This is not a forum I frequent, but I thought it would be worth while to post about this condition if by the off chance it serves as a warning to someone else with this problem.
Not long ago I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. This is a condition where the soft tissue in the back of the throat closes off your airway when your sleeping and your brain fails to correct the problem. Those that know me might say ‘That is not all your brain is failing to do.’
From what I have read over 12 million American’s have it so it is not uncommon by any means. Sleep apnea can cause high blood pressure, memory problems, weight gain, impotency, and headaches. It is most common for males, over the age of 40 and over weight. I am male and over 40, but at least I am not over weight. My guess is a lot who play Aces High are all three of those.
I would guess for me personally this condition started about 20 years ago. I wonder, correlation?
It was such a gradual process I never realized I had it. Much like the frog you put in pan of cold water and then you turn on the heat. For years I have always been tired when I get up. I have always been nodding off to sleep while driving
to work. I have always fought staying awake in the afternoon. Always tired. I just figured that was life with four children and a busy teaching schedule. I have always been a morning person and I get up 4 AM. Out the door by 4:30 and off to the gym. I would work out, shower and change and try to be at work by around 7 AM or so. Get home between 5 or 6 and would usually stay up till 9 or 10. A couple years ago my wife mentioned she had seen me stop breathing during the night. We knew what sleep apnea was and talked about it, but like so many things in life it was put on the back burner. I did not have time to go to the doc’s and see if that was what I had. Time went on and she had noticed it a few other times. Also sometimes I would wake up breathing hard and in a sweat as if I had been working out. Although I have had this condition for years it was just the past couple years it really became apparent.
I finally went in and had what they call a sleep study. You are wired from head to toe and they monitor your sleep. Needless to say my results were surprising I had hypnea which is a form of sleep apnea. Hypnea means that for a period of time (less than a minute) you receive 50% or less of the oxygen required. Another interesting fact from my sleep study was my REM, (Rapid Eye Movement) stage of sleep. That is to say I did not have any REM sleep. REM is your dream state of sleep and is required for a healthy night sleep. I can remember having dreams as a young man, but over the past 10 years it became rare for me to wake up and recall any dreams I had. In more recent years I might remember one or two dreams in a month. For those of you in the medical field my:
- Respiratory Arousal Index was 59.3 an hour
- Average duration of hypopnea was 15.2 seconds
- REM was only 9% in 269 minutes. In that time I had 200 hypopneas.
After being diagnosed with this condition I bought one of those CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machines. When I go to sleep I place a small mask over my nose that has a flex hose connected to the CPAP machine and I shut my mouth. It acts like a small (and very quiet I might add) compressor. This slight pressure keeps the airways open. I was concerned about keeping my wife awake at night, but it really is very quiet and only took her a few days to get used to it. It took me a few days to get used to it also, but once I did it has really made a difference. No doubt I am not as tired as I was, but what has really been the most significant change is my dreams. It is as if someone had opened up a whole new world at night. When I wake up in the morning my head is flooded with the dreams I had from the night before. It really is amazing to go from a reality without dreams to a reality with dreams. I had forgot how vivid and real dreams could be. Not that I put any kind of weight in dreams or am into dream interpretation, but the simple fact that it is fundamental to have dreams for your health and well being.
It has been about 6 weeks now since I started using CPAP machine and the results are positive in my book. I figured it would be worth while to post this since maybe, just maybe, it will help someone else who struggles with being tired all the time and might have sleep apnea and not know it.
