So by Day Two, I have concluded Horton (the bilevel cpap) is like having a baby. You’re already exhausted from the pregnancy/apnea, and then you’re all excited until you realize you now have this thing in your face making smells and noises and waking you up repeatedly throughout the night.
Part of the problem is I have an excruciatingly high level (23) and the tech/therapist told me I am gonna leak regardless. I get about two hours of sleep before the razzberry sounds against my cheeks and/or air blowing into my eyeballs wakes me up, at which point I discover the mask has shifted. I just can’t seem to find the right level of tightness. Too tight causes leaks (and is uncomfortable besides). Too loose lets the mask drift which allows leaks. I half wonder if I could polident the sucker into place.
I fiddled with some settings last night. I turned the temperature down on the heater to 78°F, and the humidity down to 1, whatever that is. I didn’t like trying to breathe tropical air. The down side is, I woke up with the worst cottonmouth of my life, my cheeks were all stuck to my teeth and gums, and I really wanted a drink but was too tired/lazy to climb the dog gate to go get one. I may have to start taking water to bed with me. That would mean cleaning space on the dresser to put water. That room really needs de-cluttered.
Day Two’s results are…I feel less dead than yesterday, a little headachey when I first got up, but that faded almost immediately. I’m not sure how I feel compared to before that.
(B.H.? Before Horton?)
I also had some gas pains. Actual pains. I have never had gas pains in my life except post-caesarean. So there’s another way Horton is like having a baby.
On the up side, Mr Moth said I seem (brighter? sharper? some tactful way of saying smarter) than normal. I said, I didn’t know I seemed dumb. I mean, I know I am dumb, I just didn’t know everyone could tell. He replied, it had happened so gradually he didn’t actually notice until it subsided.
I asked him to continue to let me know if he notices anything else in the future because, yanno…hope.
Day Three: I had to get up early (for me) and attend Zor’s (the at-home spawn and my youngest) college graduation. Go, Zor! The first sleep report said I used the machine for five hours. I thought I was going to die climbing the stairs to a seat at the auditorium, but that might have been because I skipped all medication that might make me have to pee more until I got home. Then when I came home, I took those pills and went back to bed, but only for forty minutes. Apparently taking all those pills on an empty stomach was a huge mistake because I developed heartburn like I have not had–say it with me–since having a baby. That sleep report claimed forty minutes of use. I got up, had a drink, ate some chips, and went back to bed for another reported five-ish hours. These hours were uninterrupted, because I cranked that mask down so freaking tight my face begged for mercy. Apparently there’s a tiredness zone where you no longer care if a hunk of plastic is cookie-cuttering your head.
I went back to bed as soon as the dishwasher finished, around one-ish a.m.. Before I went, I used some of Cobie’s witch hazel to clean my face, because I read that mask slippage may be caused by skin oil. I normally don’t wash my face at bedtime unless I’ve worn makeup, which is to say, almost never. But witch hazel is cheap, and I don’t want anyone to say I haven’t given Project Horton a genuine effort.
I also read that my hair might be causing slippage. I think manufacturers need to make headgear that can accommodate hair, because I am not going to shave my head or grow a ponytail. Ponytails give me headaches.
Day Four: Ten hours, no leaks until the very end, and only woke up once to tinkle. I still feel droggy, though I’m not yet fully outside my morning coffee. Also I discovered when I broke my medication routine on Day Three, I completely forgot to take the Victoza (injectable). That probably contributes at least somewhat to me feeling less than ideal, although I have not checked my BG. I have also not been checking my BP like I should. That is allegedly one of the first things that responds to CPAP therapy, so I should start checking it.
And that brings me up to today. I know none of this is fascinating to anyone, and I am just as obnoxious about posting boring stuff as a new mother, but this is what is eating my brain these days.
Things going on in the background include my attempts to prioritize my creative endeavors so that I can actually accomplish something instead of spending the entire summer wallowing in overwhelm, and catching up on some housework. Well, not catching up. I’m never going to catch up.
Once I figure out my priorities, I can hopefully establish a routine.
Oh, and I started reading a book.
That’s kind of huge. I just can’t express the depth of actual grief I feel when I think about never really reading again.