I was thrilled with the way I was feeling compared to the past, but it still wasn’t enough. I was still waking up feeling very tired and achy. Every morning I’d get up feeling like I could go back to sleep and on the weekends I often would take morning and afternoon naps. I couldn’t get much done as I had no energy. By this time, I was working just part-time.
In 2004 at an appointment with my rheumatologist, I was complaining of not sleeping very well and waking up feeling like I had never been to bed. She said it could be sleep apnea. She asked my husband if I snored at night. With a positive answer, she ordered a sleep study. At the time I weighed in at 250 plus pounds and was eating everything I could get my hands on and not exercising at all except to go to the kitchen.
After spending the night in the sleep study lab, the results showed I definitely had sleep apnea. A CPAP machine was ordered and I nearly freaked out. I couldn’t imagine being tied to a hose and a machine all night long. I had thoughts of waking up with the hose around my neck gasping for air. With a large amount of research, I discovered that choking myself was very unlikely and I might discover I could get a better night’s sleep. The first night with the CPAP was amazing. I slept through the night and woke up feeling better than I had in years. And, I didn’t snore at all according to my husband. That little machine gave me a new life. I was still having fibromyalgia flares from weather and stress, but I was definitely more rested and able to better handle a flare.
