Do You Fall Asleep During The Day But Deny You Have A Sleep Disorder? I Did And It Almost Killed Me!
September 25, 2008 by Steve Holmes
Filed under Health & Fitness, Sleep Apnea, Steve Holmes, Wellness
Hello, my name is Steve and I have sleep apnea.
My wife diagnosed this more than five years ago, but I was in denial. The only reason I’m alive today is because my doctor died and my wife is VERY persistant.
What you say? – Alive because my doctor died? – How does that work?
Well, it goes like this: I’ve been mostly healthy all my life – the kind of guy who eats anything, does whatever I want, and avoids the doctor like the plague. My family doctor also treated my parents and knew the whole family health history. That means he knew that I’m never sick, so every few years I’d show up to prove I’m still alive. We had this GREAT arrangement, where he’d leave me alone until I asked for help.
In fact, the last time I saw him, I drove to his office to discover it was now an office for Psychiatric Therapy. My self-diagosis on that subject was very positive, and I since I didn’t want another second opinion from my wife, I picked up the cellphone and called my doctor’s number. The reply – after a few giggles from the receptionist – was that they’d moved seven years earlier, and I needed do drive east for a couple of blocks.
As a typical guy, I generally figure that any problem short of broken bones will go away with time, and often, time will mend those too. In fact, I’ve broken ribs on multiple occasions, and the doctor just prescribed pain pills and said “you’re tough and have great chest muscles to holdem in place, so call me in a few weeks if you haven’t gotten any better.”
So, since I was convinced that sleep apnea was just a made-up disease by doctors conspiring to take more trips to Tahiti, and since my doctor wasn’t likely to send the authorities to drag me into his office for a physical examination, my expert opinion was that I was in perfect health.
My belief was that my wife just needed a new hobby – and maybe ear plugs. After all, my dad’s snores could shake the house, but he lived to be 77 years old.
Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, my wife was not deterred from her insistance that I not only snored, but I was continually stopping my breathing throughout the night. I assured her that I just reverted to a more shallow form of breathing during parts of the night. Heck, if I wasn’t breating, I wouldn’t be perfectly fine each morning. RIGHT?
After three years of this verbal dance, I was blind-sided by a need to renew a prescription for a special hand cream. When I called my doctor’s office, I was told that he would not renew my prescription without seeing me in person to prove I was alive and still needed the medication. I said something like: “What? You know my voice. Of course I’m alive, and I’ll need this stuff for as long as I live – if not longer!”
How dare my doctor to dare challenge my self-diagnosis! And, given that I was just turning 50, he insisted on checking out my overall health. So, I decided that procrastination was my best friend, and maybe the doc would foget about this unreasonable demand and accidentally fill my prescription.
Well, after a two month delay, I decided to bite the bullet and make an appointment. To my surprise, the receptionist informed me that my long-term, usually reasonable doctor had passed away. My response was to say something comforting like: “That’s terrible! … Can someone else fill my prescription?“
Natually, no doctor was going to give me a prescription without EVER seeing me in person, and this was an even bigger problem because I had moved to another state two years earlier. This had been fine until then, because of the wonders of the telephone and fax. Now I needed a new doctor in my own community. How unreasonable!
In part 2, we’ll review the joys of meeting a new doctor – in person - at the age of 50.
Part 3 will cover the wonders of spending the night in a sleep lab, and hearing the truth about Sleep Apnea.
Later, we’ll explore the ongoing saga of living [yes, living] life with Sleep Apnea, and how it is actually better than gradually dying in denial.
For those of you who want to know more facts about Sleep Apnea, here is my current definition – minus the Tahiti part:
Sleep Apnea “A condition characterized by temporary breathing interruptions during sleep. The pauses in breathing can occur dozens or even hundreds of times a night.”
Symptoms include:
- loud snoring
- a gasping or snorting sound when the sleeping individual starts to breathe again.
Although the individual may not be aware of having sleep apnea, the condition can:
- disrupt the quality of sleep
- result in daytime fatigue
- raise your blood pressure
- cause permanent brain damage
- result in sudden death over time
The most common type, obstructive sleep apnea, occurs when the tongue or other soft tissue blocks the airway.
Enough with these boring technical details. We’re still too early in this story to believe this kind of non-sense.
So, if you absolutely need to know more facts before the next installment, go ahead and check out this 5-star book about Sleep Apnea.
For more information about how to get a better night sleep, read my wife’s recent post about Sleep Apnea and many other sleep challenges.
I have heard something about sleep apnea before, but now I decided to learn more about it, because my husband snores very loudly during the night, and I am afraid that he has some problem with breathing. I asked hem a lot of times to go to the doctor, but he dont pay attention to his snoring, so now I am going to read your other posts and to learn more.
