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3:15pm February 19, 2012
[Picture of me with my bipap on.] I know I’ve said it lots of times before but I’m completely in love with my bipap. Even when I’m not sleeping it’s the only time breathing is easy. If you have any reason at all to suspect sleep apnea, and have the means to do so, I really strongly recommend getting tested. These things work both for the central and obstructive types. (For central – at least the kind of central apnea I have – it senses when you stop breathing and starts shoving air in your lungs.) Once you get a well fitting mask, and get titrated properly (not all sleep centers are good at that unfortunately), quite often you’ll never want to sleep without it, and it can fix all kinds of problems that you’d never know were related, to the point it seems almost magical. (Because long term low oxygen levels screw up your body in all kinds of ways. Including ways that can greatly reduce your lifespan.) Also I’m told that there are incredibly detailed Internet sites dedicated to bipap/CPAP machines and how to hack them and titrate yourself if you can’t afford a sleep study. That can be really dangerous (because upping the pressure can cause central apneas) but from what I hear for some people it’s the only way and safer than gambling with untreated sleep apnea. Be really careful if you go that route though.

[Picture of me with my bipap on.]

I know I’ve said it lots of times before but I’m completely in love with my bipap. Even when I’m not sleeping it’s the only time breathing is easy.

If you have any reason at all to suspect sleep apnea, and have the means to do so, I really strongly recommend getting tested. These things work both for the central and obstructive types. (For central – at least the kind of central apnea I have – it senses when you stop breathing and starts shoving air in your lungs.) Once you get a well fitting mask, and get titrated properly (not all sleep centers are good at that unfortunately), quite often you’ll never want to sleep without it, and it can fix all kinds of problems that you’d never know were related, to the point it seems almost magical. (Because long term low oxygen levels screw up your body in all kinds of ways. Including ways that can greatly reduce your lifespan.)

Also I’m told that there are incredibly detailed Internet sites dedicated to bipap/CPAP machines and how to hack them and titrate yourself if you can’t afford a sleep study. That can be really dangerous (because upping the pressure can cause central apneas) but from what I hear for some people it’s the only way and safer than gambling with untreated sleep apnea. Be really careful if you go that route though.

Notes:
  1. withasmoothroundstone posted this