Wednesday 30 November 2011

Me Not Healthy: Always Tired (Part 4)

This is a continuation of my quest to figure out why I've been constantly tired for the last few years. If you're new and not sure what's going on, here's part 1, part 2 and part 3.

This must be a pain to read from the beginning.

So I finally get to see this specialist. I fill out a few forms and as the guy is looking through the papers he stops and goes, "That's interesting, you grind your teeth at night? That might explain a few things".

Remember how I mentioned how one of the potential causes for my sleep apnea could be my jaw causing my throat to close up? Turns out, grinding your teeth at night is sometimes your body's way of forcing your jaw off so you can breathe again.

I get to chose between breathing or maintaining my awesome smile.

I've had the teeth grinding problem for (surprise surprise) years as well. I got a mouth guard to wear at night so I don't destroy my teeth in my sleep. So the next step is to go get a specially made mouth guard that not only prevents the teeth grinding BUT also stops my jaw from crushing things.

Oh! And you know what else the specialist told me? "You might have a special case for sleep apnea. We only see this kind of thing in tall and thin Asian males".

TALL, THIN, ASIAN MALES.

I WONDER WHAT OTHER HEALTH PROBLEMS THESE GUYS GET.

I also wonder what other surprises my genes have in store for me.


Unfortunately, I guess the earliest I can see the orthodontics guy is in February. Which means there won't be an update to this until then.

In the meantime, I'll be using my Abnormal Psychology's professor's audio lectures to help me fall asleep.

If his voice can make me sleep in class, it can make me fall asleep anywhere.

61 comments:

  1. It beats sheep counting! Get better soon man!

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  2. Bruxism man. That's exactly what I was diagnosed with. Eventually they gave me a mouth guard which hurt for a while so I eventually stopped. Sorry to hear you have that too, it's a horribly unnoticed problem many people have to deal with. Get well soon man.

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  3. Woah. That'd be pretty damn unlucky.. but at least you're getting to find out the whys and hows, right?

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  4. What February? Isn't there a way to arrange an earlier date for you, seeing as how this more or less needs priority over other things?

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  5. So... you're Asian?

    I've been really tired too. Feeling like a zombie... but I guess that's because I don't live a healthy life. Haha.

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  6. haha I guess even boring professors are good for something. At least you can sleep better knowing your a Special Case, think that work?..haha

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  7. Hahaha that's quite a demographic. My dad and sister grind their teeth too. Apparently, it's all the rage.

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  8. Lol Psyc lecture's for sleep aid. Dangerous combo there, you could be getting brainwashed as you sleep!

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  9. you could market those lectures as sleeping aids and sell them to other people, maybe other tall, thin Asian males!

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  10. I know this problem too well...

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  11. February? Arrg. Gotta love doctors and their runarounds. Sleep apnea must be the worst. Hopefully it gets better even before the doctors appointment.

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  12. Hope the specialist can help you. (:

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  13. Tall thin young men (not necessarily Asian) are also prone to collapsed lungs.

    And slim, anxious high breasted women are more likely to experience migraines. (don't know why the positioning of breasts contributes but apparently it does(

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  14. So, I'm thinking Buddha got a pass?
    No wonder that fat guy was smiling all the time.
    Wonder how tall he was...

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  15. Hope this fixes the problem. I don't remember if you stated you got tested or not, but if this don't work, and isn't the problem, then have them test your testosterone. Even though you're young, you could have low testosterone, causing some of these symptoms as well. Found out it ran in my family for all us males before we hit 30. Got checked and I had low testosterone. ;)

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  16. Sorry you have to wait so long :(

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  17. Yea good luck I hope everything goes well even though you have to wait till feburary

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  18. Hope that does the trick – and that things will improve even more so after you’ve seen an orthodontist in February.
    (Haven’t read your previous posts – I’m assuming your iron levels are normal…)

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  19. I don't grind my teeth at all really, so I doubt it has something to do with my sleep problems too. Plus I'm not a tall thin Asian male.

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  20. Hope you can get better. :D

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  21. Thin, thin asian men? How random! Hope it gets sorted though for the sake of your poor teeth!

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  22. Another reason I'm glad I'm white!

    I hope you get your sleep thing figured out but the Canadian medical system is slow. Thankfully its free too!

    And I responded to your comment on my blog: Basically I can't access my manage button and many other people can't either.

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  23. Yeah, I'm always tired too. I also used to grind my teeth as a little kid. I don't know why....

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  24. Yeah, I think an abnormal psych audio could put me to sleep, too. Sounds like you saw an excellent specialist...hope you'll get some results after your consults.

