Well, it is 5:30 a.m. and I have just returned from completing my sleep study at a local clinic. When the test was over, I was surprised by the results. A couple of years ago I underwent a sleep study at the urgings of my doctor after complaining of insomnia. At the time I was tipping the scales at about 350lbs. making me a likely candidate for Sleep Apnea. That study concluded I have no Apnea. This shocked the doctor, as did my blood work that showed excellent blood pressure, cholesterol and other vital stats. It would seem I was 350lbs and healthy, which in itself was odd.

Fast forward two years to this morning. My initial sleep study showed that I stop breathing when on my back and/or when I dream at a rate of about 10 times per hour. That might sound like a lot, but the sleep technician was banking on me hitting about 35 times per hour and was shocked when I didn’t. The insurance company likes to see you hit 15 times per hour before they will pay for treatment, which is a CPAP mask which maintains pressure in your airway to ensure you breath all night. Since I didn’t hit the magical number, I most likely will be denied treatment, unless my doctor can somehow convince the insurance thugs that I really need it. Typical for America huh?

What worries me most about this whole experience is the onset of symptoms and problems. I’m not a doctor by any means, but since a major cause of Sleep Apnea is obesity, it isn’t a far leap in one’s mind to conclude that over time, my weight is becoming more and more of a health issue. It is all the more reason to stick the Medifast Program and get myself healthy. Who knows, maybe the next problem is cholesterol or blood pressure, perhaps even diabetes! Knock on wood I don’t have trouble with anything else and that I’m able to head off my future medical problems through some smart weight management.