For some time, I have had great difficulty sleeping at night. My doctor thought it would be beneficial to have a sleep study done to understand why I do not sleep. I was not thrilled about having a sleep study done, but when one becomes sleep deprived, spending a night at the hospital sounds like an acceptable idea.
When I was starting the sleep study, the technician told me I had to sleep flat on the bed. I informed him I cannot sleep flat because I cannot breathe when lying flat. The tech said I had to lie flat so any sleep apnea could be recorded. (I realized he did not understand what I was talking about. He was talking about not being able to breathe while sleeping; I was talking about not being able to breathe while still awake.) I was able to bargain with him to allow me to raise the head of the bed a little bit. He told me if it becomes unbearable to breathe, I can raise the bed a little bit more. I put my head down on the pillow and immediately felt quite unwell.
Since I was not tired, I started praying for various people, but soon I became very agitated. I then started praying to God to forgive my inability to concentrate during prayer. I suddenly noticed my breath was becoming shallow and seemed to come faster and faster. In a very short while, I was gasping for air. I tried to remain lying flat in the bed, but I was running out of energy. I elevated the bed a little bit higher. That afforded me a very slight relief from my rapid breathing. I was growing very tired. My arms started shaking uncontrollably. The technician came in to check on me. He noticed I was having problems breathing. He gave me two blankets because he thought I was shivering from being cold. He then left.
In one last desperate attempt, I elevated the head of the bed as far as it would go. I could not completely sit up because the wires that were attached to me for the sleep study were not very long. I was fighting really hard to get any air into my lungs. My respiratory muscles were so fatigued; my entire body moved as I fought for each breath. Thankfully, an alarm on my monitor alerted the technician to come into my room. He was terrified at my condition. He immediately called down to the emergency department to get help to my room ASAP! I was quickly disconnected from the sleep monitoring device. I then was able to sit up, bringing my legs to my chest and wrapping my arms around my legs. (This position allows for the greatest amount of air into the lungs with using the least amount of muscle exertion.)
By the time I got to the emergency department, my body was starting to recover. My breathing was slowly down to 60 breaths per minute, and my heart rate was down to103 beats per minute. The emergency doctor was so kind. He reviewed my chart and asked me a few questions. The doctor ordered BiPAP with oxygen. He also gave me a muscle relaxer to alleviate the muscle spasms I was still experiencing. After the muscle relaxer and using the BiPAP machine with oxygen, my heart rate was down to 73 beats per minute and my breathing was down to 18 breaths per minute. With this improvement, the doctor felt comfortable to send me home. I was thrilled to be leaving the hospital.
The sleep lab said they wil have the sleep doctor review all the information gathered from the first two hours of the sleep study. Since I never fell asleep, I am guessing I probably will have to have another sleep study done. Maybe next time, they will allow me to sleep in an upright position. "Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I
will strengthen you; I will help you; I will uphold you with My
righteous right hand" (Isaiah 41:10).
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