Hey guess what? Well, you would never guess, so I will simply tell you. I have had the CPAP machine almost two weeks now. They called up and told me to bring in the unit I am using because they needed to download the information that it has been quietly gathering regarding my sleep habits using the CPAP machine. When I got there, the nice lady disassembled my CPAP machine into its two basic componants: the air pump, and the moisturizing unit. Then she pulled out the memory card from the air pump unit.
She slid the data card into a card reader and presently was able to tell me that since I have been using the CPAP machine, I no longer stop breathing more than 90 times an hour. NO! Now I have been stopping breathing only 2.7 times an hour. I asked how a person could stop breathing .7 times. ;-)
The nice lady has a wicked laugh, very much like the Riddler had in the first Batman movie. Remember the Riddler laying there on the ground after he fell from the building? He had this incredible laugh that went on and on. And then we found out it was just a recording of a laugh.
Any way, she then put together my final machine without the data card. Did you know that I can get a new mask every three months? She recommends getting one at least every six months. We talked about my painting the mask black and running around at Halloween going, "Luke, this is your father," like Darth Vader in Star Wars. Maybe I should change that to "trick or treat."
I have the CPAP machine set up to auto start when I start breathing. It is so neat to take a couple of deep breaths and suddenly the CPAP machine comes on and pumps your lungs just pack full of air.
I sure have a pile more energy now I am using the CPAP machine.
Happy sleeping and great dreams
David A. Youngs
polybids@yahoo.com
http://polybids.blogspot.com
Showing posts with label CPAP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CPAP. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
CPAP arrives changing this man's health
I awoke extremely exausted and tired. I had been without a CPAP machine ever since leaving the sleep disorder clinic -- and the nurse had been right. Now that I had once experienced the vigor and return to young man's health that occured using the CPAP, I, in effect, did "hit the wall" -- just as the nurse had predicted. But now I knew what I needed: (a CPAP machine) -- and that one was "one its way." I could hardly wait.
Now it was March 13, only 5 days since the test at the clinic -- and it was my wife's 50th birthday. Unbeknownst to me, she had been praying that the CPAP machine would arrive before or on her birthday. When I had left the sleep disorder clinic, the nurse cautioned me that it could take a week and half or two weeks before I would get my own machine. The medical doctors had to review the tests and approve me. She was pretty certain I would be approved, but wanted me to know that she wasn't the one to make that decision.
But I did not have to wait any longer. The telephone rang and it was the medical supply store. I had been approved and did I want to come on down and pick up my CPAP machine? Oh did I! I got dressed so fast it would make your head spin, and rushed off the get my machine.
At the store I met another fine lady who explained to me the use of my CPAP machine. This particular unit is NOT the final one I will be using. Oh, it is extremely similar, but this one has a memory chip to enable somebody to determine how effective this machine has really been to allieviate my sleep apnea. In the first minute she happened to mention that my order for the CPAP had been expedited because during the test over at the sleep disorder clinic, I had stopped breathing over 90 times an hour during the intial part of the sleep test without the CPAP assistance. Wow!! That is more than once a minute. It is amazing that I ever woke up again. No wonder I could go to bed a just a little tired and wake up just totally exhausted. My sleep had been literally wearing me out!!
I had been told at the sleep clinic that my machine would differ from theirs because their unit could be remotely controlled for how much air it pumps, and it could be switched from CPAP to IPAP (intermittent positive air pressure.) The nurse explained that during the sleep test they gradually increased the pressure until I didn't stop breathing any more. Enough pressure is required to keep the throat open.
Well, apparently for me that is a setting of 11. Eleven what I am not sure -- maybe 11 liters of air per minute. And I don't know how high the machine could ultimately go, but I somehow got the impression that it might top out at 20 or 25. I would like a machine where I could fiddle with the settings, but of course everyone fiddled with the settings when the machines were adjustable. And it was usually to their detriment. So now the machines are set at the store and the end user can't change the airflow settings. I am stuck with a setting of 11.
Any way, my very own CPAP machine consists of two parts: the humidifier and the air pump. The humidifier is important to insure that my lungs and breathing passages won't dry out during the night. Every night, before I turn the CPAP machine on, it is important to fill up the humidifier's water chamber. The instructor told me if I used tap water, I would have to clean the whole chamber about once a week to get rid of mineral deposits. On the other hand, if I use bottled water there wouldn't be any deposits. I elected to save myself a pile of grief later, and so I am using bottled water.
