Since poor sleep quality is associated with afib (and other health issues), I thought others might benefit from the solution I recently discovered, which has significantly improved my sleep quality.
Instead of waking up 5-6 times a night and looking at the clock, I now actually sleep all the way until morning.
Solution in a nutshell: eucalyptus oil, dispersed by a diffuser (basically a small humidifier) sitting on the nightstand beside my bed. Cost: $50.
---- cut here for more details ----
I often have sinus issues, which lead to poor sleep quality (waking up with both nostrils blocked). It also raises stress in general, as I sometimes have to make a conscious effort to breath during the day (due to nasal congestion).
After meeting with limited success trying other modalities for fixing it (humidifiers, new pillows, dust mite covers, Neti pots, etc), I recently came across a method which has been surprisingly successful: having a small mister ("diffuser" ) with a few drops of eucalyptus oil on the nightstand at the head of my bed.
(Google "eucalyptus sinusitis" for more on why this modality works).
However rather than just eucalyptus oil, I've found that Swiss Olbas oil (which in addition to eucalpytus oil also contains peppermint, cajeput, wintergreen, juniper, and clove oils) works even better. There are hundreds of positive reviews on Olbas oil in this discussion thread:
Olbas oil (amazon.com), and surprisingly few negative reviews.
The particular diffuser I'm using is:
Seneo (amazon.com)
This solution may not work for everyone with sinus-related sleep issues, but it certainly worked for me. At worst, the effect is (as my wife describes it) to make the room smell pleasant (like the massage room in a high-end spa).
Cheers,
-Ted
