Mild Sleep Apnea

So, I had to wear a pulse oximeter over the weekend and ended up back in Burnaby this morning to go over the data recorded by the machine. The final verdict is that I have a mild form of sleep apnea, which basically means that I stop breathing from time to time during the night, and it usually causes enough stress on my body to make me to wake up so that I can breathe.

Given that I’ve had high blood pressure most of my life, and that high blood pressure is often a symptom of sleep apnea, it’s possible that they are all related. For now, I’ll probably manage it conservatively, which means getting some exercise, dropping a few pounds, and sleeping on my side instead of my back. Given that it’s not severe, those will hopefully be enough. If not, there are other options for dealing with it, but for now I’ll just take it slow. At least there’s some comfort in knowing why I’m usually tired in the mornings.