My new dwarf name: "Sleepy"
For the past 3 or 4 years I have been... hmmm lazy. I always wanted a nap and could fall asleep at the drop of a hat if I relaxed enough. I thought that this was a part of getting older and damn it - I am not going to let age determine how I felt.
A couple of months ago I would walk past the automated blood pressure stations at Eli Lilly and wonder how I was doing but never took the time for the test. One day I sat down, slipped my arm into the machine and - wow it was through the roof.
I went to go see the doctor and I have high blood pressure but he started to talk to me about my sleeping habits. What the h3ll? Yeah I am just being lazy. He convinced me to take a sleep study and again - poof! Come to find out I have sleep apnea.
I have been on a CPAP machine for about 2 months (I lovingly have heard it called "Bed Snorkeling"). I went to a specialist to review the review the stored results on the CPAP. Result: I am getting better - rather than waking myself up every 30 seconds (yes, seconds not minutes) I now wake myself up every 90 seconds. It appears that I have a more specialized version - Mixed Sleep Apnea, which is described:
American Sleep Apnea Association
"Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is caused by a blockage of the airway, usually when the soft tissue in the rear of the throat collapses and closes during sleep. In central sleep apnea, the airway is not blocked but the brain fails to signal the muscles to breathe. Mixed apnea, as the name implies, is a combination of the two. With each apnea event, the brain briefly arouses people with sleep apnea in order for them to resume breathing, but consequently sleep is extremely fragmented and of poor quality."
Bottom Line: I feel a lot better but I am on the quest to get a full nights sleep. I am off for more tests and to see what the options are