Peter Dekker (38), sleep apnea patient at Jan van Goyen: 'For anyone who is in doubt, I say: do it!'
“My snoring was a major annoyance to my wife every night. I didn't realize anything myself and slept like a log. At least that's what I thought. It turned out that I had very long breathing stops, which are disastrous for your night's sleep.
The snoring and long breathing stops got worse over the past five years. I first learned that I was not fit during the day from my job, for which I spent a lot of time abroad. Because of this I had to deal with different time zones. Later we formed a young family and a bad night's sleep is part of it. I didn't ring the bell until I happened to read an article about sleep apnea. This referred to the possible consequences with sometimes seriously life-threatening diseases. This was a wake up call for me: I am being examined.
I first went to my doctor. He referred me to the department ENT of the Jan van Goyen Medical Center. I was soon able to go and the specialist asked me to fill in a questionnaire. Based on the answers I gave in this questionnaire, she advised me to do a sleep study.
The sleep study was done by VIVISOL and fortunately could be done at home. A VIVISOL employee came in the evening to connect me to a box with sensors and put an oxygen meter on my index finger. Then I had to go to sleep, which takes some getting used to with all those wires, but it was doable. The next day the employee came again to pick up the locker.
Two weeks later I had an appointment with Jan van Goyen for the results. It was clear: my breath caught about 16 times an hour, so I was actually suffering from sleep apnea. That was a bit of a shock, but luckily my specialist immediately came up with a number of concrete solutions. I decided to start with the MRA brace, fitted by ACTA (ed.: Academisch Centrum Tandheelkunde Amsterdam). It is a bit on the top and bottom. On the bottom are a kind of dracula-like teeth that ensure that your lower jaw does not fall backwards. That way my windpipe is no longer closed. After some time, a repeat sleep study was conducted by Vivisol. As it turned out: my breath only caught once an hour!
The MRA brace itself takes a bit of getting used to, but I don't sleep less because of it. Fortunately, my wife also sleeps a lot better. I would recommend anyone who is hesitant to do a sleep study to do this: it is quite simple and can be done at home. And more importantly: in the end everyone has a better night's sleep!'
