Smile Returning - Part 1

Beginning to get "wired up" for the night

The first week of September 2011, I was informed that I have sleep apnea.  I have been expecting this diagnosis for a couple of months – ever since I was diagnosed with a concussion in July. For the past 2 and a half years, Tracie and I have had only a handful of restful nights of sleep. Every morning we wake up tired and exhausted and looking forward to a nap later in the day (which rarely comes) or a chance to get back to sleep.  Early on, I attributed this to adjusting to married life and sharing a bed with my new bride!  However, sleep hasn’t improved and throughout the night I wake up multiple times to shift or snore which wakes up Tracie causing her to shift in the bed rippling back to me AND this goes on throughout the night.  We wake up tired with headaches and dragging all day long.

Lack of restful sleep has affected our mental and physical well being, but now we are on the road to remedy and recovery.  Obstructive sleep apnea is potentially life threatening as “…the upper portion of the air passage leading to the lungs becomes too narrow during sleep resulting in insufficient airflow.”  (source is www.alabamasleepclinic.com)  Since adequate airflow muscles are relaxed during sleep that the airway becomes too small to support adequate airflow, the brain often corrects the problem by sending a shock signal to arouse the individual to reopen the air passage.  These arousals disrupt the quality of sleep by not allowing full rest.  The life threatening risk has to do with increased blood pressure, heart failure, heart attack or stroke since the heart is having to work all of the time rather than getting a chance to slow down to rest.

Every time I wake up when my brain shocks my airway back open, it causes me to snore loudly and jerk in my sleep that sends a ripple effect to awaken Tracie. 

In late August, I did a sleep study with the Alabama Sleep Clinic in Huntsville.  I spent the night in a medical office bedroom-like setting where I was wired up from head to mid-leg so that I could be monitored for breathing, heart activity, brain waves and oxygen levels. My night’s sleep was also filmed for viewing of my nocturnal habits.  The results of my study were that I stopped breathing numerous times throughout the night – more than the basic abnormal amount; I slept a total of 5 hours, had 2 periods of REM or dreaming sleep, and woke up for over an hour during the night.  The sleeping conditions weren’t ideal, but necessary.  I had at least 15 wires attached to my head and neck that tethered me to the headboard wall.  Whenever I rolled over my toes were entangled in the monitoring wires on my lower legs. If I needed to get out of bed, I had to call for assistance to “unplug” me so that I could go to the rest room.  I want to do everything I possibly can to stay out of the hospital after this one-night experience.

Sleep study bedroom

The fact that I have minimal REM stage or dreaming during the night means that my body never gets to the sleep period of tissue repair.  Since I’m waking Tracie up as well, the same is happening to her.  It means we are susceptible to weight gain as well.  Our mental state is severely impacted as well.  Tracie referred to an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation called “Night Terrors” in which the crew was going insane due to lack of REM sleep.  Captain Picard relieved himself of command because he couldn’t trust his own judgment.  That’s an extreme example, but not too far from reality of what can happen.  (Tracie and I both watched Star Trek: The Next Generation when it aired at 6 p.m. on Saturday’s).

To remedy the situation for me, I have chosen to be fitted with a sleep mask that will provide continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) that will generate airflow into my airway while I sleep.  This will ensure that I have steady flow of oxygen and prevent the nightly arousals.  This will lead to a rested body, reduce my blood pressure, prolong my life, and allow Tracie to get consistent nights of sleep without me constantly waking her.

I did another sleep study using the CPAP mask on September 13 to determine the adequate pressure for my airway and to monitor my sleep patterns with the mask compared to the study without CPAP.  After a night with the CPAP mask, it took me longer to get to sleep and I awoke only once during the night to go to the rest room.  Though it took me awhile to get back to sleep – more due to the discomfort of having wires connected to my head, neck, chest, side and legs – I awoke much more rested.  I did not remember my dreams which are further indication that I didn’t wake during the night.  The sleep center staff woke me at 5:15 a.m.  I showered and went home.

Fitted with CPAP mask

 Instead of feeling a desire to get back to sleep, I felt energized again!  Not only did I have a much more restful night of sleep, Tracie had a good night of sleep as well.  That proved that my snoring and obstructive breathing is keeping her from resting well.  We both felt rested for the first time in quite a while – though both of us wanted to have a few more hours of sleep.

I went to the gym to work out for the first time in months (I was limited to exercise and weight lifting due to my concussion).  The work out wasn’t enough, so after the kids got home from school, I went for a bike ride along Huntsville’s green way.  While riding, I started laughing and said aloud, “Dean is coming back!  I’m coming back!”  I smile as I rode and began thinking about getting up early and going for another bike ride.

Recently, I purchased my own CPAP machine and after one night of use, I felt much more rested and energetic.  It was more restful than the night of the sleep study as I was sleeping in my own bed and didn’t have all of the monitoring devices attached to my body.  With less than a week of use, Tracie and I are sleeping fully and restfully through the night.  The machine makes no noise while it blows air into the mask.  I am not snoring either.  Already, we are noticing an improvement to our emotional, mental and physical health.  This is one of the things to begin the road of recovery for us and return the smiles that have been missing for quite some time.

I hope this information is helpful to you.  You may know of someone in your family or among your friends that may have sleep disorders.  I have been very pleased with Alabama Sleep Clinic & Crestwood Medical Center’s Sleep Clinic and their efforts to improve the quality of life for me and my wife.