Article: “Stop funding homeopathy, say British MPs”

For those of you interested in alternative medicine, my husband sent me the link to an article that might be of interest to you.  The article is about the British healthcare system and homeopathy.

I know I previously had briefly mentioned that I personally don’t believe in homeopathy, although I know that many people do.  (Here in Germany, homeopathy is WAY more popular than in the US.  As in, if you ask a pharmacist for advice on medications to treat a cold, they will give you nose cream, decongestant, another decongestant thing, plus the homeopathic remedy.)  I also talked about my brief experience with visiting a homeopath.

The article is titled, “Stop funding homeopathy, say British MPs,” and it is about a House of Commons committee that has recently recommended that the British (public) healthcare system stop funding homeopathy because it has not been proven to be any better than a placebo. 

I was surprised to learn that they have spent so much on homeopathy to begin with.

What do you think?

Apparently we’re not the only ones taking a nap during the day…

I was surprised to learn that according to a study done in 2009, nearly a third of American adults take a nap during the day.  Apparently us Narcoleptics aren’t the only ones who are taking naps. 

And to think that all of these years, I thought I was so strange for taking daytime naps :-).

The study also found that the results differed based on age, income, and race.

Taking scheduled naps at work (part 1)

Given that I am a strong proponent of taking scheduled naps, I thought I would write a few more posts talking about how I make this happen in real life.  I can only imagine how daunting a task it would be as an adult to start to take such naps, what with all the pressures an adult has on them that a child does not (the most obvious being work).  I know that at age 9 it was no small feat to adjust to taking them and to fit them into my life, and that was with the mostly fixed schedule of the school day, in addition to the other activities and plans that kids have (for example, sports).

Life has only gotten more complicated as I have gotten older, and I can imagine that a change like this would be hard to make as an adult.  This is certainly one of the added benefits of being diagnosed so young: I grew up taking naps, so it isn’t as big of a deal as it might otherwise be.  To me, taking naps is just about as ingrained as brushing my teeth in the morning.  It’s just something that I have to do to live and function properly.

With that, I share with you what I have learned in taking scheduled short naps at work, in the hopes that perhaps it might help you as you figure out what works for you.  In this post, I am going to focus on the first of the two scheduled naps, the noon nap, however a lot of things I will touch upon will also be relevant to the topic of the second nap.  I will deal with the nap at 3 pm in another post, and if it gets too long I will add another post as well.

As far as taking a 15-25 minute nap around 12 pm (preferably at exactly 12) goes, the lunch break is your friend.  You are going to need that lunch break to take this nap.  Fortunately, it’s long enough that you should be able to take a nap and eat lunch (provided you bring it from home or eat out nearby).  You might even have some time to spare, especially if you only take a 15 minute nap. 

Thank goodness for lunch time.  Although it can be hard if everyone else normally does other things during this time (like go out to lunch for the whole hour), this is generally a fairly easy time to fit in a nap without many people noticing or caring, as everyone is taking a break of around an hour to do whatever.  Or, at least it’s easier than the 3 pm nap.

The great thing about naps is that you can take them almost anywhere.  All you really need is an alarm clock (you can use your cell phone, although I prefer a real alarm clock), a place to do it, and something to lie your head on (a pillow/sweater/jacket/etc.).

The Ideal Workplace Nap:  In a perfect world, you would have a bed, but unless you are extraordinarily lucky (say, you work in school, which has a nurse’s office with multiple beds…), you can count yourself lucky if you get a couch.  Occasionally this might actually be a reality – I had an internship at a non-profit organization once where I used to take my naps on the big couch they had in the middle of the room (they were totally cool with this; no one even cared).  Besides being on a couch, the ideal workplace nap would be in a quiet, dark room where you would not be disturbed, and you would also have a blanket, in case you might get cold.

However, if you’re going to take naps everyday at work, unfortunately, you’re probably going to have to take “the Less than Ideal Workplace Nap” most of the time.  So let’s talk about that.

The Less Than Ideal Workplace Nap: If you haven’t struck workplace nap gold, than you’re going to have two options when it comes to your nap: the two chair nap or the head on the desk nap.  I’m going to be honest: neither is very comfortable or great looking, but they get the job done.  If you really need that nap (me, I always really need it), than you’re going to have to be flexible as to how you get it. 

• The two chair nap: I’ve only ever done this one when the only place I could find to take a nap was a conference room with some chairs and no table, but I’ll mention it anyways.  This is when you put your head on one chair and your bottom half (curled up) on the other chair.  Then you lie down (I know, it’s a bit of a feat).  It’s a bit strange, but you do get to lie down and you don’t wake up with marks on your forehead and pins and needles in your arms and hands and maybe your feet (like you might with more standard head on the desk nap).
• The good old head on the flat surface (desk, table) nap:  This one is pretty much self explanatory.  You put your head down on a desk/table on top of something like a sweater and sleep.  I’m really good at this one: I can basically do this one most anywhere.  As a plus, this is definitely better than the head against the bus window nap, let me tell you.  Another plus?  It’s definitely less tempting to oversleep with this nap: it’s harder to get out of bed when you’re in your nice comfy warm bed, believe me, so you might get more out of your naps if you do this, strange as that sounds.

You’re going to have to get creative about about getting a decent nap at work – or any nap at all, for that matter.  It goes without saying that your boss and the people you work with are going to need to know that you have Narcolepsy (give them the short explanation: “I have this sleep disorder called Narcolepsy where I get tired during the day no matter how much I sleep at night and I need to take two 25 minute naps a day, one at 12 and one at 3, to deal with it, in addition to medication.  And no, I don’t randomly fall asleep mid-conversation like in the movies.”) and not to disturb you during your nap unless it is a real emergency.  This is important, because otherwise people are going to keep waking you up during your nap, which will reduce the benefits you will get from taking one.  (They may very well wake you up regardless through ringing phones, conversations, etc., but you should be able to prevent some things, like people calling you, coming to talk to you, giving you work, saying your name, or asking if you are okay, by them knowing what’s going on.)

