Saturday, March 28, 2009

Vertigo

Went to second sleep study Wednesday night, this time I wore positive pressure air mask.
Thursday Midnight: 1st mask + sleeping on back = fail.
2AM: 2nd mask + sleeping on side = success!
Slept until 8:30, awoke exhausted but was WIDE awake in about 10 minutes.
Astonishing sense of jetlag being that awake in the morning. Not normal protocol for me.
2 hours later, intense vertigo. Couldn't walk or move. Went to sleep. As I fell asleep I experienced loud screeching in left ear for split second. Fruitless search for bed parrots. Fell asleep for 1 hour.
Awoke with vertigo, called sleep center. They said "Never heard of such a thing." Escalate to more senior doctor, still "Can't be related to mask. Go to doctor/ER."
6PM, Sue takes me to walk-in clinic. They have no idea, prescribe Dramamine for vertigo.
I take Dramamine, sleep for unknown amount of time, move to living room and sleep there for unknown reason. Lots of nightmares.
Friday AM: Awaken with tingling face and hands, see colorful patterns. Too exhausted for work/driving.
Told employer "Going for full-body wax, big job, overnight stay required on Thursday, need vacation day for recovery." Will need to use sick day - exhaustion, disorientation, mild vertigo, memory loss. Patterns and tingling (hypoxia) subside.
Now writing like Rorschach from Watchmen.
Hope to find better sleep clinic that is familiar with vertigo side-effect, another study with mask.

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