Just got back from the hospital after going in last night for a sleep test, and as I suspected, I have sleep apnea. Should be getting a fancy machine in a week or so.
I slept with the machine on last night from midnight until 5 am, and I feel the best I have felt in ten years. It is unbelievable how good I feel. I am so awake, I am afraid to have a cup of coffee, and I normally drink 3-4 a morning.
Apparently I have a really bad case of it, too. I have always snored like a jet plane with asthma, so I am not surprised. I went in to be monitored for six hours of sleep, and after only two hours of monitoring my sleep, they rushed in and hooked me up to the machine.
At any rate, I am rather excited, like I have been given a 2nd chance on life. You have no idea what it is like to be tired all the time.
Sharp as a Marble
I’m going in for an appt. in early Feb. I’ve spent the last 6 years of my life friggin’ miserable. I get headaches and fall asleep driving home from work. If I don’t move enough, in 30 minutes I’ll be out.
I hope I will benefit from this as well. It’d be nice to stay up past 9:30 again.
John cole
I almost started crying about a half hour ago. It was 9:30, and I had been up for 4 1/2 hours, had not yawned, had not fallen asleep, and had not had any coffee, but still felt better than I had in 15 years.
And that was on less than 5 hours sleep on the machine. I realized then that I have been sleepwalking through life the last 5-10 years.
Bryan C
My father had sleep apnea for years and years. He was finally diagnosed and started using a CPAP machine. The difference was amazing.
The local hospital will be opening a sleep clinic in a few months. Given family history and the way I snore I know I should make an appointment.
Terry
Hmmm. Is sleep apnea an ailment that one contracts by encounters with other sufferers? Just curious… I recall reading on a site that I followed a Link to late kast year that the site host also suffered from sleep apnea, which he wrote about quite extensively. As I further recall, that host was Andrew Sullivan.
Kimmitt
As someone who suffers from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, I can understand the immense satisfaction that can come from finally getting a good night’s goddamn sleep. Congrats.
S.W. Anderson
John, my wife has sleep apnea and has been using a machine to help with proper breathing during sleep for a year now. It’s a big help to her and to me.
Sleep apnea is not to be taken lightly, and not just because of the poor quality of sleep sufferers get. There are bad consequences for the heart and circulatory system.
Terry, sleep apnea is not contagious. It’s a condition, not a disease, although it can provoke or aggravate disease.
S.W. Anderson
Kimmitt, as someone who had CFS at one time, for two to two and a half years (probably Guillian Barre syndrome, more precisely), I’m well aware of the bad impact that it can have.
By all means, get yourself in to someone qualified to get to the bottom of your fatigue problem. There are several possible causes. Most are readily treatable, a couple are quite dangerous. But just running under par for a couple of years can play hell with every aspect of your life, and result in clinical depression and other bad things.
Get it checked out.
Kimmitt
I was diagnosed in ’95; I’ve been through the gamut and have found a few effective treatments.
Kipper
I had sleep apnea for years, with a side effect of emotional volatility. After I got in shape and lost weight, the sleep apnea went away. Moods are stable now, and I have about 18 hours a day of mental energy compared with 7 or 8 before.