| lesley153
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Think I may be getting my life back. I've had a reasonable sleep two consecutive nights (OK, mornings); about seven hours with only a few minutes awake in the middle of it. Long enough to know I was awake but not long enough to do anything more than fall asleep again. Beats three hours awake, every time.
I've also found that after a good night's sleep my breathing is as good as normal. Wonderful.
Did a nice big shop yesterday evening. I was going to pay a few bills in the afternoon but my car wouldn't start. Battery's flat AGAIN! Call the RAC - there's a patrol near me - shouldn't be long, within 45 minutes. Immediately the patrolman rang up and said he would be with me in 15 minutes.
It's the same one who came to me a couple of years ago and asked if I'd looked at my fuel gauge recently. "It's OK," he said, comfortingly. "It happens to everyone - they get caught up in the excitement of Christmas shopping, and they forget about putting petrol in." Nice try, but I wasn't shopping, I wasn't low on petrol and I'd been parked at the hospital for a blood test, so I most definitely wasn't excited. Turned out my fuel pump had packed up. Much as I dislike being patronised, I would have preferred to have run out of petrol.
He came again last month when my battery went flat from a combination of prolonged cold, and a back-seat map-reading light jammed on. Useful if you're navigating for your chauffeur... Jump start, remove bulb, test battery, no problem, drive off, sorted.
Yesterday he was puzzled, because the battery was fine last time, till he tested it. I have a 12-volt battery, with six 2-volt cells, but one of them is dead, which is why it's only charging at 10 volts. If I want the car to go I need 12 volts. And luckily he just happens to have a battery on the van. :) So he replaced the battery, at a cost too painful to mention, tightened the fan belt so it didn't whistle, and pumped up a soft tyre, which was nice. By which time I'd missed bill-paying time but still managed to overspend in the supermarket.
Paid bills this afternoon, and walked a bit because I couldn't park where I wanted. Haven't walked for months. Went out this evening to a Music Club concert, and had a coffee and chat with a friend who had also been there and caught up because we haven't seen each other for months. Got home at 2am. That's more like it!
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My sleep study report came today. I've only had time for a brief look at it. It said that these tests are good at diagnosing sleep apnoea, but not always reliable at eliminating it. There was no evidence that I have sleep apnoea but I needed further tests to be sure.
It also said that sleep apnoea can lead to serious conditions such as diabetes, stroke and heart attack. I can understand the stress of sleep deprivation leading to a stroke or a heart attack, but have no idea how they can get from insomnia to diabetes. I'll phone tomorrow and see if I can speak to a sleep technician.
It's interesting, though, that they see insomnia as a possible trigger for serious problems, while my GP says he'll "look at" my insomnia when he's worked out what's wrong. How can I tell him that it's the insomnia that's wrong... and make him listen?
I'm as sure as I need to be that it's the acid suppressant that's doing it. I was off them for a few weeks, and seemed a lot better, but it all got worse - wheezing, oedema, sleeping badly - as soon as I went back on them.
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Jonathan flew from Heathrow to Charles de Gaulle airport this afternoon, and is currently flapping his way from Paris to Johannesburg with the college symphony orchestra, to join the Jo'burg International Mozart Festival. It's a compliment to the orchestra to be invited, and it's the longest journey he will ever have done. He's very excited about the whole thing.
The festival is being run by people who are talking about exploring the length and breadth of Mozart's genius. Good luck to them! He is not letting his opinion of Mozart's music spoil his excitement. |
Reply #221. Jan 28 10, 9:10 PM
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Professer 
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Wow Lucky Jonathon Lesley, Sorry to hear bout car problems, and what they saying regards sleep problems. I wish you good sleep and better health will update my blog later with things i have negelected to menti in a while
Reply #222. Jan 29 10, 3:05 AM
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guitargoddess
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Huh. To my knowledge about sleep apnea (I read a bit about it awhile ago, sure that I had it... sometimes the Internet makes me into a bit of a hypochondriac, lol) it doesn't *cause* diabetes, but the two are somewhat related because most people who have one or the other are quite overweight or obese, and therefore many sufferers of one could likely have the other.
