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Hi all
I'd like to share my story and am hoping it will help others.
In 2009, I began falling asleep during the day and put it down to age (then 46). I work from home, so having a little siesta most days wasn't a problem. Unfortunately, I then started to fall asleep in office meetings especially if the room was stuffy. Once, I fell asleep whilst fanning my face with a notepad - I'd felt drowsy and thought if I fanned my face, I wouldn't fall asleep whilst moving my arm. I was awoken by the sound of the notepad falling to the floor!
My boss phoned me one day and asked if I had a medical issue as it had been noticed I'd nodded off in customer meetings. I said something was wrong and promised to go to the doctors.
In the meantime, my symptoms were getting worse. I was waking in the night with a tongue so dry it felt like sandpaper and I could pick off hard-crusted lumps of saliva (gross, I know). Eating anything with even a hint of chilli was awful because my tongue was so sore, with a huge crack down the middle and lots of painful spots around the edges. Any journey greater than 10 miles in the car would make me drowsy and I started to plan journeys and go to a service station or lay-by for a 15 minute sleep, setting my mobile phone to wake me. I also had a small thumb-sized rash on the back of my hand which no cream would fix. My weight was increasing even though I ate healthily and hadn't changed my eating habits.
By 2010, my siestas were now stretching to 4 hours, on occasions. Visits to my parents meant that I would arrive, fall asleep, be woken up for Sunday lunch, fall asleep again and then be woken up to go home. I was falling asleep talking to people on the phone. I began to slur my words sometimes when talking on the phone. I could hear myself slurring but remember thinking it was just too much effort to repeat what I'd said and pronounce it properly. Once, I had lunch with a friend and fell asleep whilst eating/talking!
I went to my GP and was immediately referred to a specialist who sent me for a sleep test. I had 3 nights of tests at home; one for sleep monitoring, one for blood pressure and another for heart, I think. The specialist told me that my sleep tests were the highest he'd ever seen and that I stopped breathing 109 times an hour. He also said my heart was stopping for 3.5 seconds at a time and that my waking oxygen levels in my blood were 83% (should be 95%+ apparently). I was told I would go to the top of the waiting list at my local hospital for a CPAP machine.
Two months later, I was given a CPAP machine (Sept 2010). From the first night, it changed my life. For a couple of months, I did have a little trouble sometimes - waking up with the mask on my forehead or my chin. I found it funny and joked that I was doing an impression of Darth Vader or an elephant (hose = trunk!). I seem to have cracked it now and sleep for about 6.5 hours a night. I almost never awake in the night and always awake feeling rested. Since the first night, my sleepiness symptoms have gone. My tongue healed after a month. My small rash has cleared up 2 years after it appeared.
One of the best changes is weight loss. The weight is literally falling off me. I never weigh myself (as I believe size is more relevant, not what the scales say) but estimate I've lost 2-3 stone and 2-3 dress sizes. To give you an idea of how rapid my weight loss is: I found some new jeans I'd bought ages ago which were too small then. I put them on 2 weeks ago but the waist was just uncomfortably too tight. I put them back in my wardrobe thinking I'd leave it a little while and try them on again. I put them on yesterday, 2 weeks later, and they are now too big and I can take them off without undoing the waist! I'm not more active and haven't changed my eating habits at all!
I now feel a completely different person. My friends believe I've had OSA for at least 5 years. I can't believe how ill I'd become. It's amazing how the body can function under such austere conditions. I also realise now that I wasn't 'falling asleep' all the time. I was losing consciousness! Falling asleep all the time sounds funny and people will laugh about it. Being unconscious isn't funny at all and makes you realise the seriousness of this illness.
I hope I haven't bored you all. I hope someone is reading this who now decides to go to the doctor sooner than I did. I am certain that I was living on borrowed time. I am so glad I'm back to normality now, thanks to my CPAP machine.
x
I'd like to share my story and am hoping it will help others.
In 2009, I began falling asleep during the day and put it down to age (then 46). I work from home, so having a little siesta most days wasn't a problem. Unfortunately, I then started to fall asleep in office meetings especially if the room was stuffy. Once, I fell asleep whilst fanning my face with a notepad - I'd felt drowsy and thought if I fanned my face, I wouldn't fall asleep whilst moving my arm. I was awoken by the sound of the notepad falling to the floor!
My boss phoned me one day and asked if I had a medical issue as it had been noticed I'd nodded off in customer meetings. I said something was wrong and promised to go to the doctors.
In the meantime, my symptoms were getting worse. I was waking in the night with a tongue so dry it felt like sandpaper and I could pick off hard-crusted lumps of saliva (gross, I know). Eating anything with even a hint of chilli was awful because my tongue was so sore, with a huge crack down the middle and lots of painful spots around the edges. Any journey greater than 10 miles in the car would make me drowsy and I started to plan journeys and go to a service station or lay-by for a 15 minute sleep, setting my mobile phone to wake me. I also had a small thumb-sized rash on the back of my hand which no cream would fix. My weight was increasing even though I ate healthily and hadn't changed my eating habits.
By 2010, my siestas were now stretching to 4 hours, on occasions. Visits to my parents meant that I would arrive, fall asleep, be woken up for Sunday lunch, fall asleep again and then be woken up to go home. I was falling asleep talking to people on the phone. I began to slur my words sometimes when talking on the phone. I could hear myself slurring but remember thinking it was just too much effort to repeat what I'd said and pronounce it properly. Once, I had lunch with a friend and fell asleep whilst eating/talking!
I went to my GP and was immediately referred to a specialist who sent me for a sleep test. I had 3 nights of tests at home; one for sleep monitoring, one for blood pressure and another for heart, I think. The specialist told me that my sleep tests were the highest he'd ever seen and that I stopped breathing 109 times an hour. He also said my heart was stopping for 3.5 seconds at a time and that my waking oxygen levels in my blood were 83% (should be 95%+ apparently). I was told I would go to the top of the waiting list at my local hospital for a CPAP machine.
Two months later, I was given a CPAP machine (Sept 2010). From the first night, it changed my life. For a couple of months, I did have a little trouble sometimes - waking up with the mask on my forehead or my chin. I found it funny and joked that I was doing an impression of Darth Vader or an elephant (hose = trunk!). I seem to have cracked it now and sleep for about 6.5 hours a night. I almost never awake in the night and always awake feeling rested. Since the first night, my sleepiness symptoms have gone. My tongue healed after a month. My small rash has cleared up 2 years after it appeared.
One of the best changes is weight loss. The weight is literally falling off me. I never weigh myself (as I believe size is more relevant, not what the scales say) but estimate I've lost 2-3 stone and 2-3 dress sizes. To give you an idea of how rapid my weight loss is: I found some new jeans I'd bought ages ago which were too small then. I put them on 2 weeks ago but the waist was just uncomfortably too tight. I put them back in my wardrobe thinking I'd leave it a little while and try them on again. I put them on yesterday, 2 weeks later, and they are now too big and I can take them off without undoing the waist! I'm not more active and haven't changed my eating habits at all!
I now feel a completely different person. My friends believe I've had OSA for at least 5 years. I can't believe how ill I'd become. It's amazing how the body can function under such austere conditions. I also realise now that I wasn't 'falling asleep' all the time. I was losing consciousness! Falling asleep all the time sounds funny and people will laugh about it. Being unconscious isn't funny at all and makes you realise the seriousness of this illness.
I hope I haven't bored you all. I hope someone is reading this who now decides to go to the doctor sooner than I did. I am certain that I was living on borrowed time. I am so glad I'm back to normality now, thanks to my CPAP machine.
x
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