Always Sleepy...

A lesson in picking your nap-time

2007-05-21T16:15:00.001-06:00

Today I learned a very important lesson about when and when not to take a nap.

I was feeling pretty sleepy, but not overwhelming. Nonetheless I knew nap time was coming so I decided to go lay down rather than fight it for the roughly 20 minutes it would take for the urge to become overwhelming.

As I skipped my lou upstairs, I checked my phone and realized that I would be due for medication in around 15 or minutes so. Normally I nap for 20-30 minutes and for a moment ... an ever so brief moment ... I considered waiting to nap until I had time to take my medication.

For reasons beyond my explanation, I chose not to. I also chose not to set an alarm because
A) my real alarm was packed away and setting the phone alarm would take 30 seconds longer than I had an attention span for
B) My body often wakes me after about 30 - 45 minutes during mid-day naps if has grown accustomed to them.

Unfortunately for me I failed to factor in that I had not been on a consistent nap schedule as of late. About an hour and a half later I woke up, extremely groggy. I laid in bed for a while coming in and out of consciousness. Somewhere I realized I was groggy because my medicine had worn off. I had an hour window to re-medicate before it wore off, and I slept right through it.

Absolutely brilliant.

Fortunately I have nothing doing these days, but I certainly came to the realization that it would have been far better to just puts around for 15 minutes and then medicate and nap. The amount of time I spend napping, how often and how refreshed I feel is directly related to how productive I can be throughout a day.

Oh well, ya live and learn (and in my case then ya nap!)

-Jim-

MySleepCentral.com

2007-05-05T11:47:00.000-06:00

Courtesy of comments left by Emily, I have been introduced to a wonderous new site called Mysleepcentral.com.

I highly recommend you check it out!! Seriously.

Just be sure to come back too! :)

One of a Narcoleptic's toughest choices

2007-04-05T08:07:00.000-06:00

I wake up this morning ... and by wake-up I of course mean I hear my first alarm at 7:00am, hit snooze every five minutes until 7:25 and then I slowly arise with such dread and difficulty you might think I was getting up to go be executed that day ...

As I stumble to the bathroom, which as we just noted is my version of "waking up", I know that I need to get ready and get out the door by a quarter till 8. Trying to squeeze 30 minutes of getting ready activities into about 15 minutes is no small task and inevitably this flight of a bumblebee will result in a lot of swearing and me being a few minutes late.

While putting my contacts I really start to come to; oh how I love the fresh sting of contact solution in the morning! My eyeballs readjust to the familiar feeling of sight, and as the fog of Narcolepsy lifts I begin cursing myself. It's not the first time I've gone through process this week. It seems that every morning I need to get up by a certain time I inevitably don't, and as I come to this realization I kick myself for not getting up earlier. Today, I know that I won't be back in the room until 2pm so I need time to make sure I have everything for the day and that I get a solid breakfast.

Looking in the mirror however, I realize that miraculously, this morning is one of the few mornings the bed-head monster didn't visit. Granted my shaggy mane is a little flat and matted down ... it's not exactly Pantene Pro V commercial worthy hair, but with a little combing I know that I could get by without showering.

I weigh my options: Do I shower, and have gorgeous hair, or do I eat breakfast? I won't be picking any hot babes up with the hair, but I'd have a full stomach and be prepared for the day.

The decision takes me about .02 seconds. I return to my room, hunt for my trusty blue comb and begin attacking my scalp. As I eat two bowls of Apple Jacks ten minutes later, I know that I totally made the right decision.

Thank God for Deodorant and the wonders a little water and a comb can do to one's hair (okay not much, but my stomach doesn't give a rat's behind about my dome).

And that ladies and gentleman meant that I arrived on time and ready to go this morning.

Epilogue:
This occurrence is so rare I think the Mayor is considering canceling all city activities to throw me a town parade this afternoon. I'd be watching Wolf Blitzer on CNN too... A story like this could get really huge really fast! Just don't believe the rumors about my drug abuse and affairs with Marilyn Monroe on Nancy Grace later tonight. I did not have sexual relations with that woman!

7 signs that you might have Narcolepsy

2007-03-20T14:25:00.001-06:00

Afraid you might have Narcolepsy? Well, I'm no sleep doctor, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. Okay, that's a lie, but I am Narcoleptic, so here are 7 signs that you should go see a sleep doctor and you should do it quick!

