Thread by @a2d2

I don’t usually talk about my health on Twitter.

But as someone who’s the type to go long stretches without seeing the doctor and dealing with a big problem as a result, I feel like sharing my story might be a cautionary tale on why you should get physicals.

First background on non-Twitter me:

I’m an ok-healthy early 30s guy who enjoys powerlifting, video games, and going 59 shows with his GF and friends. Basically what happens when an ABB grows up.

I also have an unusually good memory. More on that later.

businessinsider.com/what-its-like-…

I’ve grown up with a chronic disorder where it’s hard for me to breathe sometimes. Basically my nose has issues leading to serious bleeding (in college I had to go to the hospital for a nonstop nosebleed) and increasingly a smaller airway to breath out of.

It’s annoying but after surgery in my twenties my nosebleeds aren’t as bad. I have started to snore however - loud enough that my friends I camped with at Coachella described me as a “leaf blower.”

This had gotten worse over the last few years. I always knew it was an issue, but because I wasn’t getting regular physicals and regularly talking to my doctor it got to a dangerous point.

In the last 3-6 months I’ve been waking up daily with what feels like a splitting migraine. I’m increasingly hazy and it’s hard to think, forcing me to rely on a pretty ridiculous amount of caffeine.

Literally every day at 7am I’ve been shotgunning Red Bull so I’m ok on calls.

The headaches are getting worse and now the haziness spreads into other times in my day. And even worse: my short term memory is starting to go.

That part scares me the most. I grew up able to memorize books in Latin, and forgetting things on a shopping list is really unnerving.

I finally went to the doctor and after a specialist visit and a sleep study the results came back: I have sleep apnea so severe that it’s actually killing me.

To put this in perspective, sleep apnea is scored on the Apneas and Hypopness Index (AHI). It’s the number of reported apneas and hypopneas - when you stop breathing - that are recorded in an hour.

Normal is 0-5. Mild is <= 15. Moderate <= 30. > 30 is severe.

My AHI is 50.6.

This means that almost once every minute I stop breathing. And unfortunately I stop breathing for long stretches - enough so that my blood O2 saturation drops as low as 81% - 78%

AKA every time I sleep I’m basically getting hypoxia like I’m climbing Everest without O2

So bad news: I’m dealing with a severe disease that is having consequences on my life and according to my doctor could likely have killed me - and soon - if left untreated.

Good news: it’s treatable and thank god I gave insurance that can pay for it.

I’m immediately getting a CPAP machine and sometime early next year I’m going to have corrective surgery that will TKO me for a bit but leave me able to breathe better in the long run.

I feel super blessed to be able to treat this and have a GF who pushed me to get this checked. No joke this probably saved my life.

This experience also makes me appreciate how horrible this would have been if I didn’t have insurance or such a caring partner.

TL;DR:

Please get a yearly physical and tell your doctor what’s wrong.

It could save your life.

And It will definitely make your friends not loathe sleeping near you at music festivals.

Also apologies on any autocorrect errors (like that “59 shows” rather than “to shows”) or grammar errors. Fat fingers, small phone keyboard.

PPS: A big part of my personal danger here has been me constantly rescheduling, deprioritizing, and in general putting off visiting my doctor.

Don't do that. If my girlfriend hadn't forced me to stop being an idiot, this could have been a lot worse. She's the real hero here.