It goes without saying that you are going to want to find the best nap taking place that you can (as quiet as possible and preferably dark or at least not with glaring lights that are going to make it hard to sleep).  Ideally, it would also be somewhere where there are no people, because where there are people, there are people who can wake you up when you’re trying to sleep (they can bump into you, have a loud conversation an arm length’s away, their phones can ring, etc.).  It’s also just nicer to be able to take naps without people watching you.  That way you don’t have to wonder what they are thinking or worry about how you look doing it or what have you.

If you work in a big office in a cubicle or with lots of people around you, you’re probably going to want to look into taking a nap somewhere other than your desk.  Although you can do it, there really isn’t anything worse than trying to take a nap in a cubicle with people’s phones ringing every 4 minutes and the people nearby having loud conversations about nothing (despite the fact that they know you are trying to sleep).  If you work in a relatively quiet workplace or a small office, you might very well be able to just take a nap at your desk.  I have often done this at the places I have worked…

If you work in a big office, one option might be to take a nap in a meeting room or conference room, if one is available.  Don’t be afraid to ask your supervisor or human resources for help, if you think that they can help you make this work.  When I worked briefly for an advertising agency, it was my supervisor’s idea that I book one of the meeting rooms for both naps straight through the week first thing every Monday, something I wouldn’t otherwise have been allowed to do.  This was the only way my naps would work, as although there were a lot of meeting rooms, people were often using them for non-essential purposes and many times it would be impossible to find one.  Also, by booking the room, people would see on the chart that it was booked and they wouldn’t try to come in to what they assumed was an empty room (because there was no light on).  I also just locked the door when I was using the room.

I will continue with this subject in another post, as this post is getting to be way too long!

What do you think?  Do you take naps at work, and if so, how do you make them work?  It’s always good for us to hear how other people make things work.

P.S. I thought this was cool, but it doesn’t look like it would be easy to set up, plus it would be kind of embarrassing to have around.  Unless you work somewhere really funky where this sort of thing would be no big deal.

Foods that (supposedly) cause nightmares

Lately, I have been suffering from nightmares at night.  I didn’t use to dream much at night, but for the past few months I seem to just dream all the time.  While I may like to watch TV shows featuring angels and demons, I don’t particularly enjoy watching such shows in my head at night, if you know what I mean.  I think that it has been affecting my sleep quality big time, but I’ve been having trouble coming up with what I can do about it.

I did, however, find an article yesterday that claimed that there are certain foods that you should avoid eating before bed because they can cause nightmares.  I thought this was interesting, as it had never occurred to me that this might be the case.

Below, I have copy pasted the relevant information about this from the website.

“Can Certain Foods Cause Nightmares?

With children, nightmares often occur after eating sugar, spicy, or exotic foods before bedtime. Eating sugar before bed often results in high blood sugar (hyperglycemic) for a short while, then, often after the person goes to sleep the body becomes low in blood sugar (hypoglycemic) and this is thought to contribute to nightmares. In adults, eating sugary, spicy or exotic foods, drinking alcohol or taking drugs before bedtime often precipitates nightmares.

What Do You Recommend For Nightmares?

For people who are dealing with nightmares, especially children, I recommend avoiding all forms of sugar, and graphic physical or emotional violence (television) for one to two hours before bedtime. I recommend that these people take vitamin B6 and amino acids before going to bed, and again if they wake during the night, to assist in keeping the body’s blood sugar balanced all night long.“

The website also mentioned that some foods should be avoided before bed if you have a sleep disorder.

“Dietary and Lifestyle Causes of Sleep Disorders

The following foods are known to contain tyramine, a chemical created in the breakdown of tyrosine, an amino acid protein. Tyramine acts as a brain chemical stimulant. The following foods and drinks are known to contribute to the formation of tyramine: all forms of alcohol, bacon, caffeine, cheese, chocolate, eggplant, ham, potatoes, sauerkraut, sausage, spinach, sugar, tobacco, tomatoes, and wine. People with sleep disorders should avoid these foods, especially at bedtime.“

What do you think?  Is there really a link between what you eat and how you dream?  Are there any foods you avoid eating before bed (other than caffeine)?

I am going to have to try this and see if it helps me with my nightmares.

(Note: the post’s picture is from: http://growlingjack.wordpress.com/2009/09/15/foods-that-cause-nightmares/.)

Narcolepsy research: Researchers find Narcolepsy ‘trigger’

A few days ago, Swiss scientists announced that they found a ‘trigger’ for Narcolepsy, that could lead to new treatments.  The researchers concluded that Narcolepsy is a result of an attack by the body on its own immune system, identifying antibodies that proved this.

To learn more, here is a very short article detailing the findings.  I had might as well send you there to read about it, otherwise I will just be copying from the article.

It always makes me feel good to hear about new Narcolepsy research findings.  Although it might seem to us that progress is so very slow, researchers are constantly making new advances, which in turn sometimes lead to new medicines.  17 years ago, when I was diagnosed with Narcolepsy, we did not have Provigil, Nuvigil, or Xyrem.  We also did not have some of the newer anti-depressants used to treat cataplexy. 

Progress is slow, but steady.

I do remember my sleep doctor saying many years ago that by the time I would be the age where I would want to have children, there might very well be a Narcolepsy medication that would be safe to take while I was pregnant.  Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened and I have resigned myself to the fact that in a number of years I will have to go off my medication while I am pregnant and breastfeeding (as I’m not willing to take any risks as far as to my baby’s health).  But there has indeed been a lot of progress, and I think we can expect more of that in the future.

Crystals for more energy? (yes, you read that correctly)

Okay.  So I’ve had this book on energy for about 10 years now, and it definitely falls into the alternative/New Age category of books.  It is called, The Book Of Energy, by Cynthia Blanche.  My step-mom bought it for me for Christmas many years ago. 

Today I decided to take it out and look at it again, which got me thinking about crystals and stones and their supposed healing properties.

And then I remembered something: for a few years, I actually carried a turquoise stone (picture below) around with me (in my purse), in the hope that it would give me more energy. 

But here is the part that makes me question my sanity:  I remember believing that holding this stone in my hand would sometimes actually make me feel more awake, if only for a very short period of time.  As in, I would be feeling really sleepy, and then I would hold the stone in one hand and then the other and feel more awake.  (I know, this sounds a bit wacky, I think so too, but I do remember believing that this helped a little sometimes – and I’m not generally into this sort of thing.)

