John Cole is blogging his sleep apnea diagnosis and treatment:
I went to bed at 11:30 last night, and I slept until 3:50. Went to the bathroom, slept from 3:50 until 8:00ish. That may sound uneventful for those of you without sleep disorders, but let me tell you, the difference for me is remarkable.
First, as I was having 54 episodes an hour, waking up only once a night as opposed to 400 is highly preferable.
I used to work with a guy who had sleep apnea. He didn’t know he had it until he got married and his wife noticed he’d stop breathing in his sleep. He went to a local sleep disorders center and got diagnosed. He eventually had surgery to correct it.
As someone who occasionally snores, I thought that would be pretty cool, since I assumed the surgery would also stop snoring. It didn’t. We went on a business trip together one time and shared a room. He snored like hell. Oh, well. It did cure his sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea is a pretty serious condition. Besides making you feel bad, it often leads to high blood pressure and gradually damages your heart.
- Wikipedia entry on sleep apnea
- Sleep apnea self-assessment
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Sleep Apnea is no joke. I learned about this in Psychology last year and my dad has this. From the Greek word for “without breath.” There are devices that you can wear that will wake you when you stop breathing and also newer devices that will not have to wake you but allow you to breath on your own and get a restful nights sleep.
While I never got the numbers he did, I now have to sleep with a bi-pap machine due to that problem. Was diagnosed(?) when they were starting the long process for some surgery I just had.
Hi,
See the about.com page on Sleep Apnea and also the review of the disposable home test for Sleep Apnea called the SleepStrip. I believe they are under $100 in the US.
Anyone going in for elective surgery should be tested for Sleep Apnea. It’s a big problem that not many are talking about. Lawsuits don’t you know…