Sleep Apnea and Elevation Sickness

#vanlife .

It seemed we had that Sleep Apnea thing licked. The mouth guard repositioning stopped those extremely long pauses that worried Mr Ram. And Mrs Ram only needed to use it occasionally.

Yet when we started to go up in elevation some of those pauses returned. And suddenly Mrs Ram had a recurrence of elevation sickness. She could function ok during the day but at night, sleeping at over 6,000 feet she was dizzy and nauseous. Reaching Sedona and 4,000 feet helped but the sickness persisted.

Mrs Rams brother said he had a used CPAP machine that she could use.

The carry bag for this unit was smaller than one that the insurance company had offered but it was still huge compared to our available storage space.

When it arrived in the mail, she cleaned the machine and hoses several times alternating between vinegar, baking soda, mouthwash and soap.

The CPAP Dream Machine was quiet but Mrs Ram found the nose mask difficult to use. It helped some with the getting enough air and the altitude sickness but made it difficult to get any actual sleep. After using it a number of times, she felt the apnea reduction and waning of her sickness was trumped by her need to actually sleep at night.

Probably the key to avoiding elevation sickness is to go up in elevation slowly and for her to use the mouth guard every night. (And it helps me to sleep when Mrs Ram snores less)

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