The Incurable Sleep Apnea ...
... or whatever it really is. Carmen laughs at me for blaming any and all failings and shortcomings I display on my "incurable sleep apnea."
Well why not? We don't know what the problem is, so we aren't sure what it is doing to me. So if I am late, or forgetful, or cranky, or spacey, it's "incurable sleep apnea." So there.
What was I saying? Oh, yes. Incurable sleep apnea. Actually something of a misnomer, but since the doctor can't tell me what the real problem is I might as well give it a name. The problem has been that after getting the special little machine and hooking it up to my nostrils, learning to tolerate it and use it every night, none of the wonderful things I had been sold on happened. Very frustrating.
I went to see the face doctor in Boone. (I've been to see him before: the first time he cut a piece of my ear off, the second he stuck a long flexible tube down my nostril til it touched my tonsils). He looked over the computer readout of the results (something the sleep doctor had never done - a Romanian btw - I think he graduated from Carpathia U). The face doctor told me that I do have apnea but that it was mild enough that using the CPAP machine to treat it was a judgment call. It showed I was only waking up 7.5 times an hour because of the apnea and some cases reach up to 50 times an hour or more.
But I definitely have a sleep problem. Of the six stages of sleep, with REM sleep being no. 6, I am missing the last three stages. In other words, no REM at all and it is the last three stages that provide you with the deep rest that everyone needs.
So where does that leave us? He doesn't know so he gave me a pill to take every morning. I think its speed. He said it wouldn't cure me but it might help deal with the symptoms. If that doesn't work (and I don't think it does) then in two months we will try something else.
In the meantime, the minor part of the sleep disturbance caused by the actual apnea seems to be taken care of by the machine. At least, enough so that I don't fall asleep at the wheel of the car anymore. But I still feel groggy for the first two hours of every morning and have trouble concentrating on work late in the evenings, which used to be my most productive hours of the day.
... or whatever it really is. Carmen laughs at me for blaming any and all failings and shortcomings I display on my "incurable sleep apnea."
Well why not? We don't know what the problem is, so we aren't sure what it is doing to me. So if I am late, or forgetful, or cranky, or spacey, it's "incurable sleep apnea." So there.
What was I saying? Oh, yes. Incurable sleep apnea. Actually something of a misnomer, but since the doctor can't tell me what the real problem is I might as well give it a name. The problem has been that after getting the special little machine and hooking it up to my nostrils, learning to tolerate it and use it every night, none of the wonderful things I had been sold on happened. Very frustrating.
I went to see the face doctor in Boone. (I've been to see him before: the first time he cut a piece of my ear off, the second he stuck a long flexible tube down my nostril til it touched my tonsils). He looked over the computer readout of the results (something the sleep doctor had never done - a Romanian btw - I think he graduated from Carpathia U). The face doctor told me that I do have apnea but that it was mild enough that using the CPAP machine to treat it was a judgment call. It showed I was only waking up 7.5 times an hour because of the apnea and some cases reach up to 50 times an hour or more.
But I definitely have a sleep problem. Of the six stages of sleep, with REM sleep being no. 6, I am missing the last three stages. In other words, no REM at all and it is the last three stages that provide you with the deep rest that everyone needs.
So where does that leave us? He doesn't know so he gave me a pill to take every morning. I think its speed. He said it wouldn't cure me but it might help deal with the symptoms. If that doesn't work (and I don't think it does) then in two months we will try something else.
In the meantime, the minor part of the sleep disturbance caused by the actual apnea seems to be taken care of by the machine. At least, enough so that I don't fall asleep at the wheel of the car anymore. But I still feel groggy for the first two hours of every morning and have trouble concentrating on work late in the evenings, which used to be my most productive hours of the day.
Labels: apnea, medical stuff, sleep
posted by Clemens | 3:47 PM
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