My Continuous Positive Airway Pressure machine arrived today! I have mixed feelings about wearing an unflattering piece of headgear and being hooked up to a machine all night. On the one hand, it is ugly and not very comfortable…but on the other I don’t want to rob my body of the oxygen it needs.
When the airway is blocked and breathing stops during sleep, you are being momentarily choked or asphyxiated, and the sudden drop in oxygen level causes carbon dioxide levels in the blood to rise. The body tries to protect itself from harm by making the heart work harder to move the remaining oxygenated blood through the body. So, your heart rate increases too. ~respironics.com
The results from my first sleep study showed I had a mild sleep apnea with AHI 11 and oxygen saturation of 92%. My doctor told me that I didn’t have any instances where I would miss a breath, but that I have very shallow breathing…I’ll take that as a good thing as the whole ’stop breathing in your sleep’ thing is very scary! Most people with only mild sleep apnea can get away with using a mouthguard that would help keep the airway open. Since I take medications that cause drowsiness my doctor is afraid my throat muscles could become too relaxed which would make it more difficult to breathe. So, he sent me in for a second sleep test to try out the CPAP machine.
I slept much better during the 2nd study than I did at the 1st, mostly because of the Rx I take that help me sleep. Plus, the second time around I felt more at ease since I knew what to expect. I was able to try out the different types of masks available for the CPAP machine and I picked one that just goes under the nose (there is one that covers the whole nose and one that cover the mouth and nose). I think the one I picked works the best for me because the pressure was more direct into my nose and with my sinuses giving me so many problems lately I finally felt like I was breathing “right” again.
I really have high hopes that I will wake up feeling much better than I have been!
