Even my subconscious rebels

Hi,

So last night I went in for a sleep study. I don't snore or anything, but my wife is getting tired of poking me in the middle of the night so I'll start breathing again. So, just to make her feel better, I set up this study.

The technician wired me up and said, "So we're just going to monitor you tonight, but if you go past 60 sleep disruptions in a minute, I'll put you on this CPAP device. Anything less than that, we'll just monitor."

Yeah, sure, whatever. That sounds pretty serious and I think even I'd notice if that were happening to me.

So in the middle of the night, she comes in, wakes me up, and says "hey, we're gonna put this CPAP on you now."

Huh.

So now, aside from all the wires stuck to my head, face, upper chest and legs, I've got this nose thing on my face. This is only slightly better than the nasal airway monitor I had sitting in my nostrils up until this point, but I'm lying there thinking, "This is ridiculous. How am I supposed to sleep with this stupid thing? It makes my nose feel all constricted and suffocate-y."

And I sit there, nose twitching until the technician comes back in the morning and starts unhooking me. And I say that maybe I need a CPAP, but this thing just isn't going to cut it. I didn't sleep a wink. It's too small, the air is warm, and I really could stand to have a drink of water since my throat is all dry.

It's at this point that I actually wake up and realize I've been dreaming. I roll over and go back to sleep.

The upshot is that I'll probably be going back in the next week or two to get fitted for a CPAP of my very own. I can't really tell if I slept better with or without it and probably won't until I've been using it at home for awhile. I'm also a little annoyed that, barring some medical advance, I'll be plugging myself in most nights for the rest of my life. On the other hand, it's probably cheaper than marrying someone so they can poke me every night. :)

later
Tom

Even my subconscious rebels

Hi,

So last night I went in for a sleep study. I don't snore or anything, but my wife is getting tired of poking me in the middle of the night so I'll start breathing again. So, just to make her feel better, I set up this study.

The technician wired me up and said, "So we're just going to monitor you tonight, but if you go past 60 sleep disruptions in a minute, I'll put you on this CPAP device. Anything less than that, we'll just monitor."

Yeah, sure, whatever. That sounds pretty serious and I think even I'd notice if that were happening to me.

So in the middle of the night, she comes in, wakes me up, and says "hey, we're gonna put this CPAP on you now."

Huh.

So now, aside from all the wires stuck to my head, face, upper chest and legs, I've got this nose thing on my face. This is only slightly better than the nasal airway monitor I had sitting in my nostrils up until this point, but I'm lying there thinking, "This is ridiculous. How am I supposed to sleep with this stupid thing? It makes my nose feel all constricted and suffocate-y."

And I sit there, nose twitching until the technician comes back in the morning and starts unhooking me. And I say that maybe I need a CPAP, but this thing just isn't going to cut it. I didn't sleep a wink. It's too small, the air is warm, and I really could stand to have a drink of water since my throat is all dry.

It's at this point that I actually wake up and realize I've been dreaming. I roll over and go back to sleep.

The upshot is that I'll probably be going back in the next week or two to get fitted for a CPAP of my very own. I can't really tell if I slept better with or without it and probably won't until I've been using it at home for awhile. I'm also a little annoyed that, barring some medical advance, I'll be plugging myself in most nights for the rest of my life. On the other hand, it's probably cheaper than marrying someone so they can poke me every night. :)

later
Tom