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I've been depressed for most of my life, and I've always thought that my depression was rooted in my nerdiness and asocial tendencies, but I've recently discovered a new hypothesis that fits the data disturbingly well. It's very likely that multiple factors play into why I am the way I am, but I've never considered this scenario before.
I snore a lot, and very loudly. And I've been very tired recently, especially in the morning, to the extent that I'm nearly falling asleep while driving to work. I thought it was the new drugs I was taking, but I'm off them now and I'm still ridiculously sleepy. So I did a little googling and discovered sleep apnea, a condition that causes you to stop breathing momentarily in the middle of the night.
According to wikipedia, symptoms of sleep apnea include: unexplained daytime sleepiness; restless sleep; loud snoring; morning headaches; trouble concentrating; mood changes such as irritability, anxiety and depression; forgetfulness; decreased sex drive; unexplained weight gain; increased urination and/or nocturia; and frequent heartburn.
There are other signs and symptoms, but I have all of the above. I'm looking mostly at the depression right now, though. If I've had this condition for a good chunk of my life, undiagnosed, then it's very possible it could have played a role in the foundation of my depression.
My girlfriend and I are on different sleep schedules currently, and she often doesn't come into bed until well after I've gone to sleep. It used to be that whenever I started snoring she would shove me until I turned over, but she's not there to do that now. Which means I'm snoring through a longer portion of the night, and probably experiencing more apneas as a result. This correlates very, very well with my recent excessive sleepiness.
When I pointed this out to her (I'm not blaming her in any way, just noticing), she mentioned that when I do snore, there are times when I'll stop for a few seconds before the snoring starts back up again. This is, according to el interneto, like the textbook definition of what happens with sleep apnea.
Snoring could be the root of all my problems. And the solution is surgery or wearing a contrapion on my face while I sleep for the rest of my life. Hm.
I snore a lot, and very loudly. And I've been very tired recently, especially in the morning, to the extent that I'm nearly falling asleep while driving to work. I thought it was the new drugs I was taking, but I'm off them now and I'm still ridiculously sleepy. So I did a little googling and discovered sleep apnea, a condition that causes you to stop breathing momentarily in the middle of the night.
According to wikipedia, symptoms of sleep apnea include: unexplained daytime sleepiness; restless sleep; loud snoring; morning headaches; trouble concentrating; mood changes such as irritability, anxiety and depression; forgetfulness; decreased sex drive; unexplained weight gain; increased urination and/or nocturia; and frequent heartburn.
There are other signs and symptoms, but I have all of the above. I'm looking mostly at the depression right now, though. If I've had this condition for a good chunk of my life, undiagnosed, then it's very possible it could have played a role in the foundation of my depression.
My girlfriend and I are on different sleep schedules currently, and she often doesn't come into bed until well after I've gone to sleep. It used to be that whenever I started snoring she would shove me until I turned over, but she's not there to do that now. Which means I'm snoring through a longer portion of the night, and probably experiencing more apneas as a result. This correlates very, very well with my recent excessive sleepiness.
When I pointed this out to her (I'm not blaming her in any way, just noticing), she mentioned that when I do snore, there are times when I'll stop for a few seconds before the snoring starts back up again. This is, according to el interneto, like the textbook definition of what happens with sleep apnea.
Snoring could be the root of all my problems. And the solution is surgery or wearing a contrapion on my face while I sleep for the rest of my life. Hm.
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