February 2008

I had my high blood pressure taken several times (dentist's office, health fair at work, doctor's office) and it was consistently high - around 140/90.  I finally bought a blood pressure cuff because I wanted to see if it was consistently at home.  Yep - I had high BP. 

 Went to see my primary care doctor and he suggested that I might have sleep apnea and recommended I go in for a sleep study.  Sure enough, I have a moderate case of sleep apnea - basically, I'm waking myself up every 30 minutes so I can start breathing again.  I would wake up in the middle of the night panicked and feeling like I was suffocating, but I thought it was the stress of work, divorce, moving - essentially, LIFE. 

 Long story short I got hooked up (literally) with a CPAP.  It's a small machine with a breathing apparatus that you wear at night like a snorkel.  It forces air into your airways so you don't stop breathing.  I have to admit, the first few times I wore it, I had to take a Xanax because I was panicking about not being able to breathe.  But after a few times (and a few good night's sleep), I've kind of learned how to work with the mask and tubing and it's not so bad.  It even has a humidifier so your nose doesn't dry out.  It's surprisingly quiet - kind of nice having a little white noise, actually.  One thing that I don't like - this is a rather pricey solution to resolving high blood pressure - it will probably end up costing me $1000 for the doctor's visits, sleep studies (one to diagnose, second to calibrate machine), and equipment.  And that is AFTER insurance...and I have pretty good insurance!  But I figure it's worth it to get a good night's sleep and make sure I'm rested.  My BP is starting to come down, and I'm trying to use the energy to walk my dogs after work.  I will be going back to the specialist next week to review where I am - there is a card that you insert into the machine that tracks your breathing and use of the machine.  Very convenient for follow up visits!  He said I should expect it to take a few months for my BP to come back down to normal.

On a very private note, there is a social adjustment factor here that the sleep specialist seemed to feel uncomfortable addressing.  It was hard that my dog took one look at me with the gear on and ran out of the room in complete fear.  If that's what the dog does, what will a new boyfriend do?  After a few weeks, she got used to it and is now back to cuddling in bed with me at night.  I'm still really uncomfortable talking about this and don't know any other single people who face this issue.  I've told my co-workers, but I work in a health organization where health and wellness is encouraged so it's not a big deal.  I've gotten over how unattractive it looks (just don't look at myself in the mirror after I put it on), but this still bothers me.