7. You don't remember the last time you woke up feeling refreshed

The body uses sleep as a way to renew your energy supply. Try to remember the last time you woke up and felt refreshed? If you can't remember that is a major red flag. For me, it was the first indication that I had a problem. As it turns out, most Narcoleptics rarely, if ever, wake up feeling refreshed. This is because Narcolepsy is a condition in which the body is unable to regulate a healthy sleep cycle.

6. You've fallen asleep doing something ridiculous ... like brushing your teeth!

It sounds ridiculous, but it's happened to me. If you wake up so groggy that you can complete tasks without remembering you did them (a symptom called Automatic Behavior), or you can't keep your eyes open while you're getting ready, you may just in fact suffer from Narcolepsy. Once again, it may not be Narcolepsy, but falling asleep while brushing your pearly whites is not something to brush off.

5. If your knees have ever buckled after feeling an exceptionally strong emotion (laughter, surprise, etc.)

One of the hallmark symptoms of Narcolepsy is Cataplexy, in which a person will suffer from temporary muscle weakness, most often occurring in the buckling of knees. People and animals with Cataplexy will actually fall to the ground in a split second without warning. This occurrence is usually associated with intense emotions, such as someone telling a joke, or being surprised.

4. Your best friend in the morning is a full pot of black coffee

Once again, since a Narcoleptic's sleep cycle is out of whack, we don't wake up feeling refreshed. While many people often wake up in a groggy muddled haze, that feeling eventually fades. For the narcoleptic, this may not be true. In an effort to clear the haze and get going, non-diagnosed Narcoleptics often turn to pumping a stimulant in their body to wake up. I sure did! Before my diagnosis I would chug an entire pot of coffee in about ten minutes every single morning. Understandable, a person may not want to see a doctor based on their morning caffeine dependence alone, however it is another sign on the road to a diagnosis of Narcolepsy.

3. If you've ever woken up "paralyzed"

Another major symptom of Narcolepsy is sleep paralysis. In a normal sleep cycle, a person enters REM sleep, the deepest stage of sleep, after about 90 minutes. During REM sleep we dream, and to prevent us from acting out our dreams, we find ourselves unable to move during this time. Since Narcoleptics have an abnormal cycle we slip into REM almost as soon as we go to sleep and we often wake up from in the middle of a REM cycle. Waking up in the middle of a REM cycle can be scary if the effects of REM paralysis haven't subsided yet.

2. You can fall asleep on command
During the day, if you feel like you are constantly trying to stay awake and alert, there's a good possibility you have some type of sleeping disorder. While many people stereotypically think Narcolepsy is when you fall asleep randomly, like mid-sentence, this is not really the truth. Narcolepsy is really characterized by feeling sleepy all day. A person won't necessarily fall asleep randomly, they will just fall asleep when they "let themselves". If this statement characterizes you, go see a doctor!

1. You dream during naps

This is actually how most Narcoleptics get officially diagnosed. As I stated earlier, REM sleep or dreaming normally doesn't occur until about 60-90 minutes into the sleep cycle. Thus dreaming during a10-20 minute nap is usually one of the tell-tale signs someone has Narcolepsy.

If a doctor suspects Narcolepsy he/she will order a sleep study in which he patient will visit a sleep clinic during the day. While at the clinic, and hooked up to a gazillion wires, they will be instructed to take a 20 minute nap every 90 minutes. During each nap they monitor if the patient fell asleep and what stages of the sleep cycle were experienced. This is done for a total of five naps.

After the whole process, my doctor told me how it worked, and I was shocked that not everyone dreams during their cat naps. I couldn't believe that wasn't normal.

Sleep Fact #17

2007-03-13T10:35:00.000-06:00

The number of accredited sleep centers across the country has tripled in the past decade, from 374 in 1997 to 1,129 today, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine

Today's Auditory Hallucination

2007-03-09T21:10:00.000-06:00

Just as I was falling asleep, I was thinking about my ex-girlfriend or something and somewhere in that land between asleep and really asleep (Narcoleptics are never really awake, we are just either sleepy, asleep or really asleep ...) I definitely heard a knock on my bedroom door.

I don't know if I was thinking it was her or what, but it brought me back from being asleep to that hazy concious state and I awoke, thinking no way did someone just knock on my door, had to be a hallucination. It was odd, normally if a hallucination occurs my heart is racing and I'm freaking out, or I'll at least have to seriously consider, "Did someone knock? Am I being abducted by aliens or can I go back to sleep?"

