Friday 19th August. I haul my sorry ass to the Kettlebell Club. I say my sorry ass because I was tired...again. Yeah, another tough week at work. Wednesdays evening session at home was shortened...a little tired and just wasn't doing what I wanted. But Friday...I wasn't going to stay at home. I had to do something to maintain form. I started with the 16s which now seem casual...straight forward routines until you rip your hands. Then to 20's for the relay. I came home wrecked.
This has been a common cycle of late. Good week...then tired. Almost not recovering. I had a great 2 weeks holidays where the 16's quickly became light. I was sleeping 9-11 hours per day. Great!
But that wasn't the problem. On and off for the last 4 years I'd be nodding off asleep and suddenly jump up gasping for air...almost as if I was forgetting to breathe. The first time it happened was frightening and I even took one of the young lads inhalers for asthma. So it continued. Cathy would say "are you forgetting to breathe again?" And that's how it seemed. Friday morning I woke at 3am. Nodding off the same thing happened. Eventually I went off but woke at 6am...same thing. So I Googled "Forget to breathe" and "sleep". The page lit up with Sleep Apnoea.
Sleep Apnoea is where your body stops breathing for one of 2 reasons. Reading symptoms and accounts they all say "Get to a Doctor" and "It can be fatal"...rather a rude awakening for a Friday morning. A visit to the doctor and he confirms, to his best knowledge, that it is Sleep Apnoea. An appointment with a professor in Dublin next Tuesday should clarify this.
The two reasons for Sleep Apnoea are either nasal or throat blockages such as what causes snoring. But I don't snore and I don't have any restrictions. The second reason is that the part of the brain that controls the respiratory system goes asleep when you do. It's the presence of CO2 or absence of Oxygen that force the body to breathe again. And so the cycle continues all night so that you don't get to REM sleep (deep, restful sleep) and your heart rate rises to compensate for the on/off breathing. This leaves you tired all of the time. I only notice it if I gasp for air as I sleep but it's a but more subtle during the night that a partner may notice it but you don't.
I'll see on Tuesday what course of action I need to take...so if I'm a grumpy fart or I fall asleep in mid conversation you'll have an idea why...it's not you!
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