Health Problems

Haus said:

OK seeing all the sleep talk, this is something I can speak to. I also have dealt with sleeping issues on and off for years (since I worked night shift for close to a decade in my 20's). Some observations :

• Yes, stress is obviously a big player here. When I am having stressful times at work or otherwise I push to more strictly enforce my sleeping schedule/process (which I will get to below).
• Our lives in this day and age often deny us something essential. Daily exposure to the sun. Which screws with your natural melatonin/serotonin cycle. For me I started taking a 20mg melatonin around 15 minutes before I scheduled to get to bed.
• Regulating into a reliable sleep pattern has made a world of difference.
• Being dehydrated also contributed to horrible sleeping for me. Once I got in the habit of downing at least around 2/3 of a gallon of water a day I started getting better sleep.
• Caffeine is also an issue, while being the primary performance enhancing drug for people in my line of work (short of going pro-tier and getting on adderall). Controlling caffeine intake made a huge difference. Goal for me is no caffeine within 4 hours of when I plan on going to bed.

With that said, the Haus Sleep Improvement Plan :

• Scheduled and planned sleep/bed time from 11pm-7am (knowing I will only actually be asleep around 7 hours of that 8)
• Stop drinking caffeine as much as possible at around 7-8pm
• Drink water constantly during the day, I have a 30oz Yeti I just perpetually refill as the day rolls along, which often also has Mio Energy in it as that is my caffeine delivery option of choice.
• Hot shower sometime between 8-10pm
• Take "nighttime pills" around 10pm These are : Xyzal (allergies), 20mg fast dissolving melatonin, and Doxylamine Succinate 25 Mg.
• Lights off as much as possible after 8pm, monitors into "warm color temp" mode (limit blue light exposure)
• Go to bed between 10:45-11pm as much as possible.
• NO TV OR COMPUTER IN THE BEDROOM, and phone in DND mode.
• Got a Samsung Galaxywatch, used it to start monitoring my actual sleep and nighttime O2 saturation.

This plan has gotten me to the point I piss off Mrs. Haus who reads in bed to get sleepy every night because I am out like a light within 5 minutes of head hitting pillow. Outside this, I had a SERIOUS snoring issue. To the point there were sleep apnea concerns and I was driving the saintly Mrs. Haus out of bed multiple nights a week where she would go to another room and sleep on her lovesac due to the volume. Dr wanted to slap a CPAP on me. I did some research and tried something simpler. I got a wedge pillow so that now I sleep at around a 10% incline (head elevated). As per my esteemed wife, I still snore a little, but it's NOTHING like it was. Blood O2 sat at night went from a minimum of 81% to a minimum of 90% and ergo outside the sleep apnea window.


As with all things around here... YMMV. May the odds be ever in your favor.

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Similar problems for a while. Basically all this, plus regular exercise made a huge difference. The importance of hydration, both on sleep and my joint pain, was a surprise to me. I'm one of those people whose bodies confuses thirst with hunger and I tend to snack when I should hydrate. Being proactive about water has me in a virtuous cycle of being leaner, feeling better, and sleeping better.

No TV in the bedroom is a good rule, both for sleep and sex life.

sleevedraw said:

Caffeine’s half-life is insanely long, about 6 hours. If 4 hours is all you can manage with job constraints, you’re doing the best that you can, but if you can space it out even longer before bed, that‘s even better.

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I had to give up caffeine entirely. Even if I only drink in the morning (before 9AM) and can't feel it by the evening I invariably lose about an hour of sleep on caffeinated days. 11PM rolls up and I'm just not tired and read or whatever for another hour. If I don't have coffee, I start to get drowsy at 10:30. The difference between 6-7 hours sleep and 7-8.5 is pretty profound for me. In another virtuous cycle, I feel rested enough that I don't need caffeine to kickstart the next day.

