My Initial Consult Was Today!

Nereida,  Be sure you get a sleep study done.  If you are snoring, it could mean you have sleep apnea, and if you have sleep apnea, that will be another comorbidity to add to your claim for the surgery.  I went to the doctor because I snored and I was shocked to find out that I had sleep apnea because I had no clue!  I'm using a CPAP now, which is a huge help -- I am not nearly so tired every day.  My family had to check on me at night when I first got it to make sure I was okay -- they had gotten so used to my snoring that when I stopped, they wanted to make sure I was still alive, LOL!  Hopefully after the surgery I will lose enough to not need the CPAP any more, though, and hopefully stop snoring on my own without the machine.  Good luck on your next steps.

Yes, the doctor requested I have a test for sleep apnea. I don't know if I have it or not, and I would be shock to find out that I do. Well, it seems I'll be here this coming week and I'm happy. I want to get all my tests underway. I don't want to hold things back. Jacqueline, what's a CPAP? Nereida

Nereida, a CPAP is a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure machine with a mask you can wear at night if you have sleep apnea.  What it does is blow oxygen into your nose at a continuous rate all night to keep your airways open.   I didn't think I could have sleep apnea, even though I snored a lot.  My grandma had had it and I can remember how you would hear her suddenly stop breathing for a few seconds, and my family told me I didn't do that.  But it turned out that I actually have a kind of sleep apnea where I don't necessarily stop breathing, but just start to breathe so shallowly that my oxygen rate drops down very low and I stir in my sleep anyhow as my body tries to get more air.  I was doing this an unbelieavable 87 times an hour at night.  Since you have what are called "microarousals" when this kind of thing happens - where you  may not wake up totally, but do get jarred out of normal sleep by your need to breathe -- I was completely exhausted during the day all the time.  (If you're waking up more than once a minute all night, it's not surprising!)  When the doctor put me on the CPAP, I started really SLEEPING for the first time in years.  Also, no more snoring at all.  I feel great when I use the machine, although it took some getting used to wearing the mask to bed at night.  But now, it feels unnatural not to wear it when I'm going to sleep.  And if I ever do fall asleep without it (like on the couch watching TV), I find that I don't feel rested, and I also have to wake up urgently needing to go to the bathroom after about an hour.  It turns out that is a sign that my body is in distress from not getting enough oxygen.  Before the CPAP, I was waking up 6-7 times a night to go to the bathroom.  Now it may be once or twice, if at all.  Good luck with your testing! 

Jacquieline, that's so interesting. I know that I wake up a lot of times during the night, but I've never quite understood why. Maybe I do have sleep apnea. I feel sorry for my husband because he has to put up with my snoring. Many times he tosses and turns and either ends up in the couch downstairs, or with a pillow over his head. Hopefully, with my surgery, I will no longer snore. Nereida