One week ago,

on Friday morning after a week of conferencing with the crypto industry at Consensus 2017 and Token Summit, I made the move to have a surgery that could change my life.

Normally, I can't stand going to the doctor.  When I do need to see a doctor, I've usually researched the symptoms for hours, downloaded several medical case studies and self-diagnosed so much that I tell the doctor exactly what the issue is in medical terms.

For the past three years I suffered from sleep apnea caused by turbinate hypertrophy. This affliction was a burden. I was waking up groggy most mornings, as if I had been out all night out.  This was difficult to deal with - often the lack of good sleep could cause me to feel I needed doze off sitting or standing, at the worst moments - sometimes on business trips or sitting at my work station.  But I battled through.

With this particular issue, I had avoided the doctor for so long and tried so many over the counter treatments, mostly sprays and then later anti-histamines, that I had at different moments become addicted.  One of these drugs in particular, oxymetazoline, often known by Afrin, got me addicted.  That was bad.  Even though it helped me sleep, the dependency on it made me think about the drug and my nose all the time. And eventually I would need oxymetazoline in the middle of the night - so it stopped helping the symptoms I began taking it for.

I kept researching and doing experiments on my nose with these drugs and I eventually realized what I needed to do. I contacted a well regarded ENT surgeon.

After consulting the surgeon, I was able to undergoe a debreeding operation on my nasal turbinates to remove a portion of the mucosa that was swelling during sleep.  

Finally, for the first time in three years, I've had awesome sleep.  I'm back to falling asleep between 11 to 12 and waking up at 6am.. naturally.

Fighting bad sleep over the years

has taught me how valuable sleep is to personal satisfaction and my ability to pursue everything I want in life.

I hope all my Steem friends and family are sleeping well, but based on statistics I'm going to guess a few of them may not be. A source on sleepapnea.org suggests that a staggering number of people suffer from sleep apnea, with 80 percent of the cases of moderate and severe obstructive sleep apnea undiagnosed.

Now, I'm not a doctor and there are several different issues that can cause sleep apnea, of which mine was only one, but if you're struggling with sleep like I was, there's tons of research available online, such as the articles on WedMd.com, that might help you find a solution.

Good night!