I am on my fourth night using a CPAP machine.
I have had many doctors throughout the years and I mentioned that I might have sleep apnea, they just said, "You need to get checked", since I like to
procrastinate, I didn't, of course. A good doctor should assist you in getting anything at all done, mine didn't. I recently changed doctors, he's
very milquetoast, (VERY mild-mannered) but he does get things done like no other doctor I have had. He suggested that I get tested, and a week or so
later, there I was at the clinic getting the test.
Like you, I could not for the life of me see me going to sleep at a strange place with someone watching me, AND, they have a camera on you too, you
have to sleep on your back, or at least this was my experiences. I told the technician that I could not sleep not unless I had something to help me
sleep.
I am assuming you do not know about Melatonin! I didn't until I looked online on a forum to see about something else and some people mentioned it. IT
CHANGED MY LIFE! Not everyone is the same though, my 82 year-old MiL says that it doesn't do anything at all for her, but if she takes an aspirin (I'm
exaggerating) she gets dizzy...
Melatonin is a really good thing to use, but you need to use it sparingly and for not over a month. If you do, you will get Malaise or something
similar, in other words, you will feel like crap. This stuff though will help you sleep and it 'should' change how you sleep. Like you, for years I
used Benadryl for sleeping, my (crap) doctor suggested it, he didn't tell me that it would enlarge my prostate, which it did, and it's permanently
enlarged now. I saw where it said it "Should not be used if you had prostate problems", I asked my doctor, he said, "I give this to my elderly
patients, they are fine, it won't hurt you at all!". Long story short, I stopped using that, started using Melatonin and I am better than ever.
I only mention this because I was where you were, this worked for me, it may or not work for you. I would do your own research on Melatonin and see if
that should work for you, that's what I did.
In my test at the clinic I had many wired sensors on my head, chest, and legs, they do the legs too because they look for movement which is a sign of
bad sleeping. You would think being in a strange place, with wires all over you, that you couldn't go to sleep, I was out in 10 minutes, thanks to
Melatonin. I had already asked if I could use Melatonin for this and she said that I could, they said to take all of your normal medicine, they WANT
you to sleep as hard as you can so they can see it in their machines.
If you go to a clinic, make sure that you look at yourself in the mirror before leaving, I didn't, and the lady didn't tell me that I had latex all
over my face. I 'almost' went to a drive-through Jack-in-the-Box and I'm glad I didn't.
My room was dark, but she left the door open and she would check on me from time to time, I had no idea that she did though. I went in at 8:30pm and
she talked to me, wired me up, and told me to go to sleep, it was probably about 9:10pm or so when she walked out.
At 3:30am she came in and woke me up and said, "Congratulations! You have sleep apnea!", which was actually good news, I wanted them to find the
reason for my horrible days when I woke up more tired than when I went to sleep, and so on. (Actually, before 3:30am I did wake up and told her that
the "pillow", that is the nose piece, was making my nose feel kind of raw, she adjusted the headband and it went away, she knew what she was doing)
At 5:30am she came in and woke me up and said that I am through with the test, so off I went.
I personally wanted to go to a clinic rather than them come to my house because I have 3 dogs, and I was really worried about trying the test, but it
was so easy (MELATONIN!!!) and I was really, REALLY glad that I went that way. Having a video camera on you sounded weird, but they have a little
cheap-o one that doesn't spy on you really, but they can see movement, just in case there is a problem. I believe that it is an infrared camera
too.
Fast-forward to getting my machine...
I had an appointment to "get fitted" and for her to explain how the machine worked, it took me all of 30 minutes to get this done, it was quick and
painless.
On a shelf they had a variety of masks on busts to demonstrate how it looks and fits. They had the full-face masks, half-masks, ones that only cover
your nostrils, and one that was mostly just a tube that was underneath your nose, that was the kind I had in my clinical test. I wanted that one, I
thought, she then walked me through the differences and said that I could try them all, or just pick one that you want to try. I opted to try the one
that only covered the nostrils, not the entire nose.
This was a good decision on my part, I have a full beard and I wondered how that was going to work. It turns out that it doesn't interfere at all,
AND, it's not made of the cheap-o plastic that my test one had, it is made of super-soft silicone!
The machine is so quiet I actually can only hear a slight sound from the mask itself, the machine is really quiet. Mine has a humidifier water tank so
you won't get a dry throat, and that works well. Actually, I use a white noise machine that drowns out most noises anyway, so that wasn't a thing for
me at all anyway.
She said that the water tank should last a week, it doesn't at all, not even close, it last around 9 hours. There are settings that you can change,
but if you let the water level drop too low it can melt you plastic water tank, or so she said.
I am not as bad off as the way you explained your sleep, I was told that I didn't stop breathing, but I was not getting enough oxygen into my blood,
and that is exactly how I felt too. I believe that a hangover is the same feeling, from what I hear you can use oxygen to alleviate a hangover, I
haven't tried that, but I woke up every day feeling like a tied one on.
I hope this helps someone.
Oh yeah! I do feel like I can think more clearly, I have been in a brain fog for a few years now, that seems to be lifting, AND, I was exhausted after
mowing, weed-eating, edging, so far I am better. I wasn't as bad off as you, so maybe you will feel MORE benefits than I did.
edit on 17-6-2018
by recrisp because: (no reason given)