I think I must have lost my turquoise stone sometime in the past few years and just never bothered to replace it.  I just can’t believe that I forgot about this…

Anyways, now I am curious to try this again and see if it helps.  Even if you don’t believe that stones can have healing properties, perhaps there is some sort of mental thing/ placebo effect going on.  Regardless, even though I felt silly doing it, I did like the feel of the stone in my hand – cool at first, and then warm from the heat of my body.  I remember holding it sometimes when I would work on writing my fantasy novel (which I am still working on).

So, at the risk of sounding like a complete nut, I am now eager to find a place that… sells stones.  Lol.  I would like to get a few different ones this time; who knows, maybe I will find that one of them works better for me, or that none of them work at all.

In case you are also adventurous/ crazy (my husband thinks it’s this one), here are the most relevant crystals that my book mentions that have to do with increasing energy levels.  (My book recommends holding stones in your hand in the store to see if “strong feelings are generated within you.”  If they are, then that stone might help you.)

• Amethyst: “This stone is both stimulating and calming.  It helps relieve the effects of stress and is recommended for those who suffer from insomnia or restless sleep (that’s me!), since it induces a state of tranquility.  The influence of amethyst assists the holder in overcoming addictive behavior and negative beliefs.”
• Clear Quartz: “When held in the hand, clear quartz has been shown, through the use of Kirlian photography (no idea what this is), to increase the amount of energy in the body.  It clears congestion and blockages of energy channels, and relieves fatigue and lethargy.”
• Jade: “Blue Jade is a calming stone.  Red jade is powerful and stimulating… Yellow jade improves a sluggish digestive system and tones the liver, thereby increasing physical energy.”
• Turquoise: “It is a cooling, soothing stone… it helps the holder stay calm and balanced, thus more able to deal with matters.”
• The book also lists Tiger’s Eye, Smoky Quartz, Labradorite (which has a cool name, and looks really funky), and Yellow Fluorite, but from the descriptions these sounded like they would be more useful for mental and emotional energy than for sleepiness/ physical energy.

Being me, I also had to google the topic, and I found a website that claimed that Rhodochrosite helps Narcolepsy, nightmares and hallucinations, and also migraines.  Another website also said that Tiger’s Eye was good for Narcolepsy. 

 

(The stone pictured above is Rhodochrosite; the stone on the right is Tiger’s Eye.)

Me, I would tend to go with stones that I can find easily, so assuming that I can find a place that sells stones here, I’m going to stick with the common stones.

Who knows: it couldn’t hurt, right?

I’ll get back to you on whether I think this helps at all…  The good news is that stones are cheap, so if it doesn’t help at all, I won’t have wasted much money on it.

What do you think?  Has anyone tried using stones/crystals for healing?  Do you think that I am a little weird/nuts, or am I just adventurous, open to trying alternative things, and honest enough to share whatever I’ve tried and my thoughts with all of you?  (Perhaps it’s a combination of the two :-).)

As always, I enjoy any feedback you have to offer.

P.S. I hired a new personal trainer today, and she is really nice and upbeat, someone I think I will enjoy talking with.  There was a guy who clearly knew more about fitness, but I really liked this girl’s personality and I felt most comfortable and at ease with her.  :-)

P.P.S. Because my husband asked, I thought I should mention that yes, those pictures on the Jackson post are actually of Jackson.  (No, they are not pictures of some Labrador I found via google images search to make my blog posts look pretty.)  Considering that my husband actually met Jackson once and as seen pictures of him before, I figured that if he had this question, than some of you might have it too.

Meet Jackson, my Narcoleptic Labrador

 

When I was a kid, I was a big animal lover (and I still am), but I especially loved dogs.  I wanted to get a dog soooooo badly, but my mother said that I couldn’t, but maybe I could get a kitten.  Maybe.  Then, I was diagnosed with Narcolepsy, and I was very upset about it.  But it turned out that having Narcolepsy came with a surprising perk. 

Shortly after I was diagnosed, someone called from the Narcolepsy research center at Stanford (where my sleep doctor was) and asked my mother if I would be interested in having a yellow Lab, who also had Narcolepsy.  There were two dogs left, both 8 months old and perfectly healthy, and we could have one of them for free, provided we promised to get the dog spayed.  They were done observing these dogs and were looking for loving homes for them with people who would understand Narcolepsy.  Needless to say, my mother couldn’t say no, given what I was going through and how much I wanted a dog.  I got a dog.

We went to Stanford and looked at the two dogs.  Jackson’s brother wasn’t too interested in us, but Jackson (his name then was Haagen-Dazs) loved me and couldn’t stop licking my legs (I was wearing shorts).  We picked Jackson, and I came home with a dog.  My own dog.  :-)

I was unbelievably happy, and for the next few years I was yellow Lab obsessed.  My science fair project was about Labs, my birthday presents were Lab items, my English project was about a Lab, and so on.  And Jack was special: he was the only being that I had ever met with Narcolepsy – and he was awesome.

I was very lucky.

As far as I can remember, it wasn’t so important to me that Jackson had Narcolepsy, although I thought that was pretty cool (Jack was just like me!).  What was important was that Jack was a dog – and not just any dog: a Labrador!  Smart, ultra friendly, cute and energetic (and as you can see from the picture, very hairy, lol).  I had originally wanted a female Golden Retriever, but a male yellow Lab was close enough for me.  What was important was that I knew that I wouldn’t have gotten a dog if I didn’t have Narcolepsy (although my mother never said that, exactly, but I understood). 

I think having a dog made it a little easier for me to deal with having Narcolepsy.  Now, as opposed to feeling depressed about having this life-long sleep problem (although I expect that I did some of that too, I don’t really remember very well), I was busy playing with my dog, telling stories about my dog, etc.

Jackson was a god-send. 

I suppose I should tell you a bit about Jackson’s Narcolepsy.  Jackson had Narcolepsy with Cataplexy, but he didn’t need any medication or special treatment.  He slept a lot, but only when nothing interested was going on (I’m not sure how much he slept in comparison to other Labs).  If something was happening, then he was there at the heart of it, full of energy. 

