Being Well: Living with Sleep Apnea (and that CPAP Machine)
Being Well is a regular feature at LGBTSr highlighting health and wellness.
Editor’s note: This first appeared here at LGBTSr in March, 2020. I’ve been using a CPAP machine for almost four years now and thought it was a good time to revisit that topic. Many people benefit from them and lives can be saved. – Mark
A few years ago I began regularly waking up with headaches. I’m also a loud snorer, as my husband reminded me several times a night with nudges to turn on my side or just wake up long enough to stop. Headaches and snoring … something was probably going on. I made an appointment with a sleep specialist and did a home test for sleep apnea. It recorded 25+ “events” per hour. An event is when the person stops breathing due to sleep apnea. It can lead to multiple health issues, with headaches and snoring being two of the most obvious.
I’ve been using a CPAP machine for the past year and a half. I got lucky: I’m able to use the nostril pillows, as opposed to a mask. I’m not what’s called a mouth breather, meaning I don’t breathe through my mouth and can be treated with just the machine, a hose, and two small plugs that go into my nostrils.
The machine calculates how many times I stop breathing, which is down to just a few each hour. I have an app on my phone that syncs with the machine to make all the data available to me, including how many times a night my mask/pillows slip, or if I take it off at some point without realizing it. It’s also heated, so the air is comfortable. It takes some getting used to, but within a few nights I was fine wearing it, and the hose is long enough that I can turn from side to side without any problem. It does make talking a little challenging, because it blows air into my nostrils to keep the breathing passages open.
Do I want to use a CPAP the rest of my life? No. Will I need to? Only time will tell. But knowing my breathing is no longer stopping a couple hundred times a night, and I’m not having headaches from oxygen deprivation, and I’m not disturbing my husband with loud, worrisome snoring, makes it worth it for however long it’s part of my sleep routine. – Mark McNease/Editor
What is sleep apnea?
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Sleep apnea is a common condition in the United States. It can occur when the upper airway becomes blocked repeatedly during sleep, reducing or completely stopping airflow. This is known as obstructive sleep apnea. If the brain does not send the signals needed to breathe, the condition may be called central sleep apnea.
Healthcare providers use sleep studies to diagnose sleep apnea. They record the number of episodes of slow or stopped breathing and the number of central sleep apnea events detected in an hour. They also determine whether oxygen levels in the blood are lower during these events.”
What causes sleep apnea?
Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the muscles in the back of your throat relax too much to allow normal breathing. These muscles support structures including the back of the roof of your mouth (soft palate), the triangular piece of tissue hanging from the soft palate (uvula), the tonsils and the tongue.
When the muscles relax, your airway narrows or closes as you breathe in and breathing may be inadequate for 10 seconds or longer. This may lower the level of oxygen in your blood and cause a buildup of carbon dioxide.
Your brain senses this impaired breathing and briefly rouses you from sleep so that you can reopen your airway. This awakening is usually so brief that you don’t remember it.
You can awaken with shortness of breath that corrects itself quickly, within one or two deep breaths. You may make a snorting, choking or gasping sound.
This pattern can repeat itself five to 30 times or more each hour, all night long. These disruptions impair your ability to reach the desired deep, restful phases of sleep, and you’ll probably feel sleepy during your waking hours.
People with obstructive sleep apnea may not be aware that their sleep was interrupted. In fact, many people with this type of sleep apnea think they slept well all night.”
What are the symptoms of sleep apnea?
Signs and symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea include:
- Excessive daytime sleepiness
- Loud snoring
- Observed episodes of stopped breathing during sleep
- Abrupt awakenings accompanied by gasping or choking
- Awakening with a dry mouth or sore throat
- Morning headache
- Difficulty concentrating during the day
- Experiencing mood changes, such as depression or irritability
- High blood pressure
- Nighttime sweating
- Decreased libido
How is sleep apnea treated?
Positive airway pressure machines, used with a variety of breathing masks, are the most widely used treatment for moderate and severe sleep apnea.
The mask, worn snugly over the nose, or sometimes nose and mouth, during sleep, supplies pressurized air that flows continuously or intermittently into the sleeper’s throat. The increased air pressure prevents the sleeper’s airway from collapsing.
The pressurized air is supplied through a flexible tube from one of several types of machines: CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure), BiPAP (bilevel positive airway pressure), VPAP (variable positive airway pressure), and so on. Studies of the effect of PAP therapy show that people with sleep apnea who consistently use their machines feel better and, as a result of the reduction of apnea and hypopnea episodes during sleep, encounter fewer complications of the disease. There’s more information about PAP therapy here.
Although PAP devices are not used to treat snoring alone, they do eliminate snoring in addition to treating obstructive sleep apnea.
What is a CPAP machine?
CPAP stands for continuous positive airway pressure. The machines help people with sleep apnea breathe more easily and regularly every night while they are sleeping. A CPAP machine increases the air pressure in your throat to prevent your airway from collapsing when you inhale. It also decreases snoring (which will help your partner snooze better at night, too!). The machine has a filter and small tank of water, which essentially works as a humidifier. There is a tube that connects the unit to a mask that you place over your face while you sleep, and a chin strap keeps it in place.