After a month of going to sleep and getting up feeling like I had been run over by a truck, I had had it. I had a second panic attack as soon as I came into the office one morning. It was just a stroke of fortune that a hospital was right across the road. The Doctor prescribed some chewable pills and I told him that I was headed back to my hometown (Bangalore) for treatment. After being subjected to 13 tests from the head to toe, I was diagnosed with 3 inter-related sleep disorders: parasomnia, bruxism and Excesive Daytime Sleepiness.
I sat down with the psychiatrist and told her that I was feeling ‘disconnected’. I joked that it could be a psychological condition called ‘depersonalisation’. She laughed and asked me where I had heard of that term. ‘Bang’ came the reply: Internet. I had been reading up too much on psychology and sleep related stuff on the internet in the past one month. I was just out there looking for some cure; but I now realize, in retrospect that by doing that I was digging myself deeper and deeper into the problem.
Here’s some advice folks: The internet comes AFTER the doctor. Please do not Google for any health disorder issues on your own and read up random stuff from websites and come to conclusions about it. Lots of us like to perform a self-diagnosis. Bad idea, with the exception of this particular post, of course!
Besides some basic medication, here’s how I’m recovering, and these are generally good practices to follow to steer clear of any crap:
1)A positive approach: If you find yourself digging a pit under your feet with a shovel, what’s the first thing to do if you don’t want to get any deeper? You stop digging and get rid of the shovel. I had been gorging on negative information (the serial bomb blasts, and reading crime reports in newspapers). I understood that the media in general is a very negative source of information. I called the housekeeper at the place where I live and asked him to move the TV out of my room. I replaced my daily dose of news with the Monk who sold his Ferrari. Such books are not for ‘losers’ as many would feel; especially the ones that perceive themselves as floating above any need self improvement.
2)Good nutrition: It is important to have a balanced diet, more importantly at the right times in a day. Add health supplements to it if you want to get ahead faster.
3)Water: A minimum of 10 glasses of water a day (say about 5 liters). Drinking water BEFORE you feel thirsty is a good habit. If you have to ‘quench your thirst’, too late and it’s not happening!
4)Yoga: 30 minutes of basic yoga consisting of Pranayam and simple aasanas done regularly for 21 days can cure any sort of lifestyle issues.
5)Rest: Sleep for 8 hours between the same times each day. Do not sleep in the afternoon. And never, ever watch the TV before going to bed. A glass of warm plain milk can help a lot. Unwind for atleast half hour before bedtime. And eat your dinner an hour and half to two hours before you go to sleep.
But all said and done, nothing can really replace one’s attitude. I read a line recently that went like, the person you are going to be is the person who is made in the face of fear. There are many ways of saying this – you are like a tea bag; your true colour is revealed only when your put in hot water. Or, it’s easier to measure a tree’s length when it flat on the ground than when it’s upright.
I learnt that the outcome of every situation is the way we choose to react to it – either as a victim of the circumstance, or a victor of it. So, in every inch of the statement, it’s true that your problem is not really your problem. My problem was not my sleep disorder. My problem was attitude towards the disorder. With all due respect to the doctors, I like to think that the medical expenses went towards correcting my attitude, which in turn put my health back in place.
It’s all in the head.
Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
Monday, September 15, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Throw the shovel - 1
I’ve just come out of a sleep disorder called Parasomnia. The purpose of this post isn’t to bore you with my health report; but having been through the ordeal, I understand that this disorder can strike anyone and the reason for it is self-driven; what I mean is that it can happen to anybody simply because of the erratic lifestyles that we lead.
Studies in sleep sciences haven’t really progressed as much as the other branches in medicine, yet we spend almost two-thirds of our life sleeping. There are many types of sleep disorders known (wiki it for more info.), with insomnia being the famed one. However, many others like parasomnia, bruxism,excessive sleep disorder, sleep apnea etc. are equally predominant. I would like this text to sound as a precautionary note to all those who take sleep for granted, like I did.
On the 2nd of August 2008, I woke up to a cup of coffee in the morning. I was on holiday, waiting to report to my new company for work from the following week. I have loved coffee to the point where I have gotten addicted to it. I know many people are. That day, I was running around the city helping a friend of mine who was to leave to the US to finish his shopping. In the merry, I skipped my lunch, had horrible junk food (like I did everyday) and ended up drinking 7 cups of coffee through the course of the day. I am not the person who goes around drinking a lot of water either which in itself contained the seeds to my disorder.
