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To snore, to snore, to sleep no more...
That's not Shakespeare. It is us. We have entered the wedded stage of fatty-hubby snoring. I, the once handsome, slim and muscled male, have become what I once loathed. My alert wife now cautions me to stop referring to offenders as, 'Fat-xxxed jerks,' because I myself have a belly, meaning that I am calling the kettle black.
And so, after a few years of denying and then accepting and then dealing with snoring, we went to the Sleep Disorder Clinic. This had become a problem and a concern. We weren't sleeping together anymore. We were trading nights in the guest room, because two nights in a row on that mattress hurt our backs. It was not good on many levels.
So, we went to the Sleep place. And Michele shared her observations about my sleeping. I sat and looked clueless. So would you! Nobody knows how they sleep like their sleepless mate knows how they sleep.
"He stops breathing."
"And then does he gasp?"
"Yes."
"We should do a sleep study."
"Okay."
I will spare you the lengthy details and descriptions, including the 29 (no exaggeration) wires they hooked to me, or the report that indicated I had 45+ apnea events per hour, or.....
So now I wear a little face mask as I sleep, and the mask is attached to a CPAP machine (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure), which pushes a constant pressure of air up my nose and down my throat, and that air keeps my soft palate from dropping down into my old throat and making me snore.
And you know what? I sleep much better. I really don't mind the mask. I sleep on my back and on my side. And I sleep deeper and better. Do I wake up refreshed? No, I can't say I do, but I am probably more rested than before. And my heart is working less, and I am sure to be less likely for a heart-attack.
Do I have regrets? One. Kissing and snuggling are less spontaneous. On the other hand, I get to sleep with my wife every night.
That was Don telling you his side of the sleep apnea experience, and now this is Michele, the spouse.
Everything Don told you is true. We went through many nights when sleep was elusive for both of us. It was getting to where I wasn't looking forward to a good night's sleep because there never was a good night's sleep. But most importantly, I was worried about Don and how his sleep pattern looked to me. Not good.
So we were right in going to the sleep doctor, Don going through the sleep study, and getting used to the sleep machine. Don says it didn't take two weeks to get used to sleeping with a mask on his face, something he thought he would be loath to do. NOT.
The machine itself is not large, about the size of a professional size football. You get a soft sided case that it fits in, so you can take it with you for overnight trips. The case is maybe a foot square. The machine is quiet, something I wondered about...Was I trading one kind of noise for another? No. Thank goodness. There is plenty of tubing so the user can turn over without getting tangled.
Don takes care of it, rinsing it out because it has a built in humidifier for easier breathing in cooler weather. All in all, it is surprisingly simple to make it a part of both of our lives. And because of the CPAP, it will be a part of our lives for a lot longer.
As for the kissing and snuggling, at first I didn't want to disturb him if he was asleep. And he didn't want to be disturbed, either. Now, it's OK. Putting the mask on and off has become second nature, and he doesn't mind doing it. No, he doesn't mind at all.
That's not Shakespeare. It is us. We have entered the wedded stage of fatty-hubby snoring. I, the once handsome, slim and muscled male, have become what I once loathed. My alert wife now cautions me to stop referring to offenders as, 'Fat-xxxed jerks,' because I myself have a belly, meaning that I am calling the kettle black.
And so, after a few years of denying and then accepting and then dealing with snoring, we went to the Sleep Disorder Clinic. This had become a problem and a concern. We weren't sleeping together anymore. We were trading nights in the guest room, because two nights in a row on that mattress hurt our backs. It was not good on many levels.
So, we went to the Sleep place. And Michele shared her observations about my sleeping. I sat and looked clueless. So would you! Nobody knows how they sleep like their sleepless mate knows how they sleep.
"He stops breathing."
"And then does he gasp?"
"Yes."
"We should do a sleep study."
"Okay."
I will spare you the lengthy details and descriptions, including the 29 (no exaggeration) wires they hooked to me, or the report that indicated I had 45+ apnea events per hour, or.....
So now I wear a little face mask as I sleep, and the mask is attached to a CPAP machine (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure), which pushes a constant pressure of air up my nose and down my throat, and that air keeps my soft palate from dropping down into my old throat and making me snore.
And you know what? I sleep much better. I really don't mind the mask. I sleep on my back and on my side. And I sleep deeper and better. Do I wake up refreshed? No, I can't say I do, but I am probably more rested than before. And my heart is working less, and I am sure to be less likely for a heart-attack.
Do I have regrets? One. Kissing and snuggling are less spontaneous. On the other hand, I get to sleep with my wife every night.
That was Don telling you his side of the sleep apnea experience, and now this is Michele, the spouse.
Everything Don told you is true. We went through many nights when sleep was elusive for both of us. It was getting to where I wasn't looking forward to a good night's sleep because there never was a good night's sleep. But most importantly, I was worried about Don and how his sleep pattern looked to me. Not good.
So we were right in going to the sleep doctor, Don going through the sleep study, and getting used to the sleep machine. Don says it didn't take two weeks to get used to sleeping with a mask on his face, something he thought he would be loath to do. NOT.
The machine itself is not large, about the size of a professional size football. You get a soft sided case that it fits in, so you can take it with you for overnight trips. The case is maybe a foot square. The machine is quiet, something I wondered about...Was I trading one kind of noise for another? No. Thank goodness. There is plenty of tubing so the user can turn over without getting tangled.
Don takes care of it, rinsing it out because it has a built in humidifier for easier breathing in cooler weather. All in all, it is surprisingly simple to make it a part of both of our lives. And because of the CPAP, it will be a part of our lives for a lot longer.
As for the kissing and snuggling, at first I didn't want to disturb him if he was asleep. And he didn't want to be disturbed, either. Now, it's OK. Putting the mask on and off has become second nature, and he doesn't mind doing it. No, he doesn't mind at all.
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