Healthy living
Body matters
Dealing with sleep apnoea
Chris Sykes couldn't stay awake - until he wanted to sleep. "I lay in bed feeling my heart race, the sweat cold on my skin and the panic surging through my body. 'I won't give in,' I said to myself. 'I'll beat this.'"
Life should have been great. I had just turned 50. For the first time I had a play of my own, Marry Me, You Idiot, opening in the West End. Yet I was so tired I'd started to fall asleep after a meal, in the bath, in the theatre. Even when I tried going to bed earlier I woke up feeling just as exhausted the next morning.
My wife was finding it hard too. I sometimes kicked her as I struggled to sleep. When I did get to sleep, my snoring kept her awake. I raided the chemist for snoring cures, spraying my throat to numb my soft palate, putting plastic prongs inside and plasters outside my nostrils to hold them open. I still snored. And I still woke exhausted.
My doctor agreed I needed expert help and referred me to a sleep clinic. I spent a night wired up like Frankenstein's monster to monitor how often I breathed and the amount of oxygen in my blood as I slept.
A good night's sleep shows as a gentle line on the computer graph. Mine was a series of peaks and troughs that made it look as if sharks had attacked me.
"No wonder," I told the nurse. "You try sleeping with all those wires and a bulldog clip up your nose." "No," she said brightly, "you kept waking yourself up. The test is positive. You have sleep apnoea."
I was given a CPAP (continuous, positive air pressure) machine to try. Did I mention Frankenstein? Straps around my head held a mask over my face. A tube ran from this to a machine that blew air into my nose at a continuous pressure to keep my throat open.
Each time I moved I went one way, the mask went the other and jets of cold air shot into my eyes. The air made my throat so dry it hurt to swallow and in the morning the inside of my nose was sore.
The clinic suggested a different mask and a humidifier that would blow warm, moist air. I had to pay for it myself, but it was worth a try. I lay in bed saying to myself, "I'll beat this. I won't give in."
And I slept - better than I had in years. My life has changed. I don't snore. I have beaten my demons and I drift to sleep dreaming of beautiful actresses and healthy box office sales.
Apnoea comes from the Greek word for breathlessness. It is the temporary cessation of breathing that occurs when the throat closes up, making the heart struggle to supply blood to the brain. That is why the oxygen-starved brain wakes you in panic, sometimes 100 times a night. As well as causing exhaustion, it can increase the risk of high blood pressure, stroke and heart problems.
More on sleep
- Sleep myths examined
- Mobile phones may spoil your sleep
- Coping with sleep apnoea
- Statin drug linked to sleep problems
- Tired and emotional?
- Snoring pill
More information
You can contact The Sleep Apnoea Trust, at 7 Bailey Close, High Wycombe, Bucks HP13 6QA; 01494 527772; www.sleep-apnoea-trust.org
* Also Google the British Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Association
Information on this site is for interest only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. You should consult your own doctor about any specific health concerns.