I’m drowning!
What’s worse than having to endure a CPAP trial? Trying to endure it congested. I’m not kidding when I say that it felt like I was drowning when they slipped the mask on my face. I could’ve slapped myself because I had stopped at Walgreen’s beforehand to buy some magazines in case I had time to flip through them and never thought to buy some decongestant. Of course, I wasn’t forced to breathe through my nose with a mask strapped to my face while I was browsing through the magazine rack.
They didn’t have any decongestant at the sleep study center so I was out of luck there. One of the techs suggested that I take salt, put it on a damp washcloth and snort it through my nose as sort of a saline flush. Stupid jerk. I’m a bigger jerk for doing it. It burned like crazy and it didn’t do much more than leave a salty coating on the back of my throat. It was horrible.
When the tech was wiring me up I asked if she had any info in my file about how my testing went. I guess I had more apneas than they had originally thought and I averaged nearly 60 an hour. Apparently that falls into the severe category. The purpose of the trial was to fit me with a mask and see what level they need to set it to to stop the apneas. It seems 11 is my number to both keep me breathing and to stop the snoring.
I don’t know how well I’ll tolerate the mask. It’s actually not a mask but two thingies they refer to as nasal pillows that go directly up my nose. It didn’t make me feel like I was being flooded with air and drowning at the same time. It straps around your head not too unlike headgear kids had to wear (do they still?) at night with their braces. I look ridiculous in it and it’s not exactly the most comfortable contraption. Take a look. A party ready to happen.
