Life with CPAP

Have I mentioned that I snore like a freight train? I am not sure the analogy is correct, but I am pretty sure the decibels match.

I have always snored. When I was in high school, during my 95 pound stage, I went on a beach trip with my church where all of the girls slept in a dorm-type room with bunk beds. On one morning, one of the other girls said, "We were talking about you last night and wondering how such a big sound can come from such a little person."

So it's not a new issue with me, and one that is not related to weight. I'm sure my weight doesn't help, but it's not the cause.

However, it is probably the cause for my sleep apnea. Jim told me that I stop breathing for a bit at a time, until I jar myself back awake just enough to start breathing again. Evidently, you body doesn't like it when you stop breathing.

So, I chose to ignore everyone and their comments about my snoring until I went on a long weekend trip with my friend Patty. She and her friend (with whom we were staying) had an intervention with me and told me that I owe it to my family to get a CPAP to stop snoring.

Needless to say, when a stranger tell you that you snore like crazy, it makes more of an impact than if your family tells you. Go figure.

The sleep center doctor told me that sleep apnea is almost 100% weight-related, so if I lose the extra weight, I will stop having apnea. However, I will also snore, I'm afraid. There is surgery, but it's painful and NO THANKS.

I got a CPAP machine (see above) and am trying to use it very night. My storing has stopped completely, says Jim, but I am sleeping like crap (again, see above).

Couldn't they find something like this for me to wear instead? I would be just as comfortable. Or maybe a football helmet.

When I put the CPAP mask on for the first time for Jim to see, he said that it was ridiculous and I was not going to sleep like that just so he could get a snore-free night. Well, I gave it a try, and it's a real pain, but I don't snore. I personally think it's a little primitive for the 21st century, but the actual unit is silent and my husband is getting some rest. I take a nap in the afternoons around lunch time, so I am pretty sure we are both getting our rest hours in.

I don't use the humidifier because the air is not that dry (until the heat comes on in the winter and sucks every drop of moisture from the air), and when I used it for a couple of nights, there was water dripping on my nose. I felt like I was being water boarded. When I told the doctor this, he told me to put the machine lower than the head of the bed so the condensation would be pulled down and not travel up the tube. But, he cautioned, don't put it on the floor because it's too dusty there and the filter will clog up faster. I wasn't sure is he was denigrating my housekeeping or not, so I didn't comment.

Then I told him that it seemed to stuff my nose up. He told me to see an ENT to make sure I didn't have any other issues, like a deviated septum or swollen adenoids. Then he told me to use those Breath Right strips to make sure my nose passages were staying open. On the other hand, it may be that the 8psi passing up my nose constantly for 8 hours each night was causing some part of my upper nosal-area to get irritated.

My thought: Why don't I just intubate myself each night?

In any event, I still need to lose some pounds and Jim still deserves a snore-free wife beside him. It's the closest to a win-win we will get.

I'll keep you updated.