Jackson’s Cataplexy was the most noticeable part of his Narcolepsy.  Jack’s Cataplexy revolved entirely around food (This shouldn’t be that surprising, given that Labradors are kind of known for being pigs, lol.).  Apparently food was what made him most excited. 

At dinner time, when you set down his bowl of food, he would sniff it and then move backwards away from the bowl into a sitting position as if drawn backwards by some invisible force.  Apparently the excitement would make his knees get weak, which would cause him to back up and sit.  (The funny part about this was that when people would see this, they would say, “Oh, your dog is so well trained!  He sits when you give him his food!” lol.)  However, if he was really really excited about the food, he would collapse and fall asleep for a few seconds after he sniffed the yummy treat or tried to bite it.  This was always really sad for me to watch, that Jack would have a hard time eating a bone or ice cream for dogs because he would keep falling asleep.  He would end up lying on the ground, slowly eating his treat, with me clapping to wake him up when he fell asleep (this would wake him up and he would get up).  After a little while, he wouldn’t be so unbelievable excited and he could eat whatever it was that made him so excited.

He didn’t seem to mind this, but of course he didn’t know that anything was wrong or unusual.

Now that I think about it, Jackson did have terrible cataplexy attacks very rarely, where he would shake on the ground and drool and be very scared for a number of minutes and we would have to comfort him.  But I only remember this happening a few times, all of them when he was a full grown adult or a bit older.  I remember one of these happening when he heard a very distant storm, as he was terrified of thunder.  I don’t have these sorts of attacks, but I am pretty sure that this was cataplexy.  It was very scary to watch an attack like this, and we felt so bad for him, but after it was over he would be fine.

The only other thing I noticed with Jackson as far as his Narcolepsy goes is that he used to dream during some of his naps.  I could tell that he was dreaming, because while he was sleeping on the ground, sometimes he would grit his teeth and growl a little or make noises and his eyelids would flutter a bit.  Or his legs would kind of move a little bit.  I’m not sure exactly what was going on here (hallucinations? just ordinary REM?), but I was sure that this was because of his Narcolepsy.

Jackson may have had Narcolepsy, but he just seemed like an ordinary, very happy dog.  He was a bit of a troublemaker, constantly finding new ways to outsmart our underground electric fence (ways the fence company hadn’t even seen before, lol), but he was a great friend, silly and loving and always up for doing whatever it was we were doing.

So the bottom line is, if all of us were Labradors, having Narcolepsy wouldn’t be so bad.  (I can just see it: Note to self: Ellie’s posts always offer helpful tips like, one way to successfully deal with Narcolepsy is to become a dog.)  Lol.

Anyways, I miss him very much.

One of these days I am going to have to get a dog again, but this time it’s going to have to be a breed that doesn’t shed so much because my husband is allergic to animal hair.  (Sorry, Jack, you were great, but you shed A TON.)  Maybe a Labradoodle?

I have heard some other Narcoleptics say that having a dog helps them cope with Narcolepsy, especially as far as getting out of the house and combating depression is concerned.  I am just reluctant to get a dog right now, as living in an apartment I don’t have a backyard and also because I know how big of a commitment it is.

One of these days, it will happen.

P.S. I am going to have ask my dad if he still has this video clip of Jackson’s cataplexy that I used once in school for a presentation on Narcolepsy.  I don’t have it anymore, but if I can find it I will certainly share it with all of you.

Does your body seem to act differently in the morning?

I’ve always thought that it is very strange, but for some reason my body seems to act differently in the morning when it comes to Narcolepsy, sleepiness, and cataplexy.  As far as I can recall, this has only been the case since I was 9 years old, although I have to admit that I don’t remember what I felt like in the mornings prior to that, so it’s hard to compare.

As I mentioned in a previous post on post-meal sleepiness, I seem to react differently to food in the morning.  While my evening meal often makes me feel a bit sleepy, my morning meal – any food at all in the morning – generally makes me feel VERY sleepy.  If I have the chance to sleep, it will be very difficult for me to resist.  The strange thing is that eating food at other times of the day doesn’t do this to me.  So while I can eat oatmeal in the morning and feel really sleepy, I could eat the same oatmeal at 3 pm and feel fine.  Which I think is just plain weird.

But there are other ways that my body seems different, the most important and noticeable one being that I seem to have worse cataplexy in the morning than at other times of the day.  Usually I only am annoyed by my cataplexy if I am way overtired or if it is late at night, however in the morning I also find that my cataplexy seems to act up.  In the morning I have to be a little careful sometimes walking up or down staircases because sometimes my knees feel a bit weak (a very scary sensation when you are on a staircase) – or I will just feel that it is SUCH a big effort to lift my feet to climb just one staircase (when usually I walk up five flights of stairs to get to my apartment).

However, this is most noticeable when I try to exercise in the mornings.  Over the Christmas break, my sister and I took a long walk on the hills of San Francisco (where she lives) for exercise, and my knees felt so weak some of the time, especially when we walked downhill.  This doesn’t usually happen to me, and it was so frustrating, but it reminded me why I tend to avoid exercising in the morning. 

I’ve also noticed that I just don’t have as much stamina or energy in the morning to work out, meaning that if I do get myself to work out I will be able to do less than I could do at another time of day.  This is frustrating because I’ve always thought that it would be so nice and convenient to get my exercise in first thing in the morning so that it will be out of the way and to avoid putting it off all day long, only to find that I never got around to exercising.

When I was younger, I also noticed that often times if I ate or drank something that was sugary, I would feel sick.  For example, drinking hot chocolate in the morning would sometimes make me feel sick to my stomach and weird.  I think this is probably still true for me, although it is hard to remember exactly because I tend to avoid sugary foods like hot chocolate and pancakes in the morning because I worry that they will make me tired, which is unacceptable when I know that whatever I eat will probably make me feel tired anyways (and eating something sugary would probably just make me even more tired).

I also feel like I sleep a bit better in the morning (although I shouldn’t be oversleeping!), although I am not sure how much of this has to do with food, as I have a bad habit of going back to bed after eating breakfast if this is at all possible.

