Tag: sleep apnea in women

Sleep Apnea: Treatment – Month One

Another installment in “Diaries of a Millennial with Sleep Apnea.” Today, I am going to share more about my first month receiving treatment for sleep apnea. See my other posts for more information on my diagnosis and getting my CPAP machine.

I’ve been on a CPAP machine as treatment for mild obstructive sleep apnea for about a month now. The verdict?

My CPAP machine is basically the best thing that has ever happened to me. Here’s why:

  • I don’t wake up frequently in the middle of the night, and when I do it is only for a few moments, not for hours
  • I don’t need an afternoon nap, every day (embarrassing, but true)
  • I have energy for exercise, playing with Theo, and spending time with Matt in the evenings
  • I don’t snore anymore
  • My mental fog seems clearer

The CPAP machine isn’t perfect and I’ve run into a few roadblocks, but overall it has been great for me. I switched masks from one where the hose comes out of the front of my mask, to one where the air hose comes out of the top of the mask. Thankfully, I am not a mouth breather and a nose mask works well for me.

My new mask makes it easier for me to roll over at night and is generally more comfortable, however I have had some trial and error with the mask and feel like Goldilocks. Too tight? When the nose cushion is too secure, and it prevents you from breathing effectively in and out of your nose. Too loose? The seal on the mask might not be quite tight enough to keep the air flowing effectively. The air will “whoosh” out of where the mask is supposed to be sealed, and the force of the air is pretty loud, which will wake me up. It’s also been making a clunking noise in the mask which wakes me up. Apparently that noise is due to excess water flying around the tube. I think turning down the humidity will fix that.

I also still suffer from some daytime fatigue, however it is significantly better than it was before. I was having a hard time getting through the day without a nap, and whenever Theo went for his nap, so was I. That’s like 1-2 hours every day of time spent sleeping, when I had a mounting to-do list to handle as well. I hope things continue to get better!!!

I would love to provide another update once I have been on the machine for a few months.

Like what you read today? Please subscribe and share my blog with your friends and family! You can also follow me on Facebook and Instagram for blog updates!

Disclaimer: This blog post contains the authors researched opinions as well as actual experiences, and not one of a medical professional. Please consult to your medical professional for their official opinion on items referenced here, and defer to them in case of any conflict.

Sleep Apnea: getting my CPAP

Another installment in “Diaries of a Millennial with Sleep Apnea.” Today, I am going to share more about the process for getting my CPAP machine. Last week I discussed the process of getting diagnosed with mild obstructive sleep apnea.

The sleep clinic sent my CPAP prescription to a local medical device company, and they walked me through the entire process. It felt like there were a lot of steps, and many phone calls, but in reality it was a simple process. The sleep clinic asked me if I had a preferred medical device company, and since I do not, they selected Carolina’s Hometown Respiratory (CHR). Everyone who I spoke with was so nice and easy to work with.

CHR called me a few times before I was able to get my equipment ordered – to let me know that they had gotten my order, to let me know that they had gotten insurance approval, to walk me through the cost of the CPAP and take payment, and then to make my fitting appointment. In my case, it costs about $1,000. Some of which I had to pay up-front, and the rest will be paid monthly for 10 months until it is paid off, since that is how my insurance required it to be billed. For reference, we have a high deductible health plan. A CPAP machine is expected to last 3-5 years, however the tubing and masks get replaced much more frequently than that.

To get fitted for my CPAP, I was able to select if I wanted to go into the office to meet with a respiratory therapist, or have the machine shipped to me and go through my orientation via Zoom. I opted for an in-person orientation since I had no idea what to expect, and I wasn’t sure how I would be able to easily pick out a mask virtually (I assume they send you all the options to try out while you meet with your respiratory therapist, but since I wasn’t going that route, I didn’t ask a lot of questions). They were able to get me in for an appointment early that next week.