But today I woke up and it was so preposterous to me that their could have been a knock on my door I didn't even remotely consider it.

I've woken up and had to consider if there really was a murder in my ex-girlfriend's apartment, a ghost on my stairs at home, that I heard music when every electrical item was off. However, someone knocking on my door ... NOOOOO WAY is that possible! Just laught it off and go back to bed.

Then again maybe I was abducted by aliens and the knock I heard was me being teleported back to my bed. I just hope that I threw off all the data they've been collecting on humans and sleep. :)

Sleep Fact #18

2007-03-07T15:27:00.001-06:00

42 million sleep-aid prescriptions were filled in 2005, a 60-percent increase since 2000, according to Medco Health Solutions, a prescription drug benefit manager. That doesn't include over-the-counter meds.

I find this fact to be especially humorous, since as a Narcoleptic I see 42 million people getting prescriptions to aid them getting to sleep and yet I take a drug to aid me in staying awake! I never did well in a large crowds anyway.... :)

Sleep Fact #19

2007-03-07T02:40:00.000-06:00

And this is one of my favorites so far...

Ducks at risk of attack by predators are
able to balance the need for sleep and survival, keeping one half of the brain awake while the other slips into sleep mode.

My biggest question isn't, "Ducks can really do that?" It's HOW THE F*** DID HUMANS FIGURE THAT OUT!?

Seriously, inquiring minds want to know!

Finding a place to nap..

2007-03-06T11:18:00.001-06:00

Since I am so extraordinarily pro-napping, finding a place nap is a regular issue. And thus I bring you, Geeky beds you probably haven't seen before.

My favorite is definitely the levitating bed! I'd totally feel like a bad-ass! Although I wonder if it's safe to bump uglies on that thing? Hhhmmm, I wonder if that's been tested by the company yet...

Sleep Fact Countdown: #20

2007-03-04T18:12:00.001-06:00

Boy have I ever been slacking on our sleep fact countdown! Well, never fear citizens I am now finishing the countdown to bring you the sleep enlightenment you so desperately desire!

This sleep fact is quite the goody too!

British Ministry of Defence researchers have been able to reset soldiers' body clocks so they can go without sleep for up to 36 hrs. Tiny optical fibres embedded in special spectacles project a ring of bright white light (with a spectrum identical to a sunrise) around the edge of soldiers' retinas, fooling them into thinking they have just woken up. The system was first used on US pilots during the bombing of Kosovo

9 facts about REM sleep you probably didn't know

2007-03-04T03:29:00.001-06:00

Being in REM sleep is a lot like being awake! Your brain activity, heart rate and breathing rate during REM are similar to what they are like during waking hours. WEIRD!
It was a graduate student from the University of Chicago who first discovered REM sleep.
It is common to wake for a short time at the end of a REM phase
We enter REM sleep about 5 times in an 8 hour time period, and if we count each period as a different dream, we will have 1,825 dreams in on year!
A 75 year old person will have about 136,875 dreams in a year!
A lack of muscle immobility during REM leads to REM Behavior Disorder; sufferers act out the movements occurring in their dreams.
Because our muscles are rendered immobile during REM, people who sleepwalk are not in REM sleep and thus are not acting actually out their dreams.
Because erections are a regular part of REM, doctor's use REM sleep testing to determine if a if a male's erectile is a physiological or mental in origin.
The amount of REM sleep a person gets, relative to their total sleep varies greatly with age! A newborn baby spends more than 50-80% of total sleep time in REM, while people over 70 years old spend less than 10%. The average is 20%.

Idiot's Guide to Sleep Chapter 3: REM sleep

2007-03-03T16:04:00.000-06:00

Read Chapter 2: How we Sleep

Review: What we learned from Chapters 1 and 2

Understanding sleep helps us us understand Narcolepsy (ch. 1)
Sleeping is a way of re-energizing and rebooting our internal systems (ch. 1)
When you sleep you're either in a state of REM sleep or non-REM sleep (ch. 2)
non-REM sleep takes place in four stages (ch. 2)
non-REM sleep lasts around 90 minutes (ch. 2)

REM SLEEP

As noted in Chapter 2, whoever coined the term REM made it really easy to remember. When you sleep you're eyes are either making quick (aka rapid) movements, or they are not. If they are, we call it RAPID EYE MOVEMENT sleep and if they aren't, then we call it non-rapid eye movement sleep.

