I’m kind of excited.
I tried the CPAP machine again the other night and took it off after a few hours of it driving me bananas. I thought it was hopeless, but, I read up on people’s experiences a bit more and it seems everyone has a difficult time adapting and the best advice is to go in with a positive attiutude… So, I tried again. This time with a smile. It was still a nightmare. Mine is a body that needs to move in the night. I’m in a lot of pain when I stay in one position, so I toss and turn quite a bit. EVERY time I moved, the mask sprung a leak and I had to come awake to adjust it. It doesn’t fit the bridge of my nose, so I have a band aid and a wad of toilet paper holding in the air at the top of the mask. The band aid fell off three times and I kept getting up and getting progressively bigger, stronger ones. I felt like I woke up 100 times when my mouth dropped open and the air filled my cheeks and made them flutter like a skydiver. I woke up a few times with pains in my belly from trapped gas and air… HOWEVER, look at my Zeo graph from last night:
If you’ll recall, my graphs have a tendency to look like this one ~ the top line being “W” for “Wake”:
In the last few weeks, I finally got some abnormal tests, which shouldn’t make me happy, but it DOES. I have sleep apnea ~ I was waking up 49 times an hour! ~ I have low zinc and iron, I have no good bacteria in my gut (thank god no one put me on antibiotics; that could be pretty dangerous). There are some natural interventions that might actually make me feel much better.
This morning, my eyes are blood shot and my neck is killing me and my back is very stiff from trying not to move in the night, but I’m hopeful. I’ve also felt stronger in the last week since my big headache went away (I still have a daily headache, but it is my normal, manageable one). It’s interesting ~ I’m in the same physical pain, I’m being hit by the same ol’ exhaustion, but I’ve been able to keep up with my stretches without injury (I’m being very careful to take a hot shower or bath before stretching so my muscles are warm)… I’ve been able to eat rather than feeling too fluish to be bothered… I’ve been able to watch a movie and laugh… Each of the last 4 days I’ve taken over 2,000 steps. By comparison, when I had my headache it was more like 500 and, in the weeks before the headache, it was 1,000-1,500. I’ve been jiggling my legs again. I know that sounds weird, but I was always a jiggler while sitting or watching TV ~ my feet would be moving ceaselessly or my knee would be bobbing up and down. It always distracted my husband. I was the girl in the movie theatre that was making your seat shake from down the row. That movement totally went away with the exhaustion. I sit, bricked, like a lump of concrete, no interaction, barely able to turn my head or answer a question. Lately, I’ve noticed the jiggles return. I told my acupuncturist that I felt like a racehorse in the cage before they go down the track. Like I want to sprint but I’m caged and antsy. I know why the caged horse jiggles.
Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart 