My Life and Sleep Apnea

At the time of your first doctor visit concerning your sleep apnea, the doctor will suggest a sleep study . The name applies that there is sleeping involved unfortunately there wasn’t much for me during my test. Just falling asleep is a challenge when you are at a sleep clinic . In order to tell if you indeed have sleep apnea, the doctor will send you on an over night sleep study (Polysomnography). The test can be done at a hospital, a clinic or even an office building. The last one that I had was at an office building. The test determines many things like how long you have slept, how often you wake up (arousals) and how long it took to fall asleep. My problem with all the sleep studies that I have had is that it takes me forever to fall asleep. Uncomfortable sleeping arrangement To say that the sleep study has an uncomfortable sleeping arrangement is an understatement. There are wires attached everywhere on your body, from your head to your feet. With all those wires it is ...

There had to be a point where you knew something was wrong. You were tired in the morning, even on the mornings where you could sleep in you were still tired. Or maybe your short term memory wasn’t as good as it used to be. You never felt rested but you just couldn’t figure what the problem was. What was your first sign of sleep apnea ? Although blockage of the airway is the common thread among sleep apnea patients, how you first become diagnosed varies greatly. It used to be before sleep apnea became known that people with OSA just lived with it or tried things like sleeping pills (which make matters worse). But today sleep apnea is widely known there shouldn’t be any problem being diagnosed. Unfortunately there are still many people out there that don’t know that they have sleep apnea. They may think that they just have insomnia or some other problem, dismissing the idea that they could have sleep apnea. I could be that they are leery about sleep apnea because of the horror stori...

Sleep apnea is a serious disorder when left untreated which can lead to harmful health problems and even death. The treatment of sleep apnea like other illnesses is not cheap. Not only are there office visits to pay for there is also sleep studies and possibly breathing machines such as the cpap. That is why it is important that you know what your insurance companies pay for and what they don’t. I have been lucky, my insurance companies have never given me any hassles about sleep studies (I have had 7 of them) and the 2 cpap machines that I tried out. Frankly, I can’t understand why any insurance company wouldn’t pay for sleep apnea treatment considering how dangerous it can be if not treated. Of course if you looking for private health insurance, the fact that you have sleep apnea would probably be a strike against you and your premiums would be higher. But if that is your last resort you would have to pay for it or pay more when the consequences of sleep apnea occur. With ...