Tommy Tiernan has revealed that he has been diagnosed with sleep apnea after spending the night in hospital earlier this week.
The Meath comedian explained on the most recent episode of The Tommy, Hector and Laurita Podcast that he had been waking up feeling very tired every morning and desperate for fresh air so he went to see a specialist in hospital about it. Tommy explained how the examination involved him being strapped up to several machines to monitor his sleep.
He said: "I had to get this sleep apnea thing checked out. The question was do I or do I not have sleep apnea because sleep apnea is not just snoring, sleep apnea is where your body isn't getting enough oxygen."
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According to the HSE, sleep apnea is when the walls of the throat relax and narrow during sleep, which can cause breathing difficulties for some.
Tommy went on to explain how the machines were switched on at 10pm to monitor his sleep. "I had eight wires stuck to my head to monitor brain activity, I had three going across my forehead, I had two on my chest and wore three straps across my chest - each one with a machine on it, weighted on my chest - and I had two on my leg to monitor leg movement."
"They put the stuff on me early so I could get used to it so by the time the evening came around, I'd be used to it and be able to fall asleep," he added. And after being monitored by the machines, Tommy was then officially diagnosed with sleep apnea.
Tommy has committed to using a CPAP machine, which will aid him in getting oxygen into his body every night, though he joked that he'll now have to take the machine on the road with him when he tours the country performing stand-up comedy. However, the Saturday night chat show host admitted that they have yet to find the cause of his sleep apnea.
He continued: "They gave me a sleeping tablet because they wanted me to fall asleep so I took that, fell asleep and then the guy comes in in the morning and collects a little mini-disc or card, he takes it out of the machine, he goes away and he plugs it into a reader.
"The reader gives all the information from your brain - I slept with something up my nose and in my mouth to monitor oxygen and airstream. "
"You wear a mask and a strap across your head. It doesn't look great. It forces oxygen into your body and your man told me that it's a bit uncomfortable for the first few days but you get used to it.
"So you sleep with a strap going around your head and a mask, and there's air pressure so your body wants the oxygen but it can't take it because of the shape of your face so it forces oxygen into your body."
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