I can't sleep without CPAP

On Thursday evening at around 9pm, the power went out. Shortly afterwards we received a message on our mobile phones saying that the electricity company was working in the area and had caused the power cut, which was expected to last two hours. Like everyone else, we went to bed early.

There are three factors which help me sleep well: being relaxed (normally due to a hot shower just before going to bed), having a warm bed (an electric blanket in the winter) and my CPAP machine. It also helps to be tired. On Thursday I had none of the three factors and so I slept badly; I had great difficulty in falling asleep and when I did, the sleep quality was not good. It didn't help that my right nostril has a propensity to close at night; CPAP keeps it slightly open.

I got up at around 1am and sat in the lounge with my mobile computer and personal internet router in order to connect to work in order to check something. I stayed up until around 1:30am; before returning to bed, I checked the fuse box and also went outside to see whether the light on the landing worked. The electricity had yet to return.

Back in bed, I managed to sleep somehow until my phone alarm rang at 6am. Still no electricity. After taking the dog for a walk, I noticed that there were lights on in other buildings. I checked the fuse box again and saw that the circuit breaker was off; once I raised it, all the devices in our house started working. There were several beeps as devices announced their return to life; the lights came on as did the air conditioner. 

As far as I can remember, there hasn't been a night in the past ten and a half years when I haven't slept with the help of my CPAP machine. I have read that many people can't get used to it, but I can't get used to sleeping without it. Even in my darkest hours with pertussis (whooping cough), the CPAP machine kept me breathing - and just as well.

I was looking forward to a hot shower on Friday night before going to bed, but the water was only lukewarm. The electric blanket had warmed the bed so my body relaxed quickly. Of course, I was very tired so I fell asleep quickly. This morning we realised that the power cut had caused the timer on the water boiler to go out of sync which is why there was no hot water in the evening.

By asking other people, I established that the electricity returned at about 2:30am, much later than the electricity company said.