In case you are wondering, I survived spending a third night at the Michigan Sleep Center. The first night I spent there, it was determined I have sleep apnea. Finally an explanation for why I constantly feel like I've never gone to bed! I wake up just as tired as when I go to bed. Anyway, the second night I spent there was to make adjustments to a machine called a c-pap that sends air up your nostrils all night long. People who have sleep apnea stop breathing off and on during the entire time they are sleeping. That means your brain has been oxygen starved all night, and that plays havoc with everything in your body. The constant air flow from the machine is suppose to make your body breathe even though it wants to stop. The problem that second night was I didn't sleep long enough for the technician to determine the correct settings to be used on the machine so they could order one for me to use at home.
That brings us to last Monday night. Someone was suppose to have ordered a sleeping pill for me so I would sleep long enough for the tech to fiddle with the settings until my vital signs showed I was getting the correct amound of air into my system. Guess what. They forgot to call my cardiologist and get a sleeping pill. Fortunately I brought an anxiety pill, and took it. I had taken one only a few hours earlier, because the thought of spending another night in the sleep center was freaking me out. Taking the second pill allowed me to sleep there. I haven't heard anything yet, but I can tell you one thing for sure. I will not go back for a fourth time if they didn't get the correct settings yet. Three strikes and you're out!
After 3 days of testing, and then two weeks waiting for the results, I found out my heart is fine. Phew! That doesn't answer the question of what is causing my vasovagal attacks, but at least it looks like I won't drop dead from a heart attack.
I did find out I have sleep apnea. I spent a night hooked up to numerous electrodes that fed into a machine that could track my breathing patterns, muscle twitches, etc. The test showed I stopped breathing 48 times in one hour. Holy cow! No wonder I feel dead tired all the time. The technician said my brain was not receiving the oxygen or rest it needed at night, and that could be the cause of all kinds of problems, mental and physical.
I had to go back and spend a second night where they hooked me back up to the electrodes plus a machine that attaches to your nose and blows air into it all night. The air flow is suppose to stimulate your body to keep breathing correctly all night. Can you imagine what it is like to try to sleep with all that wiring taped onto you, including wires taped onto your face and wires glued into your hair, and also have a machine blowing air up your nose? Keep in mind that a camera is aimed at the bed so a technician can watch you sleep all night long. They also tell you that a technician will be coming in to adjust the air flow of the machine until they find the exact amount of pressure that is needed by your body. Needless to say, if you have any kind of sleep problems to begin with, you sure aren't going to get much sleep that night. I was in bed for about an hour when a voice comes through a speaker over the bed, "You don't seem to be sleeping, Mr. Charlebois. Is there anything we can do for your?" I don't imagine I have to tell you what I wanted to tell that technician to do, but being the kind person I am, I controlled myself.
I received a phone call this past Weds. saying that I didn't sleep long enough the last time to get the readings they needed, and I have to go back a third time. The technician said they will request a sleeping pill for me from my cardiologist so I will actually be able to sleep. They couldn't have been ready with that the second time? Whatever. Once this is over, they will order a machine for me to use every night at home, it will be set up to exactly the right air pressure, and supposedly I will wake up feeling more refreshed than I can even imagine. I sure hope so. Right now I'm at work, it's only 1:10 pm, and I definitely need to take a nap! I guess I better go look for some coffee.