It's Getting Better . . .
Where was I?
Oh yeah, eyeballs popping from the pain . . . I went back to the special sleep dentist on Wednesday, August 6th.
The first thing she did was to apologize that I had been told to keep wearing the appliance when I first rang on August 1st. Unfortunately for me and my body's propensity toward inflammation, wearing the appliance in the - for me - extreme position it was in caused all the jaw muscles to become inflamed. It was really the No-Fun Plan. My lower jaw was not readily moving back into place in the morning, my head was killing me, my ear hurt, and my eyeballs felt like they were going to explode.
That "extreme position," was apparently not extreme to anyone except me (Delicate Flower that I am . . . ). The sleep dentist took some more measurements. Another impression was taken. She also checked all over my head and neck and even inside my mouth for sore muscles. I was surprised to realize that I was in pain even inside my mouth - I mean I don't generally poke my fingers around inside my mouth, so I never would have known that even those muscles were inflamed . . .
. . . And the appliance went back to the lab to be readjusted from 6 to 4. Whatever that means - and I was to take three Advil every six hours to help the headache and inflammation dissipate.
I had an earache from July 31st to August 11th, and a headache from July 31st to August 17th.
Yes, really.
They said that it would about two more weeks for the appliance to come back from the lab, and really, it was a rough two weeks in terms of sleep. In fact it was awful in terms of sleep. Apparently, getting those few nights of uninterrupted sleep (even though I was in pain) made me truly realize just how tired and sleep deprived I have been. My SnoreLab score jumped right back up to the high 40's (occasionally up in the high 70s), and I muddled along as best I could. It helped a lot once the earache was gone.
Last weekend I had a house full of my friends - here to journey to the Michigan Fiber Festival (Big Fun!!) and I had a hard time. My poor friends - I was tired, not able to keep up well with hostessing, not quick on the uptake (although I suppose it could be argued that I'm never very quick on the uptake ;-)), and I looked like death. It's like these two weeks had magnified all the worst symptoms. I was falling asleep in the chair, I fell asleep in the minivan both to and from the Festival, and I had to go to bed early every night, not to mention that I "looked tired" all weekend long. If you watch The Proverbial Knitter podcast, you can actually see how awful I look right now . . . not only exhausted, but large (unfortunately . . . ).
Lack of sleep is a contributing factor to so many things, including being overweight. Add that to the micro-arousals shooting adrenalin into my body at regular intervals when I'm supposed to be sleeping - you can already see where this is going, can't you? It is my sincere hope that once I am sleeping normally again, that it's going to become much easier to get back to a healthier weight and stay there.
On Monday, August 18th, I got the call that my appliance was ready, and made an appointment for Wednesday the 20th to pick it up . . . and start over.
More on that next time, but for now, I can just tell you that it's getting better ;-)
Oh yeah, eyeballs popping from the pain . . . I went back to the special sleep dentist on Wednesday, August 6th.
The first thing she did was to apologize that I had been told to keep wearing the appliance when I first rang on August 1st. Unfortunately for me and my body's propensity toward inflammation, wearing the appliance in the - for me - extreme position it was in caused all the jaw muscles to become inflamed. It was really the No-Fun Plan. My lower jaw was not readily moving back into place in the morning, my head was killing me, my ear hurt, and my eyeballs felt like they were going to explode.
That "extreme position," was apparently not extreme to anyone except me (Delicate Flower that I am . . . ). The sleep dentist took some more measurements. Another impression was taken. She also checked all over my head and neck and even inside my mouth for sore muscles. I was surprised to realize that I was in pain even inside my mouth - I mean I don't generally poke my fingers around inside my mouth, so I never would have known that even those muscles were inflamed . . .
. . . And the appliance went back to the lab to be readjusted from 6 to 4. Whatever that means - and I was to take three Advil every six hours to help the headache and inflammation dissipate.
I had an earache from July 31st to August 11th, and a headache from July 31st to August 17th.
Yes, really.
They said that it would about two more weeks for the appliance to come back from the lab, and really, it was a rough two weeks in terms of sleep. In fact it was awful in terms of sleep. Apparently, getting those few nights of uninterrupted sleep (even though I was in pain) made me truly realize just how tired and sleep deprived I have been. My SnoreLab score jumped right back up to the high 40's (occasionally up in the high 70s), and I muddled along as best I could. It helped a lot once the earache was gone.
Last weekend I had a house full of my friends - here to journey to the Michigan Fiber Festival (Big Fun!!) and I had a hard time. My poor friends - I was tired, not able to keep up well with hostessing, not quick on the uptake (although I suppose it could be argued that I'm never very quick on the uptake ;-)), and I looked like death. It's like these two weeks had magnified all the worst symptoms. I was falling asleep in the chair, I fell asleep in the minivan both to and from the Festival, and I had to go to bed early every night, not to mention that I "looked tired" all weekend long. If you watch The Proverbial Knitter podcast, you can actually see how awful I look right now . . . not only exhausted, but large (unfortunately . . . ).
Lack of sleep is a contributing factor to so many things, including being overweight. Add that to the micro-arousals shooting adrenalin into my body at regular intervals when I'm supposed to be sleeping - you can already see where this is going, can't you? It is my sincere hope that once I am sleeping normally again, that it's going to become much easier to get back to a healthier weight and stay there.
On Monday, August 18th, I got the call that my appliance was ready, and made an appointment for Wednesday the 20th to pick it up . . . and start over.
More on that next time, but for now, I can just tell you that it's getting better ;-)
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