Sleeping with the enemy: sleep disorders explained | Life and style | The Guardian

Sleeping with the enemy: sleep disorders explained | Life and style | The Guardian.

This article contains examples of various sleep difficulties with useful links to  national sleep organisations.

Narcolepsy UK’s Annual Conference 2010

Narcolepsy UK’s annual conference will be held in Cambridge on Saturday 18th September from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm. If you would like to attend the deadline is 23rd of August but I am pretty sure you can just turn up on the day as well. They have various offers on nearby accommodation and dinner and if you would like to take advantage of that register before the 23rd. Otherwise the price is 10 pounds just for the conference and lunch. Information on speakers and registration forms can be found on their website: http://www.narcolepsy.org.uk/

Support the Neurological Alliance New Manifesto

Click here to go to the homepage of the Neurological Alliance UK. Show your support by clicking on their page that you support their new Manifesto.

Their Vision: Every person diagnosed with a neurological condition will have access to high-quality, joined-up services and good information from their first symptoms, throughout their life. Their objectives are:

1. To drive forward implementation of the National Service Framework for Long Term Neurological Conditions across England
2. To increase understanding of neurological conditions and of the lives of people with those conditions
3. To speak for the neurological community with an authoritative voice

Pictures of animals sleeping…

Click on the image to see more cute sleeping animals…

Medication free weekends/weeks

How does medication free weekends/ weeks work?
Is there a protocol to follow? i can’t believe I have not asked my specialist about this! Does one just stop taking medication or reduce the amount over a week? Spending weekend like a hormonal zombie does not appeal to me but it might be good to cleanse the internal organs, like the liver etc. Perhaps it might be a good idea to combine it with a proper detox? Lots of vegetables and juices and such… i am meeting up with some fellow narcoleptics today. I will ask them what they do and then report back to you. Also if you have any suggestions please post them. X

Therapy Update

This week my therapist started to challenge me. After the session I felt embarrassed like what I had talked about was embarrassing and not politically correct. Then I thought, but this is the whole reason why I am going to speak to someone who doesn’t know me or my friends etc. I said that Food allergy and food intolerance were two different things. he disagreed and said they were the same. Then he asked if I was a feminist – I replied – no a humanist. I said that feminism never really happened because feminism is about equality and respecting sexes differences. Then I spoke about the Atos medical form and how difficult it was going to be to go through it again, and he suggested that I made that happen and that it does need to be difficult at all. I know that is wrong. Then he asked me imagine what your life would have been if you did not have narcolepsy. I started to cry then I got angry because I have already lived without knowing I had narcolepsy for 16 years and it was confusing, draining and extremely challenging. Why did he do that? Did he imagine that I had imagined it all? I can see his point though but it is not quite that simple. He is obviously trying to recreate my expressed difficulties. It is pretty much all about how difficult I find it to always have to explain living with narcolepsy and dealing with others opinions and reactions. Especially the ones who don’t believe you, and there are plenty of those types.

My first instinct was to get proof from a dietician that explains the differences between food allergies and intolerance. I have done similar in the past but it never changes a person’s opinion really mostly people disregard it to keep their ego intact. Why does it matter? It is really not that important.

I have had several really useful dreams following this weeks session. I always use my dreams for personal development work – don’t really write them down. There would be too many, a whole library of dreams, the important ones I remember.

Feelings of not being taken seriously, feelings of being misunderstood by my surroundings, my friends, family, work colleagues (when I tried to work) and professionals. Why do I care what other people think? I know the truth.

Please sign Petition for Narcolepsy Research

I must say that it is a bit odd to have Pepsi sponsor research for Stanford’s narcolepsy unit. I guess corporations are where the big money is located…

Please create an account and vote for the research proposal to win here!

The goal of the ImmunoChip Project is to compare and contrast the genes involved in over 20 autoimmune diseases (about 50,000 samples).  The funds from the Pepsi grant would allow for the Stanford CFN to include 4,200 narcolepsy samples in this important international collaboration increasing visibility.

REMEMBER THAT YOU CAN VOTE EVERYDAY UNTIL JUNE 30TH!

Swedish dream bed

If I could have any bed in the world I would choose a Hastens! They are hand made and last for a life-time.

The advertising says that it is like sleeping on a fluffy cloud mmm. I bet my narcolepsy would disappear altogether if I had a bed like this;) And it’s Swedish – just like me! Their website also features some sleep advice.

Sleep Safe Tape

Sleep safe tape might be useful for people with Narcolepsy – but you gotta be fast applying the tape;)

The Reckless Sleeper/ Le Dormeur téméraire

Last Tuesday, I went with a friend to Tate Modern. At the moment they have a Surrealist exhibition on and on the wall hangs The Reckless Sleeper surrounded by Piacabia and Salvador Dali. The title and the objects below the sleeping figure attracted me to the painting. The painting is from 1928 and is oil on canvas. Size: 1160 x 810 x 20 mm
The official Tate description reads: A figure sleeps in a wooden alcove above a dark cloudy sky. The way into this space is barred by a tablet embedded with everyday objects, which are displayed as in a children’s book. These objects are presented as if dreamed by the sleeper. As Magritte knew, some or all of them could also be read as Freudian symbols. This combination of different possible interpretations adds to the painting’s suggestion of unease and disorientation. It was painted when Magritte was closest to the French Surrealist group, having moved temporarily to Paris from Brussels.

What do the (Freudian) symbols mean?

Hats: Freud (1994) had several sample dreams in which hats represented genitalia.

Apple: This simple and basic fruit is a powerful symbol in religious writings, literature and in dreams. It fundamentally represents knowledge and the freedom that is associated with it. With knowledge and freedom we are in a position to make positive or negative choices. The apple should be interpreted with the consideration of all the other details in the dream. Is the apple a symbol of positive movement and spiritual and emotional liberation, or is it a symbol of runaway passions and the resulting negativity? Are you giving into temptation and making hurtful choices or are being wise and enjoying the fullness of life?

Candle: A lighted candle symbolises enlightenment, awareness or search for truth. A burning candle symbolises getting old or a fear of dying. Seeing a candle blow out in your dream indicates that you are surrendering a significant aspect of yourself. For Freud this would be the penis.

Mirror: Mirrors symbolize the imagination and a link between the conscious and unconscious.

Bird: According to Freud birds are sexual symbols that represent the male penis.

Bowtie: Chuck Palahuik connects the presence of a bowtie to the elimination of the male organ in his book Subliminal Seduction. “[Bowties] conjure up images of smoky men’s clubs and owlish antiquarians, of something faintly dainty,” writes Christopher Stump in “Confessions of a Bow-Tie Devotee,” a 1997 Weekly Standard article that has become the central text for bowtie support groups everywhere. Until the 1960s, Cambridge University maintained a tradition of “ceremonial public castration” for students found not wearing a gown and bowtie on special occasions. “I work at a dating table and often am leaning over a cup of coffee,” writes a correspondent to Alfredo Blasco’s bowtie page. “Before I started wearing bow ties, I was constantly dipping my long tie in my cup.” Shrinks given to oddball theories recount fever dreams associating emasculation with Eaton uniforms. Doctors of Philosophy plumb a psychology where tying a knot and being neutered are never far apart, while amateur psychologists see the chin-ticklin’ bow as a symbol of “inoffensive non-masculinity.”

“Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream by night.”

Edgar Allan Poe