7 years, 1 month ago Mike Moyers
You like wearing a mask, right?
I’m not a doctor and I don’t play one on TV. But, I knew that I hadn't been feeling right and had to do something about it. Now north of 60 I’ve undergone the usual neighborhood body changes. I move a little slower, eat a little too much and sleep a lot more.
Or so I thought.
After a couple of years of “this hurts" and “boy I just don’t have the energy” I took my symptoms to Quincy Medical Group and described them to Dr. Greg Andrews. I met Greg on a Cursillo (#301) a few years back and feel really comfortable with him.
“Sounds like you need a sleep study,” Andrews said with a smile. “If you’re taking a nap after work, then having dinner, then going to bed at 7:30 AND YOU’RESTILL EXHAUSTED when you get up there’s definitely something wrong here.”
So, I did the study which consisted of me staying the night at the QMG Sleep Study Lab on Hampshire. Check in was around 8pm during which time my host/caretaker explained what would be happening in detail and attempted to make me feel comfortable.
Look; I didn’t want to do this study thing AT ALL, but if this is what it took to find out if I was dealing with a sleep disorder then so be it..
The study was fine. After a 15 minute session of getting hooked up to the computer it was lights out. Hey, it was almost 8:30 and I was used to turning in at 7:30 so I was up late on a school night!
My host told me that if I achieved the benchmarks I had to hit (something about getting into REM sleep and not stopping the breathing process) he would just let me sleep through the night. However, if those marks weren’t hit he would wake me up at 2:30am upon which time I would have to wear a CPAP breathing device. And that’s what happened.
A couple of weeks after the study I was notified that I had been diagnosed with sleep apnea. Yes friends; I was about to become a member of CPAP village.
The CPAP machine I’m using is a Dream Station made by Phillips. It’s small, easy to use and quiet. In the past I had had friends who had told me their CPAP machine sounded like a lawn mower. I had other friends who had issues with the mask they had to wear. In both cases they quit using the thing. But this Dream Station set up is really slick.
I’ve been using it almost a month and the difference is night and day. Where I used to have to haul myself out of bed in the morning, now I’m up and ready to go. No more late afternoon naps and early turn ins; I’m staying up later and have a ton more energy.
So, if you’re always tired, getting up numerous times during the night and just feeling run down tell your doctor.
And if you need an excuse to make an appointment with your doctor Sleep Awareness Week is coming up on March 6th. You’re welcome.
Now go sleep on it. And when you get up call and make that appointment.
