Good news and bad

[vvvexation]

The bad news: I have a midterm tomorrow for which I need rather badly to study, as I haven't been keeping up terribly well--and even this early in the evening I find I'm too damn tired to concentrate.

The good news: I at least have an excuse now for being tired. I finally got the results of my sleep study today, and it is official: I have sleep apnea. And now that I know I have it, I can get treated for it. In all likelihood this will vastly, vastly improve my life. I might even be able to take classes before two in the afternoon and actually manage to be awake for them.

The annoying news: It'll be a while before that happens. First I have to navigate the obstacle course that is medical bureaucracy, i.e. get an authorization form from the school clinic (which I wouldn't have to if my ENT doc hadn't run out of them), fax it over to the sleep center and then phone them up to make another appointment, which will probably not take place for at least a couple of weeks and at which I will probably simply be testing out the equipment which it will probably take another few weeks for me to be able to purchase. But the one last piece of good news is, it still looks as though my insurance will cover it.

(And the final question on my mind: Will this or any other post get half as many replies as the one where I mentioned shiny things? Not that I particularly wish it to, but I'm amused to have discovered that that is apparently how to attract people's attention.)

Comments

[auros]

It took me until after I was out of college to get my sleep cycle under anything even vaguely resembling control... But it really does help with the sanity thing. (I actually managed to get eight hours last night. The cats, oddly enough, didn't get all antsy and wake me up shortly after dawn, as they so often do.)

[vvvexation.livejournal.com]

It's not even anything to do with the cycle. It doesn't really matter when I sleep, it's always as if I didn't get enough anyway.

[auros]

Icky.

In any case, I hope the treatment works, and that improved sleep improves your overall quality of life as much as it does mine, when I manage to get it. *g*

[flwyd.livejournal.com]

Is apnea where you stop breathing while you're asleep? My dad has that and my mom often panics when it occurs. Probably a good thing to warn anyone who'll share your bed.

[vvvexation.livejournal.com]

It's not really noticeable, I think. I was just told my interruptions in breathing are brief compared to most apnea sufferers'. Certainly no one who's ever slept with me has claimed to notice, although a couple of them have told me I grind my teeth. Nah, what people who share my bed get warned of is that I'll kick them out if they snore.

[toxgunn.livejournal.com]

Congrats on getting diagnosed, and sooner rather than later. I bombed out of college to sleepdep hallucinations and muddled through the valley for almost a decade before I was diagnosed and got part of my brain back.

Good luck finding gear that fits well and may the "getting used to it" phase proceed quickly.

FWIW, the Respironics Remstar+ is quieter than others I've shared a room with, and is sufficiently multivoltage that I was able to drag it through southeast asia without having to worry about what I was plugging it into. Even has a 12v socket in the back of it for use whilst mobile (camping, etc.). Only downside is I've yet to find a Respironics-brand mask that fits well enough to avoid either air in the eyes or pressure sores.

Good luck! Enjoy the sleep!

[vvvexation.livejournal.com]

I'll keep that in mind. As for the bombing out of college, though, it's a close thing. I've got to graduate in one more semester and I'm not sure I'll be able to.