Rumbling in the night....
Over the years, I've found nothing more annoying.. than guys .. people.. that snore. From my military days on deployments... to camping trips.. .. or .. just your buddy that falls out on a long night .. or watching a movie, and starts sawing logs. I remember visiting family where that would happen... you're watching a movie.. everyone is around.. and .. that one person falls asleep and .. the snoring begins.. you crank up the volume, pretend all is good..and... I'm annoyed.
Well, about 10 years ago.. I became part of the problem. I attribute it to my body weight (okay .. maybe age too .. ) .. About 12 years ago, I tipped 300lbs on the scale. I've gone up and down 10 or 15 since that year.. but today .. I'm still about .. 300lbs. And I snore. In the early days, I'd wake myself up all night. I'd pop open the eyes thinking WTF was that? Then .. back to sleep .. and .. repeat. Then I went through a period where I sort of slept through it, but jerked myself awake .. I think I was having 'snorting' moments. I wondered if it was a sleep apnea thing, but the wife said she didn't see any of those symptoms. Now, can sleep right through it all. .but... my wife can't. So, I get the nudges throughout the night .. " turn over baby" ... " you're snoring" ... I keep waiting to hear "get the F' out of the bed!" .. but .. she loves me :) People in public, not so much. I try not to fall asleep on a plane. When I do, I'm normally getting the evil eye from my fellow travelers; whoops!
The downside of all this is... I'm friggn' tired. I can't remember the last time I jumped out of bed, stretched and thought " Bring it on!!!!" .. I mean, I used to. Problem is.. I can't remember when the last time I consistently felt that way. Then, throw in a night of sippn' scotch or bourbon, and the house really rumbles. I'm guessing alcohol somehow relaxes that back part of the throat and the airway decreases making it all worse. Hell I don't know .. but .. wears me out.
Worst part is .. it affects my performance during the day. I used to love to work out, but when i throw the legs out of the bed in the morning it's the last thing I want to do. So, I get up and pound some java down thinking I'll work out then. But, I then head into the home office and begin work. Next thing you know.. it's coming up on dinner time .. and .. I didn't make it to the gym. Now the crazy part is, less than 200' from my office is a full up professional quality gym .. begging for me to work out in it. .. and .. it sits empty. After dinner, the last thing I want to do is work out. I mean... Walking Dead is on the DVR! NetFlix has something on it calling my name as well! And, I promise myself tomorrow.. tomorrow.. .. I'll get my ass out to the gym .. I mean, If I dropped down under 280 or so, the snoring would go away. I'd get a good nights sleep ... life would be great .. right? But, the next day is a repeat of the previous. And life goes on.
About five years ago I did a sleep study. I'd be snoring like a bear all week. Wife wanted to kill me. So, I go in, they wire me up... I lay down thinking I'll never get to sleep .. then I'll be snoring when I finally do .... going to be a long night. I'm laying there covered in wires, crappy pillows... air temp is too warm ... this is going to suck. Next thing I know, six hours later they are waking me up, and it's time to go home. I felt refreshed. They tell me I slept like a baby, not a peep. WTF? I'm cured! Well... not. Back to reality. So I threw in the towel... this is my reality. Dragging ass most days.
Well, fast forward to last month... I'm back in for another sleep study. The only day they can get me in, I'm headed to El Paso the next day. Crap. Well, they wire me up and I assume we'll have a repeat of the previous one. Not to be; they wake me up 1/2 dozen times and have to reposition me. I'm snoring like there is no tomorrow, and I'm rolling all over the place and the wires need to be reattached. Finally, 0530 comes and they kick me out of the place. Now, I've got a 700 mile bike trip that day and I need some damned SLEEP! So against my better sense, I start slamming java , throw a leg over the bike ... meet up with two of my buddies and off we we go. The only saving grace that day was it drizzled the first 150 miles .. and .. never got blazing hot. It did on the way back from El Paso, but that's a different story.
