Tonight's the night.
I've been exhibiting signs that would suggest that I do in fact have sleep apnea, (I snort, and I gurgle, and I often awaken with a choking sensation, as though my tongue is blocking my throat). But I don't have the higher risk factors for the disorder: overweight; male; over the age of 65; black, Hispanic or a Pacific Islander; a smoker. I am, however, related to someone who had apnea (while it wasn't diagnosed, I suspect that my father had it -- he certainly displayed all the signs of someone who had apnea, and he died at age 53 of his first heart attack).
So, I get to spend the night tonight at the West Ottawa Sleep Centre, wired up to investigate whether or not I have sleep apnea.
Friends who have more recently undergone this testing tell me to anticipate getting very little rest (how they manage to actually diagnose is amazing, because, it seems, one gets little sleep in these pseudo bedroom settings, all wired up to diagnostic everythings).
Good thing I've been training myself to sleep on my back because I'm thinking that's the position I should adopt for tonight, lest I get tangled in one of the many wires that will be attached to me.
If I don't manage a nap before I leave today, we at least know that I'll be tired, since my day started at 3:30am.
1 comment:
If you get headaches very easy, like I do, the wires that they have you hooked up to may give you a big headache. Just warning you. I have sleep apnea but because of the headaches I get I can't use the machine that helps fix it so I just learn to not sleep on my back which is when it happens to me.
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