The Greek word “apnea” literally means “without breath.” Sleep apnea is an involuntary cessation of breathing that occurs while the patient is asleep. There are three types of sleep apnea: obstructive, central, and mixed. Of the three, obstructive sleep apnea, often called OSA for short, is the most common. Despite the difference in the root cause of each type, in all three, people with untreated sleep apnea stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, sometimes hundreds of times during the night and often for a minute or longer. In most cases the sleeper is unaware of these breath stoppages because they don’t trigger a full awakening.
Left untreated, sleep apnea can have serious and life-shortening consequences: high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, automobile accidents caused by falling asleep at the wheel, diabetes, depression, and other ailments.
Sleep apnea is seen more frequently among men than among women, particularly African-American and Hispanic men. A major symptom is extremely loud snoring, sometimes so loud that bed partners find it intolerable. Other indications that sleep apnea may be present are obesity, persistent daytime sleepiness, bouts of awakening out of breath during the night, and frequently waking in the morning with a dry mouth or a headache.
And, I don’t like using that fucking CPAP machine. I feel like I’m suffocating and it is so inconvenient to drag that damm thing around everywhere. I got into a fight in a homeless shelter once because of my snoring. He tried to break my nose!
Now, that I’m trying to get my life back on track, I don’t want to ruin my chances my falling asleep at work. As I’m typing this, there are already several library cops watching me to see if I’m going to fall asleep again. I could get kicked out permanently from this public library I need for the Internet access.
Is there an entity that someone can suggest that can help me stay awake or a ritual that I have to do? Yes, I thought about Raphael or Marbas, but I think that this is bigger than them.
Thank you all!