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'Martin' wrote on '28:
I picked up a Sony PCM-M10 as it's meant to have the lowest amount of self-noise in its class. We shall see!
I've started a thread about the upcoming sound recordings. Please do get involved:
http://www.insomnialand.com/topic/259-insomnia-land-sound-therapy/
ooh, fancy gear! mine's like a $50 unit that turns them all into podcast-ready mp3s.
not that you'd need it with that sweet piece of gear, but here's a recent article on how to use a noise gate to get rid of unwanted noise in your recordings–just in case!
of course that'd be okay! please, by all means, republish the post as a review.
the oregon coast must sound gorgeous. funny thing–one of the ambient tracks i've been using for ambiance is “oregon waves”! used it the other night to sleep! 😀
what's the sound recorder you bought, btw? i bought an excellent sony for a class that records straight into podcast-ready mp3 format for $50. it seems like just yesterday, the old olympus cassette recorders were $200-400 for a good one!
been using the app for a couple of weeks now. since around 1st week of february. i don't know what else i'd say in a review! everyone should just go try the free trial and see if they like the app. have you checked it out?
'Martin' wrote on '21:Yikes that does sound pricey. What are you hoping or interested in discovering with the sleep study? Are you concerned you may have sleep apnea? Do you think more specific data on your sleep habits could help you sleep?
i don't believe i have sleep apnea, but i do wake up often and don't get very restful, or deep sleep in general, and the results from my friend's kid's sleep study sparked my curiosity. yeah, i think the data could be useful, in terms of finding an approach or strategy, but wouldn't consider a sleep study at the very top of my priority list yet.
i am @themalfeasant on twitter, operating on pst, generally speaking. 😉
if you follow me send me a note or say you're from the insomniac forums, so i know where you're from. i get a lot of new followers every day, usually marketing accounts, and i tend to ignore them otherwise. 🙂
i'm interested in doing a sleepy study. it sounds like it could be very useful to me. one of my best friends took her kid for a sleep study as the kid was suffering from some sleep apnea, and the results were illuminating. they discovered that even aside from the sleep apnea (the kid has unusually large tonsils and has since been scheduled for surgical removal), their brain woke them up 5 times an hour. combined with the sleep apnea caused by the breathing trouble, and it was a whopping 13 times an hour. the poor kid was never able to fall into deep, restful sleep. naturally, they were suffering from health trouble–cognitive trouble, attention-deficit, behavioural issues, etc.
the downside is i understand it can be quite expensive. something like 3 grand, in this case. i'll have to check with my insurance and see what it's going to be like for me.
there've been many times i've wanted to, with tongue only half-firmly-planted-in-cheek, suggest that all the insomniacs move to a state (or country) where marijuana's legal (medically or decriminalised). i live in los angeles.
yes, it works. it's great. just get the right kind. here in california, a good pharmacy with a knowledgeable staff would be able to show you a few strains. but broadly speaking you'll be looking at a pure indica or even a hybrid with an indica-dominant strain. some of the co-ops also sell edibles like muffins, cupcakes, brownies, cookies, tinctures. people report a deeper, more body-centric effect with those, which is supposed to be even stronger at helping you sleep.
the downside is it can get pricey. good strains can cost $80 for 1/8 oz but the proliferation of co-ops and competition means you can get good ones for $60 and a few places might sell you something for $40 or $45 (maybe in the valley, these are la prices). it hasn't been federalised so theoretically you can still be stopped by law enforcement (though i hardly hear about that happening anymore and it's never anything heavy if you have less than 1 oz) and you certainly can't air travel with it, and your card won't get you out of trouble if you take it with you to a state where it isn't legalised, yada yada.
you could also try the marinol pills, which i understand are extremely strong.
good luck!
i agree you should speak to your doctor about the bladder burning. you also sound like you might be suffering from adrenal fatigue. that can cause poor sleeping patterns and frequent urination. however, the best thing would really be to get a clinical diagnosis by a doctor. i wouldn't want to speculate.
hi, elfin–welcome! my first thought was the same as martin's: with seven kids, how could you get any sleep at all?! you must be supermom.