Reply #223. Jan 29 10, 10:46 AM
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| lesley153
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Thanks Gary - it was only a wallet problem. :( I think sleep is more important than my GP thinks it is.
guitargoddess, it didn't make any sense to me at all when I first read it. I rang the company which produced the sleep report, but there was nobody there who could explain it. Wonderful. I was talking to a clever young friend today, and she knew that getting too little sleep - less than 6 hours, I think she said - slows your metabolism, hence the weight gain or obesity often associated with too little sleep. She also said that getting too little or too much sleep affects your hormone balance, so that too would have an effect on your blood sugar control. I imagine that weight gain plus impaired blood sugar control could instigate insulin resistance at double speed.
Later I asked my reliable old friend google. I found a surprising number of articles relating too little sleep to diabetes, and diabetes to too little sleep. Seems it takes less than a week of not enough sleep to send your insulin production haywire.
I'm becoming more and more convinced that it's the acid-suppressing tablets that are doing the damage. It makes sense to me that, if you try to suppress a normal function for years, you will spring leaks in other places. These tablets are meant to be taken for two or three weeks. I asked my GP about them after a few years and he said people have been on them for 16 years with no ill effects. Well that's good, but that's not an answer to my question. And I didn't realise they were having ill effects on me till I came off them and felt better, then went back on them and felt worse. I cut down to one every other day for a while, and now I'm trying one every three days. I took one this morning and almost immediately needed to use my inhaler.
I've slept fairly well for the last three nights, been a little more active than usual (that's not difficult), and been breathing almost normally. It'll be interesting to see how well I breathe and sleep tonight, with the pill inside me.
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Jonathan has rung and texted a couple of times. He loves it. He's only been there for a day but he's enjoying the food he's had in the house, he says the country is beautiful, and he's revelling in the warmth. It's been mostly warm and dry, but they have had a tropical thunderstorm, but it was OK because he was wearing waterproofs and *didn't* freeze. He'll be travelling back on Wednesday. I hope he won't be too upset about leaving. |
Reply #224. Jan 29 10, 6:32 PM
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satguru
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Glad you've resumed business, and like buses it's all come in a bunch. Thanks for the lovely card which I actually guessed was from you when I read the front of it. And a very good sentiment it was too.
I've just checked and everything's still in working order. I was getting concerned something might fail automatically at midnight but you wouldn't notice the transition at all.
Reply #225. Jan 29 10, 7:46 PM
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| lesley153
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Thanks, David. I can't believe how good I've been feeling for the last few days, after ten months of feeling rotten.
Glad you liked it. Funny, I thought it was you as soon as I saw the front too. :)
I said you would feel no pain. I suspect a bit of an anti-climax. Nothing drops off, nothing stops working, nothing changes. Relax! |
Reply #226. Jan 29 10, 8:51 PM
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Professer
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Glad you are feeling beter Lelsey bodes well for you i am struggling else where at the moment foot seems to be easing mind you the pain killers are strong and i think have done their job, i am cutting down now for a reason if it flares up though i can increase my dosage
Reply #227. Jan 30 10, 2:34 AM
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| lesley153
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Thanks, Gary. Last night I slept for about eight hours, and only woke up once that I remember, for a few minutes, after about four hours. Long enough to know I was awake but not long enough to do anything except drop off again - beats spending three hours waiting for more sleep! This is so heartening. :) And it leaves me with enough energy to walk a bit, and do things.
If there's a moral to the last nine months, it's that medicines don't always make you better.
I'm delighted that you feel able to cut down on the painkillers. Keeping your options open is always useful. |
Reply #228. Jan 31 10, 9:58 PM
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| lesley153
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I had a good day today. Slept for seven hours and went out twice. Well on the way back to normal, and hoping not to slide back.
