CPAP from HELL
When you have a problem with loud snoring or a condition called sleep apnea, where you actually stop breathing many times during the night during your sleep, you eventually will be prescribed to go to a "sleep center" to be tested. Over the last few weeks, I have completed this testing during two overnight stays at a local sleep center on consecutive Tuesday nights.
The first evening is actually a monitoring situation, where you are hooked up to 20 some sensors and observed during sleep to determine the level of your problem(s). My test showed that I was actually stopping breathing an average of 52 times an hour. This is not good. What happens is that every time you stop, a period of time passes and your body jump-starts you back into breathing again, and if this is happening frequently, a great strain is put on your heart over a period of time.
On the second evening, you are fitted for a CPAP machine and mask. The method of treatment of this problem is to wear a mask attached to an oxygen hose during your sleep. This hose is attached to a CPAP machine which applies a uniform pressure to your nose and or throat passages, and trains the "flaps" in your throat and nasal passages to open during sleep, thus allowing sleep without interruption or stopping breathing.
I had my CPAP fitting and tryout last night, and though I believe I was fitted to a decent mask and got fairly good sleep, I am somehow having side effects today which the sleep center says they have not heard of before. I left the center at about 7am and shortly after my eyes started watering heavily, my nose cavities began draining fairly constantly, and I started sneezing frequently. I have sneezed well over 50 times, to the point where it has given me a headache. My voice has also gotten deeper as if there were a sore throat, but there isn't. There is a water reservoir in the CPAP system that humidifies the oxygen traveling to the mask, and my theory is that I somehow got over-humidified. It is almost like having a bad cold but not really having the cold. I called the sleep center and the technician said he had never heard of this problem before, and said the reservoir and masks are all new and unused for every patient. This evening the condition has not improved, and is quite uncomfortable. If there is not improvement by morning, I will call the Dr that ordered the test and ask if he knows what is going on.
If this is a regular side affect, it is doubtful I will be able to use this machine, as I feel worse (above my neck)than I have in years.
The first evening is actually a monitoring situation, where you are hooked up to 20 some sensors and observed during sleep to determine the level of your problem(s). My test showed that I was actually stopping breathing an average of 52 times an hour. This is not good. What happens is that every time you stop, a period of time passes and your body jump-starts you back into breathing again, and if this is happening frequently, a great strain is put on your heart over a period of time.
On the second evening, you are fitted for a CPAP machine and mask. The method of treatment of this problem is to wear a mask attached to an oxygen hose during your sleep. This hose is attached to a CPAP machine which applies a uniform pressure to your nose and or throat passages, and trains the "flaps" in your throat and nasal passages to open during sleep, thus allowing sleep without interruption or stopping breathing.
I had my CPAP fitting and tryout last night, and though I believe I was fitted to a decent mask and got fairly good sleep, I am somehow having side effects today which the sleep center says they have not heard of before. I left the center at about 7am and shortly after my eyes started watering heavily, my nose cavities began draining fairly constantly, and I started sneezing frequently. I have sneezed well over 50 times, to the point where it has given me a headache. My voice has also gotten deeper as if there were a sore throat, but there isn't. There is a water reservoir in the CPAP system that humidifies the oxygen traveling to the mask, and my theory is that I somehow got over-humidified. It is almost like having a bad cold but not really having the cold. I called the sleep center and the technician said he had never heard of this problem before, and said the reservoir and masks are all new and unused for every patient. This evening the condition has not improved, and is quite uncomfortable. If there is not improvement by morning, I will call the Dr that ordered the test and ask if he knows what is going on.
If this is a regular side affect, it is doubtful I will be able to use this machine, as I feel worse (above my neck)than I have in years.