The Momma Loves Gringo

For years, the momma woke up every morning with a headache. Six months ago she mentioned this to her PCP who referred her to a sleep disorder clinic. The momma thought it was going to be a waste of time, but after spending the night for a polysomnogram and hooked up to several monitors, she was diagnosed with sleep apnea.

A pediatrics patient prepared for a polysomnogram by a respiratory therapist. St. Louis Children’s Hospital, St. Louis MO, 2006. Robert Lawton (self)

The momma learned that, although morning headaches may be a symptom of sleep apnea, there are several other symptoms associated with this disorder. They include daytime sleepiness, restless sleep, loud snoring, insomnia, trouble concentrating, mood changes, depression, forgetfulness, increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, decreased sex drive, weight gain, gastroesophageal reflux, and heavy night sweats

The momma used to think that snoring and sleep apnea were fairly innocuous, but the associated health risks of sleep apnea (e.g. high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, obesity, automobile accidents) are very real. In fact, most health insurance carriers will cover the diagnosis and treatment of sleep apnea.

Her “sleep doctor” prescribed CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) therapy. In short, a machine blows air into her nose all night long. This air pressure acts as sort of a splint to hold the airways open.

She thought that she would never get used to sleeping with this thing on her face. It only took a few days for her to get used to it at home. More importantly, she has noticed a significant improvement in energy during the day, and very rarely awakens with a headache.

Sometimes she enjoys reading before bed and often falls asleep before putting on the CPAP mask. Because most health insurance carriers will pay for a new mask every six months, she just got the “NEW Quieter Mirage Swift II Nasal Pillow System” (ResMed) that has no obstructions for reading or watching TV. It’s very comfortable and fits well.

For more information on sleep disorders, here are a couple of helpful sites worth visiting:

This page on sleepeducation.com has a flash animation of normal breathing, snoring, sleep apnea, and CPAP therapy.

This is a really neat interactive on sleep and wake cycles with the Doze Family.

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Tags: CPAP, headache, polysomnography, sleep apnea, sleep disorder, snoring

This entry was posted on Friday, July 11th, 2008 at 8:34 pm and is filed under Factual Friday, health nuts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.