I’ve had a few people interested to know more about my 7 day CPAP trial.
After years of always being tired, and feeling like I was addicted to naps, it came as no real surprise recently to learn that I suffer from severe sleep apnea.
CPAP stands for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure – the idea is that the pressure keeps my throat open, allowing me to breath easily when sleep. As I had many of the symptoms of sleep apnea, and the hubster had noticed that I do stop breathing at night, my doctor arranged for me to have a sleep study done – and then, to trial a CPAP machine for a week.
Here are my notes from the sleep diary I was asked to keep throughout the trial:
Night 1
I have two different masks to try – a full face mask, and a nose mask.
I’m pretty sure I’m a mouth breather when asleep, so I tried the full face mask first (apparently it is likely to be the most suitable. I have to say: it was very confronting, to see myself wearing the mask with the lengthy hose attached – I look like an elephant! I may have even shed a couple of tears … )
And yes, I did find it hard to get to sleep.
However the machine itself was whisper quiet which was a pleasant surprise.
In the morning, my first thought was: So this is what it’s like to wake up refreshed and ready for the day. I can’t remember the last time I felt like that!
Nights 2 and 3
Full mask. Finding it hard to get the mask positioned just right, but eventually manage to get comfortable and fall sleep.
I can’t lie on my tummy with the mask on, but I normally sleep on my side so it’s not really a problem.
Night 4
Smaller, nose mask.
The funniest thing – at 5am I realised I’d taken it off during the night, in my sleep!
Night 5
Smaller mask.
Woke with a dry mouth – yup, I must be a mouth breather at night.
(Today we drove 2 hours to Toowoomba, and then back again. As per usual, I fell asleep on the drive – but kept waking up with a start. Is my body already panicking about going without oxygen, now it is getting used to the CPAP machine?!)
Night 6
Back to the big mask.
Woke around 4am absolutely gasping for breath. Weird. (My doctor explained this would have been one of my usual apnea attacks but my body woke me up so quickly to kickstart my breathing again, that the machine hadn’t had a chance to react!)
Night 7
Definitely preferring the big mask.
Woke at 5.30 to find I’d taken to mask off in my sleep again!
Can’t say I’ve noticed a huge improvement in my energy levels yet … (I was warned that although men notice a difference right away, women take longer because of these annoying little things called hormones!)
Summary of my CPAP Trial
I definitely noticed that I felt fresher and clearer in my mind after using the CPAP machine for a week. I’m keen to find out how much it can help over a longer period of time, so I have now purchased my own machine. Not very glamourous or sexy, but neither is stopping breathing during the night …
I asked the hubster what he thought about the CPAP and if it was disturbing him in any way. If anything, he said, it was eerily quiet! He’s so accustomed to my nightly snoring and snuffling that he’s actually missing it LOL (he’s always said he finds it companionable, if you can believe it!).
The only thing he noticed was that if I lie facing him, he gets a bit of a draft from the exit port in my mask.
It did make me feel “old” having to wear a machine to bed, but the sleep centre assured me they’d kitted out a 21 year old the week before, which made me feel better 🙂 .
And when you think about it, with 4 in 10 Australians said to suffer from sleep apnea, many of the people we see in the street likely use a CPAP machine, it’s just that nobody talks about it – so you’d never know.
Do let me know if you have any other questions about my CPAP machine trial or sleep apnea experiences!
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