Does anyone else experience this?  It seems so counterintuitive, however I am almost 100% sure that this has to do with Narcolepsy, especially because of the increased cataplexy symptoms.  I mean, I have never heard of anyone having this problem before… but then again, I’ve never asked.  What do you think?

P.S.  Isn’t this an awesome picture? (below).  This is the giant polar bear from the Olympics that is currently going on.  A friend of mine guessed that it was about 10 stories high (!).  And yes, those little figures in white are people!

 

picture source: http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/v2010open_02_13/v09_22122191.jpg

Narcolepsy research: Article on why lunch makes us sleepy (and how it affects our orexin molecules)

Here is an interesting article, titled, “Siesta Science: Why Lunch Makes Us Sleepy.”  Although the article is very short, it explains that glucose can block the neurons that make orexins, molecules that research has shown are already often reduced or malfunctioning in Narcoleptics.

If you are interested, I would highly suggest that you read this article.  It’s not even a page long!

I think this has to be one of my shortest posts ever, lol.

Have a good day!

Making changes (focusing on the “multiplying effects” of one change)

 

Today, I had a moment of creative brilliance while dragging myself through the frozen over snow and salty, sandy mess formerly known as the sidewalk to go to the co-working place.

I was thinking about how I should have been able to drag myself to this awesome co-working place more than twice in the past few months, and I was trying to think of ways to get myself to go there more often and make other changes, such as keeping my kitchen clean, when I came up with an idea.  What if, instead of trying (and often failing) to get myself to make some important changes in my life everyday (for example, today I will clean my kitchen/keep the kitchen clean) using the same old method of making long lists full of changes I know it will be hard to get myself to do, I tried something new?  What if, instead of trying to use the same old rationales to get myself to do something, I tried a bunch of new ones? 

What if, instead of telling myself I must do xyz today for the same tired reasons that often fail to motivate me, I was able to get myself to make a big change by linking that change to a host of benefits I don’t normally think about?  Maybe, I thought, I would do better to focus on making one change whose benefits would in turn help me to make other changes that would bring even more benefits, as opposed to trying to make a whole bunch of changes at once.  And maybe, just maybe, doing some creative out-of-the- box thinking about the benefits of one change would help motivate me to do the things I have so much trouble accomplishing these days.

Think of it as the domino effect for self-help junkies.  If I could knock down one domino, what other dominos would those dominos knock down?  And what about the dominos that those dominos would in turn knock down?

Are you still with me? :-)

Here is an example: I have a hard time keeping my kitchen clean (an embarrassing admission, but I do my best to be honest :-)).  Every day I tell myself, “today I will make the kitchen perfectly clean.”  However, somehow everyday despite this resolution, I don’t do much to make this happen and the dishes pile up and I feel badly about it. 

Usually I try to motivate myself to clean the kitchen by telling myself that I need to be able to cook, that it’s embarrassing, that my husband and myself will be happier if it’s clean, that as an adult I am expected to have a clean kitchen, that when I have kids I’m going to have to have a clean kitchen and cook a lot, that losing weight isn’t going to be easy if I can’t cook easily, etc.  That’s the old way of thinking.

However, I decided today that maybe I should try a new way of thinking that emphasizes the positive (as opposed to saying, self, you MUST clean or bad things will happen or good things won’t happen!) when it comes to cleaning the kitchen.  We will see if it works.

Here is the new way of thinking, in the form of a list.

“Multiplying effects” of cleaning the kitchen (things I don’t usually think about):"

• Cleaning is not bad exercise, so by cleaning the kitchen I am making a little progress on my goal of getting more exercise and losing weight.
• A better relationship with my husband.  More specifically, no more fights about the kitchen.
• A better relationship with myself.  No more self bashing, worrying and guilt because of the state of my kitchen.
• I can finally make a kitchen windowsill herb garden – and my plants won’t die because they get lost in the kitchen.
• Cooking dinner will be faster because you won’t have to wash stuff first.  (Obvious, but true.)
• Now that I’m feeling better about myself, I will be more likely to have the energy to cook.  This should also help me in all areas of my life – my motivation to do work, my mood, my emotional eating, etc.
• I’ll save money – less wasting of food, no housecleaner needed, etc.
• I can take this off the list of things I feel absolutely terrible about.
• More/better sex.  According to a book I once read, having a sex life like a porn star requires having a clean home.  No, seriously.  lol.
• It takes much less time to keep the kitchen from getting dirty than to clean a messy kitchen.  I’m saving time!
• If I can keep the kitchen clean, it’s feasible that I can start keeping the rest of the apartment clean… and then if I can get over the 4 flights of stairs we have, I can get a dog… Let me repeat, I can get a labradoodle!
• If I have a clean kitchen, I can easily cook good food, which should lead me to lose weight, which will lead to all sorts of other benefits.  i.e. if I want to look great in a bikini, I should clean the kitchen.  lol.

I could go on, but I think I’ll leave it at that.  But basically, cleaning my kitchen would help me with all sorts of other things on my to do list and with all sorts of other areas in my life.  I think that maybe I could come up with some more creative benefits as well if I thought about it more, so maybe I will have to do that.

But Ellie, you say, um, isn’t this supposed to be a sleep blog? 

And yes, it is.  But I was thinking that this strategy could be used not only for kitchen cleaning and other chores but also for making some of those changes that are important for us Narcoleptics.  The ones that come to mind?  Getting up at the same time each day, going to bed at the same time each day, and keeping to less than 30 minutes when taking one of my scheduled naps.

