Once A Runner…

Sleep Apnea, CPAP Machines & Other Nasty Stuff

Edit: There have been a lot of people landing here while searching the web for info on sleep apnea and CPAP issues. Before anybody gets the mistaken impression that I know half as much as I think I do about the topic, keep in mind the following:

• I’m supposed to be using a CPAP, but was so aggravated by the damned thing that I just up and quit using it
• I did not get a doctor’s permission to cease my treatment
• I do know that I risk certain dangers to my health by not continuing my treatment
• I also know that I can lose all the weight I want, get in the best shape of my life, and return to running again and I could still be at increased risk for heart disease and high blood pressure as a result of my sleep apnea

My decision was based on what I considered right for me, even though I fully recognize the risks I’m taking. I’m very seriously gambling on my belief that my apnea was brought on by my weight gain, sedentary lifestyle, and poor sleep discipline. I’m betting — quite literally with my very life — that I can undo the damage my poor health habits brought on by reversing my long, slow slide into obesity and becoming a full-time couch ornament, through eating healthier, physical conditioning, and keeping more regular hours. It’s a fact that I could lose this bet.

You’d be well advised to listen to your doctor first and take my prattling here for what it’s worth — which is nothing much, really.

End of Edit
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It was pouring buckets outside this morning, so no walking until later today. But I was just sitting here thinking and my mind wandered back to the treatment I received for my sleeping problems a while back.

A couple of years ago, I was diagnosed with sleep apnea — I would stop breathing in my sleep literally dozens of times a night and wake up to start breathing again. Not very good at all for getting a restful night’s sleep. The process of being diagnosed involves filling out a questionnaire about your general health condition, your sleep habits, and your general situation during a normal day — do you fall asleep easily, would you doze off while driving, etc. — followed by a consultation with a doctor specializing in sleep disorders, after which he might order a “sleep study” where you lie in a bed at the clinic to be monitored all night by cameras, microphones, and an alarming number of wires attached to your head and body.

Well, despite the doctor’s best intentions — I assume — the one thing that nagged at me most during the whole process was that two of the major indicators were being overweight and being sedentary — and I was both at the time, in spades. And those very important contributing factors — the ones that are arguably most within a patient’s control — were the ones that received the least attention during the consultation. It seemed to me that they were brushed off in a rush to get to having a “sleep study” done and possibly surgery or certainly CPAP treatment prescribed.

So, I went to the clinic for the “sleep study,” was shown the charts the computer produced a few days later, and might have gotten a little carried along by the whole thing and right into CPAP treatment. To be honest, I was quite alarmed to discover that I wasn’t simply snoring obnoxiously just because I played around on my computer into the wee morning hours every day. I was snoring horribly because I was shutting off my breathing all night long and waking with a snort or gurgle and all the accompanying fits and starts that would go along with that.

A CPAP machine is a device that basically blows a steady stream of air at a specified pressure through a tube into a mask to make sure you get enough air during your sleep or, in my case, a “nasal pillow” that blows air up my nose and forces me to keep my mouth shut when I sleep. A whole lot of bother, actually, but it damned sure controlled my snoring and I didn’t seem to wake up as much at night, and I woke a little more refreshed, so it appeared to be working okay… for a while anyway. A rather nasty side affect for me was that it dried out my nasal passages, led to sinus ailments and more upper respiratory illnesses. Add in the facts that the hose was a damned nuisance, the “nasal pillow” was often very uncomfortable and would slip a bit and start hissing or would dig into my face, and I’d wake up more because of the cure than I did because of the condition.

When the negative side effects started bothering me too much to ignore, I kicked the machine off my bedside table and switched to those nose strips that hold open your nasal passages reasonably well. I also sprayed the snore relief stuff into my throat before bedtime. Then — and this is probably the most effective measure I took — I started going to bed several hours earlier than before. I felt just as good, the sinus problems were reduced a bit and I got sick a little less often. Still not good enough. I still snored and my wife said I still occasionally woke her with my breathing problems, and I still had headaches — often severe — way too regularly to ignore.

Okay, come all the way around to the point where I started thinking about the exercise and weight loss factors so poorly addressed in the doctor’s office. Since changing my diet, I’ve had even better results than I’ve had on either the doctor’s prescribed treatment or my own over-the-counter treatments. I’ve strictly reduced my consumption of processed, heavily sugared and salted foods and snacks, restricted caffeine to no more than tea a couple times a day and only one or two diet sodas all day (down from three to four cups of black coffee and a six-pack of soda before), and I’ve adopted a diet rich in lean meats and fish and lots of fresh or frozen (preferably fresh, of course) fruits and vegetables, and I started getting up and hitting the roads for a walk every day. And I sleep great, my wife reports I snore very little and she hasn’t noticed any signs of apnea at all, and I wake feeling much better, without the headaches.

I guess my whole point is not to let yourself get herded into surgery or some expensive treatments when there was clearly an alternative, even when the doctor doesn’t do a very good job of discussing the viability of alternatives. Had I simply started exercising and lost some weight — and my wife tried to clue me in by telling me that I never had the problems while I was less overweight and more active — maybe I wouldn’t have been writing out a check to pay the co-payment on a CPAP machine and doctor’s visits.

Anyway, the CPAP machine might be gathering dust, but I won’t be anymore. And I hope to delay the time when I ultimately return to dust — maybe only just a little bit longer than I would’ve without starting to get my diet, my physical conditioning, my life back under control, but I’ll take what I can get.

Besides, the point isn’t the years in your life, but the life in your years. I feel like I’m getting a little more life out of mine already now and I’m glad of it.