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Dental appointment this afternoon, just for a check-up. I lost a couple of fillings and I'm going back in a fortnight for new fillings and a clean. That's better than I deserve. :)
It's about a half-hour drive (long story) and I usually drive but it was cold and rainy so I thought I'd try going by train. It's a ten/fifteen minute drive to the station, a ten-minute stop and the trains are every ten minutes - can't go wrong - famous last words. Getting there was all right but coming back the board showed a 30-minute wait for the next train. I actually waited for about 45 minutes, during which I heard most of the excuses ever invented for delays and cancellations:
"This train is delayed due to lack of staff to run the service." That's the one that evaporated. Another train was cancelled for the same reason.
"This train is delayed due to an earlier technical fault."
"TL" was another one. I don't know what it means. "This train is delayed due to Train Lines"?
The first train expected in ceased to exist. Without warning. Not on the board, not in the announcements. Like the Mary Celeste.
Years ago British Rail had a campaign with the slogan "Let the train take the strain." Har har. No chance. Never again. Well, except to London perhaps.
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The evening outing was to the local music club to hear Paul Lewis playing the piano. I hadn't heard of him either, but he won second prize at the 1994 World Piano Competition in London when he was 22, and became a Professor of Piano at the Royal Academy of Music when he was 28 - and he's very good at it!
The Mozart was pffft, I thought the Schumann was a bit thumpy, but the Liszt was lyrical, and the Beethoven (Waldstein Sonata) was saving the best till last. Lovely evening and I'm still feeling OK. Yippee! |
Reply #229. Feb 18 10, 7:15 PM
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redwaldo
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The piano player sounds interesting; must be accomplished to have become a professor at such an early age.
Reply #230. Feb 18 10, 7:34 PM
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| lesley153
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That's what I thought - remarkably young. Here's what it said about him in the programme:
"Still only in his thirties, Paul Lewis has risen smoothly into the top rank of international pianists, his recent cycle of the complete Beethoven Sonatas having been recognised with Gramophone Magazine’s Recording of the Year Award. Here he plays one of the grandest of those sonatas alongside opulent Romantic soundscapes by Schumann and Liszt, and Mozart at his most intimate. An opportunity to hear one of Britain’s finest recitalists definitely not to be missed!"
People obviously agreed because it was sold out. A very happy change from the embarrassing turn-out for Nikolai Demidenko a few years ago when about a hundred people made it. Their loss - he was breathtaking. |
Reply #231. Feb 18 10, 8:24 PM
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daver852
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Glad you're feeling better, Lesley.
Reply #232. Feb 18 10, 8:26 PM
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| lesley153
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Thanks, Dave. (((())))
I'm feeling better only because I stopped taking a pill I'd been prescribed for five years when it's only supposed to be taken for two weeks. There must be a moral in there somewhere. |
Reply #233. Feb 18 10, 9:01 PM
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Professer
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so pleased things improving for you Lesley, you are a very dear friend to me and i hate the thought you suffering.
As a train travller on a regular basis i have heard some excuses for train problems so can understand your frustration.
Take care Lesley and stay in touch.
Reply #234. Feb 19 10, 7:04 AM
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satguru
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The killjoys who tell us to get on public transport tend to be the poor sods who can't afford cars themselves or have them but expect others not to. Unless you live near a station and are going near one on the same line they're a last resort for anything local. Buses are the same as cars except they don't go where you want to exactly and you have to wait in the rain and cold before your one arrives. I suspect there are a lot of closet sadists out there dressing up as politically correct. Hang on, isn't that the same thing?
Reply #235. Feb 23 10, 8:32 PM
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| lesley153
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Gary, I lived all over London and travelled to work all over London for 22 years, and for a year or so in Bedford, so I've done my fair share of baking and freezing and waiting too. On one memorable journey, I was on a tube train which stopped in a tunnel for half an hour, next to a woman who said she was claustrophobic. I kept her looking at me and talking the whole time we were stuck, and she didn't scream once. Memorable and exhausting - I've rarely been so relieved as when the train started moving.
