On January 1st, I shared what I was planning for myself and Adventures of Seleana in general. One of the biggest things I’d like to accomplish is improving my everyday functioning. The fatigue has been so real that getting out of bed qualified as one of the two things I could manage in a day. Then I had to work and do everything else in life. Running of a deficit. So things haven’t been great in a while. Not horrible, but not great either.
The remedy is an experience
To try and fix that, because I will not be on this Earth to just sleep and work until I die, I brought it up to one of my Pulmonary specialists. He told me that just because my night time oxygen was keeping my saturations up didn’t necessarily mean it’s effectively treating the sleep apnea. Who knew? Not me. I took a sleep study and overnight oximetry to get the process rolling. It took a while to get the results back, but that’s typical for stuff like this.
When I got the results back, I was surprised to see that my apnea had gotten better. I went from seven instances on my side and 20 on my back to five instances total. Why I was feeling worse is beyond me, but I wonder if it has something to do with tapering my Prednisone. If you’ve been on it, you know that it make you zip around, which happened to me.
That improvement being said, not all insurances will cover a CPAP device for apnea that mild. I asked my Pulmonologist to try and see what happens because it was the reason I requested to do the testing in the first place. I didn’t (and don’t) want to keep mainlining caffeine and sugar to keep myself going. Those things won’t help the weight loss goal either, but that’s a topic for a different blog.
To my surprise, my insurance is covering my CPAP device and as long as I follow the requirements. Why I would put in the work to get it and not use it…I don’t know. I’ve been using it regularly and want to share how it’s been going so far. I’ll probably do updates weekly and switch goals.
Did your functioning improve with your CPAP?
My first week with the CPAP was a mixed bag. By the end of week one, I felt just enough of a difference in my energy levels to keep me using it. That and the fact people with mild apnea tend to take somewhere around three weeks to feel benefits. We know me, I’m going to give it my best shot before giving up so…we doing it.
What aren’t you feeling?
The thing that got me the most is the mask. With what I have going on structurally, the nose pillow was not recommended, so I am using the mask that looks like a face hugger. The part that touches my face is made of silicone, which is usually fine, but I don’t like how it feels on my skin. It’s irritating, both me and my skin. I also move around a lot when I sleep…totally one of those 2 hours and 82 positions to fall asleep type person.
When I switch to sleeping on my side, my pillow puts just enough pressure on the mask to shift it and I get blasted in the eye with air. Rude, I know. Adjusting my mask helped, sort of, but if it’s too tight–not good, too lose–also not good. Finding a happy medium is hard. Especially because I have sensitivity to pressure on my head. Like even laying on a pillow hurts sometimes (ridiculous, I know). But too much pressure from the mask straps messes with my TMJ in all of the areas. I’ll figure it out. Trial and error, my friends.
But wait, there’s more…
The final thing that bothers me about this whole CPAP thing is that it dries out my skin and mouth. When I was using my OxyMask with my concentrator, I used Xylitol tabs to keep the dry mouth away. They don’t work with the CPAP. Not sure if it’s the pressurized air or what but the tabs dissolve quicker and don’t stick in place. I use them anyway so I can fall asleep without the Sahara desert in my mouth, but they don’t get me through the night anymore. In regards to my skin (which I am neurotic about), I am doing what I can to super moisturize before going to bed to counteract it. We’ll see what happens.
Remember to take care of yourselves and be safe out there! Seeyalaterbye <3
Also, if you feel called to help a sista out with her travels, check this out!
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