[...] Part 1 of this series discussed how men rationalize their denial about having “Sleep Apnea“. [...]
This is a great article, very well written. Sleep apnea is a big problem and most people dont even realise they have it. Hope this article opens some eyes to the problem.
Sleep apnea is pretty scary to me. I know there are good treatments (even if cumbersome) out there, and I’m looking forward to hearing about your time in the sleep lab (sounds fun…).
The problem with not only sleep apnea but most of the sleep problems is that people just don’t know they have them. Sure they feel tired in the morning, but doesn’t everyone. It was in fact determined by the Institute of Medicine that about 33% of Americans have some sort of ’sleep difficulties’. Imagine that – one in three.
I really liked your article. It’s nicely written and very informative. More people should know about sleep apnea and articles like this will spread awareness.
Sleep apnea is pretty scary! I’m looking forward to hearing about your experiences in the sleep lab.
Very interesting read. I don’t fall asleep. I just feel tired all the time even when I get a full night of sleep over a stretch of time.
My uncle is very obese & suffers from sleep apnoea. The main treatment is weight reduction.
The vast majority of people don’t know they have a problem until something more sinister develops. Don’t be in denial if you have a snoring problem theirs a good chance you could also have or be developing sleep apnea. If in doubt go see your doctors, seek professional help. A great article, really got the point over about sleep apnea, a good read.
I have dealt with sleep apnea for many years, until I had surgery and it was corrected. It was a very scary time in my life.
Wow, I did not realise how serious sleep apnea could actually be. To think you can die from it over time is quite shocking. It is great to see that there is actually a cure for it.
This goes to show we should be focusing on healthier diets, fitness, and generally losing weight. All these problems, including sleep apnea, can be avoided if we pay attention to our weight and food.
I have recently been diagnosed with mild sleep apnea. When my wife first kept complaining about my snoring I thought she was over reacting – until she recorded my snoring on my mobile phone – there was no denying it then.
I had a friend that had what I think was sleep apnea, or what he called it, narcolepsy. He could fall asleep everywhere, and he did. Behind the wheel, at school, at work etc. But I wonder, is sleep apnea the same as narcolepsy?
No, I don’t believe they are the same thing… With narcolepsy you can’t control when you fall asleep. With sleep apnea, you quit breathing when you are sleeping. Neither are good, of course! Anne
My wife complains that I “snore”, but when I further question her it turns out that actually I “breathe loudly and irregularly”. I was athsmatic as a child, and am overweight now. Often I wake up feeling unrested, and I have recently thought that I might suffer from some degree of sleep apnea. This article has given me the push I needed to make an appointment to see the doctor – thanks!
Sleep apnea can be dangerous (although not always). I had a friend (late 40’s) that died from sleep apnea. So, if you have any kind of sleep apnea, it is worth it to follow up with a medical professional … and not wait 50 years.
My husband has sleep apnea, and it’s almost as bad for me as it is for him. I lose tons of sleep because he is constantly waking me up. Neither of us have had a decent sleep for months now, so we are trying medication for him.
Hi Ella, I hope the medication works for him. For me and my husband, I know the only thing that stopped the apnea was the C-PAP. He’s used it every night since he got it. The change in him has been amazing! He’s not only alert all day, getting more done at work, but he’s healthier! Anne
I have heard recently that there is a new sleep apnea treatment that makes over night studies obsolete.
Did you hear about sleep apnea dental appliances? The dental devices have come a long way in the last several years. It is definitely worth to try it.
Yeh.. That was it I could die.
Oh, then maybe I have a sleep disorder too, thank you for sharing Steve! I haven’t thought of this until I read this post. Tsk…tsk..
Steve,
I see you point. Most of us unwilling to accept a new diagnosis unless it causes significant changes to our lifestyle. Sleep apnea is not any different. Sleep apnea is such a disease which can often be ignored. One should understand the heath risks like heart disease stroke and hypertension that’s associated with sleep apnea. People with sleep apnea are more prone to traffic accidents as well.
If we properly understand the risks, we would never ignore sleep apnea.
Thank you again for a great article.
I have heard recently that there is a new sleep apnea treatment that makes over night studies obsolete. Did you hear about sleep apnea dental appliances? The dental devices have come a long way in the last several years. It is definitely worth to try it.
Hi Steve ,
I have just re-read your post and it’s great. It’s nicely written and very informative. More people should know about sleep apnea and articles like this will spread awareness.
Thank you for all the great info Steve!
Sleep apnea is a common disorder in which you have one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths while you sleep.sleep disorder characterised by having one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths during sleep. Each pause in breathing, called an apnea, can last from a few seconds to minutes, and may occur 5 to 30 times or more an hour.
It feels like I haven’t had a decent nights sleep in ages. Thanks for sharing Steve, I’m going to give this a shot.