I went into it mostly out of scientific curiosity. I believe that my sleep problems are primarily environmental (A + J), with some occasional situational anxiety thrown in for good measure (work + in-laws + J). I also believe that my sleep rhythms are off due to incubating and sleeping with a baby. I know that I snore and I wouldn't rule out sleep apnea, but I believe that is due to weight gain, since I never had breathing problems before that.
I am wary of trendy medical ailments, and I don't necessarily buy that every third person has sleep apnea. I think it's possible that a lot of people do, and I know that it can be life-threatening in severe cases. I have also heard that keeping your weight in check will do wonders to alleviate the symptoms and I buy that. So I am skeptical about the whole thing.
Which leads me to the sleeping situation at the clinic. First, they wired me up. I felt like a suicide bomber. I asked the technician which one I needed to snip so I wouldn't blow up (ha ha, so funny). I had electrodes in my hair. I had electrodes on my legs to see if I have restless leg syndrome (yes, that is a real thing). I had a probe thingy in my nose. I had a monitor on my finger. There was a camera and infrared lights on. It was ridiculous. I do see why they need to do it, but still, it was ridiculous.
So, automatically I am a little anxious and a lot uncomfortable. After awhile I got somewhat used to it but being wired to your bed isn't exactly my idea of a restful sleep. I assure you, I was lookin' good too!
And then, they put you on a sleep number bed. It's not my super cozy Tempurpedic, but it will do. The pillows were a disgrace. It felt like I was sleeping on nothing. They put all the wires on one pillow and I got to "rest" my head on the other one. Oh, and they tell you to sleep on your back. I don't sleep on my back normally at home because it is not that comfortable. Also, I sleep on a fancy memory foam pillow.
I hope that I am painting the picture that there was nothing comfortable or natural about this situation. I was super restless, legs and all. I woke up many times with my throat bugging me, maybe trying to breathe, I don't know. The technician came in twice to adjust the nose probe. I woke up, I'm guessing, around 5am because I just wanted it to be over.
If I am put in an uncomfortable and restless situation, not my normal restlessness, how can they measure what is actually going on in my body on a regular night? Wouldn't anyone sleeping at this angle have difficulty breathing? It felt like it was creating a worst case scenario where they could demonstrate sleep apnea to treat me for, when I think my real problem is more something else.
It will be very interesting to hear the results of these tests. I went in thinking that I was probably on the ok side and just needed some behavioral adjustments. After spending the entire night waking up, now I think I might be totally screwed up and have to wear a sleeping mask for the rest of my life. Ugh. If you don't want to know, don't ask I guess!
More after my follow up in a few weeks...
You made it through it! You'll be surprised I think we you get the results. I thought for sure they'd tell me all this crazy stuff about Adalyn after her "nights sleep". But nope, nothing major...besides those darn restless legs. :) They have some way of getting past the uncomfortable part of it and actually seeing what is or isn't wrong.
ReplyDelete