Nuts and Bolts of REM

You enter REM sleep about every 90 minutes starting from the time you fall sleep until the time you wake up.
If you do the math (and I didn't but apparently other people have), this means that in a typical 8 hour time period, you'll have 4 to 5 periods of REM sleep a night
Each period of REM is a longer than the previous one
Those 4-5 REM periods will add to a grand total of 90-120 minutes of total REM

REM sleep is significant because it is when most of our dreaming takes place, and it is when our most intense and vivid dreaming takes place. During REM our muscles are rendered immobile, which we call sleep paralysis, so that we can't act out what we're dreaming. It's a very handy safety feature to say the least.

REM is probably the most highly studied part of the sleep process because it is when dreaming occurs, and the purpose of the dreaming (and thus the purpose of REM) isn't fully understood. Although most researchers do agree that it is an important and necessary function of the body.

Sources Used:
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/sleep.html
http://www.webmd.com/content/article/105/107660.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_eye_movement

How many first alarms do you set?

2007-03-01T11:13:00.001-06:00

I observe in a classrom every Tuesday and Thursday at 8am, a task that has proven incredibly difficult to wake up for, partly because I've begun internalizing my alarm again, so I have to switch.

Anyway, whether or not I get up for it has become somewhat of a game for the other two members in my group. They know I am Narcoleptic and have become increasingly understanding of the difficulties I have, thus the reason that my absences haven't irritated only humored them.

Today's conversation was quite enlightening for them. They were talking about what time they got up and one turned to me and asked:

"What time did your alarm go off?"

"Which one?" I asked.

They giggled and replied, "The first one."

Smiling I asked them, "which one?"

They both sat their puzzled for a few moments. I let them sit on that for a few seconds and said, "I have two alarms that wake me to take my medicine before I want to get up and then another alarm begins the actual waking process about an hour later."

They both started laughing and before we could finish our fun class began. However, it was certainly an eye-opening experience for them as to what it takes to wake up int he morning. And that's just the tip of the iceberg!

Frequently Asked Questions about my Narcolepsy

2007-02-28T16:28:00.000-06:00

1. So what is that you have?
2. Is that like Necrophilia?
3. How did you get it?
4. What symptoms do you have?
5. How long have you had it?
6. When were you officially diagnosed?
7. Is there a cure?
8. Do you have to take medication?
9. How has it affected your life?
10. Do you know anyone else with Narcolepsy?

1. So what is that you have?
I have a neurological condition (which means it's a brain problem) known as Narcolepsy (pronounced "nahr-kuh-lep-see"). Basically some of my wires are crossed upstairs, leaving my body unable to maintain a healthy sleep-wake cycle. I feel overpoweringly sleepy all day, and then suffer from insomnia and frequent awakenings at night.

2. Is that like Necrophilia?
Um, no ... not at all. Necrophilia is when your sexually attracted to corpses. Narcolepsy is when your body has issues with sleep. Glad we got that taken care of. Don't bring it up again ya ignorant yahoos!

3. How did you get it?
Unprotected Sex.

No really. That's why I'm here to tell you, that abstinence is the only proven 100% effective measure to protect yourself against Narcolepsy.

Okay, truthfully, don't know. No one's too sure if it's hereditary or caused by environmental factors. Although a lot of progress has been made in the past ten years in figuring that out.

4. What symptoms do you have?
I suffer from the following with varying degrees of frequency.

Execessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) - Basically I just want to, and can, sleep all the time, no matter the circumstances, how much sleep I got the night before, or even if I just woke up from sleeping. The result of being exhausted all the time has led to a severe decrease in my short term memory. I also have incredibly difficulty waking in the morning, concentrating on a task, getting a task done and done well, as well a number of other things. Basically it's very disabling.

Hallucinations - "vivid, [often] frightening dreams experienced while falling asleep or waking. About 25-50% of narcolepsy sufferers experience them." source

Automatic Behavior - "Automatic behavior occurs when a person continues to function (talking, putting things away, etc.) during sleep episodes, but awakens with no memory of performing such activities. It is estimated that up to 40 percent of people with narcolepsy experience automatic behavior during sleep episodes." source

Insomnia and frequent night-time awakenings - I joke around with everyone that my peak hours are like 11pm - 2am. I'm exhausted and sleepy all day, but then I often have considerable difficulty sleeping at night! Crazy isn't it! That doesn't make life easier, that's for darned sure!

