I also have sleep apnea thanks to a tongue that slides trivially into the back, and a uvula that loves to go up the back of my nose.

It took me a week of bedtime mental biofeedback to train myself to sleep exclusively on my side, which brought my sleep apnea down from several severe incidents a night to maybe a threshold incident a week or less.

This biofeedback - intense visualization of the objective right before falling asleep - is also what I use to consistently wake up at specific times with no need for an alarm. The only nerf to this technique is extreme lack of sleep previously, and lack of sleep on the night of. So if I try to wake up after only four hours of sleep while also suffering from an existing sleep deficit, imma gonna still wake up far enough to form memories of waking up, but then immediately fall back asleep.

Yeah, it’s not perfect, but as something that never needed much effort it’s actually quite a nifty superpower.

That, and the ability to pop out of bed like a piece of toast with full and instant wakefulness at any level shy of severe sleep deprivation. That alone is deeply annoying to my wife.

This hits too close. I was doing poorly at work for a few months with much the same symptoms: anxiety, severe brain fog, lethargy, etc. On good days I was at maybe 30%. A few days after being laid off I went to the dentist to extract a cracked molar because I was starting to experience vertigo and suspected a infection. Almost a week later I feel like an entirely different person: Sharp. Composed. Energized. Back to the self I almost forgot.

Apparently I had a slow burn infection that dragged me much much harder than I realized.

No doubt...health issues can seem superficially minor, but impact you in significant ways that are nearly impossible to correlate.

Such a long article on sleep issues, anxiety, other issues, and not one mention of caffeine? I hope you have tried 6 months with 0 caffeine. Many people have the level of troubles you had, from just one or two cups of coffee a day.

It is surprisingly common. My wife was recently diagnosed with sleep apnea, after a decade of sleep problems. Not sure why that took so long, because her dad also had it. He slept with an air mask, as does a good friend of mine. My wife doesn't have a mask, but uses special bracers that are supposed to keep her airways open. Less annoying than a mask, and it is an improvement, but I'm not sure it's enough of an improvement. We'll see.

"Magnesium for sleep: What you need to know about its benefits" https://mcpress.mayoclinic.org/living-well/magnesium-for-sle...

> Inwardly my emotions became numb. I was disconnected from others emotionally. Outwardly my entire vibe shifted from chill to aggressive. I became more argumentative at home. I was looking to dominate others in my interactions.

This is neuroinflammation. This is a way how neuroinflammation presents.

This is such a sad story most of the way through, but it's amazing you were able to eventually get to the bottom.

I also got diagnosed with OSA (AHI 32) after crashing my car falling asleep at the wheel in stop-and-go traffic. It tooks years of progressively feeling worse to get there, though.

I had not considered the allergies angle, it might be worth adding some portable filters inside of my apartment...

Do Apple Watches sufficiently track sleep apnea? Or is going in for a sleep study the only way to get a decent signal of if one is suffering from sleep apnea?