You take my breath away!
Yep-you do-multiple times each night as I lay in bed trying to sleep. You make me weak, tired, grouchy (at least I’m blaming you for this one too!), anxious, unable to think or make rational decisions. You make me want to be IN the bed-every chance I get. I can never get enough……you are OSA-a.k.a Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Yes folks-I have it. And for those of you (especially my hubby) who thought those sentiments above were about him-sorry Honey-but I DO love being with you!
I had the test for OSA two years and 3 months ago. The first part of the test. Then I set myself up for a big ole’ slice of denial (not the river!). And I settled into the denial. I loved it. I stayed there until just very recently. After my DH rushed me to the ER because I felt as if I was having a heart attack ( for about the 3rd time in the same week). This was followed by wearing an event monitor to try and capture the rapid heart beats. I did the stress test, blood work, etc. Then I had a follow-up with the Cardiologist. Actually the cardiologists PA. She was great-and actually spoke to me like I was an adult. She noticed my chart said I had OSA. My brain screamed “Wait! WHAT???? I HAVE IT????? You aren’t supposed to say that-I’ve been trying so hard to deny and ignore it!” Then she asked me if I was still using my C-PAP machine. Um….uh…well…..you see-I never got one. She was quite amazed-and bewildered. She told me about how OSA is like “someone coming into your bedroom several times a night and putting a plastic bag over your head and suffocating you.” Well-when you put it like that-I couldn’t call my Dr. fast enough. It was simple really-and since I had already had the first part of the test-and it confirmed I had OSA-all I had to do was go back to the sleep clinic and have the titration of the machine done, and be fitted for a mask. Yeah-I know exactly what you are thinking “Oh I could never sleep with a mask on my face. I don’t need that to sleep good, and yadda yadda ya…, and so forth and so on”. Well-at this point in my life, my tired body and brain need all the extra oxygen they can get. I have many of the problems that can result from severe sleep and oxygen deprivation. Fortunately, I have not developed hypertension or diabetes; and I really don’t want to. So I got a great night’s sleep last night, and can’t wait for the Dr. to write the prescription for my machine. There are alot of things I can do to avoid having to use the machine for years, and I am working on those. But one step at a time. I have to start feeling better, have less brain fog and more energy. They tried several different masks to find one I liked, and you can barely even hear the machine. I am just looking forward to sleeping, and feeling better. OSA patients UNITE!!!! I am told that once I sleep with this machine-I will never want to be without it. DO you have OSA? Does your significant other? Tellme about your experiences with it, and your thoughts and feelings.
Oh-and here’s a neat picture I took in February when we had some bad storms.
Cool huh?
Here’s to feeling better again~
Rhonda
Life in Pictures and Words 
Hey Rhonda
It me again and YES i have it to and so does my hubby. I will just be honest the 1st six months i loved it i was telling everyone they should go and be checked out to see if they had it. I felt so much better using the c-pap even lost some weight, cleaned my house from one end to the other, you name it i did it cause i felt great. After i lost the weight they lowered my pressure and for a few months i still done great. Then all at once i notice i was fighting with the hose,mask i started feeling tired and ill again couldn’t even stand my self. Went back and they raised my pressure back up felt better for a while then here we go again it all started back up i could not rest at all. Went back to have the test done over again to see what was going on and it was not much better then the 1st one. By this time my hubby had went and had the test done and yep he had it to so he got his c-pap and still to this day he has ajusted and doing fine but me i hate it can’t stand it. i got to where i would wake up feeling like i was choking and couldn’t breath felt like my throat was closing up with the c-pap on . So here i go back to the ENT . Well he wants to watch me for a few months cause my tonsils are enlarged, i go back and they are worse. He said with them being enlarged they are closing my throat up and keeping me from being able to breath while laying down. So we talked for a while and decided to take my tonsils out and do some other things while he is in there to help me try and come off of my c-pap. With the surgery and trying to lose weight he said it was a good chance within 6 months i could start going without it to see if it was helping or not. I hope and pray it does b/c i hate that c-pap its a pain in the butt. You have to keep it cleaned buy water for it and if you spend the night away from home pack it up and take it with you its a night mare to me. Some people do just fine with it but not me. I never knew as we got older we would have to deal with all the crap we do. I feel i am going down hill all the time its always something. Hope you will have better luck and give it a few months to get ajusted. Please keep me in your prayers i have the surgery on May 20th.
Good Luck