Cpap or Bipap, anyone???

NOTE: After typing several paragraphs on this posting, I realized there may be some poor soul out there who finds himself reading this and thinks I actually know more than just passing layman knowledge about sleep apnea. WELL, BE WARNED, I DON'T AND WHAT YOU READ HEREAFTER ARE JUST MY BITS AND PIECES OF GLEANED KNOWLEDGE FROM SEARCHING THE WEB ABOUT SLEEP APNEA AND READING A BOOK. So please, feel free to add some of your own thoughts about this topic. So let the Rule of Reader Beware or something like that prevail here. BWP, Editor of Bernie's Blog.



Had a call this week from my sleep doc who informed me my sleep study (an overnighter in the hospital wired from head to toe w/ sensors that can tell everything you ever wanted to know about your sleep--or lack of it). Seems I quit breathing on average about 34 or 36 times per hour and that it took 24 cm's of air pressure pumped into my nose to kickstart my breathing during the moments I stopped. That was just one evening. Seems I've been going without sleep for nearly 20 years and never really felt I could do anything about it until a friend from the VA told me about sleep apnea.



I know this is going to be hard to believe, but I've averaged between 3 and 4 hours of sleep per night over the last 20 years--and, yes, its taken a terrible toll on my life. Things like hypertension, constant tiredness, forgetfulness, some near miss accidents, weight gain, lethargy, are just a few of the things an insomniac experiences with a long bout of sleeplessness.



When I was first experiencing my sleeplessness, I turned to herbal remedies, to meditation, finally to a belief there was nothing I could do and was doomed to feeling tired the remainder of my adult life. I'd sneak a nap wherever I could but that wasn't feasible most times if I had a trial or a client conference or a deposition or,,,,or,,,,. If you are an insomniac, you understand because you've been there. If not, then its pretty difficult to believe that someone could go without more than seven or eight hours of sleep for more than a few days, let alone for several years. But that's what its been and I have finally, I pray, found the end of this morass. The sleep doc strongly suggested I read Gregg Jacobs' enlightening book, Saying Goodnight To Insomnia. I'm still not quite finished but the facts and statistics are rather alarming, especially that most medical doctors are not aware of a non-pill approach to curing insomnia. Nor did I realize the many different kinds of insomnia there are.



My sleep apnea is from an obstruction in my air passages that occurs when sleeping. I'm not sure why my air passages want to collapse or why I just stop breathing only to have my body's defense mechanism kick in and wake me up each time I stop breathing--hence, my sleeplessness and tiredness in the morning. So, for the last week I've spent a lot of time trying to determine which machine to get and knowing absolutely nothing about them. I found out in the last couple of months that I'm bracketed by a couple of syblings who have been diagnosed with sleep apnea, as well. What could that tell us?



I always knew I had a difficulty sleeping and sometimes would kick my sleep partner or would wake up with my head at the foot of the bed and my covers all akimbo. I did the Scrooge thing and thought it was just some undigested bit of dinner that was causing my problem. Indeed, some of that may be true because I'm allergic to food dyes and certain curing agents in processed meats and canned tomatoe sauces--I can guarantee my hands will swell if I ingest prepared taco sauce and some barbeque sauces, extremely painful. So I just thought it was my genetic makeup that made me more susceptible to certain food allergies and deemed they caused my restlessness. But, my Dad, and two of his brothers all had deviated septum surgery to open their air passages because of their snoring and inability to breath while sleeping. I remember having a doctor tell me that I too had a deviated septum but that was because I was suffering from nosebleeds which he said was symptomatic of the dusty Oklahoma climate. I'm not sure about that now that I've started doing my own research.



I can tell you that some people stop breathing because their nasal air passages or either blocked or their passage collapses or they just stop breathing. I know there is another condition called Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) and Periodic Limb Movement something or other and I suspect I suffer from either or both of those because of my leg kicking which I was first told about when I was in my twenties. So what can be done about these conditions, if anything? Well, can't tell you anything about the RLS or PLM, but I can tell you that there are these amazing little machines that will blow air into your nostrils and make you breath if you forget to do so while sleeping. They are CPAP and BiPAP and now there is something called a VPAP, and probably even more designations!



The thing in common about them is that they blow air into your lungs via your nose through a mask worn over your face while sleeping. These are the really simple CPAP machines; and if you need a lot of air, that is, a larger quantity of air blown into your nose over 14 cms, then you may need a BiPap which simply blows a larger amount in and allows a lesser amount out in exhalation. Apparently you don't breath out with the same pressure that you breath in. Your body doesn't become alarmed and your brain doesn't send out the warning bell to wake up because its getting sufficient oxygen to carry on its work. End result: a good night of solid sleep. Your body replenishes itself, recharges; you feel alert, bright and chipper ready to carry on your work in a clear headed way.



I'm sure there are plenty of my detractors out there who would simply say I'm really trying to just give an excuse for being so dimwitted these many years, perhaps. But, I think I'm finally on to something that is going to improve my health and mental attitude. I'll let you know in the next couple of postings. I'll tell you about the kind of machine, what the VA feels about sleep apnea and providing its veterans with a machine that can range from a few hundred dollars to over four thousand dollars, just to get a good night's sleep. Oh, guess you ought to know, one needs a prescription to get a machine such as this. Maybe I can shed some light on this later because I'm just now waking up to this topic. Sorry, I just had to say that.



I suppose this subject is as good as any to have as my first blog. It would be easy to make this the only subject of the blog, but as I said in my profile---there's too much life out there to be limited to just one topic. But, I can promise a few more days worth to be sure. So, till our paths cross again, get some sleep. Bernie's Blog.

Bernie's Blog about Anything

Let there be Order out of the Chaos.

Gee. That sounds pontifical, doesn't it. But, since I don't know just where this blog is going to go because I have many and varied interests from gardening, fishing, cooking, traveling, my children and grand-children, writing, things theological and natural and even economonical, to name a few---let's face it, it could be chaos. So, since this is my ship, I'll try my best to steer her into interesting waters to keep the tourists' interest keen and the discussion lively.

First part of the Order. It is officially 12:54 Sunday, the Fifth Sunday of Lent and Daylight Savings time has just sprung into Spring just hours ago.

It's both enlightening and sad to me that I came into my office to create a simple menu planner and grocery list and now find myself creating a blog--no wonder I need "ORDER".

Well, I better create that menu list and grocery list before I lose more time today. Losing that one hour, which completely skipped my mind, is going to hurt. Why you ask? Because aside from everything else going on in my life, I've just started my battle with insomnia by attending a sleep study on Friday evening and know I need to have set times for going to sleep and awakening. Since my sleep time is in just nine hours and I have much to do today, and blogging wasn't even remotely considered by me when the dawn slipped on to my horizon, I am going to be scrambling to get it all done. Nothing new, mind you, its just that I really would like to get a little more organized. Better close and finish my two lists, go shopping, travel to Coweta, OK and pick up my motorcycle vest which should be adorned with two new patches, and then read more of Dr. Gregg Jacob's book, Saying Goodnight to Insomnia. My sleep doc's bible, he says. What's really interesting to me is that my loving daughter, Jen, who started me off on this blogg mess this morning by sending me an email with a "link" to where she's posting her blog about her beautiful new daughter, Abigail Rose, actually helped with Dr. Jacob's early research work by being a paid guinea pig sleep study patient back in the 80's when she was a student at Simmons College in Boston. Small world, of course--we all know this if we are over the age of 30.

Well, back to Order and my lists. Till we meet again. Bernie