I have had my CPAP machine just about a week now. Oh wow, the difference it makes. I should have obtained one 25 years ago!! I feel about 25 years old again, and I have a ENERGY in the morning. Now when I wake up, I actually have energy to do things! It is incredible. No more slowly coming to consciousness and wishing I wasn't awake because I am so extremely tired. NO!! Now I have energy. When I wake up.... Suddenly I am wide AWAKE!!!
In fact, I have so much energy, I am challenged with forcing myself to go to bed at the end of the day. One night I woke up because I had to go pee, and I felt so wide awake at 3:00 AM that I jumped on my computer and wrote a super long email telling a friend of mine how busy I was. I must have been up about 2 1/2 hours. Then I went back to bed, and had trouble falling asleep. All this energy that I am unaccustomed to.
I have to tell you, my life has changed. I am now beginning to do the things I should have done years ago. Well, I am blogging... for one thing. And I am finally doing something about finishing my private web over at http://polybids.com/ that I have been just letting lie dormant and unfinished for a couple of years. I am also taking classes on the internet on how to make money. If it works out, I will probably start ANOTHER blog, in addition to this one, telling about this man's quest for riches. I am considering starting an in-home business. All these things are things I did not do before because I just didn't have the energy to get up and do them.
I guess my biggest challenge is keeping myself focused, because of all the additional energy I now feel.
Oh... and I am beginning to lose weight. My metabolism is cranking up to the level it used to be when I was in college, and it is exciting. I am down to 258 pounds -- which is far better than 278. The doctor thinks much of the loss is fluid and he is probably right. I don't care. I am feeling so much better than I have in many, many years. My goal is to weigh less than 200 pounds. Well, I used to say 190, but I will be happy with anything under 200. Who knows... maybe I can even take up jogging again pretty soon. :-)
So in sumary:
The CPAP machine has worked out incredibly well in my quest for health.
Until next time,
David
polybids@yahoo.com
http://polybids.blogspot.com
Now it was March 13, only 5 days since the test at the clinic -- and it was my wife's 50th birthday. Unbeknownst to me, she had been praying that the CPAP machine would arrive before or on her birthday. When I had left the sleep disorder clinic, the nurse cautioned me that it could take a week and half or two weeks before I would get my own machine. The medical doctors had to review the tests and approve me. She was pretty certain I would be approved, but wanted me to know that she wasn't the one to make that decision.
But I did not have to wait any longer. The telephone rang and it was the medical supply store. I had been approved and did I want to come on down and pick up my CPAP machine? Oh did I! I got dressed so fast it would make your head spin, and rushed off the get my machine.
At the store I met another fine lady who explained to me the use of my CPAP machine. This particular unit is NOT the final one I will be using. Oh, it is extremely similar, but this one has a memory chip to enable somebody to determine how effective this machine has really been to allieviate my sleep apnea. In the first minute she happened to mention that my order for the CPAP had been expedited because during the test over at the sleep disorder clinic, I had stopped breathing over 90 times an hour during the intial part of the sleep test without the CPAP assistance. Wow!! That is more than once a minute. It is amazing that I ever woke up again. No wonder I could go to bed a just a little tired and wake up just totally exhausted. My sleep had been literally wearing me out!!
I had been told at the sleep clinic that my machine would differ from theirs because their unit could be remotely controlled for how much air it pumps, and it could be switched from CPAP to IPAP (intermittent positive air pressure.) The nurse explained that during the sleep test they gradually increased the pressure until I didn't stop breathing any more. Enough pressure is required to keep the throat open.
Well, apparently for me that is a setting of 11. Eleven what I am not sure -- maybe 11 liters of air per minute. And I don't know how high the machine could ultimately go, but I somehow got the impression that it might top out at 20 or 25. I would like a machine where I could fiddle with the settings, but of course everyone fiddled with the settings when the machines were adjustable. And it was usually to their detriment. So now the machines are set at the store and the end user can't change the airflow settings. I am stuck with a setting of 11.
Any way, my very own CPAP machine consists of two parts: the humidifier and the air pump. The humidifier is important to insure that my lungs and breathing passages won't dry out during the night. Every night, before I turn the CPAP machine on, it is important to fill up the humidifier's water chamber. The instructor told me if I used tap water, I would have to clean the whole chamber about once a week to get rid of mineral deposits. On the other hand, if I use bottled water there wouldn't be any deposits. I elected to save myself a pile of grief later, and so I am using bottled water.
