Sleep Apnea Testing?
My wife has had a CPAP machine to help with her sleep apnea for several years, and she recently suggested I should be tested to see if I need one. She isn't woken up by MY snoring, so I think that I'm not there yet. :)
Am I crazy? Would I really be getting better sleep if I had a CPAP? I certainly get better sleep when she is wearing hers!
Answers ( 1 )
Not all snoring is indicative of apnea.
Apnea, or short-periods of not breathing (inhaling), is seen in a specific type of snoring: The kind of snore-snore-silence-snort-gasp-snore-snore-snore type. That silence means the person is not inhaling, so going without oxygen. These silences usually only last five or ten seconds, but imagine holding your breath seven seconds every two minutes for eight hours- is your blood going to be able to maintain the correct ratio of oxygen that whole time? Especially to your brain?
Now, there is always, under normal circumstances, some extra air, made up of all sortsa gasses including a little oxygen, hanging around in the bases of your lungs- that's what "knock the breath out of you" means: you literally jolt your chest cavity enough to force all that leftover air out of your lungs which then-- not really collapse, but close- the passages constrict and narrow without that air taking up the space and suddenly it feels like you will never be able to take a breath again. You try and try but you cannot suck air in-- until whooooosh! It finally works again as pressures are returned to normal.
However, the air lurking in your lungs' bases is not oxygen rich- in fact, it has little oxygen, at all. The air we breathe normally should be around 20% or so O2; what is hanging around not wanting to leave the party in the lungs ("Hey, Erythrocyte, fancy meeting you here! Wanna give me a ride?") contains far less O2- less than 9%, usually. You'd suffocate breathing that for long. Which is why your brain sends panicky signals- "Oh god oh god oh god we have to BREATHE!" when it detects, not low oxygen, but high carbon dioxide- which means low oxygen, in the blood when you hold your breath too long, or get it knocked out of you, or put too much stress on the heart so you gasp and your heart pounds- your brain is doing its job.
But part of being asleep- which we still don't have too good a grasp on, yet- is your brain... ignores some stuff. Not totally- not "...and we don't care if we breathe..." but attention is not paid as well. See, another thing about breathing is, exhaling is automatic, inhaling takes muscle work. So your 'breathing muscles' need to be told to do their job every eight or so seconds, and you're asleep, deeply asleep, snoring asleep, and your brain is off screwing around with dream imagery somewhere, and you don't inhale! In-hale!! INHALE DAMNIT!" *snort*gaspgasp snore-snore-snore....
What a c-pap does is push O2 rich air into your mouth and nose. It is not as invasive as a bi-pap and certainly no where near as take-over as an intubated respirator, it just makes sure each breath you take during your sleep is oxygen rich and that you TAKE breaths, because the machine pushing air into your nasal cavities and mouth stimulate your breathing muscles to do their damned job. All night long. Dream or no dream. No- I mean it, I don't care who it is, I'm gonna breathe!
A sleep study should be done before a c-pap is used- unless a sleeping partner can accurately describe the snore of the other partner. Even respirations without pauses and gasping-snorts do not need a c-pap; although, if you have good insurance and/or a history of apnea in your family, using one may be the better part of being a good little medical consumer, because apnea is seen as part of the cause of strokes, dementia and cardiac issues.
After all, if you can avoid stroke, dementia and/or cardiac damage with a little discomfort and getting used to a new kind of gray noise (some are VERY loud) then follow your doctor's advice and use a c-pap.