I went to the sleep lab the week before my ankle surgery. (All things are now going to be measured as Before Surgery and After Surgery-B.S. and A.S. for short.)
The ironic thing about going to a sleep lab is that they stick all kinds of things on you that make it difficult to sleep-sticky things all over my legs, chest, neck, hair, and even some things that measure oxygen in my nose. So they spend an hour and a half sticking all these things to you and then tell you to relax and sleep. Riigghhtt.
So it turns out that I have mild sleep apnea. It's kind of like the low-normal thyroid levels I have except that in this case they actually want to do something about it. I stop breathing 15 times an hour for at least 10 seconds each time.
I basically have 3 choices.
1. I can have surgery to remove my tonsils (yes, I still have them) and part of my uvula and possibly fix my deviated septum (yes, I have one of those). The problem with this solution is a: it's surgery, not a fan and b: it is only successful 60% of the time. Positives: If it is successful, it's done and I don't have to think about it.
2. I can get a dental appliance that helps keep my airways open. Pros-it's a simple thing and non-invasive. Cons-It is only successful 60% of the time and insurance may not pay for it and not all dentists do it.
3. I can get a CPAP machine which is a mask you wear at night that forces air into the breathing passages. It is almost 100% successful and insurance quite often pays for it. Downside: it has to be worn every night and can be noisy and irritating.
Sleep apnea has a lot of health consequences that I hadn't realized it did. Heart issues, weight gain, diabetes, stroke, 5 times greater chance of car accidents, hmmm guess I need to do something about it!
That's enough for now. Time for sleep!
5 comments:
My father-in-law uses a CPAP machine and it has made a huge difference for him. I just can't imagine wearing that thing, though. I am a little bit claustrophobic. Best of luck with the decision about what to do!
I'm claustrophobic too. They say you have to slowly adjust to it. Right now I'm leaning towards the dental appliance and just hope it works!
My mom just went through the same thing, and is also extremely claustrophobic ... but she found one that she thinks will work for her ... I know she tried like 3 different ones ...
Do you have low thyroid levels? Sometimes I seriously wonder if I do. I know they tested it, but I wonder if it is low for me or something.
My thyroid levels are in the normal range but on the low side of normal so they don't do anything about it.
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