5. How long have you had it?
Finals week of my Freshman year of college (May '04) I felt like a train hit me. I just started sleeping all the time. Like I would sleep for two or three days straight practically. I went to the University health center, where it was attributed to stress of finals as a freshman.

I told people at the time that it was so random. Like one day I went to bed fine and the next I woke up and couldn't stay awake. In hindsight, I think I'd been slowly exhibiting worsening symptoms for at least a few years, but for some reason that least week of school it all came to a tipping point and I just couldn't ignore it. So at the time, I felt like onset was very sudden, but in hindsight I think I just realized I had a problem very suddenly.

6. When were you officially diagnosed?
Well, as I stated in the above question, I first noticed an issue during the second of week. Starting with the ISU doctors that week, I went to numerous doctors until eventually I was diagnosed with Narcolepsy during the last week of October '04. Yup, it took six months of seeing doctors, taking pills for depression, getting second opinions, tons of blood work, a cat scan and eventually a sleep specialist to diagnose me.

The scary part is, I was fortunate. My diagnosis was way quicker than most people with Narcolepsy. A lot of people just live with the symptoms, some can't find decent doctors and others have doctors that think it's something else. I may be Narcoleptic for the rest of my life, but at least I'll be treated for Narcolepsy the rest of my life too!

7. Is there a cure?
Nope. I get to be Narcoleptic MY WHOLE LIFE! How sweet is that! (Okay, not very, but life could be worse...)

8. Do you have to take medication?
Silly children with your silly questions ... OF COURSE I HAVE TO TAKE MEDICATION! :)

9. Does the medicine keep you awake?
Yeah-ish. Basically I take an amphetamine. However, it will never make me feel totally "normal". Here's a good way of describing. As you go throughout the day, assuming you got a full night's sleep and all that jazz, we'll say on a scale of -50 to 50, you feel like a zero. So on our scale zero is considered healthy and normal. You're awake, alert, etc. A person taking speed, may be like a 25-50 or something. Without medication I easily feel like -50 all the time. With medication, I'm somewhere between -25 and -10, maybe even -5. So it's very rarely that I'll even break even on feeling awake like the rest o' you lucky schmucks.

And actually medicine isn't even necessarily the best thing I can do for myself. Basic lifestyle changes, such as a predictable sleeping/eating pattern, taking brief 20 min naps, exercising, getting 8 hours of sleep a night and eating healthy all play just as big of a factor some days as taking my medicine.

To cope, lifestyle changes and medicine are both necessary. Without one, the other is only half effective.

9. Do you know anyone else with Narcolepsy?
My cousin, my brother's math teacher's (who was also my ex-girlfriend's sister's high school volleyball coach) husband apparently does. And I have two friends that are currently seeing doctors to see if they have it. So other than my cousin, not really. Maybe I need to get out more, who knows.

Sleep Facts #25-21

2007-02-27T16:36:00.000-06:00

Clearly I have been slacking on our sleep fact countdown!!! Thus, here are five, count 'em five whole sleep facts you probably didn't know:

25. REM sleep may help developing brains mature. Premature babies have 75 per cent REM sleep, 10 per cent more than full-term bubs. Similarly, a newborn kitten puppy rat or hampster experiences only REM sleep, while a newborn guinea pig (which is much more developed at birth) has almost no REM sleep at all.

24. Certain types of eye movements during REM sleep correspond to specific movements in dreams, suggesting at least part of the dreaming process is analagous to watching a film

23. Dreams, once thought to occur only during REM sleep, also occur (but to a lesser extent) in non-REM sleep phases. It's possible there may not be a single moment of our sleep when we are actually dreamless.

22. Scientists have not been able to explain a 1998 study showing a bright light shone on the backs of human knees can reset the brain's sleep-wake clock.

21. Tiny luminous rays from a digital alarm clock can be enough to disrupt the sleep cycle even if you do not fully wake. The light turns off a "neural switch" in the brain, causing levels of a key sleep chemical to decline within minutes

How much do animals sleep?

2007-02-24T07:45:00.000-06:00

Ever wanted to know how long humans sleep in comparison to other animals? Well, do I have the chart for you. Here is a nice look at how long some other members of the animal kingdom spend sleeping! Seems that we are on the really low end for amount of sleep. Although I wonder what the giraffe does with the other 19 hours it's awake?! Haha ...

Seriously though, if we sleep 8 hours and a lot of our sleep is our brain sorting stuff out, why do all the other animals need more sleep than us? We clearly have more s*** to sort out than the giant armadillo! So what's the deal?

