Sleep

I’m tired, so very tired. Most mornings I am up either just before sunrise or just after. I don’t want to be up that early. I want to sleep in.

I have a sleeping disorder I inherited from my father it’s called sleep apnea. Good old Dad passed on sleep apnea, depression, and bunions. Probably other things as well. Aren’t I the lucky one. You don’t get to pick your father so I might as well just get on with my life despite the hand I have been dealt.

Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. If you snore loudly and feel tired even after a full night’s sleep, you might have sleep apnea. In adults, the most common cause of obstructive sleep apnea is excess weight. Obesity is associated with the soft tissue of the mouth and throat. During sleep, when throat and tongue muscles are more relaxed, this soft tissue can cause the airway to become blocked. When I was first diagnosed I wasn’t overweight. I am now. I found out much later when visiting a different sleep doctor I had a crowded air passage whatever that means. It was never fully explained.

Severe, untreated sleep apnea nearly quadruples the risk of death compared to those without sleep apnea and the risk of heart disease is five times greater. It also can be a contributing factor for depression. 

Dave was the first to complain about my very loud snoring, like a freight he said. Of course, I was completely unaware of the racquet I was making because I was asleep. It was the next thing he said that set off alarm bells. Apparently, I also stopped breathing and had to be prodded to start breathing again. That was scary!

With a referral in my hand, I went to see a specialist who arranged a sleep study. It was an experience I don’t want to repeat. I went to a private hospital in Sydney where they had sleep study rooms all set up to record my every breath. I chamnged into my pyjamas and was shown where I was to sleep. The room looked like an operating theatre hardly conducive to a night of good sleep. I was told to lay down on a skinny narrow bed less than the width of a single bed only to find it was as hard as floorboards. I tried to get comfortable knowing that this was impossible.

The sleep technician told me I had to sleep on my back for the entire length of the study then he proceeded to cover my body with sticky dots of different colours attached to lengths of wire. They were everywhere the length of my arms and legs. My chest and abdomen had straps across and around them and there was another band around the circumference of my head.

Pleased with his work the technician told me not to get up to go to the toilet because then they’ll have to rewire me. Good luck with that I thought I will most definitely not make it through the night. Have a good night’s sleep he said as he closed the door. What a silly man! I was not comfortable, I was not happy, I felt like Frankenstein’s monster and I was very tired.

Unsurprisingly I didn’t get a wink of sleep and I had to get up to go to the bathroom. The upshot of all this was confirmation of Sleep Apnea and planning for wearing a machine which will help prevent snoring and breath-holding.

This machine provides positive airway pressure or PAP for short. PAP therapy is the most common form of treatment for moderate and severe obstructive sleep apnea. To use the PAP system, I have to wear a nasal mask that delivers pressurized air from a small machine via a tube to the upper airway, preventing the airway from collapsing during sleep. I’ve had three different PAP machines. The first couple had full face masks and the actual machine was a bit bigger than a house brick. The machine I have now has a nasal mask and a very small machine called a mini more suitable for travel.

This is not a very romantic look to have in bed! I joke around and call it a snorkel or Darth Vader.