Welcome to My Personal OSA Story
HI! Well as you already know from the first page, my name is Kim and I suffer from
Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (referred to in the future as OSA). I decided
to tell my story of what led up to my diagnosis and what has been done since then
to treat my OSA to inform others that it does exist and the seriousness of having
OSA. If my story helps just one person recognize this in themselves and get
treatment for it then I have accomplished my purpose with this page. OSA is
serious and life threatening when undiagnosed and/or untreated.
My diagnosis actually came about quite by accident and as a result of another
health incident. I was taking a course at school in EKG training. We had
to run EKG's on each other in class. When one of my classmates ran one on me,
the results indicated that I had a Bigeminy PVC pattern. This means that for
every normal heartbeat I had, I had a PVC (premature ventricular contraction).
Knowing that PVC's are not normal and can be dangerouos I immediately made
an appointment with a cardiologist. I had an echocardiogram which indicated
that my left ventricle was enlarged and was not pumping as efficiently as it
should have been. A healthy heart will force 55%-75% of the blood in the left
ventricle out on each beat, mine was only putting out 40%. So at the age of 34
I was suffering from congestive heart failure and I was scared. I was lucky enough
to have an excellent cardiologist with knowledge of OSA and the effects it
can have on the heart. He ordered a sleep study for me right off based on
the information I had given him, to have me tested for OSA. I still had to
wait 6 weeks to get into the sleep clinic though.
During the time I was waiting for the sleep study I began doing research on OSA
and what I found floored me! All of the things I had been experiencing and
just chalking up to being a mom with three kids were actually the signs of
OSA! I knew I should not be sleepy ALL the time, all day, falling asleep any
time I stopped moving for more then 3 minutes, but I never realized it was a
sign of a serious problem. I think in the back of my mind I also knew that
waking up every 90 minutes to use the bathroom, over a 7 hr sleep period was
NOT normal. But again I reasoned with myself that it was simply the result of
giving birth 3 times. I also had frequent morning headaches, confusion a lot
of the time, forgetfullness and a general feeling of walking around in a haze
all the time. Not to mention my heart arrythmia which was/is a direct result
of what I now know to be years of undiagnosed OSA.
The good news here is that I had my sleep study, was diagnosed with severe OSA
(over 50 apneic incidents per hour, mine was 92 with events lasting as long as
60 sec) in January 1999 and am now using a device called a CPAP (constant
positive air pressure). I wear a nasal mask when I sleep and this machine
delivers a constant forced air pressure to hold open the soft tissues and keep my
airway clear so I can breathe easily while sleeping. This machine has changed
my life! I have energy now I never thought possible! I no longer fall asleep
all the time. I can sleep 6-7 hrs a night and stay awake ALL day! I no longer
get up at night to use the bathroom, I am not irritable all the time. I
realized how much of my life was being robbed from me and am so SO thankful to
have it back! Also since being on the CPAP some of the enlargement in my heart
has gone down and my pumping efficiency is back up in the normal range! CPAP
doesn't work for everyone but it has been a life saver for me at this point
and I will have to use it for the rest of my life...but considering it has
given me my life, that is a small price to pay for a full long life!
If you are reading this and recognize ANY of this in yourself I urge you to please
check out the web sites I have listed below on sleep apnea and get well
informed. Then go to your doctor and pursue treatment! A sleep study is a
must to be diagnosed, some docs will not be supportive when it comes to sleep
disorders but be persevering and push them until they are or get another doctor.
This is nothing to play around with or ignore! There are many things I have
left out of this story as far as possible options for treatment and other
detailed information, but this is not meant to be an total information page.
It is meant to heighten awareness and cause further research to be conducted
by those who think they may also be suffering from this disorder. Also if you
think you have OSA, or any other sleep disorder for that matter, there is a
wonderful group of supportive, understanding and friendly people in the newsgroup
alt.support.sleep-disorder. Thank you for reading my story and please check
out the links below. They are very informative.
LINKS TO SLEEP DISORDERS AND OSA INFORMATION SITES
GENERAL SLEEP DISORDER LINKS
SleepNet-home page SleepNet-discussion forums National Sleep Foundation (NSF) Glossaries of sleep related terms Sleep Net collection of links with ratings Sleep Medicine Associates of Dallas, Texas Web page with short summary of normal sleep and sleep disorders Sleep Medicine home page; collection of links in MANY categoriesSLEEP APNEA LINKS
Conjo Distributing American Sleep Apnea Association (ASAA)Obstructive Sleep Apoena-by Dr John Loadsman of Australia
Site of Kerrin Leon White, M.D., a physician with severe sleep apnea |
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