    PS...soups, stews, spaghetti sauce(and curries according my posters) seem to taste better after a night in the fridge. I don't think casseroles are saucy enough to develop better flavor with age.

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  25. I really don't know what to say. but I really hope you'll feel better soon and energized :D

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  26. Is it bad that I laughed at the tall, Asian male part? lol

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  27. and I thought that my insomnia was bad. I hope you get it sorted.

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  28. I used to have problems grinding my teeth as well when I was younger. I think one night I went to sleep after eating a really sticky toffee and suddenly I couldn't grind my teeth and it all just stopped. I think I was just fortunate though.

    Hope they are able to sort all of this out for you and get you sleeping well again.

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  29. Jeez, it sounds worse every time you post about it. I'm sure you'll get it fixed, in the mean time just keep trucking.

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  30. The saga continues but we may have light at the end of the tunnel though.

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  31. "Doctor, my sleep is unbearable. This is an ongoing problem and it's ruining my life."

    "Great, can I see you in February?"

    God bless these times of ours.

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  32. Wow, that seems like a long stressful journey, but at least you are making some progress. Hopefully, everything gets better and you are able to get a good nights sleep!

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  33. I hope the specialist can figure out the real cause and treat it. Sleep problems are the worst. I've been an insomniac for 15 years; at this point I don't remember what it's like to fall asleep naturally/stay asleep, so I definitely sympathize. <3

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  34. Oh, I hope this fixes the problem for you! And makes me wonder if my teeth grinding isn't as much from breathing issues as from stress.... But thin, I'm neither, tall, thin, nor Asian. ;D

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  35. i'm always tired too, i know the feel. lol try taking some of them vitamin c vitamins, not only do they taste like sweet candies they also give ya an extra boost. however they make your burps sound funny. worth a try

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  36. maybe you ought to tape those classes to use for later on when you need help sleeping.

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  37. But abnormal psych is the only interesting psych!

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  38. if you're tired now, and don't sleep now...
    in the futur you'll be more tired and less sleep

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  39. Wow, interesting facts and how funny you would fall into that small of a category. Hopefully it is the good road to recovery.

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  40. Must read through all 4 posts and learn about the great mystery

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  41. I grind my teeth too. I especially like it when I wake up feeling like I've been punched in the jaw.

    Does sleep apnea result in waking up gasping for breath? As this happens to me fairly often.

    Sometimes I wake up screaming because of night terrors as well.

    We must be such great people to live with!

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  42. You sir, are a hilarious genius xDDD Tall thin asian males huh? Ahahaha well, you guys get to be thin so i guess this is just god's way of being fair (joking!) anyway, good luck with the sleep apnea thing

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  43. Im exausted and Im not studyng right now! maybe is this time of the year:) Hope you feel better!

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  44. I'm never tired lol. I'd like to be though.

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  45. Sucks you have to wait till Feb

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  46. ah, there's nothing better to make you fall asleep than boring lessons and lectures.

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  47. Art history lectures did the thing for me. The professor would dim the lights, the projector would hum and that'd be that- 75% of the class would be asleep- and snoring.

    Anyway, I hope they can discover what's causing your lethargy. Did they do a test for EB virus? If not, get them to ASAP.

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  48. You don't need to see an orthodontist to get a night guard. I grind my teeth at night too, and my dentist did all the impressions and stuff himself.
    Get on it though, they really do help. It was expensive, but worth it

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  49. ahah! the audio lectures will surely help you falling asleep. ;>

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  50. Yeah...that girl sleeping in the picture? That's the best way to sleep through college classes. Hands down.

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  51. And I thought it was only a problem with sleeping - turns out now there's so much more to it. Hope you find a solution soon. It sucks being tired all the time.

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  52. It's not healed yet? What a long treatment you got there. I hope they find a solution soon.

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  53. tall asians? are you sure dude?

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  54. Interesting facts...

    Thanks for being at ma page..:)

    Take care

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  55. Funny, my psychology teacher back in the days had that effect on me. For all that they know they sure are boring as heck. Well good luck with the teeth grinding thing. Oh and add huge, chubby Polynesian male and female to that sleep apnea list. We dominate the market now.

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  56. Well, I read that calcium is a good sumplement to take if you grind your teeth..and B complex too...because they help relax you. It seemed to work a little bit when I tried it. I guess it depends on how severe the problem is.

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  57. You could probably make millions with those audio lectures. I know a lot of sleep deprived people.

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  58. I could be wide awake in class, and five minutes after a video starts playing I'm out. Yet I can stay up all night watching crap on YouTube. The body is strange. Good luck with getting that guard sooner!

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  59. lol your posts have improved tremendously. I loled and learned about sleep disorder. what a great post!

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