Species	Average Total Sleep Time (% of 24 hr)	Average Total Sleep Time (Hours/day)
Brown Bat	82.9%	19.9 hr
Giant Armadillo	75.4%	18.1 hr
North American Opossum	75%	18 hr
Python	75%	18 hr
Owl Monkey	70.8%	17.0 hr
Human (infant)	66.7%	16 hr
Tiger	65.8%	15.8 hr
Tree shrew	65.8%	15.8 hr
Squirrel	62%	14.9 hr
Western Toad	60.8%	14.6 hr
Ferret	60.4%	14.5 hr
Three-toed Sloth	60%	14.4 hr
Golden Hamster	59.6%	14.3 hr
Platypus	58.3%	14.0 hr
Lion	56.3%	13.5 hr
Gerbil	54.4%	13.1 hr
Rat	52.4%	12.6 hr
Cat	50.6%	12.1 hr
Cheetah	50.6%	12.1 hr
Mouse	50.3%	12.1 hr
Rhesus Monkey	49.2%	11.8 hr
Rabbit	47.5%	11.4 hr
Jaguar	45%	10.8 hr
Duck	45%	10.8 hr
Dog	44.3%	10.6 hr
Bottle-nosed dolphin	43.3%	10.4 hr
Star-nosed Mole	42.9%	10.3 hr
Baboon	42.9%	10.3 hr
European Hedgehog	42.2%	10.1 hr
Squirrel Monkey	41.3%	9.9 hr
Chimpanzee	40.4%	9.7 hr
Guinea Pig	39.2%	9.4 hr
Human (adult)	33.3%	8 hr
Pig	32.6%	7.8 hr
Guppy (fish)	29.1%	7 hr
Gray Seal	25.8%	6.2 hr
Human (elderly)	22.9%	5.5 hr
Goat	22.1%	5.3 hr
Cow	16.4%	3.9 hr
Asiatic Elephant	16.4%	3.9 hr
Sheep	16%	3.8 hr
African Elephant	13.8%	3.3 hr
Donkey	13.0%	3.1 hr
Horse	12.0%	2.9 hr
Giraffe	7.9%	1.9 hr

Coping with Hallucinations: Get a Feline?!?

2007-02-23T14:57:00.000-06:00

At the Talkabou tsleep.com Narcolepsy Forum, a fellow Narcoleptic cited that one problem with auditory hallucinations (see previous post I and II) is trying to figure out if what you heard is real or not. Nothing is as frustrating as thinking you heard something, but not knowing if you're just crazy or if you actually heard it and need to go check it out. Well, this poster cited that one way to deal with the problem is getting a cat.

My family has three cats, and let me tell you, I have no idea why this thought didn't cross my mind before, but it's absolutely brilliant! Here's what the post had to say:

Are you one of those people who spends up to an hour trying to fall asleep, only to be jolted awake by the sound of ? And then, aside from completely waking you up, you have to decide whether or not the sound might have really happened and if you need to get up to investigate?

If so, have I got the solution for you!!

Get (one or more) cats. Yes, aside from all their other proven health benefits (such as mutual lowering of blood pressure and cortisol levels) and emotional benefits, I have found my kitties to be an important mitigator of this annoying narcolepsy symptom.

When you get jolted awake by a sound, all you have to do is glance down to your feet or wherever your kitties are sleeping (not to worry, they'll ALWAYS sleep on the bed with you - it's the feline way). If they are sitting bolt upright and looking with extreme alertness in the same direction, then the noise actually happened. However, if they are still deeply asnooze, then you can be assured that not only did the noise not happen in your immediate vicinity, it had absolutely no chance of happening within about a 6 block radius. (Cats' hearing is ridiculously acute, and many times better than ours. We often think of dogs as having excellent hearing, but cats hear even better than dogs!) Aside from their great hearing, cats are also very LIGHT sleepers (a genetic trait to keep them always alert to potential predators; thus the term "cat nap" meaning a short, light nap), so there's no chance they'd actually sleep through any noise that would have startled you.

Okay, it won't stop the hypnogogic hallucinations from occurring, but it will eliminate any stress you might have over whether or not the noise was real. Now that I only need to open my eyes (one of my cats sleeps right at neck level with me, sharing my pillow) to see that my kitty is unfazed and still dreaming about chasing wild fishies across the plains of the Serengeti, anxiety doesn't even get a chance to arise and I can go back to the business of falling asleep right away.

