I come from a family of heavy snorers. Most of the people in my family snore so loudly and so deeply that it’s hard to sleep in the same house, let alone the same room. I was not the exception to the rule, but I didn’t think my snoring was as bad as others in my family. Last year, I found out I was wrong.

I was married for 5 years, with two kids, and was teased mercilessly by my husband at the time. However, he was not a nice man, and after I divorced him I really didn’t think anything of most of the things he said. However, when I started dating my current boyfriend, many years ago, he would tell me that I snored as well. Sometimes my snoring would keep him from sleeping. But until we moved in together, it wasn’t really a problem.

After we moved in together last year, my snoring became a problem. Mostly because my boyfriend couldn’t get any sleep in the same room with me, and sleeping on the couch was causing him physical problems. At the time, I was also having a very hard time staying awake during the day. I would start falling asleep at my computer, or sitting on the couch. On the weekends I would be so tired, I’d sleep almost 20 hours, awake for just a few, and then go back to sleep for another 12 – 16 hrs. I thought it was just because I wasn’t going to bed early enough during the week. I was wrong.

I didn’t connect the two symptoms, the snoring and the extreme sleepiness, but figured I would talk to my doctor about both. She ordered the obligatory blood tests, heart tests and such, and also sent home a blood oxygen counter. I thought that was strange, but she said that she wanted to see how much oxygen I was getting at night. So I went home and wore the counter on my finger that night.

It was a few days later that I got a call from my dr.’s office wanting me to come in. The appointment was later that week. My Dr. told me that they believed that I either had Sleep Apnea or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), saying that my blood oxygen level was extremely low and I stopped breathing several times during the night of testing. I didn’t like the sound of either of those things, knowing that both can be extremely harmful and untreated can be deadly. She then ordered chest x-rays and a sleep study.

The sleep study was several weeks later, and I had the chest x-rays done as well. Everyone suspected I had COPD because I am a smoker, but the x-rays turned out perfectly clear. However, my sleep study said that I was having multiple episodes where I would stop breathing for almost a minute. That’s when I was officially diagnosed with Sleep Apnea caused by Obstruction. This is what was causing me to snore and what was making me so sleepy all the time. These are the two biggest symptoms of Sleep Apnea.

After being diagnosed, I went back for another sleep study to try out a CPAP (Continuous Pulmonary Air Pressure) machine. They strapped an oxygen mask to me, which fitted around my nose and was hooked up to a little machine on a bedside table. At first it was difficult to breath, because of the air being forced into my nose. The long tube that connected my mask to the machine was also uncomfortable, and difficult to get used to. However, even though I was only asleep for 4 hours that was the best rest I’d had in years!

So a few days later, I was able to get my own machine and I started wearing it immediately! My boyfriend told me I didn’t snore at all, and I woke up the next morning feeling so refreshed it was amazing! I didn’t fall asleep at my computer, and that following weekend, I didn’t sleep the whole two days straight. I started thinking clearer, could remember things better, and had more energy. Not getting enough sleep had such a huge impact on my life, and I didn’t even know it.

From The Mayo Clinic website – Symptoms of Sleep Apnea

Excessive daytime sleepiness (hypersomnia)

Loud snoring, which is usually more prominent in obstructive sleep apnea

Observed episodes of breathing cessation during sleep

Abrupt awakenings accompanied by shortness of breath, which more likely indicates central sleep apnea

Awakening with a dry mouth or sore throat

Morning headache

Difficulty staying asleep (insomnia)

Consult a medical professional if you experience, or if your partner observes the following:

• Snoring loud enough to disturb the sleep of others or yourself
• Shortness of breath that awakens you from sleep
• Intermittent pauses in your breathing during sleep
• Excessive daytime drowsiness, which may cause you to fall asleep while you’re working, watching television or even driving

For more information on Sleep Apnea and support groups:

http://www.sleepapnea.org
http://www.sleepapneashirt.org/
http://www.quietsleep.com/
http://www.sleep-apnea.ab.ca/
http://www.angelfire.com/il/awake/

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