Push Your Boundaries

 

Sleep deprivation does more than make you tired, it chips away at your physical health, mental
clarity, and emotional stability. Over time, it silently erodes self-discipline
and resilience, weakening you from the inside out.

X(yz+1):

I have many interests, but the one topic that grabs my attention above all others is the science and study of sleep, or in my case, sleep deprivation. I spent decades living with chronic sleep derivation without even being aware of it. I knew my sleep was nothing to brag about, (4-1/2 to 5 hours a night), but what was happening to me while I thought I was sleeping is what was slowly and silently beating the living sh*t out of me both physically and mentally.

I was in my mid 60’s when I learned, (at an overnight sleep lab), that I had sleep apnea and a neurological condition know as restless leg syndrome. Between the apnea and RLS episodes, my sleep would be disturbed 15+ times an hour without me ever knowing it. I know that sounds insane, but the breathing and RLS episodes didn’t wake me completely, they woke me just enough to pull me out of my restorative sleep cycles. I did function, but looking back, and comparing then to how I feel now, I think my brain spent many days functioning at about 60 to 70 percent of what it was actually capable of, which was bad enough, but chronic sleep deprivation hit me hard physically too.

 

 

It was serious, and even dangerous mostly due to the years it went on. It contributed to the calcification of my arteries, which led to heart disease, severe aortic stenosis, and then there’s the low oxygen levels that happened during my apnea episodes that did nothing for the health of my brain and was clearly the reason for my frequent brain fog, memory, and concentration issues. And thanks to the calcification issues, I’m also in need of a new heart valve, which I’m told will play a large part in my overall health. I’m told that my heart is strong but it’s not fueling my body and brain with oxygen as it should be. Sad part is, it doesn’t look like it will happen till around March of 2026.

I’ll be the first to admit that my brain health is still far from optimal, and though I have no formal education on much of what I write about on this blog on sleep deprivation, I’ve lived it. “SomebodyNeedsANap.Com” is my logbook and beliefs on how sleep, exercise, diet, and mindset can restart your whole life. Think of your brain as a computer and your mind as its software. Lack of sleep corrupts your software. This blog will help you to rewrite it. We can’t undo what’s been done, but we do have control over what will be.

To be continued…

FREE SCREECH IS FREEDOM’S LOUDEST VOICE
_{DISCLAIMER: Other than watching a few episodes of Gray’s Anatomy, House of Cards,
St. Elsewhere, Billions, and Star Trek, I have no medical, political, financial, or
space exploration experience of any kind. Zero, zilch, zip, nada…}