An Update on My Struggle with Sleep Apnea

In May of this year, I checked into a sleep center to be tested for sleep apnea. (If you're interested in what happens at a sleep center, see my AC article.) Sleep apnea is a condition where a person stops breathing while sleeping, then gasps for breath and starts breathing again. This pattern can be repeated several times during the night. The word "apnea" literally means "without breath," and that perfectly describes the condition.

To put this in perspective, my rate of apneas is about 52 per hour, much too dangerous to ignore. Serious health issues, such as heart attacks and even death, can result from sleep apnea.

Ways of Treating Sleep Apnea. There are three main ways to deal with the situation. The first and the simplest, if applicable, is a behavior or weight change. A friend of mine was diagnosed with sleep apnea and was told to use a breathing mask (CPAP). (For more details about CPAP, see below.) He found it difficult to deal with the mask and asked his doctor if there was an alternative. He was having only about 17 apneas per hour-15 per hour does not appear to be a big concern. The doctor told him to lose about 10 pounds and he wouldn't have to use the mask. That's what he did. Other treatments may be as simple as sleeping on one's back or on one's side.

A second treatment option is surgery. Since the most common cause of sleep apnea is a blockage of the airway passage due to the collapse of soft throat tissues, one solution is an operation to reduce or remove some of the soft tissue in the throat. Other surgeries may be more complicated and more invasive. Depending on which doctor you talk to, however, the success rate of this kind of surgery is 50-80%. My doctor told me that even if the surgery is successful, it may have to be repeated in five years or so. A friend of mine tried surgery to treat his sleep apnea. His doctor told him that there was an 80% chance that it would work. However, it failed to work. He is now using the breathing mask because he has no other option. At this point, I'm not eager to try surgery.

The third option for treating sleep apnea is through the use of a breathing machine/mask combination, commonly called CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure). CPAP consists of a machine that blows air through a flexible tube into a device that fits into or onto your nostrils, or completely over your nose. The air goes through your nose and into your airway. The constant pressure through your airway keeps the airway open and prevents-or greatly reduces-the number of apneas you experience. The idea is breathe only through the nose, not through the mouth. The hose on my unit is approximately five feet long. That's long enough to allow me to turn over during the night and not be flat on my back all night.

Problems I Encountered. I had a problem with the first mask I was given, and so did my wife! Rather than covering my nose, the "mask" was held against my nostril openings with straps going over my head and under my chin. While the principle seemed simple, it didn't work well for me. When I turned over, the mask would often slip away from one or both of my nostrils, allowing the air being pumped by the machine to escape and to make enough noise to wake up my wife.

After a month of trying to make that work, I was given a different device, one that fit over my nose and covered it completely. While there is an occasional "leakage" of air from it, it has proved to be much better for both my wife and me. I have slept more soundly and so has my wife.

Despite the improvement, there is no way to ignore the fact that I am wearing the mask. I am always aware of the feel of the mask on my nose and the presence of the straps holding it in place. There is also the noise of the air coming through the machine and the increasing pressure of the airflow during the night. The machine has a button that will reset the pressure to a lower beginning pressure, but the pressure will increase again, and if you're not asleep when the higher pressure comes, you may need to reset it again.

I've only been using the CPAP system for three months, so maybe I'll grow accustomed to it to the point where it won't disturb my sleep. Or maybe someday surgery will seem more attractive. All I know is that my sleep apnea has to be controlled or I could face some dangerous health issues. Measured against that, my problems with CPAP seem small.

Sources:

www.associatedcontent.com/article/240158/checking_for_sleep_apnea_my_night_in.html
Several articles about sleep apnea have been published on Associated Content. Do a content search to find them.