learnteach: (Default)
learnteach ([personal profile] learnteach) wrote2007-01-23 09:02 am

Sleep Apnea--comments?

Sleep apnea--last night, the third person in recent times asked me if I had gone and checked for sleep apnea.  Sigh.  Time to stop being a martyr and go fight the system to see a doctor.  Of course, the fact that I'm waking up several times a night to urinate (when I don't need to urinate as much during the day), the spells of sleepyness and irritability (which I attribute to school based depression) and the excess weight I have and lack of exercise, combined with the fact that one of my brothers has a CPAP for his apnea...hmm.

Any help/notes any of my friends can give me?

I have it

[identity profile] bagelfather.livejournal.com 2007-01-23 06:12 pm (UTC)(link)
I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea 3 years ago. They tested me and found that I was coming out of REM sleep over 150 times during the night. I could sleep for 8 hours but get only 3 hours of rest. The frequent urination at night is a definite sign you may have it. Also have you been tested for diabetes? If not you may want to do that also.

When you get tested take the following day off from work. You won't sleep well during testing as you are hooked up to Darth Vader's love machine for measurements.

Weight may or may not be a factor. Weight can contribute but it will not solve your problems necessarily if you lose it. When I was down a lot less than I am now and I still had it. For me my tongue is too big for my mouth. There are surgery options but they are long and painful recoveries and not always guaranteed.

I did not have trouble adjusting to the machine for myself. I had a problem adjusting to it with people I was sleeping with and explaining it. I got over that.

If you ever want to talk about it drop me an email and I'll give you my phone #.