By: Jordan Thuilliez
Have you ever missed noticing something that is "wrong" with someone who is close to you?"
Here is a real-life story of an amazing woman, who is near and dear to the heart of Michael Cowen, CEO and Founder of Awaken2Sleep. This is the story of his mom, Laura, who went undiagnosed with sleep apnea for a decade of her life, despite many conversations between her and Michael about her symptoms.
Laura is a middle-aged woman, healthy, fit, and doesn’t look like your stereotypical apneic patient.
You wouldn’t look at her and think, “You have a life-threatening condition that you sleep with.”
However, underneath the surface, she was going through...
- Consistently waking up with headaches
- Headaches so painful she was unable to go to work sometimes
- Feeling like coffee is a necessity in order to even start her day
- Fatigue
- Forgetfulness
Living like this isn’t normal!
The oxygen deprivation from the apneic events she was experiencing every night, caused apnea headaches in her forehead. These apnea headaches are in the prefrontal cortex right behind the forehead. This part of the brain is responsible for logic, reasoning, and short-term memory. It’s no surprise that Laura would wake up feeling groggy and forgetful.
Laura lived with these comorbidities for 11 years. Michael had been asking her to take a home sleep test for 11 years. That is 11 years of her life spent not getting the sleep her body desperately needed.
It wasn’t until Michael physically placed a home sleep test on Laura’s pillow that she finally took a sleep test. The results from the home sleep test showed that Laura had moderate sleep apnea. Her apnea hypopnea index (AHI) on her sleep test was 27, which means she stopped breathing and woke up an average of 27 times per hour while she was sleeping.
It wasn’t until Laura treated her sleep apnea that she woke up without headaches! She is now less forgetful and wakes up feeling alive and refreshed! She is now getting the sleep her brain and body needs and now her brain is regenerating and healing like it was meant to during sleep.
Do any of these symptoms sound familiar? Maybe you experience these symptoms every day, or maybe someone you love does.
You can get your life back!
Get an HST today, don’t wait to have a conversation that changes how you live everyday!
