I've also written about the research coming out of the unique Wisconsin Sleep Cohort study, which has been following the health of people for more than 20 years. I myself wrote about a number of studies that show that people who snore loudly and experience sleep apnea have a host of medical problems and are now dying much younger
than people who don't snore. And do I snore? No, according to me. Yes, according to my children and my spouse, who luckily sleeps like a dead pig and so isn't bothered by it. Did I put together my medical knowlege from the sleep cohort studies and my own reported sounds of snorting and rumbling? No.
But my kids kept nagging at me (and rudely waking me up all night long.) So I finally mentioned it to my family doctor. I figured she would laugh it off. But no, and she sent me to the Wisconsin Sleep clinic where I was wired and glued and strapped up for a night of not-so-peaceful sleep.
It turns out I stop breathing on average of 12 times an hour and during REM sleep, up to 40 times a hour. During this time my blood oxygen dips as low as 87%. This was bad enough that I was prescribed a C-PAP machine, which blast air into your nose and mouth through a mask. Now, instead of sounding like a truck driver, I look and sound like Darth Vader. But my family assures me that it is a much nicer than my former sounds. When I fall asleep without it, they wake me up and remind me.
It takes some getting used to, but I do wake up in the morning feeling less grumpy and trashed than I normally feel. Check back when I go in for my checkup in July to see if the doctors can tell if it's working.
