Sleep, part five

Whilst there are other things happening in my life (like our offices moving from where they were to a new site 5km away), most of them are day to day things which most people know about and have experienced. This seemingly narcisstic obsession with my health - and especially with my sleep problems - is designed to help other people who may find themselves suddenly confronted with these problems and would like to hear from someone who has already experienced them.

I've been back and forth to the sleep lab several times. Even though the technicians there are actually employees of companies that sell CPAP machines, they are more interested in finding the right machine and the correct settings to match each person individually rather than simply selling the most expensive machine that they can find.

The original test showed a horrifying 65 breathing episodes per hour; my first week of CPAP reduced that figure to 10, a huge increase. Even so, the technician was not impressed, and noticed that the data showed that air was leaking from the mask, thus causing the pressure to be higher than necessary. He adjusted the mask, and after another week, the data showed only 3.5 apnea an hour, an eighteen fold decrease.

The next session involved changing the CPAP mode: instead of automatically adjusting its pressure, it now works at a constant (and fairly low) pressure. I was waking at least twice a night, and the hours when I awoke corresponded with the highest pressures. Since that change, I have been able to sleep with the mask on all night! I do wake, but I can fall asleep again without too much difficulty. The next problem to be solved is the effect of the mask on my face - the nightly pressure leaves me feeling its imprint throughout the day.

I am pleased to say that I am no longer tired during the day, a sign that the treatment is working properly.

On another subject, I had another dental appointment yesterday. The result of my previous examination was that the crown needs to be replaced (yet again) in order to fit the new shape of the tooth, following the root extraction. So yesterday I had the crown removed (via drilling and demolishing - it doesn't come out easily) and now I have a new temporary crown. In another few weeks the tooth will be examined again and then we go once more through the sickening process of preparing a new crown. I jokingly asked whether I can use the casts of my teeth from the previous time, at least for the lower jaw - anything to avoid the making of casts again.