ZZZZZzzzzz...

I went in for a sleep study this past Tuesday to try to figure out why I am tired/sleepy all of the time. It was quite an interesting experience. I went to a HealthEast facility in Maplewood, and the rooms were fabulous! I expected a hospital-type room with hospital beds and cramped quarters; instead, what I got was a nice hotel room with a double bed, a nice easy chair and a flat-screen t.v. I arrived around 9 pm, and after changing into my p.j.'s, I had about 20 wires attached to me to measure my breathing, heart, brain waves, oxygen levels in the blood, etc. I thought I would never get to sleep with all of that stuff attached to me, but, really, I didn't have any problems. I did wake up more than I usually do, because the techs had to come into the next room and fit the person in there with a CPAP machine to help control sleep apnea (at least I think that's what was going on).

I was lucky - no one came into wake me up and put me on the CPAP, which I knew meant that I didn't have sleep apnea. Unfortunately, the doctor I met with in the morning couldn't pinpoint anything from the sleep study that was causing my tiredness - no apnea, no problems with REM sleep, no unusual leg jerks, etc. She basically said that I just need to get more sleep. Currently, I get between 6 1/2 and 7 1/2 hours a night (and 8 - 10 hours each weekend night), but not at the times I would really like to get my sleep - I'm trying to go to sleep earlier than my personal circadian rhythms dictate by about an hour and I'm getting up a couple of hours earlier than I would like.

I still think there's more to the big picture than just needing more sleep. My next step in the sleuthing process is to get a physical, including a more thorough thyroid function test than the typical test that I've had several times. Hopefully I can figure out how to fix this. I hate being tired all the time!

Requisite crafting component: Me in my Noro Taiyo hat #2.