Upon return from that trip I got the news that I do have sleep issues; some minor apnea issues. For me this is good news; I want to address .. resolve.. the issue. Last night I went in for Phase 2 of the process. They plug you into a CPAP device , wire you all up again .. and do their magic. They didn't have to wake me up at all and readjust anything. Had it not been for several P' breaks, I'd have slept the whole night away. I thought it'd mess with me have the air blowing through my nostrils down the throat airway all night, but ... i was fine. Now, I'm not a fan of the apparatus, but ... the CPAP machine didn't make a humming noise I'd expected. I didn't hear any airflow unless I took off the mask. And I guess since I SCUBA dive.. it didn't bother me breathing in the oxygen overall . And .. I woke up feeling pretty damned good this morning!
So.. now I wait .... they have to review the results to issue a prescription. Forget the fact that I'd go buy the CPAP myself w/o a prescription .. if you could. Now I'm at their mercy .... waiting for the results. Seems obvious to me that I need one. Guess it'll be another week or so to get that perfect nights sleep again. Then, maybe I'll drag my ass into the gym full of energy . Then, I'll have my java AFTER the morning workouts.. ... like in the old days.
Well, about 10 years ago.. I became part of the problem. I attribute it to my body weight (okay .. maybe age too .. ) .. About 12 years ago, I tipped 300lbs on the scale. I've gone up and down 10 or 15 since that year.. but today .. I'm still about .. 300lbs. And I snore. In the early days, I'd wake myself up all night. I'd pop open the eyes thinking WTF was that? Then .. back to sleep .. and .. repeat. Then I went through a period where I sort of slept through it, but jerked myself awake .. I think I was having 'snorting' moments. I wondered if it was a sleep apnea thing, but the wife said she didn't see any of those symptoms. Now, can sleep right through it all. .but... my wife can't. So, I get the nudges throughout the night .. " turn over baby" ... " you're snoring" ... I keep waiting to hear "get the F' out of the bed!" .. but .. she loves me :) People in public, not so much. I try not to fall asleep on a plane. When I do, I'm normally getting the evil eye from my fellow travelers; whoops!
The downside of all this is... I'm friggn' tired. I can't remember the last time I jumped out of bed, stretched and thought " Bring it on!!!!" .. I mean, I used to. Problem is.. I can't remember when the last time I consistently felt that way. Then, throw in a night of sippn' scotch or bourbon, and the house really rumbles. I'm guessing alcohol somehow relaxes that back part of the throat and the airway decreases making it all worse. Hell I don't know .. but .. wears me out.
Worst part is .. it affects my performance during the day. I used to love to work out, but when i throw the legs out of the bed in the morning it's the last thing I want to do. So, I get up and pound some java down thinking I'll work out then. But, I then head into the home office and begin work. Next thing you know.. it's coming up on dinner time .. and .. I didn't make it to the gym. Now the crazy part is, less than 200' from my office is a full up professional quality gym .. begging for me to work out in it. .. and .. it sits empty. After dinner, the last thing I want to do is work out. I mean... Walking Dead is on the DVR! NetFlix has something on it calling my name as well! And, I promise myself tomorrow.. tomorrow.. .. I'll get my ass out to the gym .. I mean, If I dropped down under 280 or so, the snoring would go away. I'd get a good nights sleep ... life would be great .. right? But, the next day is a repeat of the previous. And life goes on.
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| ugh |
Well, fast forward to last month... I'm back in for another sleep study. The only day they can get me in, I'm headed to El Paso the next day. Crap. Well, they wire me up and I assume we'll have a repeat of the previous one. Not to be; they wake me up 1/2 dozen times and have to reposition me. I'm snoring like there is no tomorrow, and I'm rolling all over the place and the wires need to be reattached. Finally, 0530 comes and they kick me out of the place. Now, I've got a 700 mile bike trip that day and I need some damned SLEEP! So against my better sense, I start slamming java , throw a leg over the bike ... meet up with two of my buddies and off we we go. The only saving grace that day was it drizzled the first 150 miles .. and .. never got blazing hot. It did on the way back from El Paso, but that's a different story.
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| Over a dozen of these damned attachments |
So.. now I wait .... they have to review the results to issue a prescription. Forget the fact that I'd go buy the CPAP myself w/o a prescription .. if you could. Now I'm at their mercy .... waiting for the results. Seems obvious to me that I need one. Guess it'll be another week or so to get that perfect nights sleep again. Then, maybe I'll drag my ass into the gym full of energy . Then, I'll have my java AFTER the morning workouts.. ... like in the old days.
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