Last night I got one of the best nights of sleep I’ve had in a very long time. Let me share a few highlights from my polysomnogram: Total sleep time was 5.5 hours. Non-REM sleep was 4.6 hours, REM sleep 0.9 hours (54 minutes). The patient was awake for 162 minutes after the onset of persistent sleep. There was no stage IV sleep. There were 442 respiratory arousals, 295 apneas, 292 were obstructive. 158 hypopneas. The minimum oxygen saturation was 62% (but above 90% for 94% of the study, and above 80% for 98% of the study).
The CPAP device I have is not very large, and is actually pretty quiet. As I suspected yesterday, my wife now has to get used to me not snoring, the sound of the CPAP didn’t bother her at all. I was also prescribed a humidifier that the CPAP device plugs in to, which was nice.
I sleep like Darth Vader now.
Remember the sleep test I took last week? Well apparently I failed. I have severe sleep apnea. The four hours I got that night apparently were enough for them to diagnose me. I must now go and spend much hard-earned money on a CPAP device.
Last night I spent the night at the hospital’s sleep testing center. I don’t sleep well most of the time. I wake up sometimes every 1.5-2 hours. My brain doesn’t slow down sometimes, and it can take hours to fall asleep. Or if I wake up in the middle of the night, it will keep me from going back to sleep. It’s not fun. I’m usually tired in the morning, but can’t get back to sleep right away, so I get up.
Unlike some people, though, I’m not likely to fall asleep during the day, or when I sit down at my desk, or even relax on a couch. I don’t feel tired once I’m up and moving around again. The problem is I know I’m just not getting enough recuperative sleep. My wife says I stop breathing from time to time, which fits with the sleep apnea profile.
Anyway, last night was awful. I was really tired, but couldn’t fall asleep. The wires didn’t bother me too much, but the finger monitor and the nose-hoses that detect your breathing were difficult to get used to. I think it took me 2.5 hours to fall asleep (I went to bed at 11pm). I woke up several times, and was up permanently a little before 6am. I really hope I don’t have to go back, my insurance bill will kill me even at the 80/20 coverage.
On the good side, last night was a typical “worst-night” experience for me, so they got the whole range of my problem. They sure got what they asked for. Unfortunately, it’s going to take two weeks before I get results back, though.