Death mask or continence

I hesitate to say I am used to the bipap, or death mask as I prefer to call it. A night rarely goes by that I would not prefer to heave it onto the floor with a resounding crash — although if I tried I’d probably hurt myself, not it. 

I do, however, feel the benefits of regular use.

• I sleep better, waking up with more energy. 
• I sleep sounder, often not waking up in the middle of the night to use the urinal. It’s not a continence problem when I wake up in the morning either. 
• It seems to0 settle my restless legs. 

So the past few months,. I have been wearing it five to seven hours a night most weeknights, up to 11 hours a night on weekends.

Until last week.

In early December, my old insurer wouldn’t fill my expensive incontinence pill. They suddenly decided they didn’t cover it, though they did the previous several years.

It cost five times less at my current insurer, which I had already decided to switch to, and I wanted to see if it provided me that much help, so I decided to go off not till switching insurers in January.

I didn’t notice much fall-off after stopping the drug, but I decided to restart it last week.

But apparently, in addition to improved bladder control, it also causes one’s legs to jump.

I have trouble wearing the mask or sleeping amid jumpy legs.

Hence, I slept and wore the mask little last week.

Also hence, I am no longer taking the drug.