(Now, if only I could do something about the visual hallucinations. Although they occur much less frequently and they don't particularly stress me out, I just HAVE to keep opening my eyes so as not to miss out on what the giant pink crystalline spiders are going to do to my wall next.)

Oh, and if you do take my advice, be sure to support your local Humane Society, ASPCA, or other animal shelter and adopt a kitty who is looking for a loving, permanent family. And get back to sleep

- Sam-I-Am

There is one problem, however, to this plan. My cats used to sleep with me all of the time, particularly this one. However, two summer's ago, in the middle of the night, I believe I kicked her off the bed. I mean like a strong horse kick mid-dream. I'm not certain. I could have dreamt it. But it explains why not only that cat, but none of the cats will sleep me during the night anymore. I hope PETA isn't reading this ... I don't want to be arrested for animal cruelty, I SWEAR IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! THE ONE ARMED DOG DID IT! I HAVE PROOF!

First Celebrity Trend of '07: NARCOLEPSY!

2007-02-23T13:53:00.001-06:00

The first celebrity trend of 2007, according to VH1's hilarious program Best Week Ever, was "CELEBRITY NARCOLEPSY"!!!

Here's the blog posting from VH1's program about it:

Ladies and gents, only 3 days into the new year, and we already have our first official Celebrity Trend of 2007: Narcolepsy!
The trend was first spotted nary an hour or two after the clock struck midnight on New Year’s, when party host Britney Spears‘ spontaneously fell asleep on the dancefloor of the Las Vegas nightclub Pure. Check out this report:

She had been seated on a VIP tented-cabana bed overlooking the dance floor at 12:50 AM talking with one of her male dancers. She signed to he crew she wanted to leave and as she stood up, “she went into a dead faint and just fell right to the floor.”

Brit’s heavy entourage pulled her up and laid her on the bed at the same time… Eventually, Brit’s 12-man-strong security force was in place, as two of her dancers wrapped her in a blanket-hooded poncho.

Sure, we know what you’re thinking: That slut was just drunk! But you’d be wrong, Mr. Jump2Conclusions. Because her publicists assure us that, in fact, Britney was just tired and fell spontaneously asleep! Poor tired baby! Looks like she was caught by a narc… olepsy!

Also on New Year’s, Jessica Simpson was seen sitting down on a couch, then immediately laying down on the ground to catch some Z’s. A kind-hearted Q-Tip was able to quietly awake the pop star, just in time to make out for 10 hours with John Mayer.

Even Vanessa Minnillo couldn’t help but catch some shut-eye while walking out of the back exit at Marquee. Could narcolepsy be the new rage of ‘07! We certainly hope ssdjklsdjfskld…. (snore.)

There were numerous interesting comments from readers/viewers attached to the post.

"that’s odd, with the exception of q-tip the people listed in this blog cause me to have instant narcolepsy. my resolution is to care even less about these people, if humanly possible."

I love that it’s NARC Olepsy. Telling isn’t it? Especially in Britney’s case. I think it was WAY more NARC than Olepsy. LOL

Narcolepsy isn’t a joke, it’s a difficult life.
Brittney however is a joke that just won’t seem to go away.

I agree with sleepyknitter. I used to make jokes about narcolepsy until I was diagnosed w/ it. It can be a completly disabling disease in which falling asleep and falling (catalplexy) is only a fraction, though dangorous, of its many symptoms. It’s not fun having the sleep attacks, or cataplexy, 30-40 times a day. But, it would be good if it was a celebrity “trend”. That way maybe awareness and research $$$ would be pushed better.Now I find other things to laugh at (including myself).But the people you wrote about reek with yesturday’s news. On to new things!

Sleep Fact #26

2007-02-23T13:37:00.000-06:00

The brain of a dolphin appears to sleep one hemisphere at a time.

More about how dolphins sleep:

How Stuff Works

Scientific American

Interesting Dolphin Facts

Sleep Fact #27

2007-02-22T12:18:00.000-06:00

Sleep Fact Countdown: #28

2007-02-19T13:29:00.000-06:00

Our next sleep fact on the 40 Sleep Fact Countdown comes from none other than Linus! Most of you remember Linus from the critically acclaimed comic strip Peanuts, which featured the likes of Charlie Brown and Snoopy.

Linus' fact comes not a moment too soon as our last entry into the "Idiot's Guide to Understanding Sleep" was all about the sleep cycle and non-Rem sleep. And without further ado, here is sleep fact #28...