In fact, I’ll even do one of these sleep related ones for you, on one habit that I personally have trouble keeping to.  Here it is below:

The multiplying effects of keeping a regular sleep schedule (going to bed and getting up at the same time every day):

• I’ll sleep less and thus have more time for all the things I want to do.  Regular sleep schedule = bubble baths, painting my toenails, playing computer games, reading, socializing, making homemade dessert, cooking, cleaning (wait, did I just say I want to clean?), working, sex, etc. etc. (be creative)
• I’ll be happier and have a better mood because normally I beat myself up about not doing this.  All of that guilt and worrying about oversleeping- gone! Woah, that’s a big one.
• Because I’ll feel better… I’ll be more able to do all sorts of other not fun things, like exercising and cleaning the kitchen.  And maybe I’ll even sleep better, because these days my dreams disturb me and I think I would sleep better if I felt better.
• I will have fewer migraines (a regular sleep schedule is important for people who get migraines).  Which means I might be able to eat cheddar again!, or at least lay in bed feeling terrible for fewer days each month.
• If I can do this, then surely I can become better with not sleeping too much in my naps.  I will have exercised my willpower, something I can take advantage of in pursuing any other goal I have.
• I’ll admit, I don’t generally feel all that much better when I oversleep or sleep at weird hours.  So I’ll have more energy and feel better with a regular schedule.
• If I sleep less, I will be up and about more, which means a regular sleep schedule will help me lose weight.  Regular sleep schedule = bikini?  (These days I tend to sleep too much rather than too little.)
• If I want to go to the co-working place, I need a regular sleep schedule so I can take advantage of their hours.
• I’ll get more done.  Be honest, self, how much do you get done late at night anyways?  (Not too much.)

And who knows, writing out reasons like this might just help in and of itself, as writing things down is supposed to be more beneficial than just thinking about it.

What do you think?  Anyone care to try this with me? 

Paying It Forward: The Talk About Sleep Cookbook

I wanted to share with all of you Talk About Sleep’s new project to create a cookbook in order to raise funds for its services.  They are asking TAS members to submit recipes and also their “pay it forward stories” for this cookbook.  A portion of the proceeds will be used to provide services to TAS members, including more scholarships to the Narcolepsy Network conference.

Here is the message from the TAS founder about the project, which includes a link to the webpage for the project.  This link also includes other ways that you can support TAS, such as buying an ad on the site.  They are also encouraging people to order their cookbooks well in advance.

I am certainly going to submit at least one recipe!  Maybe even more than that…

I think the pay it forward philosophy is a beautiful one; that you “pay someone back” by helping someone else, who then passes the help to someone else and so on, leading to a giant chain of people helping others.  If you haven’t seen it, there is actually a movie called Pay It Forward, which was really good except it had a tragic ending.  I didn’t see why they had to make it tragic; it was otherwise such a positive film!, but oh well.

Is anyone planning on contributing a recipe(s) or buying a copy of the cookbook?

Weight loss advice from a fellow Narcoleptic (Part 1)

Some of you may recall that I said that I wanted to have some guest bloggers this year to talk about things that I think they know more about than I do.  Here is the first post, featuring advice from one of my readers, a fellow Narcoleptic named Jane.  Jane recently e-mailed me a bunch of comments and suggestions relating to one of my posts about weight loss, as they were too long to post as a comment.  Looking over them, I decided that I must share them with all of you because they were so well done and insightful.  I personally have heard lots of weight loss advice over the years, but it meant a lot to me to hear it from a fellow Narcoleptic who has also struggled with weight issues, as many of us do.  Thanks so much, Jane!

Here is the e-mail she sent me:

“Hi Ellie! I'm also a 26 year old American narcoleptic female who moved permanently overseas - nice to meet you!
First I want to tell you that you should not feel too much 'guilt' about your past weight gain. 
A little background … I've probably had narcolepsy since I was about 8, if not earlier, and it was diagnosed at 18 - the week I graduated high school.  I've been on Provigil pretty much since then.
A couple years ago, I went on a 2-month drug vacation because I was maxing out my Provigil dose and had the opportunity to take a break from both school and work.  When I started the medication again (at a much lower dose), I felt one of its side effects very strongly - loss of appetite. I had not really experienced this side effect as much before.
I took advantage of my reduced appetite and started eating a lot less food than I had been, although I try to spread my meals throughout the day which sometimes mean forcing myself to eat. I also started a new job around the same time I started back on my meds, and ended up doing about an hour of brisk walking a day just rushing to the bus stop.
I can't really describe the relief I felt when I could stop thinking about food CONSTANTLY. And I mean constantly. I realized it's not normal to be so hungry and so obsessed with food and to think about it all the time and to never EVER feel full.  When I'm off my meds, I feel like an addict and a slave to sleep and hunger. It's like that's the only two things that can affect my decision making, the only two guiding forces. 
I lost 55 pounds between June 2008 and June 2009. (I'm slightly less than 5'9'' tall, medium build, and the highest weight i reached was 186).  I ended up on another drug vacation this past November, not by choice but because it took a long time to get a Provigil prescription in my new home country.  I gained about 15 lb. during this time and am now working to take it down - down 10 so far - then my goal is to increase my fitness/endurance level and tone up my body and maintain my weight.
And maintaining is the hardest part.
If you have been overeating all your life, it is not your fault or the cause of weak willpower. I am all about beating myself up, like lots of narcoleptics who went diagnosed for a long time, but I can now see that my appetite for food is about as out of control as my appetite for sleep. The centers for these two drives are right right next to each other in the brain.  It might help you to be successful in your weight loss if you forgive yourself for what's happened.
You say: "I was tempted, of course, to deny this instinct with war cries of “This time I am committed!  I will have more willpower!  I won’t give up!  I will give up all carbs and work out every single day for an hour, even if I’m sick!” and armed with more self-help weight loss and exercise books/websites than can possibly be healthy. "
I have found that "self-lecturing" voice to be very helpful.  Making statements, even writing them down as you have here, can really go a long way as far as creating a reality for your self that you're dedicated to. 
Here are a some pointers for weight loss that I've found work for me, but of course everyone's body is different.
-Take at least one day off from working out every week
-Have one cheat day every week where you eat whatever you want (i call it cheeseburger day!!!)
-Don't try to go too strict at once.  For example, don't try to cut out ALL carbs - there's carbs in fruits and veggies, of which you should be eating as much as you want.  Do try to stay away from bread and anything crunchy, most processed foods, etc. The only bread product I'm eating (except on cheeseburger day of course) is whole wheat wraps. The most important foods in my diet are tuna packed in water, boneless skinless chicken breast, homemade lowfat hummus, homemade salsa, natural peanut butter, eggs (1 yolk + however many whites I want, 5 days a week), 1% milk, low-sodium tomato juice, 5% cheeses, and tons of fruits and veggies.
-Eat LOTS of fiber. It fills you up and is great for weight loss in some other way I don't completely understand.
-The most important thing to pay attention to is calories in/calories out. Which basically means most foods aren't technically off limits, you just probably need to eat them in much smaller (and much-less satisfying) portions.
-An hour of walking a day can really make a difference and is a great way to start building your fitness level
-Aim to lose about 1-2 lbs a week
-Try to keep tempting foods out of the house. If your husband is a happy eater of junk food, this can be hard. Find out how much he's willing to support you. It's about 100 times easier to stick to the right foods when the wrong foods aren't staring you in the face.
-Try to make exercise fun. I'm bored out of my mind after 20 minutes on a treadmill, but I can go for an hour of much more strenuous activity when I'm playing one-on-one basketball with my brother.
-There IS such a thing as too little food. The bare minimum to prevent your body from going into starvation mode is something like 1050-1200 net calories (food calories in minus exercise calories out).
-Eat a fist-sized amount of food (mix of protein carbs and fat) before you work out so your body has some fuel for the work out. Also drink water BEFORE  you work out so your muscles are hydrated and
ready to go.
-Don't eat in the two+ hours before you go to sleep (this is the HARDEST for me!!!) and try to eat your largest meal at lunch time. If you do this, you should be able to physically see the difference in your belly when you wake up in the morning.
I will say I could probably never have been successful without the appetite control I gained from Provigil. I've taken Concerta before and it's done the same thing for me, so I hope that can help you. And again, I wouldn't encourage a healthy person to take diet pills or to rely on medication for appetite reduction, but healthy people don't have to battle with the endless hunger I get from my narcolepsy, so I feel positive about this choice.
My energy level has definitely increased since I lost weight. My self-esteem shot to new heights and I overcame a lot of social anxiety that plagued me for years. Working out is difficult and often painful (I have fibromyalgia as well), but I feel incredible and very energetic after exercising
I believe you WILL succeed! For anyone living with a lifetime disorder that affects daily living in ways healthy people don't have to worry about, it's easy to sort of excuse something like weight gain, because it's caused by your condition. It's a much greater challenge, but by the same token, overcoming the odds and succeeding at your goals makes it that much more rewarding and boosts your self-esteem that much more.  Feelings of helplessness/hopelessness and lack of control turn into the feelings of strength and increased control over your life and how you live it. I am 100% behind you - good luck ! :)  Jane”

