Help Need with Potentially Related Sleep Apnea Issue

[AlanE]

... I still manage to get at least 6hrs of sleep every night, and usually more on the order of 7-8.5hrs. I fall asleep quickly and only get up once to go to the bathroom most nights. Although my sleep quality has been worse in recent weeks, I used to sleep for roughly 9hrs a night with little waking or tossing and turning, and yet still experience what I am to describe.

This is one thing that has always frustrated me. I tell my wife I am tired and she would come back with "well you slept 7|8|9 hours how can you be tired?" It's not the hours you sleep but the quality of those sleeping hours. If you spend too much time in "stage 2" and very little in 3 and 4 you're not having a restful sleep. 3 and 4 is deep sleep. The stage of sleep that regenerates the body. Only way to tell where you spend the most time during sleep is an EEG. Which you get with a sleep study. Personally I like stage 4 when my brain rewards itself with a flicker show.

[49er]

... I still manage to get at least 6hrs of sleep every night, and usually more on the order of 7-8.5hrs. I fall asleep quickly and only get up once to go to the bathroom most nights. Although my sleep quality has been worse in recent weeks, I used to sleep for roughly 9hrs a night with little waking or tossing and turning, and yet still experience what I am to describe.

This is one thing that has always frustrated me. I tell my wife I am tired and she would come back with "well you slept 7|8|9 hours how can you be tired?" It's not the hours you sleep but the quality of those sleeping hours. If you spend too much time in "stage 2" and very little in 3 and 4 you're not having a restful sleep. 3 and 4 is deep sleep. The stage of sleep that regenerates the body. Only way to tell where you spend the most time during sleep is an EEG. Which you get with a sleep study. Personally I like stage 4 when my brain rewards itself with a flicker show.

Alan E, that issue also greatly frustrates with sleep doctors who always ask about number of hours slept but seem to place less emphasis on the quality. I understand exactly what you are saying.

[DocWils]

Since this seems to be a bit of a theme, and someone asked me in a PM, I have here a series of touchstones, (in no particular order), that you can ask yourself concerning postprandial fatigue, so as to check against it and see if it hits on any parts of your experiences. Hope it helps.

To start with, you will get a big spike on sugar after a carb meal, particularly two to three hours out, because carbs are sugars, more effectively, sugar bombs, and should be avoided if you are pre-diabetic. So one question is do you have the same fatigue if you have a protein only meal?

After that, ask yourself if you are hydrated enough? Coffee and tea do not count, tea is a strong diuretics, and caffeine can actually make you more tired, not less. Sodas are also not on the good drink list, but cool, clean water is. Fruit juices are sugar bombs of a high order, too, and will cause a strong sugar drop after the initial rush.

So look at your meals and what you are consuming and how. Avoid high GI meals at all costs. Lean protein and fresh veg (only above ground growing veg, not in ground veg - so zucchini is good, potatoes or carrots are bad) and fresh fruit, not juices or compotes, are good for you.

Next, consider the idea that you may be insulin sensitive - since your body releases insulin to help the digestion process, it may be the problem - various types of hormone sensitivities can cause fatigue, and insulin is a big culprit for some people. Testing your sugar over a set series of time points for 4 hours after you eat will allow you to track that and see when and where you spike, how high and how it levels off, or if it does. The problem with this is that eventually this sensitivity can turn into resistance, and then you head down the road to diabetes. A1c testing will tell you if that is the case.

Next, consider if you are waiting too long between meals (5 hour or more) - this will also trigger a strong fatigue attack after eating - people who skip breakfast will crash after lunch for instance. Remember; Breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Prince and Sup like a Pauper.

Are you eating processed foods or pre-made meals? They are often sources of hidden sugars and salts, and stay away from hamburger joints like McDonald's.

Similarly, oily foods can cause a crash via delaying the time your fuel enters your system (getting a damned if you do damned if you don't feeling? Welcome to the 21st Century on a body designed to subsist on a minus 30 centuries diet).

Consider testing for celiac disase.

Try a good five minute's exercise after eating, to counteract the hormone rush, and see if that makes a difference. A good brisk 10 minute walk should always follow a midday meal. Even a leisurely 20 minute walk (not TOO leisurely) will help, too.

If you have a pulse-ox, take a spot check to see what is up when you get sleepy. If you have a recording one, do an overnight to see if you are desatting strongly despite the PAP therapy. If you are, then you will drop like a stone after eating.

If after going down the list you still are getting knocked for a loop after eating, then the problem is more serious and needs to be gone into in greater depth, first by testing for all blood deficiencies, particularly vitamin and hormone, and then a trip to the neurologist is in order, assuming you have a clean bill of health with your heart. If you don't, then that may also be the culprit, but I will assume that anyone who has gotten to this point in the conversation will have had heart, thyroid and liver already checked out.

[richb]

Have you considered that you might have a hiatal hernia or acid reflux disorder?