So I have been told I snore.
Took me a bit to admit that maybe I do, but when my kids said they could hear me when the TV is on and the door is closed, I knew I could not argue it anymore.
What does snoring mean? How is this possible?
I seldom sleep on my back and usually sleep on my stomach so it is not nasal.
I have not been sick so it is not a cold. I started doing some research and asking some friends online. It turns out snoring is actually quite serious. It is a sign or possible health issues like Sleep Apnea. Growing up with parents who snored, loudly, I just assumed this was normal. Now I am stressing that my weight, you know those baby pounds gained after the baby was 6 years old. Now I worry they are causing me health problems.
I made an appt with my family Dr for a referral to a sleep clinic. The clinic monitors you while you sleep. Who knew this was so popular? The receptionist originally guessed 6 months wait but my Dr is guessing more like a year for me to wait to be tested. He made sure to mark down no preference in Dr for the clinic, but chances are it will still take a while to be seen.
I am trying not to read too much about Sleep Apnea but to be honest I am a tad worried.
Then I get this headline in my email
“Statistics show 38,000 people a year die in North America from sleep apnea. This is an extremely high number for a disease that can be controlled. Is it time to save yourself, a loved one or friend? Take the time to learn what you MUST know before it is too late.”
Really? It is that serious but I have to wait a year to be tested? Yes it is covered by our provincial health coverage but still? It seems to be a catch 22 as well. My Dr says the mask they would give me if they found I have Sleep apnea will help with weight loss, yet I read weight is one of the biggest causes.
*sigh
Symptoms I have other than snoring are, waking often throughout the night, being tired throughout the day and according to my children, I have stopped breathing. Or they described it as “Making a choking sound while sleeping”
Sleep apnea occurs when your breathing is disrupted during sleep. Men, overweight people, and people over 40 are at greater risk for sleep apnea. Untreated sleep apnea can cause hypertension, stroke, or heart failure.
So all I can do now is wait and hope to get the call to come in and be hooked up overnight and monitored. I am willing to take any day of the year appointment but it doe snot look like anytime soon. You would think something that is so serious would be a bit quicker to diagnose. Something tells me my anxiety will rise while I wait to hear more information.
What does a sleep clinic do?
A sleep clinic is a facility that is staffed overnight to monitor patients. Some may have their own facility and others may be located in a hospital. A sleep study is a recording that contains several types of measurements used to identify different sleep stages and classify various sleep problems. Many parts of the brain control sleep and influence its different stages, these levels or stages of sleep include drowsiness, light sleep, deep sleep, and dream sleep. The clinic can tell which state of sleep a person is in by measuring different activities of the brain and body. These activities include brain waves, eye movements, muscle tone, heart rate and respiration.
So obviously on top of having all kinds of things hooked up to me, I will be on video surveillance while I sleep. Having given birth to four children I am not concerned about embarrassing myself, but I could never sleep while being watched.
It will be interesting to see what happens and if I need to get a Sleep apnea mask (CPAP). I hear they are only partially covered and can be quite pricey. But my health is most important so the cost will be minimal. It is more the waiting that stresses me out. These masks are not he sexiest thing I have ever seen and they will take some getting use to for sure. Take a look
Please tell me I am not alone, have you been to a sleep study? What did you find out? Anything I should know for prep? Maybe you are like me and had no idea how serious your symptoms actually were. If so, see your Dr ASAP so you too can get put on a waiting list.
My daughter who is a chronic snorer went to a sleep clinic and was told she does not snore, she has snored ever since she was a baby and her poor husband has terrible nights with her! Apparently she could not sleep and just dozed on and off all night, I guess you need to spend more than one night at the clinic to get a true picture!
I'm actually waiting to go for my overnight test right now too. My mom was diagnosed with sleep apnoea 15 or more years ago, and my husband has it as well. So I'm well aware of how important it is to get diagnosed, and how much difference being treated for it has made in their lives. The waiting though. Oi! My first appointment was pretty quick, a mere two month wait. But it turns out that first appointment was just to go in and fill out some forms. Pages and pages of very detailed medical survey style forms, which I then left there for a doctor to look at and assess my risk. Then I get a call saying yes, it seems likely I could have sleep apnoea, and we will call with an appointment for an overnight test. A few weeks later they called to give me my appointment, in 5 months time. And then I had to cancel the appointment. When it came time to confirm 48 hours beforehand that I would attend, I had a nasty cold with a hacking cough. Postponed. That was in February. My replacement appointment is booked for mid-May. Sigh. Getting there.
My family has a lot of us that have sleep apnea. In fact my husband had sleep apnea and it was just so sexy with both of us needing a machine on to sleep! lol. I have gotten worse over the years and when I had my last sleep study a month ago I am needing a bi-pap machine instead. My RT said that she had never seen a woman or a man with their machine so high, yeah me!! I really didn't have much trouble falling asleep as I can sleep anywhere. My problem is staying asleep!! I am very fortunate that my machine is fully covered as are supplies. My neighbor complained to my landlord last summer about my snoring :/ I had stopped using my machine when my husband passed, ya I know bad idea. I have done research and there is belief that if you have a great deal of pain in your body and you do not sleep properly it can be increased. If you have the sleep apnea treated it can help with your pain. I have fibromyalgia so I am looking forward to that!! I hope that you get an appointment soon and enjoy a good night sleep 🙂
Hang on in there guys it is SO worth it! Certain prescribed medication was having little or no effect on me so I. like you, joined the waiting list. (I'm in Ireland & there are only 2 sleep clinics in the country, Dublin & Cork). My initial appointment was after about 6 months, then another 6 months until my 'sleepover'. It transpired that I was waking up up to 30 times an hour, No wonder I always felt so lousy and sluggish. Within a couple of days of using the sleep ap machine it was like I had been reborn. I now have so much energy, my deep depression has lifted and I am much more active in my local community. My health insurance covered everything & the manufacturers are extremely helpful if I have any queries. An added bonus is that my asthma has dramatically improved as I'm not breathing in dust, cat dander etc. at night and my body is getting the deep sleep required to mend aches & pains.. Nowadays I can't imagine going to bed without the machine.
I couldn't even manage to stay the whole night at the sleep clinic in Ottawa. I live in the country, and I found trying to sleep in the city too noise and too bright. The hospital setting had its own set of problems. The temperature was too warm, I could hear all the noises in the corridor and see the light under the door. The bed was a narrow hospital bed, with the plastic covered mattress. They said bring your own pillows, etc., and even that didn't help. I brought my two pillows and my duvet and was miserable. The other issue is that I sleep naked, and you can't do that in a hospital setting, where people are checking on you repeatedly. They tried me with the c-pap, and I was claustrophobic. No mask for me. Weight loss has helped somewhat with the apnea, but I've had it since childhood, as I have allergies, so I've given up on the sleep clinic, since I couldn't sleep there.