I have had my CPAP machine just about a week now. Oh wow, the difference it makes. I should have obtained one 25 years ago!! I feel about 25 years old again, and I have a ENERGY in the morning. Now when I wake up, I actually have energy to do things! It is incredible. No more slowly coming to consciousness and wishing I wasn't awake because I am so extremely tired. NO!! Now I have energy. When I wake up.... Suddenly I am wide AWAKE!!!
In fact, I have so much energy, I am challenged with forcing myself to go to bed at the end of the day. One night I woke up because I had to go pee, and I felt so wide awake at 3:00 AM that I jumped on my computer and wrote a super long email telling a friend of mine how busy I was. I must have been up about 2 1/2 hours. Then I went back to bed, and had trouble falling asleep. All this energy that I am unaccustomed to.
I have to tell you, my life has changed. I am now beginning to do the things I should have done years ago. Well, I am blogging... for one thing. And I am finally doing something about finishing my private web over at http://polybids.com/ that I have been just letting lie dormant and unfinished for a couple of years. I am also taking classes on the internet on how to make money. If it works out, I will probably start ANOTHER blog, in addition to this one, telling about this man's quest for riches. I am considering starting an in-home business. All these things are things I did not do before because I just didn't have the energy to get up and do them.
I guess my biggest challenge is keeping myself focused, because of all the additional energy I now feel.
Oh... and I am beginning to lose weight. My metabolism is cranking up to the level it used to be when I was in college, and it is exciting. I am down to 258 pounds -- which is far better than 278. The doctor thinks much of the loss is fluid and he is probably right. I don't care. I am feeling so much better than I have in many, many years. My goal is to weigh less than 200 pounds. Well, I used to say 190, but I will be happy with anything under 200. Who knows... maybe I can even take up jogging again pretty soon. :-)
So in sumary:
The CPAP machine has worked out incredibly well in my quest for health.
Until next time,
David
polybids@yahoo.com
http://polybids.blogspot.com
Friday, March 16, 2007
Sleep Clinic, sleep test, CPAP machines and health
Well, I went to the sleep disorder clinic. They said I had to go to sleep by 11:00 pm. Have you ever been under stress to go to sleep, especially in a strange bed and in a strange environment? Well, I said "Okay." But since it was only 7:00 when I got there it was only about 8:00 when I got done filling out my paperwork. Of course I was supposed to have the paperwork all done and sent in weeks ago, but.... I lost it after it arrived in the mail.
But after I finished my paperwork, a nice older lady nurse showed me to my very own private bedroom. I had no idea how the sleep clinic test was supposed to work. But guess what.... there is a very nice short video tape that tells you exactly what they are going to do and how testing proceeds.
After I watched the video, I sat on the bed. It felt quite comfortable. I had brought my own pillow. If you ever do go for a sleep test, be sure to bring your own pillow. It makes all the difference between getting sleep and staying awake. At least for some people.
The nice nurse came in and showed me how to operate the cable television. Wow!! I have not seen television in almost a year. Well, maybe a few local channels, but not CABLE television. I was excited. I found a couple of old Star Trek episodes with Captain Kirk. Somewhere around 10:30 the nurse came in and woke me up. Apparently I had already fallen asleep.
Now this is where things get interesting. They glue about 20 leads all over your body. Two to each leg, a couple on the chest, and most of them around your head. And they use this very sticky goo that keeps the leads attached. Fortunately several months ago I had elected to do the very short haircut thing for two reasons. I'll get into the reasons in a moment. But first I have to tell you, there are these really strange wire sensors that literally go part way into your nose to see if you are breathing though your nose. They partially restrict your nose breathing so that makes life more challenging from then on. But I had cut my hair very short now for about a year. Why???
First, I am going bald. No!!! I don't want to go bald, but I don't have the money to buy Rogaine or some other medication to use every day to regrow my hair. The other reason was a matter of cost. Some time in the last year or so haircuts have climbed up in cost at the local hair cutting place in the mall. So I elected to buy my own electric razor with all those length attachements. I now give myself a haircut (free) in about 20 minutes. I use attachement #3 which gives me about 3/8 inch hair.
