Good Bye Snoring – welcome Quality sleep
I have always felt happy with my Sleep pattern. Usually I hit the bed around 9:30 – 10 PM and wake up by 4:30 AM. I am a sound sleeper – I don’t snoar, but I ROAR in the sleep. It hardly takes a couple of minutes for me to fall asleep.
Madhu, after marriage complained a lot about my Sound, but I thought it was normal. I am tired and sleep like a kid and snoring is not something I am conscious about. Madhu recorded recording sound of my snoring and I disregarded that as a sound of lions roar that she downloaded. She then recorded a video of me sleeping, but I did not like it as it was too dark :-).
Fast forward 5 years and now with Adhruth sleeps with us in the same room. He was using hearing aid and we remove that in the night. With my snoring sound, Adhruth’s sleep was getting disturbed. It was very difficult for him to an extend that he would wake up from sleep and start crying closing his ears with one hand.
Sleeping on my side did not help. Breathe Easy nose strips did not work. Tried all solutions but nothing worked out. Then I decided to do something about it. Fixed an appointment with my Doctor and he recommended a Sleep Study. It was funny experience when they reviewed the Sleep Questionnaire. There were questions like – do I walk in sleep, am I violent during sleep, have I hurt myself etc. I said I only snoar and no other issues. They did not find my situation exciting at all.
After Sleep study in the Hospital, Doctor talked about my snoring was way beyond that they thought it would be. They placed a mask that night and they said my sleep was much better. I had Obstructive Sleep Apnea. I never thought about that as I felt my sleep was better. They recommended me a CPAP device.
At first I thought, how am I going to do this. It did not take more than 2 days to not only get used to CPAP device, but felt an extraordinary difference in the quality of my sleep. Also, most importantly, no more snoring sound and peaceful sleep for Adhruth. I am more active in the evening and don’t necessarily feel sleepy by 9.30 AM. The same 6-6.5 hours sleep quality improved a lot. Now, in case I take a nap in the afternoon, I make sure to wear my mask. When I doze off without mask, it feel the difference after getting used to the mask. Never knew there was a much better, peaceful, effective way to sleep.
For the numbers guy that I am, the device can record the time of my sleep, the number of events of apnea in my sleep, seal of my mask etc and puts the data in the cloud. Yes, the device has a SIM card to send the data to the cloud. I can access it in the morning to know about the quality of my sleep :-). When I go for a review in my Doctor’s office, they can access this report to know the quality of my sleep, sleep apnea to suggest changes. If I see the pressure of the mask is not enough, they can remotely set it up to right pressure so that I am comfortable. It is certainly making my life easier, better and great quality.
Yes, mask needs to be cleaned, water needs to be changed for the humidifier, but most importantly, a good night sleep is very important for being very effective in the next day and with CPAP, knowing the quality that I have never experienced. Thanks for the growth in Technology to make this happen.