I was snoring a lot, my wife complained a lot. Lost 50 pounds from 32 bmi to 24. Snoring gone entirely.
For me it's magnesium, vitD and tryptophane before bed, not all the Time, but regularly and it does the job. I don't think there's any side effect associated with this.

Sanrith Descartes said:

Trick I learned in the military to sleep at the drop of a hat. Has worked like a charm for 30+ years. Shut off the analyticsl side of the brain. Do this by engaging the creating oart if the brain by creating a story/book in your mind as soon as you close your eyes. Literally give each character words, like writing a screenplay. Each night just pick up the story from the last thing you remember from the previous night. I am out inside of 5 - minutes every single night.

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lol I do this too, it's quite effective. My easiest sleep comes when I just advance my creative ideas, and it's hardest when I think about anything in the real world like people, places, things.

I want to write a book one day about my dystopian tale of a secluded underground high tech city that survived both WW3 and a Skynet-esque AI War whenever I'm finally not too lazy or distracted.

And now for something completely different.

Right after the pandemic lockdowns (not sure if related), I started getting this feeling of mucus in the back of nose. It literally feels like if you had a thick, snotty nose but on the other side -- at the back of the nasal passage before entering the throat. I think this is commonly referred to as postnasal drip.

I've been to my GP who prescribed azelastine nasal spray, which helps a tiny bit very temporarily. I've even been to an ENT doctor who said everything looks a-okay. But this is really damn annoying as I have this constantly feeling of something in the back of my nose which causes me to snort to clear it out. And it's not my imagination, mucus is definitely there because I feel it drain out a bit. It just never goes away completely.

Has anyone here ever had to deal with this and what was the cure? This has been going on for over 2 years now.

ShakyJake said:

And now for something completely different.

Right after the pandemic lockdowns (not sure if related), I started getting this feeling of mucus in the back of nose. It literally feels like if you had a thick, snotty nose but on the other side -- at the back of the nasal passage before entering the throat. I think this is commonly referred to as postnasal drip.

I've been to my GP who prescribed azelastine nasal spray, which helps a tiny bit very temporarily. I've even been to an ENT doctor who said everything looks a-okay. But this is really damn annoying as I have this constantly feeling of something in the back of my nose which causes me to snort to clear it out. And it's not my imagination, mucus is definitely there because I feel it drain out a bit. It just never goes away completely.

Has anyone here ever had to deal with this and what was the cure? This has been going on for over 2 years now.

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Something lasting that long could be lpr? Look that up, and if you think it's possible gargle/throw in the nose some water with sodium bicarbonate every few hours, if it gets better quickly, that's it.

Get a neti pot and saltwater it a couple times a week. Gargle with salt water a couple times a week too. After a couple weeks it should clear up. If you have bad blood pressure be cautious.

I had bought one of those Navage nasal irrigation devices a while back. I used it once a day and didn't really make a difference. Maybe I'll try it more often. I also have a Vicks nasal steamer too. Again, never noticed a change.

Gurgeh said:

I was snoring a lot, my wife complained a lot. Lost 50 pounds from 32 bmi to 24. Snoring gone entirely.
For me it's magnesium, vitD and tryptophane before bed, not all the Time, but regularly and it does the job. I don't think there's any side effect associated with this.

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I'll do 100mg sublingual 5-HTP before bed for many years now. The sublingual I think is more appropriate to deliver it and there is some evidence to support that under the tongue is the best delivery for effect. There was a manufacturing incident from the 1990s that gave me a lot of pause about using 5-HTP so regularly. The contaminant found during the incident was never identified. It was a Japanese chem house, not a Chinese one as you would expect. But you run this risk with any supplement. The Japan corporation was able to identify the problem and take responsibility for it, and remedy was made to the manufacturing process-- despite no one being held liable for the damage. It was a manufacturing process problem rather than something that can happen from poor quality control, so the fix was permanent once the process was fixed.

ShakyJake said:

And now for something completely different.

