For the last few nights I’ve been having some of the most refreshing sleep, and the clearest, most vivid dreams of my entire life, and I have this incredible new reserve of energy. It’s all because I found out recently that I’ve got sleep apnea, and I got fitted with this special mouthpiece that keeps my airway clear while I’m sleeping. This has apparently been a huge problem most of my life that I’m really just starting to become aware of.
I’ve always snored like a demon farting into a tuba, but I always just assumed it was because my nose has been broken a bunch of times and the cartilage inside it is all twisted. What really made me think about it differently was that my friend Joey was being treated for sleep apnea, and when I fell asleep next to him on the plane he said it sounded really bad, like I was gasping for air sometimes. Before that I really didn’t think it was that big of a deal, but when he started telling me what the effects of getting no air while you’re asleep are, and how much better he was feeling now since he started getting treatment for it, I decided to stop being such a stubborn douche and listen.
For whatever reason I just had it in my head that sleep apnea was something that only over weight people had to worry about. I just snored. I thought it couldn’t be a real “problem.”
Now that I look back on it I can’t see why I didn’t think there was something wrong earlier. There was many a time when I did nothing unusually strenuous, got a full 8 hours sleep, but when I woke up I still looked and felt like I was recovering from an Amy Winehouse evening.
After talking to Joey, the way I looked at it was, fuck it… it doesn’t hurt to just go talk to the doctor and see what he says. I had been thinking about getting my nose cleaned out for a while because I had mistakenly thought that was my problem, so I thought worst case scenario I’ll just go ahead and do that.
What the doctor explained kind of tripped me out, because I never even knew what the real cause for snoring is. What happens is that your tongue slides back in your throat and it blocks your air passage. It doesn’t matter if you’re skinny or fat; it’s all about how your tongue blocks your air passage. Well it turns out that I’ve got a big fat tongue, and that sucker blocks off my air passage like a motherfucker.
The doctor makes these mouthpieces that keep your tongue from sliding back and blocking your air, so the first thing they did was fit me for it, and then prescribe a sleep study for it so that they can see how bad I snore.
It was pretty weird, I showed up at this hospital, and they bring me into this little patient sleep room with a bed and computer. Then they connected all these electrodes on me like a fucking science fiction movie.
They monitored my breathing while I somehow managed to pass out, and then they woke me up and sent me home in the morning.
When I got the results back I was fucking shocked. It turns out that my air is getting cut off when I snore for as much as 18 seconds at a time, all night long while I sleep.
The doctor was shocked when she went over the results. She said it was pretty incredible that I was active as I am, and that I managed to stay in good shape even though I had this serious sleep problem. She assured me that once I started wearing my mouthpiece I would have a big increase in energy. I believed her, but the results are way more dramatic than I thought they would be.
I’ve been using it for about a week now, and I feel like a wet heavy coat has been magically lifted off my head and body. It’s amazing. I have energy all day long that seems to stay pretty much even throughout the day. I’ve NEVER had that.
I’ve always had bursts of energy followed by periods of laziness, followed by coffee.
Now all of a sudden I feel like a valve has been turned on in my body and this new life force is pouring out freely again.
It’s fucking nuts.
The really crazy thing is my dreams. They’re bright and vivid, and I can remember a great deal of them. That’s never been the case before. I can hardly remember any noteworthy dreams from the past few years, but I’ve had a half a dozen from this past week that are clear as day in my memory. And they seem to be in color.
I’ve heard that you dream in black and white, but that your mind decides to add color later when you’re recalling it, but in at least one of these dreams I remember being aware that I was dreaming, and thinking about how amazing the red drapes were in the room that I was in.
Emotions in my recent dreams have been so much more realistic than they’ve been in my past dreams, and when someone I know enters my dreams now it’s not as simple as a normal part of my life, like a regular character in my mind’s movie just showing their face, but rather a very deep inventory of all of the emotions that I’ve ever experienced with that person.
An ex girlfriend was in my dreams the other night, and I couldn’t move to the next phase of the dream until I experience whole gamut of past emotions with her, from laughter to honest conversation, to lust, to frustration, to sadness… it all plaid out like a checklist of potential experiences with this person. And the crazy thing is that I seem to be aware that it’s a dream.
At one point in the dream she stopped interacting with me and became someone I was watching detached. Like I had moved away, and was watching the whole scene from a distance.
Before I was wearing this mouthpiece my dreams would seem to hold to a pattern of some emotion, but lots of blurry memories and hard to follow narrative.
Now that I’m sleeping undisturbed for possibly the first time in my adult life, it’s like something in my mind has just turned on while I’m asleep. Like a whole new world of the dream time has opened up. It’s really kind of surprising that it’s so intense.
My whole point in writing this blog, was that if I hadn’t experienced it myself, I would never believe that something could have such a big effect on the way I feel.
If there’s anyone out there reading this, and you’ve been told you’ve got a snoring problem, do yourself a HUGE favor and get that shit taken care of.
Those electrodes make a sexy accessory.
That totally describes my husband. I have to listen to him choking and gasping in his sleep every night! I’m going to sit his ass down in front of this computer and he’s going to read this blog! Maybe then he’ll finally get in and have something done about it.
Thanks for all the info Joe.
I am so glad I read your blog today. I have snored for years, blaming it on being so overweight. So, I lost 100 lbs. and thought among other things, my sleep would be better. WRONG! Just like yourself, I can sleep 8 hours and still feel like I was out partying. Thanks so much for sharing your story, I really do not know why I feel so crappy when I wake up, because I generally take good care of myself. So, I am hoping that this will be the reason…..I will be thrilled to go to sleep and actually feel rested. You rock Joe
I’m extremely excited to go get diagnosed,because I’ve always thought I’ve had sleep apnea due to my severe snoring.If I could get rid of that big wet coat on my back,what a pleasure that would be.
