Question: For years I had experienced daytime sleepiness, fatigue by the afternoon, awakening with headaches, snoring, nightmares and other classic symptoms of sleep apnea with no idea that I had a serious illness.
By good fortune I happened to watch a portion of a TV program that interviewed Dr. William Dement. As he discussed sleep apnea, I realized that he was describing me.This was many years ago, and then there were no sleep labs or studies in my small town environment. I decided to go to a medical center in a big city, and was familiar with Washington University-St Louis. Their physician finder service arranged an appointment with a fine doctor who treated sleep apnea. The CPAP machines were just beginning widespread use, and I was prescribed a now-primitive Sleepdyne machine.Although I struggled with the masks in use, my doctor had convinced me that it was essential for me to stick with treatment and I did experience almost immediate relief. By today (2014) I have used CPAP and then BiPAP machines for over 25 years and have never once considered abandoning treatment. I remain grateful for my treatment.