I hope everyone feels just a little smarter. Thank you Linus for that insightful sleep fact. (Feel free to applaud).

Sleep Fact Countdown: #29

2007-02-18T02:27:00.001-06:00

We have a celebrity guest today on the blog to deliver sleep fact #29...and it's none other than Professor Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy!!!

Without further ado, take it away Dumbledore!

Idiot's guide to sleep: Chapter 2 - How we sleep

2007-02-17T14:50:00.000-06:00

Read Chapter 1: Why we sleep

When you sleep, your body cycles between two types of sleep, REM (Rapid Eye Movement) or non-REM. We'll get more into REM during another chapter, but for now understand that the difference between REM and non-REM sleep is excruciatingly basic. Either your eyes are zippin' like a Vegas slot machine, or they're not. Not exactly rocket science.

When you're body is in a non-REM cycle, it is going to be in one of four stages. A whole non-REM cycle will last anywhere from 90-120 minutes.

Stage 1: It's that drowsy, I'm somewhere between being awake and being really deeply asleep. You're out of it, but not entirely.

Stage 2: A period of light sleep. Your muscles are contracting and relaxing intermittently, the heart rate is slowing and your body temp is dropping. It's at this stage that the body prepares to enter deep sleep (which I envision is sort of like NASA's central command when it prepares to launch a space shuttle).

Stages 3 & 4: Deep Sleep (but not dreaming sleep). During these deep sleep stages of non-REM sleep, the body is repairing and regenerating tissue, building bone and muscle mass, strengthening the immune system.

After non-REM sleep, you'll have a short burst of REM sleep, which as I said, we'll dive into more later.

One sleep cycle will then look like this.

Stage 1 (non-Rem)
Stage 2 (non-Rem)
Stage 3 (non-Rem)
Stage 4 (non-Rem)
Stage 2 (non-Rem)
Stage 1 (non-Rem)
REM SLEEP

Think of it like putting your clothes in washing machine. First they soak, then they spin, then they may soak and spin again, and the final two stages are the clothes getting rinsed of all the soap and then the basin drains all the water out. It's not like you just throw your clothes in, they sit for an hour and then are clean. The machine puts them through various stages to complete its wash sequence to get the clothes clean.

Your brain/body does the same thing during sleep. Each night your mind uses sleep as a way to sort of reboot. To do this, you go through a series of sleep stages, consisting of either REM sleep or non-REM sleep.

And just like you can't do all of your laundry in one load, your body can't complete all of its tasks in one cycle, so the cycle noted above will repeat in that order throughout the night.

Okay, there will be a 10 question true/false quiz over this material on Monday, any questions?

Idiot's guide to sleep Chapter 1: Why do we sleep?

2007-02-17T14:36:00.000-06:00

To understand Narcolepsy, it is often easier to first understand normal sleep. Basically, before you can understand what is wrong with us oddballs , you have to be able to grasp what healthy sleep is. I will cover this topic throughout multiple posts.

The first question isn't really how do we sleep, but WHY do we sleep?

Sleeping is basically way of rebooting our system.

According to WebMD:

When you sleep, your body rests and restores its energy levels. However, sleep is an active state that affects both your physical and mental well-being. A good night's sleep is often the best way to help you cope with stress, solve problems, or recover from illness.

And for those of you looking for more scientific details, Wikipedia's article states:

Sleep is the state of natural rest observed in most mammals, birds, fish, as well as invertebrates such as the fruitfly Drosophila. It is characterized by a reduction in voluntary body movement, decreased reaction to external stimuli, an increased rate of anabolism (the synthesis of cell structures), and a decreased rate of catabolism (the breakdown of cell structures). In humans, mammals and many other animals which have been studied, such as fish, birds, mice and fruitflies, regular sleep is necessary for survival. The capability for arousal from sleep is a protective mechanism and also necessary for health and survival. Sleep is not synonymous with unconsciousness.

Sleep Fact #29

2007-02-17T12:13:00.000-06:00

To drop off we must cool off; body temperature and the brain's sleep-wake cycle are closely linked. That's why hot summer nights can cause a restless sleep. The blood flow mechanism that transfers core body heat to the skin works best between 18 and 30 degrees. But later in life, the comfort zone shrinks to between 23 and 25 degrees - one reason why older people have more sleep disorders.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess they are referring to degrees Celcius and not Fahrenheit, just a thought...