isn't breathing right at night won't wake up all tired from not getting enough air.

So last night I took 1,500mg Piracetam and about 800mg Choline Bitartrate before bed. Today I woke up naturally (it almost never happens at this hour) and I feel very alert and pretty good.

Too soon to tell, of course, but here's hoping.

[steelsky]

I don't have breathing problems at night but I tend to underbreathe plus my room air is usually stale due to various factors. All of which leaves my with a hypoxic, achy tired body & brain when waking in the morning - or used to...

When I started using Piracetam I noticed that if I took a dose just before bed, I'd not only wake up clearer but the usual morning head-fog and wooziness were gone. It was something of a miracle for me.

Well, I've tried to sleep in many places, and since I've been having this for years - they were very different.

Anyway, today's going great. The hours when I usually feel sleepy passed and I didn't even notice. I'll try this again tonight and report tomorrow.

[KimberCT]

Hmmmmm, I too have some Piracetam hanging around. I never noticed anything from daytime use. I'll have to give this a try before bed.

FWIW, I have a form of Central Sleep Apnea rather than the more common Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

[steelsky]

Damn! (the good kind)

Second day and boy did it went great. I also did not take a dose of Bupropion (for those of you who didn't follow my Bupropion thread - I've been having some success with it, but only for an initial week an a half, after which it seems I need a break).

I took about 1,500mg Piracetam before bed, with Choline. I also took another ~800mg in the morning with DMAE. Woke up early (by alarm, but had no trouble jumping out of bed even though I felt a bit tired). Only after several hours did I start feeling mild sleepiness, which quickly vanished.

Note that in the morning I took 100mg Modafinil (but I usually need 200mg, or Bupropion, or Ritalin), and also 1mg of Methylcobalamine. This might have aided a bit... but I'll be able to have that as my regimen - that would be all I need.

[KimberCT]

I also took about 1500mg Piracetam before bed last night. I had a helluva time falling asleep and only got about 6 hours sleep rather than my usual 9 hours. I felt pretty good this morning for so little sleep. I'm going to give it another shot tonight.

[steelsky]

When I started taking Piracetam before bed I noticed that it took longer to go to sleep, but after a while it was no longer noticeable, kind of like tolerance. These days I have a bowl before bed too so its easy to get to sleep.

One thing which always stayed the same was that with piracetam each hour of sleep was 'worth more'. So when I used to need 9 hours of sleep without it, 7-8 would be fine on the pir.

It's nice to hear of the good results

Well, I noticed that only on the first day I had that... but now I don't have any problem falling asleep (it was never a problem for me).

Continuing with reporting - I took a "modest" dose (700mg without choline) before bed. Woke up naturally 5 minutes before the time I've set my clock for! Feeling great. I've never expected this to have such a dramatic effect.

[KimberCT]

Fell asleep easily last night with the 1,500mg of Piracetam, but unfortunately woke up "zombified" this morning. I can't blame the Piracetam... since this feeling is the norm for me.

Isochroma, do you usually take your dose with a choline source before bed?

[steelsky]

Fell asleep easily last night with the 1,500mg of Piracetam, but unfortunately woke up "zombified" this morning. I can't blame the Piracetam... since this feeling is the norm for me.

Isochroma, do you usually take your dose with a choline source before bed?

Yes. While I don't have much statistics, the one time I didn't take Choline with the Piracetam - it didn't work as well.

[steelsky]

I'm ok without a choline supplement - no headaches, no fuzziness, etc. Everyone will vary as to the choline requirement.

Makes sense.
Today started out good. I took 1000mg Piracetam + DMAE before bed. Woke up 5 minutes before the time I've set my clock to (amazing, right?). I also took 700mg more of Piracetam in the morning. Sadly, the rest of the day wasn't such a success. After about 4 hours I started feeling tired again, even though it was mild and not the major overwhelming sleepiness I feel most of the times. The rest of the day varied.

Still, the sleepiness was manageable, as opposed to my usual sleepiness. A drawback, maybe, but lets see what tomorrow holds.