Sleep Apnea

I suffer from a sleep disorder called sleep apnea. How did I even know on the existence of such a disorder ? I have to thank Tay, my ex-colleague from Jakarta. He used to carry this serious looking blue bag along everytime we travelled back and forth Singapore and Jakarta. One day when I was in his apartment, he showed me his "baby" - his CPAP machine.

Is all of this sounding like I am speaking in tongues? Let me clarify what sleep apnea is. I am tempted to cut and paste some useful links but let me try to explain my own understanding of it. Sleep apnea is the result of the over-relaxation of muscles that are around your throat, during sleep. Hence, the air passage closes down and alarm signals go off to the brain and one becomes active. The pattern may repeat itself several times in a night. So this is what happens :
Sleep --> Airway muscles relax --> Airway collapses --> Reduced airflow --> Distress --> Brain awakens --> Airway muscles energized -->Airway opens --> Normal airflow -->Distress ends --> Brain goes back to sleep

While normal sleepers are having aspect of their body, including their brain rejuvenated through much need rest, sleep apnea sufferers do not get the requisite sleep need to recover and replenish. I used to take sleep for granted previously. When I used to work in Jakarta, I used to keep irregular hours. Used to come home, and nap till 7 or 8 pm, then stay up till 3 am, get up to go to work at 5.30 am. Could that have been one of the contributing factors leading to my current situation? One will never know!

There are several factors that lead to sleep apnea - most of them are still rather abitrary though. Excess weight is one of them, but Tay isn't overweight. Sometimes it is how the jaw is positioned. Sleeping on the back might be the problem for some, but my sleep apnea occurs most when I am in REM - ie dream sleep as the body is completely relaxed at this stage.

I will keep you informed when I finally invest in the CPAP machine (which is what is gonna help me sleep better). It is exorbitantly priced - $2500 for an average CPAP! The cost of a good night of sleep - priceless.