Sleep Disorders

Medicine Summaries

This is a revelation. I always wondered about my sleep apnea problem. How bad was it? I live alone, and I have no sleeping partner to tell me the details of my sleeping habits. Since sleep labs are very expensive, I came up with an idea to self-diagnose my sleep apnea.

I went to Radio Shack, and bought a really cool miniature Olympos WS-400 Digital Voice Recorder, which can record up to 20 hours. I only needed 8 hours, so I can store up to 2 nights worth of snoring, and breath-holding. I suspended the recorder just above my head, with a wire from the bedstead.

The DVR has a retractable USB plug, which goes right into your PC or Mac. Downloading the files is very simple, and you can listen to them on your computer sound system - at high volume, if you want to freak out.

Sitting through (listening to) 8 hours of your own sleep can be eye-opening. Many times during the night, I simply STOP BREATHING. Here are the results of several night's recording playback.

I turned off the TV, and closed my eyes, to go to sleep.
The snoring began within 5 minutes.

F - FIDGETING - TURNING OVER - Adjusting sleep position.

G - GIBBERISH - It is unbelievable, the number and weirdness of the sounds that you make. Laughing, cursing, and huh? sounds


BREATH RATE - My breath rate tends to be 16 breaths per minute while snoring. It takes twice as long to inhale, as it does to exhale.

I have 2 modes of sleep -

L - LABORED BREATHING - SNORING - It's very hard to get the air in, so the exhale is fast and forced, to prepare for the next restricted inhale.

A - APNEA - STOP BREATHING - Holding of the breath, for no apparent reason, for as long as 25 SECONDS.
And then, breathing in and out vigorously several times to compensate for the out-of-breath condition.
And then repeat. Repeat again.

N - NORMAL SLEEP BREATHING occurs only sporadically, for short periods of time - inhale, exhale, pause.

The realization of the severity and extent of MY sleep apnea problem is sobering. I actually feel sick, just listening to myself from the night before. It is now SO EASY to understand how I wake up in the morning feeling "not-refreshed".

All right, so the problem is really bad, What are you going to do about it?
The first thing I am going to do, is obtain an anti-snoring device from my dentist. I can test it myself.
I hope this works well - I am just not ready for CPAP. A friend of mine used it, and hated it.

When you realize just how much you are laboring while trying to sleep, it is time to do something about it!.

MORE later.

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This is a graph comparing normal sleep breathing, with sleep apnea breathing.

NORMAL BREATHING
Normal sleep breathing consists of rhythmic breathing, at about 12 breaths per minute for adults. All breaths are of the same approximate "depth". This pattern is maintained for MANY minutes, before the sleeper takes a deep breath, and/or rolls over in bed.

SLEEP APNEA BREATHING
There is nothing rhythmic about sleep apnea breathing. Breathing is labored and more rapid WHEN it occurs. Great variation in the "depth" of breath occurs. In my case, I average about 2 "no breathing" spells per minute. There is almost always movement during the gasping, such as head movement, or shifting position in bed, often accompanied by moans and other sounds.

Notice how the depth of breath becomes more shallow, just before breathing ceases.
Many others with sleep apnea do not have the "pre-gasp" breath like I do, but instead go directly from no breathing to a HUGE gasp, which can frequently awaken them completely.

How are you going to get proper rest, when all this is occurring? You don't. Instead, you arise tired, with high blood pressure, since your body never gets a chance to rest.

The most frequent cause of sleep apnea is being overweight, floppy uvula notwithstanding.

10 - S - J - F - N

10 - Similar

10 - Similar - N

10 - Similar

20 - L - A - F

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10 - Similar

10 - Similar

10 - Similar

10 - Similar

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20 - Bathroom

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I have tilted my bed, so that the end where my head is, is much higher than the end where my feet are. I feel that there are multiple benefits -

1. Gravity has less of an effect on the physics of the throat - reduced pressure on the uvula, reduced propensity of the lower jaw to recede towards the throat,
2. Breathing is easier, since there is less pressure on the chest,
3. Snoring is reduced,
4. There is less pooling of blood in the upper half of the body, lowering blood pressure, and easing congestive heart failure.
5. IMHO

What is the optimal angle for your bed? The figure of a 30° angle is frequently mentioned on other websites, but I find that figure far too high. You would slide straight to the bottom. The higher the angle, the more the tendency to slide down toward the bottom.

Disclaimer
The author is NOT a doctor.
The opinions stated on this page are solely the opinions of the author.
Although the author exercises due diligence, errors can and do occur.

I hope this page helps you with your Sleep Apnea medical problem.

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