i see you have the temazepam prescription. pretty standard fare. i hear good things about soma, as well.
i don't know how well “warm milk” is supposed to work; i don't like warm milk, either. but your doctor wasn't wrong that exercise can help. especially the right kind of exercise at the right time of the day. you should go over it with your doctor. have you tried natural supplements like melatonin? have you also had a hormone blood panel done to see if your levels are in the normal range? i'm a thyroid sufferer, and when my levels are unstable, my sleep patterns will change.
b
cheers, pete! and i agree with you wholeheartedly. there are many things my insomnia affords me that i appreciate, and knowing a side of the world or city many forego out of necessity is a rather nice silver-lining. and koreatown is filled with 24/7 eateries that serve amazing food, much of which just somehow tastes better/more appropriate at 3.30am than 3.30pm.
sometime ago (if i can find the article i'll link it, but it's been a while and i'll have to search my instapaper account to see if i saved it) i read that there were real, evolutionary reasons for insomnia. the gist of the article was that we all couldn't possibly sleep at the same time at night, or we as former tribes and colonies would be vulnerable to night attacks by predators and enemies. so, insomniacs today may have once upon a time been the guardians and sentries of the human species. it makes good sense. something to think about, yes?
baron
it's me, one of the aforementioned city dwellers. los angeles. koreatown area, to be more precise. as much as i've been insomniac, i've never found it to be the noise of the city (though getting buzzed by an lapd ghettobird flying low over my building at 4am doesn't help much) that keeps me up, but rather the noise in my brain. i've lived in the bay area, eugene, or, kirkland, wa, and a bunch of other fairly serene places and the fact is, it's never made a difference for me at all.
i've tried a number of sleep therapies. i've in fact just put in an order for a melatonin spray (i've tried melatonin in other forms before with limited success but have heard good things about this product), and will have to report back in after a month or so to see if it does anything for me. a friend of mine just took her son in to a sleep study and received some mind-blowing data, and at this point i feel that if i really want to get a handle on anything, this may be the way to go.
has anyone here done a sleep study?
however i'm also quite happy to write all of this off as me simply being a nocturnal person. i get quite a bit of work done at night, be it writing, or inking, or anything creative. i recently started working on a very simple strip called “boy & dog” (martin wants me to do an insomnia-related panel sometime, and i think i'll try!) which gives me great pleasure to do at 3 or 4am when i've woken up and can't get back to sleep. so, in an effort to practice radical acceptance, i try to make good use of the time i spent up at nights, instead of fighting the insomnia and getting altogether frustrated at not being able to sleep.
i understand not everyone, or in fact most people, can't do this. most people have jobs to wake up to in the morning, or children or loved ones to care for, and so i have to admit my bohemian lifestyle affords me enough flexibility to roll with things. still, a good sleep routine to keep me in stride with the rest of the world seems like a nice idea, and i often do entertain the fantasy of being able to sleep restfully at night when i close my eyes, and wake up feeling pretty great.
i'm thinking about a sleep lamp and other things. but at the same time, i have to think about the hundreds (thousands, mayhaps?) i've already spent on various supplements and machinations (white noise machines, iphone apps, etc.), all with limited success, and the dollar amount attached to future endeavours can seem so endless. that's mainly why i decided to practice acceptance instead.
in any case, welcome to the forum. it's a nice little community with a low signal-to-noise ratio, which is hard to find on these internets. i hope you find some answers or clues and solutions to your sleep-related problems.
cheers,
baron
i don't know if i have a real strategy – coffee, vivarin, amphetamines (if it's really important) and a brain that won't keep quiet seem to be the building blocks of my coping mechanisms. i couldn't in good conscience recommend this to anyone else. 😉
i often slept in and through class as a teenager. mostly because i was bored, i think. i've lost enough sleep to the point where i was sleepy through a few college lectures but usually held out till i could race home after classes to nap. i've missed things like the farmers market and so forth, but if i have something vital the following day (flight, meeting, outing) i try my best to make the commitment, even if i stay up just to make sure i don't oversleep. then i zone out after. the track record for this so far, has been decent.
