Sleep Stories -- people sharing their experiences with sleep disorders

Diane Bull

Hi, my name is Diane. I had Sleep Apnea. In 1995, I weighed over 385 pounds. I did not realize anything was wrong until my husband said to me one day that he was afraid to sleep at night. He told me that he would lie beside me and listen for me to breathe. He told me that at times he would have to shake me to make me catch my breath. I had been noticing that I was always tired, I would start to nod off while driving to work (25 miles), I had no energy, I had trouble completing simple tasks. It affected everything I did, everything I wanted to do.

My husband helped me realize I had to do something. I made an appointment with my Primary Care Physician. At the time, I had a female doctor. She referred me to a Neurologist. I discussed everything that had been happening. She decided that I needed to go to a sleep disorder clinic to have a sleep study done. We scheduled an appointment and I then had a sleep study. With the results of the sleep study, I saw the Neurologist again. She explained that I had Sleep Apnea. She explained how it happens. She told me one of the main reasons this was occurring was the extra weight I carried. It was helping to block the airways so if I laid on my back, the airway was closed off.

She scheduled me for another sleep study to be fitted with a C.P.A.P. machine. I followed through with this appointment and found out where the pressure would be set. Then I had to go to a medical supply store to be shown how to use, clean and store the machine. I used this machine until November 17, 1999. This highly affected my life. I was unnerved by the fact I was not breathing at times. I was upset to know whenever I went anywhere for more than a day, I would need to tote this machine around. I could not depend on myself to breathe. It caused my husband many days and nights of worry. He was never sure if I would wake the next day. It did not affect my boys as they really did not know much about it. As they became older, it became something they were concerned with greatly. I lived with this machine for about five years.

Every time I would have an appointment with the neurologist, she would remind me of the need to lose weight. The machine did what it was to do. It kept my airways open so I was able to breathe. But if I could lose fifty pounds, the doctors would then be able to do surgery on my throat to open the airway. I decided after 6 - 7 different diets, that my life had to change. I had begun to research different methods of weight loss. I had a coworker who had just had weight loss surgery. This sounded drastic at first. I was unable to find any diet drugs that would work. Since my Degenerative Joint Disease was worsening, I knew that something had to be done soon.

I continued my research till I felt the surgery for weight loss was the right choice. I had the surgery on November 17, 1999. I saw my neurologist in January. She was amazed what the surgery had done for me. After the surgery, I was unable to use the C.P.A.P. machine immediately. In fact after the surgery, my husband told me I did not stop breathing during the night. When I saw the doctor, I advised her of this and we scheduled a sleep study again. I was nervous about this because I really wanted to stop using the machine. I knew I could not stop without her approval. So we proceeded with the sleep study. Well, when I had my follow up appointment, she was all smiles. She had only seen this happen 2 or 3 other times. My sleep apnea was no longer present! I wish it could have happened years ago.

This is something that I would hope I never have to live with again. It has made me realize how short life can be and how I have to make the most of the time I have. This has not made the last five years easy but I know that since I have lost the weight and no longer have the sleep apnea symptoms, I can lead a more fulfilling life.