This past weekend I subjected myself to a two night sleep apnea test at the suggestion of a doctor. You know, the one that told me I was obese? Ya that one.
I don’t hold any grudges, but I do hold the image of that assessment in my mind and probably will for some time to come. It’s not a bad thing as long as I don’t beat myself up with it. For now, it has motivated me to make some changes in my lifestyle.
In my previous post I listed off 23 challenging life experiences that have brought me to where I am now. They were mostly negative as the past few years have been tough but with the changes I am making now their impact will fade over time.
Lack of Quality Sleep
The number one issue I am facing, still, is lack of quality sleep. I know I know, lots of parents experience this but for me the fatigue never goes away. I never wake up feeling refreshed. In fact in the past 10 years I don’t remember one single morning that I woke up feeling good.
So, I took a sleep test. I had to pick up a monitor at a shop nearby and strap it on for two nights. It checked my breathing, heart rate and oxygen levels. I probably looked like a freak with cello tape on my face to keep the tubes from falling out of my nose. And I had to put a monitor on my index finger and somehow manage to keep it on all night. That proved not so easy as it was a bit tight, (are my fingertips obese too?).
After it was secured with tape (I’m sure I ripped a few hairs out in the process, by the way if you ever do a sleep test make sure to use tape that’s not difficult to remove) it was pretty easy to keep the monitor in place.
I took the monitor back yesterday and the results were available to me right away. It turns out I don’t have sleep apnea but I’m not really surprised. I’ve never been told I snore consistently or stop breathing. We were just ruling it out. Since I wrote this post I got a call from the doctor. It turns out that I do in fact have sleep apnea. WTF?! But, it’s not treatable through any other means besides exercise and losing weight.
The sleep apnea I have is rated a 5 which means that I stop breathing 5 times an hour. But apparently that is not cause for concern at this point. When I go back in 6 months to do a reassessment we’ll see if it changes or not. I guess I better get my butt to the gym more often and stop eating sugar!
Onto the next step.
I’ll probably have to go back to have a full on in-laboratory sleep assessment like the one I had five years ago to see if the restless leg issue I have is worse or now have one of the 92 other sleep disorders out there so I’m not out of the woods yet. (Maybe I can blame my ‘obesity’ on sleep-eating, although if I were doing that I would also be sleep-cleaning too as there is clearly no evidence of me eating while sleeping).
Until then, this is what I’ve learned about getting better sleep. These helpful tips are pretty much a no-brainer but it’s good to be reminded.
[Tweet “This is a great reminder! The do’s and don’t of good sleep. #sleephygiene #sleepapnea”]
Blood Test Results
Oh and my blood test results came back negative for the most part. The only concerns are cholesterol, which is a bit high and iron level is low. I’ll get those rechecked in a few months and also see to an ultrasound to check for fibroids too. I suppose I’m getting to the age where menopause will soon be throwing another wrench into the mix. Lovely.
Aren’t you glad you know this about me now? Ha ha..
Hi Erin,
You must feel so much better using the CPAP. A good friend of mine does as well and it’s been important for her health. Now that this is ruled out there is so much more to figure out, it’s not easy when the symptoms aren’t so glaring you know, like a tumour or something. I’m working hard to fix this, and have been good about getting exercise and eating better after ‘the obese comment’.
It’s really great you persevered through the sleep apnea testing – it can be so damaging for your health if you don’t catch it. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea last year, and I sleep with what’s called a CPAP machine every night – it’s essentially an air pump attached to your face with a tube, blasting open your airways. It sounds horrible, but if you’ve been unknowingly living with sleep apnea since your late teens as I was, it’s pretty amazing to sleep properly. My husband is overjoyed I don’t keep him up with my snoring anymore!
Hang in there, sounds like you’re doing a really thorough job working through all the possibilities. I know it’s not fun, but it will be worth it when it gets sorted out.