Hi,
I saw the pdoc today and we talked about my two issues right now. The problem is that I have to decide which one to treat first because I can't treat them at the same time.
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. . . . . .. . . . .


In the meantime, I am down to about 3 - 5 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period. I don't sleep those hours straight. I sleep a little and wake up wide awake. Then I get sleepy later and got to bed again. This is something new and I don't know what to do.

Thank you for listening to all of this.

M.


Edited later: I deleted most of my long post. It looked stupid after I put it in writing.
I'm troubled right now and I could really use some sleep.

I am sorry that I did not get to read what you wrote but feel for you my friend.
hope your pdoc helps you.
((((((HUGS)))))
beth

Mari,

This is not good to only be sleeping that amount of time. I did that one time with a medication change. I hope your pdoc can get it straight for you soon. Although I do know one such person that does rather well with little sleep.

barbara

.
.
.
.
.The pdoc got the paper work back from my consult with the sleep neuro in early Dec. Pdoc wants me to go a head and schedule a sleep study. He pointed out that I will continue to feel crappy until I get a cpap. He also said that I could die any night and my husband would find me cold the next morning.


Then I showed him my teeth and told him that I have talked to orthodontists who want to recommend me for jaw surgery and then back to them for braces because my teeth are sooooo messed up from 1) grinding and 2) those stupid mouth guards that made things worse.


The pdoc had recently had some jaw surgery for something and he told me it was horrible and recommended that I not do that if at all possible. Then he gave me the phone number of his surgeon and told me to go for a consult anyway.


The biggest problem is that I cannot pursue the teeth and the sleep stuff at the same time. They will get in the way of each other (pdoc agreed) and I can't deal with them both at the same time while I am working anyway. (It would be two hard for me to deal with both.)


A few weeks ago when I saw her my tdoc suggested taking care of the teeth first and dealing with the sleep stuff in May when I have time off from work.

Mari

what do you think about her suggestion?
I think they could both wait until your summer break...but I know that you will be able to handle what ever comes your way, what ever you decide to do.
I have faith in you.
beth

Hi Mari,

I assume the sleeping risk you mention is tied to sleep apnea... hence my wondering...

can you get the cpap right away, or would they need to do the sleep study first to know how to regulate it? i have a friend who uses one... i don't think he's even ever done a sleep study...

it would seem like you could factor this step out and make yourself safe while sleeping to get the cpap right away... can you contact the sleep neuro to ask about that?

i'm sorry you have this collision of things all going on. any one by itself is already hard enough.



~ waves ~

Hi,

The tdoc agreed that the mouth and teeth were more important at the moment. She is the only person in the world who is listening to me right now and she has known me for several years.

The various sleep issues have been going on since I was a child whereas the teeth have developed this way in the past 3 years and are getting worse by the moment.
They are still growing in crazy ways that two dentists and three orthodontists claim to have never seen before.


I am having a very hard time getting through my days: basic hygiene, showing up at work, . .

Adding one new thing to my life will be a challenge -- this is how tdoc sees it. She wants to keep me stable.
I am choosing stability.

Mari

Edited: This is a problem for me. So I wanted to communicate the issues to you two, but do not want to leave it up on the web.

Sorry Mari if i stressed you out with suggesting the cpap. i thought perhaps that could be a simple thing, done separately and WITHOUT going through the sleep study... i agree with doing the teeth before the sleep study there are lots of reasons, and i definitely agree the two cannot be done same time. apart from stress i think one would interfere with the other.

i now understand the cpap cannot be done as a "standalone" thing but would be based on the sleep study.

i was unclear about things partly based on your pdoc's input. that was not very supportive of him, in fact scary. i'm sorry he said that to you.

anyway, i am sorry if my post seemed to be like some sort of pressure for the sleep study that was not the case at all, and i am sorry if my suggestion was upsetting because of that. i didn't understand the situation right. thank you for explaining.



~ waves ~

Hi, Waves,
You did not add to my stress. It is good that you and Beth responded.
I was trying to clarify.
Also, this is on my mind today because of the appointment in 1.5 hours.

I've had difficulty with
-sis: A month or more ago she said that she would not listen to any talk about the teeth because it is too weird and freaky
-friend

Both have suggested really stupid solutions to a problem that the professionals find complex. Both think I am stupid or stubborn for not taking their advice.

I have long stopped talking to them about this but it is frustrating to feel that I am on my own. I am hoping that hubby will be a good sport. Whenever I try to talk to him about this I start crying, so I have avoided the subject since before Christmas. I am not the best one to explain things to him.
He always needs to know WHY something happened and what caused it.
Maybe the orthodontist can explain things a little to him and also help him see the importance of treatment and how he can be supportive.
Usually, the more info hubby has, the better he does.

According to Bobi, who was posting on here through November, two sleep studies might be needed: 1 to determine that there is a sleep problem and that it is the kind of problem that can be treated, and 2 to determine to what strength to set the machine.
I forgot to ask my doc if he does this in the same inefficient way.
Also, the docs have the equipment companies "lock in" a setting so the doc is very involved in the machine.
According to my sleep doc, a digital card is inserted into the machine. The patient has to go back to the doc after certain intervals like every 30 days in the beginning so see if and how she is using the machine.)


When I saw the sleep neuro in the beginning of December I was sleeping a regular pattern, more or less by going to bed at 5:30 am. He said that he would set me up to sleep in his lab at 5:30 am. That is nice.
. . . EXCEPT that now my sleep is not regular. I slept from 1:00 to 8:30 am last night. My sleep pattern is all over the map and would not be able to schedule a study until sleep falls into a pattern.

Yes, pdoc has a dark humor streak in him.
The problem is that he is not funny.

The cpap equipment requires paperwork and all kinds of bureaucratic mess from docs and so on. I had a friend who was on one of these machines. She spent a lot of time on the phone and a lot of energy dealing with the company that delivered the equipent (adjusting the mask, changing masks, needing new tubes because they get fungi, dealing with the humidfier, . . . .). I need to be motivated and a little straight headed to deal with this. The sleep neuro assured me that he was good at his job and that he would be able to help with with compliance. I believe him. But I don't know if I want to deal with him right now.

Much of this will depend on the appointment later.

Thank you.
It helps that I can talk about it here.

M.

Hi Mari,

i'm relieved i did not stress you out. That sucks about your sis and friend not being receptive. Buuuuttt anyway...

Right now, i want to wish you the very best for your appointment! Hope everything goes smoothly and that the doc has come up with a good treatment plan and that you will come out feeling comforted, and confident that things WILL be resolved in the least troublesome of ways.
I am glad hubby is coming along.

It sounds like a good idea to have him involved and informed... and i'm glad he is the kind to respond positively to information. I hope he will indeed provide good support for you.



Thinking of you...



~ waves ~

p.s. let me know in some way if you want me to edit my post above more; i already have somewhat based on what you did.