Sleep Consultants

How did my sleep issues begin? Well, I was always a decent sleeper in my teens and twenty’s, but in my
thirty’s, I seemed to toss and turn more and more. When I awoke in middle of night I had trouble falling back asleep.
My brain never shuts off, so I attributed it to that. I am an Entrepreneur, so I figured it had to be
“what am I doing next for my businesses”. I did not keep pad and pen near my bed, as I would suggest if you have this problem. It relieves you from the added stress of “will I remember this in the morning”.Anyway, my wife and I had a child, (Skylar) so sleep was always disrupted, as you parents out there know. So, I never gave my issues with sleeping any REAL thought. I took the mantra, you sleep when you die, or at least once she goes to college.

Then one night we were having dinner with my brother-in-law who is a Pulmonologist and Sleep Physician, and we got on the subject of sleep. We got into different sleep disorders and when my brother in law started talking about Restless Leg Syndrome and Periodic Leg Movement, my wife is like “that is what Steven does, his leg twitches in the middle of the night”. I had no idea, because I was sleeping (so I thought) and the Restless Leg Syndrome, well I thought I was just a lousy sleeper. So my brother-in-law says “you have to go to a Sleep Center and have it checked out”. I had no idea what a Sleep Center
was. A Sleep Center is a place where a Pulmonologist, Cardiologist, or Sleep Physicians will send you if they think you have a SLEEP DISORDER. However, being that I was not all that psyched about going to a hospital type facility, and getting hooked up to a bunch of electrodes etc, I blew it off for many months. My kid wasn’t sleeping that well anyway, so I figured even if they find something, I still won’t sleep.

I have a business coach, and during one of my sessions we got on the subject. It turns out he has Sleep Apnea. He never really knew he had it, until he went to a sleep center, and once there, they diagnosed the problem.  Sleep Apnea is a breathing disorder characterized by brief interruptions of breathing during sleep. He now uses a CPAP machine, and said, it has, “CHANGED HIS LIFE”.

So the “CHANGED HIS LIFE”, motivated me to go. I checked with my insurance to see if I was covered and I was. I went on a Tuesday night, arrived at about 7pm. It was a nice room, no Ritz Carlton, but not like a hospital, even though it was affiliated with a hospital (Holy Name in New Jersey). So I got as relaxed as I could, watched a little T.V. and the technician started hooking up all these things all over my body. It was just uncomfortable, but it didn’t hurt. The uncomfortable part was I couldn’t move around like I used to. So off to sleep I went. It wasn’t the best night’s sleep or the worst.

I awoke around 7am and the technician took off all the different electrodes, and I went home. About 3 days later, my brother-in-law calls me with the results. It turns out I have Restless Leg Syndrome, Periodic Leg Movement, and some breathing issues, but not Apnea. I AWOKE 88 TIMES THAT NIGHT. I was blown away!

So, he prescribed, Requip (those commercials you always see for Restless Leg Syndrome) Nasal Strips (Breathe Right–the generic ones from Target are much cheaper and work the same-make sure you get right size or they fall off) for over my nose to help my breathing.

It turns out the Requip did not work so great, I slept better, but if I got up in the middle of the night, I still had trouble falling asleep. So he put me on Klonopin- I use the generic Clonazepam at 1MG. I sleep so much better now, and when I do get up in the middle of the night, I generally go back to sleep right away. The only side effect I have is it takes me a while to get going in the morning, but that far outweighs being TIRED all day.
 
IF ANY OF THIS SOUNDS REMOTELY FAMILIAR TO YOU, PLEASE SEE A DOCTOR. THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE YOU HAVE A SLEEP DISORDER.
95% OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE SLEEP DISORDERS (LIKE MYSELF) ARE NOT AWARE THEY HAVE ONE.

MY NEXT BLOG WILL TALK ABOUT TRYING DIFFERENT MEDICATIONS AND NATURAL REMEDIES.

Best Regards,
Steven N. Muller