Later that night, I worked on my computer till about 11 and went to bed. I kept tossing and turning in bed feeling uneasy (like many of us do). And then all of a sudden at around 1:30 in the night, I started having difficulty in breathing. My breaths got shallower, my heart started palpitating, my palms started sweating and they turned red, my legs started getting week and jittery – all of a sudden for no apparent reason. This is a condition known as an anxiety/panic attack. It typically happens to people out of a sudden surge of anxiety or fear in crowded places or theatres. I opened the windows to let in some fresh air. I started moving around the house like a mad man just to keep myself diverted from the way I was feeling. I tried distracting myself by turning on some music, but it wouldn’t help. About 20 minutes later, just when I thought I’m going to collapse, I went and woke up my grandparents (I was statying with them). My throat had gone dry, and I ended up drinking 2 litres of water with no difficulty.
After a glass of lemon juice and lots of prayers, I barely managed to go to sleep at around 3 in the night, hoping to get up alive the next day. And I don’t mean to exaggerate on that note.
When I woke up the next morning at around 8, my body was aching, I felt very tired and I realized that I felt kind of ‘disconnected’ from the world. I don’t know if your have felt this, but it’s very difficult to explain what ‘disconnected’ feels like – it’s like your not plugged into the world. It feels like you’re just moving around in a daze, something like a hangover but not exactly that either! It’s a very scary experience and wouldn’t wish it on anyone. One can perform regular activities, but as your say, taking a bath or even walking around, you can sense that ‘something is not feeling normal here’. My heart was still palpitating.
I went to consult with my physician. I walked into his chamber, and tried explaining what had happened the previous night, but I was lost for words literally. He did his test and declared that I was perfectly normal! He asked me if I had exhausted myself recently, and the answer to that was YES! But I have exhausted myself a lot more before and every single time; it doesn’t take more than a couple of hours of decent rest to overcome it. I wasn’t running temperature either. So my Doc prescribed a cough syrup (to act as a sedative) and told me to go sleep ‘properly’. I wish I could!
(to be contd.)
Studies in sleep sciences haven’t really progressed as much as the other branches in medicine, yet we spend almost two-thirds of our life sleeping. There are many types of sleep disorders known (wiki it for more info.), with insomnia being the famed one. However, many others like parasomnia, bruxism,excessive sleep disorder, sleep apnea etc. are equally predominant. I would like this text to sound as a precautionary note to all those who take sleep for granted, like I did.
On the 2nd of August 2008, I woke up to a cup of coffee in the morning. I was on holiday, waiting to report to my new company for work from the following week. I have loved coffee to the point where I have gotten addicted to it. I know many people are. That day, I was running around the city helping a friend of mine who was to leave to the US to finish his shopping. In the merry, I skipped my lunch, had horrible junk food (like I did everyday) and ended up drinking 7 cups of coffee through the course of the day. I am not the person who goes around drinking a lot of water either which in itself contained the seeds to my disorder.
Later that night, I worked on my computer till about 11 and went to bed. I kept tossing and turning in bed feeling uneasy (like many of us do). And then all of a sudden at around 1:30 in the night, I started having difficulty in breathing. My breaths got shallower, my heart started palpitating, my palms started sweating and they turned red, my legs started getting week and jittery – all of a sudden for no apparent reason. This is a condition known as an anxiety/panic attack. It typically happens to people out of a sudden surge of anxiety or fear in crowded places or theatres. I opened the windows to let in some fresh air. I started moving around the house like a mad man just to keep myself diverted from the way I was feeling. I tried distracting myself by turning on some music, but it wouldn’t help. About 20 minutes later, just when I thought I’m going to collapse, I went and woke up my grandparents (I was statying with them). My throat had gone dry, and I ended up drinking 2 litres of water with no difficulty.
After a glass of lemon juice and lots of prayers, I barely managed to go to sleep at around 3 in the night, hoping to get up alive the next day. And I don’t mean to exaggerate on that note.
When I woke up the next morning at around 8, my body was aching, I felt very tired and I realized that I felt kind of ‘disconnected’ from the world. I don’t know if your have felt this, but it’s very difficult to explain what ‘disconnected’ feels like – it’s like your not plugged into the world. It feels like you’re just moving around in a daze, something like a hangover but not exactly that either! It’s a very scary experience and wouldn’t wish it on anyone. One can perform regular activities, but as your say, taking a bath or even walking around, you can sense that ‘something is not feeling normal here’. My heart was still palpitating.
I went to consult with my physician. I walked into his chamber, and tried explaining what had happened the previous night, but I was lost for words literally. He did his test and declared that I was perfectly normal! He asked me if I had exhausted myself recently, and the answer to that was YES! But I have exhausted myself a lot more before and every single time; it doesn’t take more than a couple of hours of decent rest to overcome it. I wasn’t running temperature either. So my Doc prescribed a cough syrup (to act as a sedative) and told me to go sleep ‘properly’. I wish I could!
(to be contd.)
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