Posted by Noa on December 5, 2000, at 15:11:19
In reply to Re: Anyone else feel like an experiment...?, posted by Noa on December 1, 2000, at 16:38:17
I have sleep apnea, and use a cpap. It is literally a life saver. I really don't know how I survived for several years without really sleeping, and being a bit oxygen deprived. I had about 1/4 of the normal REM sleep, and this was with ADs, which typically increase REM sleep time.
Now, I am not sleepy all the time, don't wake up with headaches and don't catch as many respiratory infections as I used to. I am not constantly fighting the urge to sleep, and can actually wake up without an alarm clock in the morning!!!
I also no longer have acid reflux, which apparently was directly caused by the pressure of trying to breath through the obstruction.
Starting on a cpap is a little challenging in the beginning, and there might be things you will need to adjust or try to do differntly, and getting used to the mask, etc. can be annoying at first. But, my experience has been that it is well worth it.
I thought all my depression problems would go away once the apnea was addressed, but I still had the thyroid thing to address, and now that the thyroid thing is under control, I have to deal with the damage done from years of not functioning, and still am working on coping skills, emotional issues, etc. So, I had hoped the cpap would make everything better and that wasn't realistic, and there was a period there when I was disillusioned and disappointed that I was still depressed despite the cpap. BUT, it was still easy to recognize how much better it was with CPAP: I was not falling asleep all the time and this helped me function a whole lot better, obviously. Before cpap, I spent every possible free minute catching naps, but never feeling rested. I became extremely addicted to caffeine, just trying not to fall asleep on the job or at the wheel. It was getting harder and harderto do this, and I was beginning to get worried about driving.
Diagnosis of apnea (I essentially diagnosed myself and then had a sleep test to confirm it) and CPAP have saved my life.
poster:Noa
thread:49713
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20001130/msgs/49980.html