The Quest for Good Sleep

So, I snore. In fact, that's why I had the sleep study last winter. My sweetie was convinced I have sleep apnoea. I don't. When it comes to snoring, what I have, I'm relatively certain, is allergies. My snoring always, always, gets worse if I haven't had an opportunity to vacuum and dust the bedroom for a few weeks. Like the last few weeks.

I use those 'Breathe Right' strips and they do help, but not completely.  I've taken to having an antihistamine before bed. That usually helps.

On Saturday, I cleaned the bedroom. I vacuumed. I dusted. I wiped down with a damp cloth. I didn't take an antihistamine Saturday night and didn't need one. So, last night, I also chose not to take one. Bad move.



How I do wake up
photo from FreeDigitalPhotos.net



 My sweetie reads in bed at night. So do I. I'm frequently asleep long before him and I always know when I've been snoring because he shoves my shoudler and I hear him saying my name in an irritably plaintive fashion. Last night, I was deeply asleep when this happened and I woke up pissed off. He thinks it's hormone-related. I think it's being awakened from a deep sleep. Either way, it isn't pretty. Especially when I have to get up in five hours. Last night, my reaction was so strong that he told me I looked insane. He actually looked shocked and a little fearful. I told him, "I don't care!!" 



How we both wish I woke up.
Photo by Dan
at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I'm not sure how to handle this one. I'm already doing everything I can about the snoring. And, I'm sorry, but I don't think it's reasonable to expect me to be reasonable when jolted out of a deep sleep (well, as deep as I ever get, anway). This is going to take some thought.





I've started looking into Mindful Meditation. There's been some truly good research on this. Here's a paper published on Academia.edu by the NIH: Mindfulness Research Update And the neuro at the sleep clinic also suggested I get some discs by this doctor: Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn 

 It occurs to me as I write this today that my pissed off reactions at being awakened at night might be based in the whole alpha EEG thing. If I'm constantly in fight or flight mode, then being awakened would create a huge spike in adrenalin, wouldn't it? Hmmmm. I wake up ready for a fight, ready for danger? It does make sense. I wonder if the mindful meditation would help with this. It might, rabbit. It might. 




Photo by smoked salmon

at FreeDigitalPhotos.net