Thanks again for all of the advice, Jane!  If you would like to contact Jane directly, you can reach her at takemantwo@yahoo.com.

Fitting naps into the school day (Part 1): elementary and middle school

I thought it would be worth touching on the topic of fitting a nap – or naps – into the school day, as for many years this was a very important topic for me.  My sleep doctor had told me to take one 15 – 25 minute nap at noon and one at 3 pm, however, as I recall it it was my mother and I who came up with ways to make this happen.  I wasn’t always easy to accomplish, and it meant that I had to do some things that other kids never did, but it was worth it.

I dealt with my naps in two very different ways during elementary school and part of middle school.  In 4th grade, having just been diagnosed with Narcolepsy, we dealt with my need for a noontime nap largely without help from my (public) school.  Whereas, in 5th and 6th grade, I went to a private school and the school was highly involved in meeting my need for a mid-day nap.

 

• 4th grade:  In 4th grade (back when we still lived in California), I would skip lunch recess every day and take a 25 minute nap against the window with a pillow in the school parking lot.  I think lunch might have gotten out at 12:30 pm, and I would sneak off to the parking lot and nap in my mom’s car, which she would bring just for my naptime.  This worked okay, except for the fact that I was constantly worried about being “found out.”  What if one of the other kids saw me asleep in my mom’s car in the parking lot?, I would worry.  What if people found out somehow?  So out of fear of what other kids might say or think, I didn’t tell anyone but my closest friends what I was doing (and then I would only tell them if I had to take a nap while I was hanging out with them at my house or theirs).
• 5th and 6th grade: In5th and 6th grade I attended private  school because my mother thought I needed the special accommodation because of my Narcolepsy (my other two siblings went to public school).  The setup was that every day I would leave the sit down lunch we would have (assigned tables, prayer and all) after I finished (skipping dessert, which took some time) and take a 25 minute nap in the nurse’s office.  This worked well, as the nurse would wake me up and it was usually very quiet.  I had a bed and my own pillow and blanket, which was nice.  Unfortunately, missing dessert only bought me maybe 20 minutes, so I was sometimes late to the class after lunch.  One year I had P.E. after lunch, with the gym a significant walk away, so I was always late for that and would change my clothes in the nurse’s office.  The other year I had math afterward lunch, but I could usually make it just as it was starting.  However, like in 4th grade I didn’t tell anyone but my teachers why I was showing up to things late and leaving things early because I was very secretive about my Narcolepsy.  No one ever talked about it, but obviously the other kids had to be wondering what was going on with me.  I wonder now what people thought I was up to during part of lunch time, although perhaps they found out that I was taking a nap… (as anyone who walked into the nurse’s office during lunch would see me lying down).

Dealing with fitting a nap in during the school day is not easy, but I always found that schools and teachers were happy to help me deal with this (and I attended a whole bunch of different schools).  And I’ve found that people in general are often very willing to help, provided that they know what you need and why you need it.  For example, because I left lunch earlier than everyone else, one of the people who cooked the food for the sit-down lunch would always tell me what the dessert was that day at the beginning of the meal and then if I wanted it they would bring it out early just for me. 

It takes some creativity… and you have to ask for help, but it’s completely doable to fit in a short nap around lunchtime at school.

Has anyone else figured out a way to fit in a nap (or naps) during the school day?

I will cover 7th grade through college in future posts.

Ellie’s recipe file: Taco soup!

So, tonight I tried a recipe I’ve heard people rave about on a few recipe blogs: taco soup.  The great thing about this recipe is that it is soooo easy.  Basically, the main work involves having a clean pan and pot, browning some ground beef and opening a bunch of cans and dumping a bunch of things into a pot.  And you can make enough with this recipe to have lots of leftovers, which means less cooking later in the week (or some tasty lunches)!

