Met the Sleep Doctor

[eddvick]

I made my follow-up appointment with the doctor from Swedish Sleep Clinic this morning. It was a nontrivial exercise, as Amy's plane flight home yesterday was cancelled and she had to take an alternate route and sleep overnight in Portland, OR. Luckily Katie was able to have a sleepover with a schoolmate so she didn't wind up having to go with me

Comments

[eddvick]

I'm sorry to hear that. I'm still having problems sleeping, though I am getting some.

Yeah, I'm not sure I'd go for the surgery. Especially if what I have turns out to be "central apnea", not related to an obstruction in my airway.

CPAPs

[ladyjestocost]

Takes time to get used to them. Helps if you have a supportive spouse - the kind who can say, "your mask is off" without nagging.

I was able to sleep the first night at the clinic with the wretched elephant nose on - and even thought they kept switching things around to try to get the settings just right. The nasal pillow is much better - and the new one is even better than that. Neither of my machines has ever made enough noise to wake anyone up when my mask was on properly.

If you want to feel good about your clinic, you're seeing the same people I am and I think they've done a fine job by me.

Now? You can have my CPAP when you pry my cold dead fingers off of it. And my husband is sleeping much better two, because I don't snore anymore.

Re: CPAPs

[sillymagpie]

Lady Jestocost! Eee! Another person who has read Cordwainer Smith!

Re: CPAPs

[eddvick]

A big fave around our house, too!

Re: CPAPs

[eddvick]

I'm going to keep trying the nose-only mask for a while longer, but might have to exchange it. It feels like I'm breaking my nose, and if I loosen the straps any more too much air escapes. Grr.

[sillymagpie]

I have a CPAP unit for sleep hypopnea (my oxygen level desaturates severely, but I never stop breathing). A lot depends on the mask you get and whether or not you prefer to sleep on your side (as I do). I have a ResMed mask with wire sides that is relatively comfortable.

At my sleep clinic, I never made it past Stage II, either. ::hugs::

[eddvick]

There's an entire subculture of people suggesting various masks, aren't there? That's cool! CPAP fandom...

I too sleep mostly on my side, and my mask isn't slipping off. That's good. Now if I could just get more sleep.

[anonymous]

You may recall that I was always tired during Clarion. I'm still tired, just only about 1% as tired as I used to be. It was a stupid idea, knowing that I had apnea, to NOT get that fixed before Clarion. I got so much less out of the workshop than I could have.

Lucky me, I got a whole five minutes of stage 3 and 4 sleep during my first sleep study (and I had apnea severe enough that the sleep tech called the doc on vacation to get me titrated that day).

I have the more common obstructive, and so do both of my parents.

So -- I know what you're going through, at least in part, and I adapted very well to a CPAP. It's now got well over ten thousand hours on it.

[anonymous]

Doh, this is Deirdre -- I forgot my work machine isn't logged in. :)

[eddvick]

(whistles) At least they didn't have to call my doctor on vacation!

One of the many odd things about my case is that my O2 level isn't dipping a lot. It didn't go below 87% the entire night of my sleep study.

Sounds familiar!

[lorenmac]

Sounds very familiar, down to the numbers and the diagnosis and never going deeper than level 2. Unfortunately, I had quite a drop in O2 levels, because I'd kinda sorta not breath for two - three minutes at a time.

It has gotten better with the CPAP.

I was first diagnosed a year or so ago, and I still have the original sleep chart they sent home with me. The good news is that you will eventually get used to the mask and will get a good night's sleep. However, from time to time, you will roll over and the device WILL dump water into your face. This doesn't happen every night, or I would be far more bad tempered than I am.

Seriously, I'm glad you got the test because I know just exactly what that not-awake, not-asleep feeling is like. It gets better. Really. Sometimes I feel almost vaguely human for a full day.

Oh, yeah -- CPAP masks DO work with beards. Kind of. Mostly. (Why is this damn thing leaking into my EYES? Aargh!) No, really, they do.

Best,

LJM

Re: Sounds familiar!

[eddvick]

Heh. Mine isn't dumping water on me, but occasionally I'm getting a drop or two next to one of my nostrils, which does get annoying.

Y'know, I've been thinking of shaving off my mustache and beard if need be. I'm giving thought to mentioning that to my CPAP fitter.