Sleep Study

Well after going in to hear the results of Charlotte's sleep test...I lost it. Sleep apnea has about 25 to 30 symptoms such as headaches, snoring, teeth grinding, hypertension, acid reflux, weight gain, sweating, irregular heartbeat, any kind of sleep disturbance (talking, walking, sitting, standing) and getting up to pee at night. After Dr. DeSilva realized that Charlotte and I were related (I don't know how he missed that one) he took a look at me and told me to get our whole family checked out. So I was blessed to get tested for free due to lack of medical insurance. They allowed the boys to come sleep over as well so they would know where I was and feel comfortable with what I was going through. Here they are watching me get wired up. They basically just laughed at me when I was done.

So I went in that night to be tested. Wow! Nothing like being wired for everything and expect to sleep with all those wires! I felt like I was under the care of Dr. Frankenstein. The wires do a 100 point sleep test. They test eye movement, leg movement, heart rate, dream patterns, oxygenation, snoring, teeth grinding, talking, etc. After I got into bed I was afraid to move thinking I'd pull an electrode off somewhere. I was amazed that I got a good night's sleep. Thankfully I didn't have to get up to pee in the night. That would have been a problem!

The next morning I felt like I'd been hit by a truck. I went home and slept another 4 hours. Kind of weird seeing how I "thought" I got a good night's sleep.

So back to the clinic I went for the second night of testing...with a very lovely mask! Don't you just wish you had one? Actually its not as bad as it looks and it is quite comfortable. I felt that I slept worse but according to the test results I actually slept better. So weird how the brain works. My apnea is during my dream cycles and its slight to moderate. Charlotte on the other hand has severe-severe apnea. She stopped breathing every 30 seconds...that's 120 times in an hour! I'm glad that I forced her to be tested. I cannot afford to have another death in our home with the boys. I don't think I could handle that again or have them deal with that again either. So now after a few week of sleeping with the mask I'm starting to feel better. Dr. DeSilva said that once you're on the mask for about 6 weeks your body actually becomes addicted to it and you can't sleep without it. I don't think I would even consider sleeping without it now that I know I have apnea. That would be irresponsible on my part as a single parent. I encourage all of you who have any of the above mentioned symptoms...please sacrifice a weekend of sleep and get tested. Your life depends on it.