Sleep truly is the foundation of good health, both mental and physical health.
In 2016, after almost a decade of getting bad sleep and always feeling tired, I convinced my doctor (and my insurance company) to give me an in-lab sleep study. It was a battle to get there because I did not have any obstructions and I did not snore. Everybody kept telling me it was "midlife" stuff. I pushed back on that because 1) I am not "midlife" and 2) I know my body.
Well, hello, as soon as I saw my brain wave scans, I knew I was right. I got the CPAP machine and my energy levels and quality of life improved. The changes were directly related to my improved sleep.
Flash forward to late 2020. The machine was becoming unreliable, it would turn off randomly and I sometimes felt like it was strangling me. Ultimately, I stopped using it.
I asked for another machine. I'd have to undergo another sleep study. Ok, cool. I started with a worthless home study that only measures oxygen and pulse but not brain wave patterns. I think they do these tests to turn people away, but that's another story.
The results all came back "normal," and I was denied. We fought and fought, doctors wrote appeal letters, but the insurance accountants said no. I contemplated paying out-of-pocket because I was feeling exhausted for long stretches each day. My A1C levels (a marker used to diagnose type 1 and type 2 diabetes) started to rise because a lot of my hormones and neurotransmitters were out of whack.
Fortunately, I recently switched insurance and had another in-lab sleep study a couple of weeks ago, and hello, again, same brain activity! I just got my new CPAP machine, and last night I had an AMAZING night's sleep, despite everyone else in the room snoring.
Sleep is the foundation of all mental and physical health, yet so many people underestimate its healing and preventative importance.
If you are having any health issues, including anxiety, depression, weight issues, etc., please consider your quality of sleep and its impact on your diagnosis.
This has been life-changing for me! - Mary
The Brain Coach Blog is written by executive function coach Mary Turos. Based in Belair, MD, Mary is affectionately known as 'The Brain Coach" for her work helping people achieve harmony using strategies based in neuroscience.