Any way the nice nurse glued all these electrodes all over my head. I guess that is to determine what type of sleep you are enjoying. She even had me put a couple of leads down each pant leg and glued leads on my calves. These are to see if I move my feet in my sleep. I thought I would never fall asleep again as I was experiencing some difficulty breathing since I got this amazing cold last week. It was a doozy. Any way, I felt some very real congestion in my chest and had difficulty in breathing in enough air to relax and go to sleep. But eventually I guess I drifted off.
Now when you awake, they warn you not to hardly move, or you will disturb all these wires from the leads all over your body. I awoke at about 12:15 and had to go pee. The bathroom is down the hall. So I said "Hey, I got to go to the bathroom" and immediately a voice out of nowhere said, "I'll be right there." The nice nurse came in and disconnected the leads from the recording machine. Then she wrapped all these leads around my neck and tied them in a knot. And I went off to the bathroom down the hall.
And after a few minutes I came back and she reattached me to the recording machine. I went back to sleep experiencing the same difficulty breathing. Then I woke up again at 1:30. Same routine.
Except after she had reattached all my cables she said, "let's try this" and pulled out what was obviously a mask to put over my nose. I asked, "do you think I need this?" The nurse replied, "Does the pope live at Rome? Do bears sleep in the woods?" Remember now, my sinuses are clogged to the max from this amazing cold I am experiencing. After hooking up what looked a whole lot like a miniature vacuum cleaner hose to this machine, she turned it on. Air was pumped under pressure to the mask, where I was supposed to breath it in. But... no go. So I asked for a mask to cover both nose and mouth. At first the nurse said, "It isn't going to work, because you have a beard." But after realizing I could not breath at all, she relented and brought me a bigger mask. It worked great. The air was slightly pressurized and it made breathing a whole lot easier.
I fell asleep almost instantly. As I was drifting off I thought, "this is what Darth Vader uses too!"
I almost woke up several times, but simply continued breathing and went back to sleep." Then the urge of nature woke me up. I spoke "Luke, I am your father." But inside the mask, no one could hear me. So I pulled off the mask and said, "Hey, I gotta go to the bathroom again." The nurse came in and started pulling off all the leads. I said, "wait a minute. I thought this study was supposed to go till 6:00 am and it is only 5:30." She said, "by the time you go potty, come back and get all hooked up again, it will be almost 6:00. Your study is over."
When I got to my feet, I had the most incredible sensation I have had in years. No... it wasn't pee running down my leg. It was energy. I had energy upon waking. It felt like I was back in college again. I went to the bathroom and then came back. The nurse was of course gone. So I went to her station and told her... "Hey, I have energy!! This CPAP machine really works." "She grinned mischieviously and said, "you think so huh?" Then she told me that I had stopped breathing repeatedly before she put the mask on me. She said, "if there ever was a candidate for the CPAP machine, it is you."
But I did not get one right then. Noooo!!! I had to wait for a medical doctor to interpret the results of my repeatedly stopping breathing while sleeping, and then compare it to the data collected after the CPAP machine was hooked up. But she assured me that they would definitely find in my favor (I would get a CPAP machine.) But it would take time. She then warned me that I would "hit the wall" when I tried to sleep again that night.
She was absolutely right. It was very hard to sleep. I slept restlessly and awoke so groggy I went back to sleep. Almost the whole day went by before I started to feel awake. I thought, "I can't wait for my very own CPAP machine."
If you snore loudly, go get a sleep study at a sleep disorder clinic. Perhaps you need a CPAP machine too.
David Youngs
http://polybids.blogspot.com
But after I finished my paperwork, a nice older lady nurse showed me to my very own private bedroom. I had no idea how the sleep clinic test was supposed to work. But guess what.... there is a very nice short video tape that tells you exactly what they are going to do and how testing proceeds.
After I watched the video, I sat on the bed. It felt quite comfortable. I had brought my own pillow. If you ever do go for a sleep test, be sure to bring your own pillow. It makes all the difference between getting sleep and staying awake. At least for some people.
The nice nurse came in and showed me how to operate the cable television. Wow!! I have not seen television in almost a year. Well, maybe a few local channels, but not CABLE television. I was excited. I found a couple of old Star Trek episodes with Captain Kirk. Somewhere around 10:30 the nurse came in and woke me up. Apparently I had already fallen asleep.
