This is going to be long winded as I do not want to forget any details. I appreciate you taking the time to read.
Hi everyone! 24F here. I do not have an official diagnosis of sleep apnea, but it is heavily suspected. I’ve gathered years of evidence and match every single symptom. However, I unfortunately do not have the funds or resources to follow through with a sleep study at the moment, so I would appreciate any other advice for the meantime :)
The main thing that affects me at the moment is waking up in the mornings. I am a nanny and work early mornings (7 AM start with a 15 minute commute). Every night, I set an alarm for 5:50 and a backup alarm for 6:15. I have the first alarm set on the Alarmy app with the puzzle setting on - in hopes that it will wake me up a bit. But no matter what, I am extremely groggy and shut the alarm off as soon as I can. Before going back to sleep, I ensure my 6:15 alarm is on. I worry that if this alarm isn’t on I’ll just sleep and wake up late (this has happened before and I have been over an hour late to work before :/). But most days, I ultimately get up around 6:30 and leave myself with less than 15 minutes to get ready. I often feel sad that I don’t have time to do my hair or make coffee. I really want to get out of this loop.
When I am half asleep, I convince myself that I have gotten ready with that little time before, and that sleep is more important. It’s almost as though I’m a completely different person when I’m in this groggy state - and sleep is the #1 priority. I hope I do not sound ridiculous or disingenuous. I really want to work through this.
I’ve tried plugging my phone in away from my bed so I have to get up, but I end up shutting the alarm off and going straight back to my bed.
I’ve also noticed this has been happening with midday naps where I just snooze my alarm multiple times when I know I have the extra time to sleep.
Is this just simply a lack of discipline? How do I fall out of this state when I first wake up? I really would appreciate any unbiased advice. I have tried opening up to family about this but wasn’t taken seriously :(
Thank you again for reading and thanks in advance for your help! Have a great day