| I have suffered from sleep problems for many years. I
first remember great difficulty getting a good nights sleep in my
second year of university in 1989. Over the years my sleep
deteriorated more and more. Many misdiagnoses where made.
On July 22, 2006 I was finally
diagnosed with severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea. I was having
breathing problems 55.2 times per hour! By the time I was diagnosed
I had developed a long list of symptoms.
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| For those of you that don't know what
sleep apnea
is its basically a blockage of the airway during sleep. When
an obstruction occurs your blood oxygen levels drop and your
heart works harder trying correct the situation. Eventually the
carbon dioxide levels build up to such a level that your brain
forces you awake so that you will start breathing again. This
happens over and over during the night robbing you from ever getting
proper deep or REM sleep and straining your body. If untreated it affects many
systems in your body. It can eventually lead to arrhythmias,
heart attacks, stroke, and even death. I now have to sleep every night connected to a machine called a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) so that I can breath. |
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Information about sleep |