In all, it took me about 2 weeks from diagnosis to bringing my CPAP machine home, which I don’t think is too bad considering the red tape of the insurance industry.

My orientation with the respiratory therapist was pretty quick and easy! My main takeaways were: the CPAP machine itself is smaller and MUCH quieter than I had imagined, the mask isn’t as uncomfortable as I had anticipated, and there is an opportunity to swap out your mask within the first 30 days – if your first choice turned out to not be a good fit for you. After about 45 minutes of practicing with the machine, trying on different types of masks, and learning the proper cleaning procedures, I was headed home with (hopefully) my key to a good night’s sleep.

I will be back next week with another installment, sharing more information about my first month of treatment!!

Like what you read today? Please subscribe and share my blog with your friends and family! You can also follow me on Facebook and Instagram for blog updates!

Disclaimer: This blog post contains the authors researched opinions as well as actual experiences, and not one of a medical professional. Please consult to your medical professional for their official opinion on items referenced here, and defer to them in case of any conflict.

Sleep Apnea: Diagnosis

Sleep apnea is not common in my generation and it’s also not common in women. I’m led to believe it’s more common than we think, but it is under-diagnosed. Most people who I talk with about sleep apnea say “oh, my father in law has that!” or “I think my uncle uses a machine when he sleeps.” I know that sleep apnea isn’t the core of my blog, but I want to share my story in the hopes that it helps someone advocate for themselves and get the diagnosis that they need!

Basically my entire life, I’ve been a “high sleep needs” person. Even as an adult, I can sleep 9, 10, even 12 hours in a night and not feel rested. Well, as an adult, sleeping 12 hours and still feeling not rested is not normal. Napping all the time is not normal. I’ve brought it up as a concern to my physicians, but often I chalked it up to a symptom of depression combined with restless leg syndrome impacting my sleep.

A few years ago, my primary care physician suggested that I do a sleep study. It was at the end of the calendar year, and I was nowhere close to meeting my deductible. So I put it off, and then I got pregnant with Theo. Note to self: don’t put things off that impact your health!

At the beginning of 2021, I finally scheduled my sleep study. The good news is that now you don’t have to go to a sleep lab to do it. You can do your study right at home. I picked up the equipment from a sleep lab, and brought it home to complete my sleep test.

The equipment consisted of a large watch-looking device, an oxygen sensor, and a sensor for your chest. You put on the “watch,” put the sensor on your chest, and the oxygen sensor on your finger. It’s all connected to the watch with wires that you feed through your pajama sleeve or under your pajamas and was a non-issue for me. But, I can sleep anywhere, any time, wearing any sort of contraption. The most annoying part was sleeping with something large on my wrist. The chest sensor was super sticky, but I still put a piece of medical tape over it just in case. I didn’t want to have to do my sleep test twice!

Once you get in bed and ready for sleep for the night, you hit the start button on the watch, and the sensors begin collecting data. There is no off button, so in the morning all I did was remove the equipment, package it back up, and drop it off at the sleep lab so they could get it sanitized for the next patient.

About a week later, the sleep clinic called with my results and I was diagnosed with mild obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). They told me that I had 12.3 breathing events per hour. I’ll translate that for you: on average, I stopped breathing for 10 or more seconds 12.3 times per hour. This is on the higher end of mild OSA. Under 5 is considered normal, and over 15 is moderate. My blood oxygen saturation dipped as low as 82% throughout the night as well. That’s incredibly dangerous and I’m so lucky to have my diagnosis.

We always joke that Theo is slowly killing off my brain cells, when in reality, it’s probably the fact that my brain is deprived of oxygen when I sleep!

The next steps? Get fitted for a CPAP machine and begin treatment. I’ll share more about the CPAP process as well as how treatment is going in a future blog post!

Disclaimer: This blog post contains the authors researched opinions as well as actual experiences, and not one of a medical professional. Please consult to your medical professional for their official opinion on items referenced here, and defer to them in case of any conflict.