Earlier this week I got the results of my second sleep test. I already knew my pressure needed to go up from 7 to 9 – the technician told me as much the morning after the test. And rather than wait close to two weeks for the specialist to confirm and then wait for an appointment with the healthcare provider to get my machine adjusted, I “hacked” my CPAP.

Essentially, after some quick Googling, I found out how to get into the setup menu of my Respironics CPAP and adjusted it myself. I expected to feel even much better, especially since I had felt pretty good waking up from the second sleep test. But this week’s appointment did provide me some additional useful information.

While a setting of 9 did eliminate my apnea, the test was unable to gather data while I slept on my back when sleep apnea is the worst (I can’t sleep on my back). It also didn’t gather any data while I was in REM sleep for some reason. I mentioned to my specialist that while I had initially felt good on 7, it only lasted a few days and even adjusting to 9 (I admitted my hacking) wasn’t making a whole lot of difference. He recommended sticking with 9 for a month to see if there’s any improvement and if not, try 11.

I decided not to wait. The more I spoke to the specialist, the more I felt I had read more on sleep apnea than he had. Folks at www.cpaptalk.com often talk about adjusting their own settings based on data they get from more advanced CPAP machines.  So for the past two nights I have been sleeping with a setting of 11 and can feel the difference. I was up at 6:15 this morning for my appointment with my trainer. I went for a full hour and didn’t feel the need to crawl back into bed after my workout.

Ultimately this journey has taught that I need to take my health into my own hands and that in the information age, you may know more than your doctor. Most importantly, who cares if they are annoyed by your level of knowledge and awarness. It’s your body and your well-being at stake, not theirs!

I’m pretty sure this infographic is meant to encourage me to eat something else, but instead I want a Big Mac.

I was dreading Friday night’s sleep test because the first one was so uncomfortable even though it meant getting one step further to my goal of better sleep.

I was pleasantly surprised, however. First off, I was early and got a much more comfortable bed (last time I had something not much bigger than a hotel cot). Second, because I was getting my CPAP settings adjusted I was going to be wearing my mask and not the oxygen hose that pinched my nose uncomfortably.

While it did take longer to fall asleep in strange surroundings covered with electrodes, I did sleep through the night. At one point I awoke because I just *had* to go to the bathroom and needed to be unplugged by the technician before I could get up, but it turned out we were only 20 minutes away from wake up time anyway!

Saturday ended up being the most energetic, productive day I’ve had in a long time. Turns out my pressure should be set at 9, rather than 7. Technically I have to wait and have my machine adjusted by the healthcare provider who sold the machine to me in the first place, but I have just figured out how to hack machine and I do not want to wait another few weeks.

Now we’re cooking with gas!

I’ve never been the biggest fan of fruits and vegetables. Eating them as a snack in particular has never come naturally to me, but I’m trying to change that. And while I encounter lots of debate around what’s the appropriate intake of meat and dairy or mix of carb, fat and protein, getting more fruits and vegetables is a no-brainer that everyone seems to agree upon.

Since I’m particular about the ripeness of my fruit, I often buy one piece at a time on a daily basis rather than a week’s worth of say bananas – I don’t like mine overly ripe. For example, I picked up two bananas and some fresh cut berries with some sushi at the grocery store for lunch. Berries are expensive, but I love them and never tire of them so I think it’s worth the price.

If you don’t naturally take to vegetables and fruit, here are some ideas on how to up your intake:

13 Ways to Add Fruits and Vegetables to Your Diet

A couple of weeks ago I took my first vacation in years. I’ve taken time off before, but usually stayed at home here in Toronto or visited the folks for Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc. near Ottawa.

This time I made a point of getting out of the city and going somewhere, albeit still visiting family, with a trip to my aunt and uncle’s cottage near Bancroft.

Getting out of town always provides a different perspective on my life and problems, and escaping the big city for cottage country is a great way to get perspective. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a city person, but I love the cottage life too (I just can’t stand anything in between, e.g. suburbia).

There is a lot less noise. Not just literally, but in terms of voices, distractions and demands. At the cottage, there are only two TV stations available via rabbit ears, and in the four days I was there, they were never watched. If the radio was on, it was tuned to CBC Radio. And while I got decent connectivity via my Blackberry, there was no Internet attached to a computer.

Stress and anxiety were suddenly fiction. The day-to-day challenges that worried me at home no longer seemed important and / or insurmountable. I found myself wondering how I could maintain this sense of perspective when I got back to the city and returned to my regular life of work, the TTC and the noise of people who have opinions on things they know nothing about.

As soon as I hit Toronto traffic on the return trip I could feel that sense of perspective evaporating and within 10 minutes of walking through my door I was already online on my computer getting inundated by noise. Holding on to the serenity of a cottage vacation is a job of work when it comes down to it. It doesn’t help that despite its decent square footage, my one-bedroom apartment feels claustrophobic because of where the windows are and how it’s laid out. Even though I was coming back on a Saturday afternoon and had more than half the weekend remaining, I was already wired, feeling as though I should be productive rather than relaxing (is that a Toronto thing?).

Still, I have managed to leverage my short vacation in some ways. For example, rather than surfing the television aimlessly I’ve begun listening to CBC Radio and very much enjoying programs such as As It Happens. I’m also trying to simplify my life a little by trying to focus on fewer hobbies and purging the apartment of unused items. When you go a few days without these things, it’s easier to part with them.

It takes concerted effort to keep perspective, but I hope that with some effort it will become second nature.

This past long weekend was not a great one for my diet. Now that summer is unofficially over and it’s back to business / school I am renewing my efforts to control calorie intake with vigour.

I am making two commitments this week: Eating up what’s in my freezer and cupboards and not eating anything after dinner.

The first commitment includes frozen dinners and canned soup. By doing this, food does not go to waste, even the food I would prefer to avoid (e.g. processed and packaged meals), and I save some money.  The second commitment came as a suggestion from an old friend of mine I saw on the weekend. He said he lost weight in part by just refusing to give in to the cravings for something after dinner, which he found difficult at first, but he realized there was no reason he should be hungry after a proper meal at dinner time.

This second commitment will be a challenge for me as I am night owl and the later I stay up the more likely I will want to snack. So I suppose a third commitment will be going to bed earlier. Not snacking at night will be a major achievement I think. The recent success with the CPAP should help me with proper bedtimes I hope.

I have been using my CPAP machine for more than three weeks now, and I can see some improvements. However, I think I will feel even better once I find my ideal pressure setting. This will be found this coming Friday at my second sleep test. This time I will use a CPAP and based on readings and observations, my pressure will be adjusted (I am currently set to 7 and I have a feeling it will go up to 9 or 10).

In the meantime, wearing it has become almost routine. I able to sleep in a position that keeps me comfortable at night and I fall asleep relatively quickly. I also find that I wake up before my alarm. In fact, I woke up this morning to go to the bathroom and felt more awake than I had in years; I even considered staying up.

Hopefully in a few more weeks I will have adjusted completely with my correct pressure and start to really reap the benefits of CPAP and treating my sleep apnea.