Right after the pandemic lockdowns (not sure if related), I started getting this feeling of mucus in the back of nose. It literally feels like if you had a thick, snotty nose but on the other side -- at the back of the nasal passage before entering the throat. I think this is commonly referred to as postnasal drip.

Has anyone here ever had to deal with this and what was the cure? This has been going on for over 2 years now.

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I've had this constantly for about the last 30 years, causing a baseline low-level cough and sinus infections about once a year. In my case, it's a low-level allergy to dust mites and human skin cells. There's a 0% of getting rid of that in my environment, so I'm basically just hosed unless I want a permanent regimen of antihistamines.

It might be worth getting an allergy test done, but there isn't a guarantee the answer will be actionable. You could try running an air filter next to your bed and see if that helps.

Captain Suave said:

You could try running an air filter next to your bed and see if that helps.

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Yeah, I have one of these running next to my bed. I just don't understand why this suddenly came on out of nowhere. Nothing in my environment has changed. Except my age, I suppose.

ShakyJake said:

Yeah, I have one of these running next to my bed. I just don't understand why this suddenly came on out of nowhere. Nothing in my environment has changed. Except my age, I suppose.

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Diet change?

I know there are certain types of food that make me phlegmy, so if you introduced something new to your diet recently then that may be the culprit.

I'm not sure if this is an issue or not, but it's a difference and one I don't fully understand...

So my wife and I are working through a ketogenic diet cycle. I was kind of curious as I'd never done it and there is some evidence to suggest the alternative metabolic pathway can help restore cellular damage by potentially enhancing autophagy. Anyways, so far the diet has been easy enough and both of us do seem to have more energy and in general feel better. The diet is 2250 calories with a 60/30/10 fat, carb, and protein split. I'm in a slight calorie deficit, but am also trying to spare some muscle over the next few months we do this which is why I'm running a bit higher on protein. That said, gluconeogenesis from the extra aminos doesn't seem to be a major issue as I'm consistently blood testing and my fasting ketones are in the 0.6-1.0 range in the morning and climb upwards of 2.0 after a workout while fasting glucose is in the 80s.

So the issue(problem?) I'm seeing is an increase of almost 10bpm in resting heart rate. It started within days of being on the diet and so far nothing I have done changes this. Even in sleep I only get down to the low 60s, where I used to see low 50s or even 40s on occasions. One aspect of keto is you do drop a lot of fluid as you reduce carbs in your diet and and by proxy lose a good bit of electrolytes. I initially assumed dehydration (low fluid volume) and an electrolyte deficiency as the culprit. This proved partly true as increasing my sodium and potassium intake (via supplementation) and water up to a gallon and a half a day did correct an issue I was having with low blood pressure (90/55ish), but has failed to affect any change on resting heart rate.

Sodium -> this was around 2000mg a day and is now 3000mg a day (up to 4000mg if I have a really sweaty workout)
Potassium -> this was around 3000mg a day and is now 4000mg a day (supplement 500mg at breakfast and dinner via an electrolyte drink)
Magnesium -> lots of natural sources in the diet: peanuts, almonds, brocolli, salmon, avocado, dark chocolate, etc; also get 450mg from a ZMA supplement before bed
Calcium -> mostly from food: cheeses, greens, brocolli, almonds; also get 75mg from supplementation

The other change was I have lowered the volume of sets in our workouts, but still get in at least 4 days a week with more focus on intensity in a lower rep range with increased rest intervals. The intent is to provide stimulus to maintain some muscle, but acknowledging that I'll be fairly glycogen depleted and in a calorie deficit, so pushing further will just be catabolic and unnecessarily stressful (if that were the case, it might explain the heart rate increase).

We're going on about a month so I would assume my body is fairly adjusted to ketosis at this point. Outside of the above changes, which proved ineffective, I'm not sure what else to try and considering this is only a three month experiment, maybe it doesn't matter too much. That said, I like to understand the mechanics of things and this isn't making sense to me. Open to any suggestions.