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I survived my night at the sleep clinic and it was actually quite
fascinating. It was really wierd at first to be wired up with electrodes
coming off every end of my face and head and having someone in the next room
watching me sleep for a straight 7 hours- but I actually slept fairly well.
In fact they said it took me a long time to actually get into the first sleep
stage (there are 5) and I did wake up alert a few times during the night- but
I hit every sleep cycle that a normal person does and from what they can see
I actually sleep a hell of alot better than I think I do. Go figure?! Anyway
they followed up with a day after study all day yesterday and she did admit
that I may suffer from extreme day sleepiness (I forgot the medical term for
it) as every time I was put in for a cat nap-I drifted into some stage of
sleep within 8 minutes where most won't go down til 15-18 after an "adequate
night sleep". She said that that can be treated with low dose stimulants if I
feel that it is unbearable but she actually had a bunch of suggestions for
when they don't really find anything abnormal. Here's a quick summary:

* Eat your last meal a few hours before you get into bed

* Don't drink liquids or snacks with sugar after a certain hour (let's say
9:00) if  you go to bed around 11:00 or so

* Turn your clock to face the back wall so that you aren't aware of the time
each time you awaken thereby, "marking the time"

*  Force yourself to resist the urge to continuously get up and urinate (I
tried this last night and only allowed myself to get up once. The rest of the
times I just layed there til I eventually fell back asleep)

*  Give yourself unwinding time before you actually get into bed- some time
for your mind to calm down- turn off the tv, computer, phone, radio- sit
quietly for that last hour and just read or do something quietly

* Watch your diet- make sure you are getting all your proper vitamins and
minerals and eating a well balanced meal

*  don't hit the snooze button- set a certain time and wake up that time if
possible every morning

during the day:
*  if you do work where you are sitting all day, especially in front of a
computer, get up every 45 minutes to an hour- walk around

*  if the office air quality is stale, walk outside for a few minutes and get
some fresh air and sunlight- let the light from the sky readjust your eyes.

*  watch your sugar and caffeine intake- both may give a quick pick up, but
after a half hour or so- the high will crash and you may actually feel worse.

That's the summary, I will take all these suggestions to heart and hopefully
before I know it, will hope to be sleeping like a baby. (By the way, there's
a legit reason for that saying- seems like babies really do get a special
sleep cycle!)

p.s. for anyone who gets FOX channel 5- they taped the end of my study for a
segment on sleep deprivation and then they did a one on one interview with me
that will be airing as part of the special next Thursday morning at 8:40- so
if you are curious and want to put a face to the posts, go ahead- just please
remember that I don't normally walk the streets with electordes coming out of
my head!

Also, there are now 5 more technicians out there with a lesson on the  ABC's
of- celiac disease :)  - they probably couldn't wait for me to leave as once
I got going, I almost asked them to bring in the GI residents!

Best Regards,
Leslie