Public service announcement time.  No Politics, this is health related, and I am completely serious.

Those who know me, may know this about me, and for those who do not I am sharing this out my desire to help all my friends who could be having similar issues.

Simply put, I have a lousy time sleeping.  I mouth breath, I snore and I have been told I show signs of sleep apnea.  I never wake up rested and I am always tired.

The serious concern is sleep apnea.    What is it?

The Greek word “apnea” literally means “without breath” and that’s essentially it in a nutshell.  I literally stop breathing briefly at night, forcing my body to wake me up to regulate my breathing again.

While it may seem trivial, the fact is it is a serious condition, which unchecked has serious health effects. 

Risk factors include being male (Yo!), overweight (Guilty!), and over the age of forty (Sadly, yes), but sleep apnea can strike anyone at any age, even children. 

So after years of recommendations (and elbow pokes for snoring) I finally got an overnight sleep study done.

One of the stranger experiences of my life.  You stay the night in a clinic, and they hook you up to enough wires and monitors to make you feel like a science experiment nightmare, then expect you to fall asleep feeling like you are hooked into the wiring harness of a late model Cadillac.  They monitor you on video and by machines throughout the night and see if you are showing the signs of sleep apnea.  They also measure respiration, heart rate, O2 saturation and all manner of other things with all those electrodes glued to your head, face, chest and legs.

If you show the signs of apnea, they wake you and put a CPAP mask on you.  This provides a positive flow if air to your nose and mouth at all times (CPAP stands for Constant Positive Airway Pressure), and it keeps your airway open, and you stay apnea and snore free.

I managed to fall asleep despite the electrodes, belts, and stuff. Sure enough they woke me up sometime in the night and masked me.  The mask took a little bit to adjust to but eventually I fell asleep again.

During the second part of the night my respiration improved, my O2 saturation increased and pretty much everything that was bad was better.

But the real benefit was a whole day of feeling more alert then I have in literally years. 

I am not exaggerating.  After what I thought was a sporadic sleep time (I got woken up several times) I got up at 630 am, way before my normal time, and despite that, with only a partial nights use of the CPAP machine, I felt incredible.

I drove 30+ miles home, did things at home all morning, went to work at 1pm, worked until 7pm in one of the highest stress firestorms I have ever been involved in at this job, came home and here it is past ten, and I am only now getting tired.  No cat naps, no drowsiness, no grasping at the coffee pot as my only hope.  Writing this I still feel good and it is nearly 11PM.

I was alert, on my game and even better, and I just felt good.  And this is after maybe 5 or 6 hours of CPAP.  Imagine when they issue me mine, and I get a full nights use of it.

For me, this is the biggest no brainer choice.  Gee, stay tired and fatigued and feeling dull all day/week, or wear a mask to bed and wake up feeling good, with energy and alertness.

DUH. 

But there is a more crucial reason to do this.

Untreated, sleep apnea can cause high blood pressure (which I am showing early signs of) and other cardiovascular disease, memory problems, weight gain (already there) and other problems.

Add to that the lack of alertness, job impairment and sleeping behind the wheel that come with general fatigue…even as minor as some of those may sound they are serious.

Why fatigue?  A lack of sleep.  All the waking moments though the night give you a lack of deep restful sleep, and even when you go to bed for 8+ hours, you find yourself unrested and easily fatigued.

And I can say from experience, that the effects begin to add up over time until you feel like one of the walking dead.

According to Wed MD some things to watch for:

Excessive daytime sleepiness, which is falling asleep when you normally should not, such as while you are eating, talking, or driving.

Waking with an unrefreshed feeling after sleep, having problems with memory and concentration, feeling tired, and experiencing personality changes.

Morning or night headaches. About half of all people with sleep apnea report headaches.
 
Heartburn or a sour taste in the mouth at night.

Swelling of the legs if you are obese.

Getting up during the night to urinate (nocturia).

Sweating and chest pain while you are sleeping.

Restless tossing and turning during sleep.

Nighttime choking or gasping spells.

Symptoms of sleep apnea that others may notice include episodes of not breathing (apnea), which may occur as few as 5 times an hour (mild apnea) to more than 50 times an hour (severe apnea). How many episodes you have determines how severe your sleep apnea is.

And of course, loud snoring. Almost all people who have sleep apnea snore, but not all people who snore have sleep apnea so don’t assume the worst, but watch and make sure.

And if you are not sure, see a Cardio-Pulmonary specialist and see if you are at risk, and get tested.

Take it from me, it is worth it.

Karl