Lorne Kirstein(lash)
Your dreams are called Lucid Dreams. I have them every night of the week (rare.) You can find out more information about them at Wikipedia at this link.
People I know over here (uk) with sleep apnea are prescribed Modafinil (aka Provigil) by their doctors as a sleep/wake rhythm regulator, as their internal mechanism is kyboshed as a result the apnea. I have same problem and prescribed medication, but different cause. Being bolt awake from 2am – 6am ‘cos your internal clock is mad as a 2 bob watch is fine…as long as it’s creative, but if it’s crap then it becomes a pain. Modafinil changed my life, but is not something I take lightly, it has some subtle dangers.
If you think you have it, get checked out right away. My father was diagnosed with it at the beginning of 2007. It is so bad, that he has to wear a breathing mask hooked up to a machine every night (filled with distilled water). It’s very scary.
Joe, I too have sleep apnea and didn’t find out until I went to the doctor for what seemed like a sore throat. I complained about having a dry throat in the morning that hurted everytime I swallowed and sometimes couldn’t even talk. I also told him that I felt tired all the time and that 8 hours of sleep weren’t enough. He looked at my throat and saw some scare tissue and told me to get tested for sleep apnea. Sure enough I had it. The tests came back that my mind would wake up 80 times in a hour. I asked how that was possible when I don’t remember waking up. The doc explained it like this: when you don’t get enough oxygen, your heart pumps faster and your mind wakes up telling you to breath so nothing ever feels rested. You can get high blood pressure from this also because your heart is always stressed nyou can get a heart attack or stroke while sleeping. I know sleep with a CPAP machine and have to wear a nose mask to force air in my nose. It took a couple of days to get use to but now I can’t sleep without. It’s great and I feel great. The other thing it in addition to sore throat, being tired was that in the morning it didn’t feel like I was in the UFC the night before. My chest use to be sore in the morning from all the hard breathing and gasping. Thanks for educating people on sleep apnea and that anyone can get it.
Those dreams sound so sick! I took ZMA before and I did have some pretty vivid dreams but nothing like that. Do you think some of the drugs you’ve taken have changed how your mind functions? Neuroplasticity maybe?
Thanks for sharing this info!
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Hey Joe.. We met a few time through Richie the manager at the comedy store – shop whatever, the one owned by Pauly shores Mom. It was back in 2002 I think. I used to live up at the Hollywood sign on Mullholland Hwy. Ive got sleep apnea as well, what a bitch. You’re right about the fog lifting tho. I’m 37 and I have had it all my life, everything thought I was a fuck up, turns out I just wasn’t getting enough sleep. Anyway, thanks for posting about it, so many people have it and don’t know it, and some people are embarrassed by it. Its not just for fatties.
One question tho dude. Whats up with that bed in your sleep study? It looks like a Tijuana jail. The place I went was like a room at the W (sans the hooker), plasma TV, sweet bed.
I entered to win the isolation tank. I have wanted one since I was ten and my Dad took me to see Altered States, I’m sure you’ve seen it, if not, see it.
Take it easy
Benjamin
Thanks a ton for posting about sleep apnea. I was just diagnosed with it, with sleep hypopnea, which is very similar.
Anyway, it’s been my ’secret shame’! And now after seeing how you just posted pictures and etc, I’m wondering why I don’t even tell my friends. I suppose because of the old stigma of sleep apnea being an older, overweight person’s problem. I’m young, cute, and a healthy weight, but like most women, have body image issues. I’m so fearful of being categorized into the old fat man camp. So silly. So, thanks for sharing.
I’m 31, and have been tired my whole life, but for the past year, I can barely make it through a day. I’m miserably tired. I don’t even snore! I have had my CPAP for about a week and it’s not really helping. Going in to get checked for surgery options soon, but I’m glad I read about your dental appliance.
Anyway, thanks again for posting about it!
Dude:
I had sleep apnea, and to an extent I believe I still do (I broke my nose as a kid, and had it rearranged even further by some “hooligans”). I had a septoplasty done a few years ago. Want to know what has been helping me with my sleeping issues? Sleeping outside where the trees are. I just started practicing it recently, I find it to be beneficial to increasing my state of wakefulness. I realize this isn’t practical for everybody, but it’s been helping me sleep lighter, remember my dreams, and feel more refreshed.
Interesting that you mentioned dreams. Someone mentioned lucid dreaming, saying they having lucid dreams every night. With lucid dreaming, I find it is easier to remember dreams. Are you experiencing lucidity in your dreams? If not, you may want to practice developing the skill. There is a website that talks about it: http://www.dreamviews.com. There are also “Dream Yoga” that has been taught by Tibetan Masters. There are two books that I have read on the topic. One is by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, and the other by Chogyal Namkhai Norbu.
You know what the problem is with Yoga classes, in my experience? They really don’t focus on thought, and more on body positions. Maybe there needs to be Yogi and Yogini classes, and not just “Yoga” classes.
Yo Joe!
It was an enlightening post indeed. Sleep apnea is a deadly disease and risks involved are life threatening. There is an urgent need to increase the awareness about this disorder.
http://sleepapneadisorder.info/
Joe,
Ran into your log during a web search. Good info, I have a CPAP machine right now and was wondering where you got your dental appliance. The CPAP works but I really would like to try the mouth guard if at all possible. I here in Southern Calif (San Fernando/ Simi Valley area) and would like a doctors name, if it all possible. thanks