Hi everyone welcome to my draw my life video this video is about something that I've been dealing
with for quite some time now it hasn't been easy, but I'm going to give you a glimpse of what it's
been like living with sleep apnea. My sleep apnea started far before I realized or actually came
to terms with it during my last two years of high school I was consistently sleeping at least seven
to eight hours at night but woke up feeling exhausted. I'd wake up drenched in sweat most
nights and had a pounding headache throughout the day my parents and boyfriend also told me I snored
like a trucker. Definitely not your most attractive quality as a teenage girl. During the day it didn't
get any better I'd have to take naps throughout the day to compensate for my lack of rest at night
which didn't make sense to me since I thought I was sleeping enough with 17 eight hours I also
had a lot of trouble remembering things which obviously made school that much harder to make
matters even worse every time I went out with friends to try and enjoy myself my restlessness
would get substantially worse so two beers at a party when I woke up the next day feeling like
I got even less sleep than I regularly did fast forward to my first year of university the lack
of sleep became unbearable my grades took a huge hit and I knew that I needed to get help I went to
my family physician who I had known for years and explained all my symptoms to her first she wanted
to eliminate other possible illnesses that were consistent with my symptoms she also conducted
physical tests to look for risk factors such as enlarged tonsils when the physical test didn't
show anything significant she suspected sleep apnea and referred me to a sleep specialist my
initial thought was that there was no way I could have sleep apnea isn't that something only men get
anyways well according to my doctor it is eight times more common in men than women so it does
happened in my second year I began to see my sleep specialist she was able to assess my symptoms more
specifically to sleep disorders she conducted sleep studies at the sleep center and monitored
apnea events muscle activities blood oxygen levels brain and heart activity after all the testing was
finally done I was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea a serious sleep disorder at first
I was confused but also extremely afraid so now that I have it what does this mean how do I get
treated thankfully these were all questions that my sleep specialist answered for me obstructive
sleep apnea also known as OSA is characterized by momentary cessations and breathing while you
are sleeping although I was able to pinpoint my symptoms there are also people who have minimal
complaints which makes diagnosing OSA really difficult some of the risks include snoring
daytime sleepiness difficulties with memory and concentration and morning headaches some of the
risk factors include being overweight smoking and even just being a male or adult puts you at
a high risk of developing sleep apnea then came the hard part I had to start treatment midway
into my second year this meant both medical treatment and lifestyle changes the main types
of treatment are continuous positive airway pressure known as CPAP and oral appliances or
even surgery personally I use the CPAP which is a machine that blows air into the Airways to ensure
you keep breathing during your sleep at first it was weird because it's a mask that fits over your
nose and mouth after a short adjustment period though I eventually got used to it one thing
I learned about CPAP is that it's a treatment for OSA not a cure however using it for a whole
year I can definitely see the differences in my symptoms I no longer have the morning headaches
and my memory has improved drastically now sleep apnea doesn't end here at least for me it hasn't
managing the disease is a two-fold process the first part is ensuring the treatment is effective
which means that you continuously stay on top of your treatment plans and review your progress with
your doctor the second part is making necessary lifestyle changes to improve your sleep apnea
some of the lifestyle changes my sleep specialist recommended was shifting to moderate drinking and
regular physical exercise now you're probably thinking this is a lot of information and you're
right but if you've been listening to my story and can relate with a lot that I've talked about
you aren't alone and I'm here to tell you that there are resources that can make this scary
sounding C's a lot less scarier than it seems first some good websites to learn more about
sleep apnea are the National Sleep Foundation and up-to-date calm second if any of these symptoms
seem like something you've experienced talk to your doctor they can answer your questions
specifically about your situation lastly talk to your doctor about local support groups with
others who are also facing similar struggles I hope my story gave you a little insider's look
at living with sleep apnea it's definitely not as scary as it seems but it's something you shouldn't
sleep on huh see what I did there anyways thank you so much for listening to my story
you