Sleep Apnea

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Sinus Surgery: The Final Snip-Snip

Monday, May 11th, 2009 | Home Life | Permalink | 2 Comments |

I went in for my follow-up visit early this morning. The doc numbed the inside of my nose, cut out the stitches, and put a metal vacuum up my nose to suck up the final junk out of my sinuses. (That last part was as much fun as you’d expect.)

And now I can breathe through my nose again. For the past week I couldn’t, which meant I slept with my mouth open. Every so often my would dry out and I’d wake up. I came home from the doctor this morning and went back to bed at 9:30. I slept eight hours.

I also slept without my CPAP for the first time in several years. I’m hoping the sinus surgery will help my sleep apnea and get me away from the CPAP.

Tags: sinus surgery, sleep apnea

Inexpensive Alternatives to Emergency Generators

Thursday, December 21st, 2006 | Tech | Permalink | 12 Comments |

Phil at Random Nuclear Strikes offers his lessons learned from two winter days without power. It’s a great read all the way through, but I found one part especially interesting:

But the absolute star of the show was this item I call “The Jump Box”.

It is made by Husky and weighs around 15lbs. It has 3ft jumper cables and and an air compressor hose on the back. On the front, it has the air compressor controls, a light and, magically, a three-prong 110v plug with onboard inverter. This thing has, in the past, jump-started both Grimm and my 1998 F150 with nary a gripe. You just need to plug an extension cord into the back of it to charge up its super deep-cell battery. Takes about six to eight hours for a full charge.

I plugged a surge protector into the socket and charged my cell phone, ran two lamps, a portable CD Player, and a small space heater for 20 hours on a 4/5 charge (I had forgotten to fully charge it before the storm) and it still had over half a charge on it when the power came back on.

The user reviews here and here are mostly glowing, except for the person who noted that the air compressor part was wimpy in his experience.

That same user also mentioned that he used the device to power his CPAP. I use a CPAP to treat my sleep apnea and I’ve been meaning to get an interruptible power supply for it. As long as these sort of things are OK for extended indoor use, I could use something like this for both UPS duty and emergency power use. Guess I’ll have to call the company.

Husky isn’t the only game in town for this sort of thing. Lots more jump starters here. Xantrex has this backup power source with DC, AC that goes to 600 watts, car battery cables, and radio and alarm clock.

Or you could go with a bigger portable power system, like the 1500 watt Xantrex. At $250 it’s still much cheaper than a generator, and with no dangers related to carbon monoxide poisoning or handling gasoline, and unlike a generator it’s silent and won’t attract attention. They’re also handy for apartment and condo dwellers who can’t keep gasoline around. Unlike a generator, though, portable power sources are limited to whatever charge it has when the lights go out, rather than to your gasoline supply. (UPDATE: Though come to think of it you can re-charge it off of your car’s cigarette lighter.) That’s probably OK by me. I don’t anticipate more than a couple of days without power where I am even with the worst winter storm, so this is probably a good tradeoff.

All of those systems are basically a car battery and inverter. An inverter by itself is smaller and costs less for the same wattage. Most inverters plug into the car’s cigarette lighter and convert the DC to AC. Used that way, they’re limited to 300 watts or so, but that may be all you need to charge a cell phone or laptop. I have this 400 watt model, which is only $24. A 700 watt model is $52. To use wattages above 300 you connect the inverter directly to the car battery’s terminals. Xantrex includes the necessary cables. The tradeoff is that inverters produce power in your car, rather than in your house, but that may be sufficient. As a bonus, you may find them useful for road trips.

Phil used the 400 watt Husky jumper to power an extremely tiny electric heater. I checked and the little space heater under my desk at work draws 1500 watts. In general, anything that produces heat - space heaters, microwave ovens, coffeemakers - will have a high wattage requirement. When in doubt, check the wattage rating printed on the electrical appliance. Note that many appliances draw more watts when they first start. Buying more inverter than you need never hurts, except in the wallet.

For heat, you’ll probably be happier with a wood fireplace or stove, or chemically-powered heater (kerosene, propane, etc.). For heat I’ve got a Mr. Heater that runs on either the one pound propane cylinders used for camping or 20 pound cylinders like the ones for BBQ grills.

Morning After CPAP Sleep Apnea Treatment

Friday, September 1st, 2006 | Home Life | Permalink | 2 Comments |

So I spent last night in the sleep lab wearing a CPAP device to keep my airways open. I actually didn’t sleep as well this time as I did the first time without the CPAP, but that’s a combination of getting used to wearing a CPAP, the technician having to adjust the electrical leads for the EKG and such a couple of times in the middle of the night, and me not really being tired enough to go to sleep when they wanted me to.

One of the things they do during the CPAP night is to gradually increase air pressure until the airways stay open and the blood oxygen level stays up. At one point I woke up feeling suffocated. The tech said that he had gradually adjusted the pressure from 5 up to 9. At 9 I started having trouble because I couldn’t exhale completely against that much pressure. Once he lowered the pressure I was fine.

He tells me the more I wear the mask the more pressure my lungs can handle. He’s going to recommend a CPAP with a ramp, which starts out at a low pressure and gradually increases during the night. The ramp models are more expensive, but my insurance will probably pay for it since it was recommended by the sleep center. (And Mike: I used the Ultra Mirage II mask you recommended. Thanks for the tip.)

I feel pretty good this morning (though I would have liked a little more sleep - 6:00 am came early after being awakened so many times). The congestion I had yesterday is completely gone. In contrast, the night before I snored like a freight train (says the wife) and woke up congested and feeling like I needed three more hours sleep.

I had already scheduled a vacation day, so I drove into downtown Knoxville this morning for Starbucks and WiFi at the Hilton. I’m going to blog a little, then visit the East Tennessee Historical Society. I’m looking for an August 23, 1934 Knoxville Journal cover story on the arrest of the Bunch Gang, of which my wife’s bank-robbing distant relation Babe Simpson was a member.

Tags: sleep apnea

Sleep Apnea Results

Wednesday, August 30th, 2006 | Home Life | Permalink | 3 Comments |

The sleep clinic called. After reviewing the results of Monday night’s tests they’ve determined I have moderate sleep apnea. They gave me a quick summary of the results over the phone. My blood oxygen saturation level, which should be above 90%, went down to 78%.

I’m going back tomorrow night to do the same test while wearing a CPAP. If that works I’ll get a CPAP and wear it at night to keep my airways open.

Tags: sleep apnea

Morning After the Sleep Apnea Lab

Tuesday, August 29th, 2006 | Home Life | Permalink | No Comments |

The sleep apnea tests went fine. I won’t know the results until a physician reviews the data. Depending on his conclusion I may have to go back to the sleep lab to spend a night wearing a CPAP.

The test consisted of me sleeping overnight while wearing a bunch of sensors. There were 21 electrical leads that measured everything from my heart rate to muscle tension and even whether my jaw was open or closed. It was more comfortable than it looked, and I had no problem going to sleep. They woke me up once during the night to ask me to sleep on my back so they could collect that data. (There’s a videocamera in the room. They make you aware of it, and have you sign a waiver saying that you consent to being videotaped.)

I did my test at Summit Sleep Services. It was pleasant and my nurse, Danielle, was extremely friendly and helpful. They have showers, so when I woke up I took my shower and was ready to go to work, or at least to Starbuck’s. I’ll let you know the results of the test when I get them.

Tags: sleep apnea

Tuesday, January 25th, 2005 | Science | Permalink | 3 Comments |

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

Tags: sleep apnea