My Sleep Apnea Diagnosis and Treatment Story

Hello everyone, my name is Katelynn, and this is my first article for the sleep apnea community. Since it’s my first article, I wanted to take the chance to introduce myself and tell you about my story.

I was raised in New Jersey and Florida but currently live in Texas. I enjoy acting, singing, hanging out with my friends, Batman, and pizza. In a nutshell, that’s me.

How I was before my sleep apnea diagnosis

I believe I was diagnosed with sleep apnea around the age of 16 years old. I remember being extremely tired all the time. I would be called lazy for the majority of my adolescence because I just couldn’t do things. I could barely get out of bed most days. Thinking back, there were signs beside the fatigue.

When I slept, I would thrash around so much that I would end up on the floor, or everything on my bed would be torn off or moved. My Aunt Debi would come to visit sometimes and would sleep in my bed and had to stop eventually because I would end up accidentally hitting her in my sleep. I also snored really loudly for years. It wasn’t cute. But I was, and still am, a very sound sleeper, so that’s nice.

My sleep study experience

I think it was my psychiatrist at the time who suggested I get a sleep study done. I remember hating it. They had to attach wires to my head while I slept so they could monitor my brain wave activity. It was so uncomfortable; I remember crying.

They used a special pencil to mark where the wires would go. But while trying to make the marks, they dug a bit too much into my scalp, and it hurt. Then I could barely sleep, and I was afraid I’d have to do it all over again, which made me more upset. But I guess by the end of it all, they got what they needed.

Starting and stopping CPAP therapy

I did get a CPAP machine. I tried wearing it a few times, but I couldn’t stand the mask on my face. Remember, I was only 16 and very self-conscious about a lot of things, let alone having this predator-like mask on me when I was most vulnerable.

After my grandmother (who I lived with) realized I just wasn’t going to wear it, we decided on surgery.

Surgery to remove my tonsils, adenoids, and uvula

The surgery wasn’t too bad. They took out my tonsils, adenoids (Again. I had them out previously, but they grew back. Apparently, they can do that.), and my uvula was cut as well.

I remember waking up and asking for extra popsicles. But they told me that the surgery was a success! I’ve been good ever since! I’m 28 at the time of writing this.

I hope to shed light on my experiences growing up with sleep apnea. I hope my stories can help others out there who might be going through the same things, have questions, or don’t know what path to take yet. I’m always open to answering questions!