Now this is where things get interesting. They glue about 20 leads all over your body. Two to each leg, a couple on the chest, and most of them around your head. And they use this very sticky goo that keeps the leads attached. Fortunately several months ago I had elected to do the very short haircut thing for two reasons. I'll get into the reasons in a moment. But first I have to tell you, there are these really strange wire sensors that literally go part way into your nose to see if you are breathing though your nose. They partially restrict your nose breathing so that makes life more challenging from then on. But I had cut my hair very short now for about a year. Why???
First, I am going bald. No!!! I don't want to go bald, but I don't have the money to buy Rogaine or some other medication to use every day to regrow my hair. The other reason was a matter of cost. Some time in the last year or so haircuts have climbed up in cost at the local hair cutting place in the mall. So I elected to buy my own electric razor with all those length attachements. I now give myself a haircut (free) in about 20 minutes. I use attachement #3 which gives me about 3/8 inch hair.
Any way the nice nurse glued all these electrodes all over my head. I guess that is to determine what type of sleep you are enjoying. She even had me put a couple of leads down each pant leg and glued leads on my calves. These are to see if I move my feet in my sleep. I thought I would never fall asleep again as I was experiencing some difficulty breathing since I got this amazing cold last week. It was a doozy. Any way, I felt some very real congestion in my chest and had difficulty in breathing in enough air to relax and go to sleep. But eventually I guess I drifted off.
Now when you awake, they warn you not to hardly move, or you will disturb all these wires from the leads all over your body. I awoke at about 12:15 and had to go pee. The bathroom is down the hall. So I said "Hey, I got to go to the bathroom" and immediately a voice out of nowhere said, "I'll be right there." The nice nurse came in and disconnected the leads from the recording machine. Then she wrapped all these leads around my neck and tied them in a knot. And I went off to the bathroom down the hall.
And after a few minutes I came back and she reattached me to the recording machine. I went back to sleep experiencing the same difficulty breathing. Then I woke up again at 1:30. Same routine.
Except after she had reattached all my cables she said, "let's try this" and pulled out what was obviously a mask to put over my nose. I asked, "do you think I need this?" The nurse replied, "Does the pope live at Rome? Do bears sleep in the woods?" Remember now, my sinuses are clogged to the max from this amazing cold I am experiencing. After hooking up what looked a whole lot like a miniature vacuum cleaner hose to this machine, she turned it on. Air was pumped under pressure to the mask, where I was supposed to breath it in. But... no go. So I asked for a mask to cover both nose and mouth. At first the nurse said, "It isn't going to work, because you have a beard." But after realizing I could not breath at all, she relented and brought me a bigger mask. It worked great. The air was slightly pressurized and it made breathing a whole lot easier.
I fell asleep almost instantly. As I was drifting off I thought, "this is what Darth Vader uses too!"
I almost woke up several times, but simply continued breathing and went back to sleep." Then the urge of nature woke me up. I spoke "Luke, I am your father." But inside the mask, no one could hear me. So I pulled off the mask and said, "Hey, I gotta go to the bathroom again." The nurse came in and started pulling off all the leads. I said, "wait a minute. I thought this study was supposed to go till 6:00 am and it is only 5:30." She said, "by the time you go potty, come back and get all hooked up again, it will be almost 6:00. Your study is over."
When I got to my feet, I had the most incredible sensation I have had in years. No... it wasn't pee running down my leg. It was energy. I had energy upon waking. It felt like I was back in college again. I went to the bathroom and then came back. The nurse was of course gone. So I went to her station and told her... "Hey, I have energy!! This CPAP machine really works." "She grinned mischieviously and said, "you think so huh?" Then she told me that I had stopped breathing repeatedly before she put the mask on me. She said, "if there ever was a candidate for the CPAP machine, it is you."
But I did not get one right then. Noooo!!! I had to wait for a medical doctor to interpret the results of my repeatedly stopping breathing while sleeping, and then compare it to the data collected after the CPAP machine was hooked up. But she assured me that they would definitely find in my favor (I would get a CPAP machine.) But it would take time. She then warned me that I would "hit the wall" when I tried to sleep again that night.
She was absolutely right. It was very hard to sleep. I slept restlessly and awoke so groggy I went back to sleep. Almost the whole day went by before I started to feel awake. I thought, "I can't wait for my very own CPAP machine."
If you snore loudly, go get a sleep study at a sleep disorder clinic. Perhaps you need a CPAP machine too.
David Youngs
http://polybids.blogspot.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
