Living with Obstructive Sleep Apnea

I first began to suspect I might have sleep apnea about four years ago, when I noticed myself snoring so loudly I could wake myself up. I had wanted to see a doctor then and get check out to find out for certain, but did not, fearing that my insurance would not cover the sleep study. I had always intended to call and find out if I could have coverage for the study, but somehow never got around to it.

Over the next two years, I met and married a wonderful woman. And then once again, suspicions of sleep apnea began to creep into my life. In addition to my snoring, my wife began to notice that I would stop breathing for several seconds, and then my body would begin to shake as I would try to get some air into my lungs. I was also suffering from daytime sleepiness, as I would often fall asleep sitting on the couch at home, at the movie theater, and in church. My wife and I were agreed that once I had the appropriate coverage, or as soon as we could afford it, I would get checked out for sleep apnea and look into treatment options.

Then my problems began to creep into my work. I am a security officer, and I was working midnights in an alarm center at a utility company late last year. Then one day, I was informed I had been observed sleeping at my post, and was being removed from the account. Fortunately, the security company was willing to place me on a different account, working at a different shift. But my wife and I had come to the realization that something needed to be done about my "problem."