I use a c-pap machine when I sleep at night. I rarely take naps but if I did, I would use my machine. I was alerted to the fact that I had sleep apnea in 2004. Since then, I have taken my breathing machine along with me on every trip. It was my one and only carry on for years.
I discovered the sleep apnea while working. I found that I would start yawning within minutes of leaving the post office parking lot on my fifty mile trip/run to several post offices to deliver Express Mail. I would find that even in the winter with both windows wide open, I was still so very tired. It was beyond just being tired. I was exhausted. I would stop at times just five minutes away from the post office, close my eyes for my ten minute break. I would find that walking around at the first post office and interacting there made me feel awake again.
Trying to discover what was bothering me, I made sure that I had no carbs prior to driving. I also would find myself falling asleep after eating lunch while trying to read a book or the newspaper.
In discussing this with friends, some suggested that the book was not interesting me. No, I said, I have various tastes in books and I was just exhausted for some odd reason once I allowed myself to stop.
Since, I never knew whether I would need to add to the circuit and when the run would start, my lunch time varied by as much an hour and a half. I had to get the Express Mail to the outlying post offices in a timely manner and ate lunch following delivering the items to the post offices.
All this to say, that I was getting confused to my need to find a solution to sudden exhaustion while driving. After all, I needed to drive for work. I had been injured 4 years earlier and if I did not get out, I answered the phones or did odd jobs found by the supervisors. Quite frequently, the supervisors would want me to do something beyond my capabilites. It was a struggle emotionally as well as physically.
Sleeping patterns were often disrupted during the early morning hours where I would rehash something said by a supervisor or try to settle family issues in my head. I new that I had insomnia but took the approach that it was something to do with emotional upheavels. Typical family issues and teen angst lead to many sleepless nights.I was finding that I was gaining weight during these years even with various diets that I tried and lost weight. I was not sleeping well. My two significant injures plus loss of cartilage in my knees kept me from fully walking and getting my swim on. I had years of physical therapy for the injuries that only brought me so far. I discovered cortisone shots for my knees late in 2007 after my spring and summer of travels. I do not walk with a limp any more. Yet, last weekend at the Mashpee Pow Wow while descending the bleacher seats, I felt the bad knee when I overstepped my range of motion for my left knee getting down.
My husband was discovered to have sleep apnea before me because he would wake with a sudden start as his heart was bothered by it. He at first did not want to use it. It is a cumbersome attachment.
A football star died of sleep apnea and from then on he kept it on all night. It is now something he uses nightly. He was taking a lot of naps the last few years and we discovered that he has Type 2 diabetes. It helps that he has two c-pap machines one by the couch and one in the bedroom.
I had my tests because I said that I had these sudden onsets of exhaustion to my PCP. I was on a bi-pap machine for years. It would shift and I would wake up with the sound as loud as a vac in my ear. I had to make myself wear it. Often, I would tell the sleep technician my issues with the mask. It seemed that it was not tight enough or something would bother me during the night. I went through many variations of the sleep masks and nose pillows. Now, after almost 9 years, I just put it on and try to relax.
My insomnia seemed to be abated with the load of work and walking while vacationing with friends or family. I still find myself going through long periods of time where I sleep maybe 4.5 hours per night. I just spent 11 days with family both down in DC for a week and the rest of the time at my daughter's home with my grandchildren. I went to bed and slept fairly well all those nights with an active lifestyle all day.
I ask about my insomnia with the sleep doctor. She told me to read a book on insomnia. My sister has insomnia and gets medicine, her throat was operated on and she wears a full mask encompassing her mouth with about 4.5 hours of sleep.
I know that mom had sleep issues because she would often be on my friends list when I logged on late at night. I believe her grandmother has sleep issues. My aunt had sleep issues as well.
Months after having RNY surgery January 2008, I started burping continually when I put on my sleep mask. It was irritating my husband. I said, I did not want to burp. Other issues as well, TMI! I began to think that I better call for a new sleep study. I was told that I should have a new sleep study for every 50 pounds weight loss. I went from a bi-pap with 17/11 pounds pressure to a c-pap of 11 pounds pressure. I am now only on 6 pounds pressure. It is so silent compared to the original machine! A bi-pap puts a positive air pressure in and a positive air pressure out. I just thought you might be wondering what the significance of these two types of machines.
Since surgery, I do not frequently wake at night to eliminate urine. I drink a lot of water at night upwards of forty ounces most nights. It saves me from making bad food choices during the hours when I am alone.
What are your sleep habits like? Do you get enough sleep? Are you tired during the day for any amount of time? Do you find yourself nodding off when you get a chance to sit down?
My sleep apnea manifested itself with exhaustion about 10 am. It was not something that I would expect to happen at that early hour. That is the reason that I first looked to what I had for breakfast.
Do get tested for sleep apnea if you suspect that your sleep is abnormal. It saves lives. I know the weight loss community has a lot of people with sleep apnea related to excess weight. Yet, I saw many thin people in the clinic waiting for their appointments.
May you have a great night's sleep.
#insomnia #insomniac #sleep #hours #exhaustion #apnea #RNY #gastric #bypass #diabetes #frequent #waking #medicine #cpap #bipap #positive #air #pressure
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