David, of course it's the same thing. I don't understand why people walk or bike or take the bus when they have a perfectly good car sitting outside their house, and I do get bored when they tell me how virtuous they are. I rode a bike once and it was OK: tried again and and fell off. I used to walk for miles, and it would never have occurred to me to tell other people to walk. I would love to be able to walk for miles but I can walk further than I could a year ago, and I'm thrilled about that. As for buses - I hate Bedford buses!
The station is only about three miles away, and I can park there for free on my blue badge, so it's good for going to central London but not Flitwick.
Have you found that a lot of people who can afford a car, but haven't got one, and have all the best reasons in the world for not having one - will never say no to a lift? |
Reply #236. Feb 23 10, 9:10 PM
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satguru
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Oh definitely- they don't mind us paying the tax and insurance and petrol as well as parking etc, but if they can get from a to b at our expense then suddenly cars are OK. It's one thing people acting like fools on their own time, but when they tell us to join them then you can guess what I'd say they should do. Can you imagine a single car driver trying to persuade someone not to use public transport and drive instead? It's none of our business and we know it, but they seem to think it makes them superior when in fact it makes them sad and poor or they would as well.
Reply #237. Feb 24 10, 8:39 PM
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| lesley153
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A woman on a Bedford bus, immaculately coiffed and made up, and expensively dressed, said that she'd never needed to drive. Her husband took her everywhere and now her friends will take her anywhere she wants to go. I was wondering if she manages to keep her friends for long - does she have as many friends as she had a year ago? - and how do these parasites get away with it? My mother couldn't even get a lift from her horrible brother to somewhere he was going anyway, and this harridan felt she had a divine right to be chauffeured whenever she wanted. She must have been a Right Little Princess in a previous life.
One of Jonathan's schoolfriends wasn't allowed to have a mobile phone, which made him the only boy in the school year who didn't have one. His father explained that mobile phones were a health risk - the radiation would boil an egg and scramble his brain - but if he needed one he would always be with people who had one and he could use theirs. Eventually Dad got his priorities right and he was allowed to have one, and of course it was the most expensive one on the market. I can't help thinking they were trying to prove something!
And it does seem to be the people for whom money is no object who are most reluctant to buy when they can scrounge.
Jonathan went out with three boys in a teacher's car to an inter-school quiz. On the way back, the car ran afoul of an unmarked ditch that had been dug in the road, and blew out two tyres. Out of five people in the car, Jonathan was the only one who had a usable phone - fully charged and on contract. One of the others didn't have one, and the other three either had flat batteries or had run out of credit, so his was the phone that kept four families up to date with
their predicament. Perhaps they were all thinking the same thing - my phone won't work but everyone else in the car is bound to have one.
I wonder if the people who run out of battery or credit when they're in school are the ones who grow up and say they never give their mobile number to anyone - they've only got one for emergencies - it's in the glove compartment in case the car breaks down. |
Reply #238. Feb 24 10, 9:23 PM
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satguru
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Oh, you mean everyone else in my family? (older generation that is). I thought anyone over 70 automatically kept their mobiles off besides emergencies, and couldn't even remember their numbers. Or is that just in my family?
Reply #239. Feb 25 10, 7:42 PM
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| lesley153
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I know over-70s who do that, but I also know a woman who has just turned 80 who uses hers, although she has to get her husband to send texts (and emails) for her.
I also know a woman in her 50s who has been inviting herself to concerts with me for years but is always late, and has steadfastly refused to tell me her number. She's another one who says she never uses it and it lives in the glove compartment, although funnily enough she was very happy to accept a spare charger I had. I wouldn't care but if I had a number I'd be able to find out how late she was going to be.
Sorry, David, I don't think your family has a monopoly on being a complete waste of a mobile phone. I don't think it's age-related either. People of all ages have phones and don't know where they are. I know where mine is. It's in my pocket. |
Reply #240. Feb 25 10, 9:02 PM
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