Now I’m no master chef (you know those people on allrecipes.com who take a recipe and make a whole bunch of changes to make it better? I’m not one of them, lol), but I made some changes that make this recipe quick and easy and give you more food.  Instead of cooking my own beans (lol), I used canned ones, thoroughly rinsed.  I used canned corn instead of fresh (you could also use frozen corn).  I also added more beans, tomatoes, and rice so that we would have more leftovers.

I had never had taco soup before, but seeing the recipe, I was sure that it would be tasty, and it was.  It turned out great – and was even husband approved! 

Mine was more of a chili than a soup in the end, but if you added more water I expect that you could make it more soup-like.  I served it with sour cream, shredded cheese, and tortilla chips.

Here is the link to the recipe I used (from the blog $5 dinners): http://www.5dollardinners.com/2008/08/taco-soup-and-sweet-watermelon.html

Enjoy and have a good weekend! :-)

P.S.  As a follow-up to my post about my personal trainer, I did fire him and am now looking for someone new.  I realized that I really don’t need the stress of dealing with the guy, plus it didn’t even make sense to see someone if they are hurting my efforts as much as they are helping them.  This time, I’m going to interview a few people and not just hire the first person I meet.

Microsleep and Automatic behavior

 

When I think about microsleeps and automatic behavior, one of the first examples that comes to mind is something that happened to me my freshman year of high school during a biology test.  Looking over my test, I discovered that I had done something strange: the first few problems on the first page and all of the problems on the second page were correct.  However, I had completed all of the problems on the first page as if they were all the same as the first few problems, which made absolutely no sense because the problems were so different.  Essentially, I had gone through and done the mathematical process from the first few questions to the rest of the problems (for example, doing multiplication on addition problems and so forth).  I quickly realized what must have happened because the mistake was so stupid and I knew this stuff cold: unfortunately, I had only been truly awake for the first few problems and the second page.  The rest of the problems I completed without full conscious awareness during a microsleep, only to wake up when I turned the page.  I was very upset, but I didn’t know how to explain what had happened to my teacher because it just seemed hard to prove and so I was stuck with a terrible grade that I had to pay for for the rest of the semester.  

What I just related for you is an example of automatic behavior during a microsleep.  Basically, my brain fell partly asleep while I was doing a monotonous task, however I didn’t realize that I was partly asleep and continued working, but without conscious thought.

Another example of automatic behavior during a microsleep is what used to happen to me if I was struggling to stay awake during a long lecture: I would partially fall asleep for a few minutes even though my eyes were open and though I continued to write.  Then, I would look down and realize that what I had just written was complete jibberish – or my handwriting was so bad it was illegible.  Not realizing I had fallen asleep, I had continued to “take notes,” until a few minutes later I was jolted awake by something as simple as a noise or my pen starting to fall out of my hand or what have you.

According to one government fact sheet on Narcolepsy, up to 4o% of patients with Narcolepsy experience such automatic behavior during such microsleeps.  Usually an episode is very short, lasting only a number of seconds or a few minutes, and the person will generally not remember what they did during the microsleep. 

Here is the remainder of what this website says about microsleeps (as the paragraph is not easy to find on the page):

“They (Narcoleptics) fall asleep for a few seconds while performing a task but continue carrying it through to completion without any apparent interruption. During these episodes, people are usually engaged in habitual, essentially "second nature" activities such as taking notes in class, typing, or driving. They cannot recall their actions, and their performance is almost always impaired during a microsleep. Their handwriting may, for example, degenerate into an illegible scrawl, or they may store items in bizarre locations and then forget where they placed them. If an episode occurs while driving, patients may get lost or have an accident.”

You can find some more examples of automatic behavior during microsleeps for Narcoleptics in the Other Symptoms of Narcolepsy section on another website.  The wikipedia article is also useful, even though it is very short.  I would recommend that you take a look at both of these if you have time, especially the one with the examples, as I didn’t even realize that some of the things they mentioned are related to microsleep.

This mainly used to happen to me in school during long lectures or math class when I was already struggling to stay awake. 

Do you experience automatic behavior during microsleeps?  Have you found any tricks that help with this?

P.S. I am proud to say that I have now completed more than 30 posts on this site! :-)

Ellie’s recipe file: Quick and easy mashed potatoes

I recently tried making mashed potatoes using a trick from the potato industry’s website: you don’t peel the potatoes.  They were delicious!  They are also healthy too, as long as you don’t use tons of butter.

Here’s the recipe:

Wash suitable potatoes thoroughly. 

Cut each potato into quarters and boil them in water. 

When the potatoes are tender, remove them and place them in a big bowl. 

Mash the potatoes and add milk and butter to taste. 

Yum! 

I also found another version on their website that I didn’t try but which also looked quick and easy.  Here it is below:

Quick & Healthy Mashed Potatoes

(from Potato Industry website)

Cost: $0.37
Recipe By:
Servings: 4
Ready Time: 20
Prep Time: 10
Cook Time: 10

About Recipe

Mashed potatoes in minutes are a delicious and satisfying solution for time-pressed cooks.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 lb russet potatoes (yellow-flesh, white potatoes or red potatoes can be substituted
• 1/2 cup each nonfat plain yogurt and fat-free milk (My note: I would just use milk)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons healthy butter spread (My note: I would just use butter)
• Salt and pepper

Directions

Place whole potatoes (do not poke) into microwave-safe dish. Cover dish. (If covering dish with plastic wrap, poke small hole in plastic.) Microwave on HIGH for 10 to 12 minutes depending on strength of microwave. Use oven mitts to remove dish from microwave; carefully remove cover and mash well. Stir in yogurt, milk, butter spread and seasonings. Cook for a minute or 2 more to heat if necessary.

Nutrition

Cal:
170
Chol:
0 mg
Sodium:
220mg

Fat:
3.5
Vitamin C
Potassium:
644mg

Carb:
29g
Fiber:
2g
Protein:
5g

Do you have any favorite quick and easy potato recipes you fall back on?  I’m trying to get better at cooking without exhausting myself spending hours in the kitchen each night! :-)