Sleep Apnea 6: Resolution!
I don’t have a headache today! I keep feeling for it, like checking a loose tooth with my tongue, but my scone remains resolutely painfree.
I used my (rented) machine at home for the first time last night. It did take some getting used to, but it’s definitely worthwhile, ‘cos I feel much better today, and imagine I’ll keep getting better.
Went to the doctor yesterday morning, and found out why I still had a headache after the sleep study. In the course of the night they cranked the pressure up from 4 to 9 (cm of water is the pressure unit, so not a lot), but it didn’t stop the events: there were still about 30 in the final hour.
That meant that I went home with an APAP – Adaptive Positive Airway Pressure – machine, instead of the constant pressure CPAP machine. It’s the one that’s a bit smarter, and adjusts the pressure to the resistance it feels. It also records what it does, so I can go back to the doctor at the end of the month and he can see what pressure it was using most often.
The problem is, the APAP costs about twice as much as the CPAP… and twice as much as health funds will pay for. We’d be up for over a grand out of pocket if I needed that machine. So the hope is that the machine will tell us what pressure works, and I’ll try a CPAP for the second month and see if it gets the job done.
We’ll see – but today, I don’t have a headache!