experience of sleep apnoea<\/a>. In fact, he\u2019s keen to break to stigma surrounding its diagnosis and treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\nNearly three million Australians have Obstructive Sleep Apnoea, but 80% remain undiagnosed. Dave had no idea how bad his snoring had become \u2014 until his wife gave him a gentle push in the right direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know I had it. My wife kept complaining about my snoring and she thought I would stop breathing at night. So, I went to an overnight sleep study and they worked out I had sleep apnoea\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is sleep apnoea?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
When the walls of the throat come together during sleep, the upper airway repeatedly becomes blocked, leading to a halt in breathing and a panicked signal from the brain to wake the person up. This was happening to Dave every night \u2014 but he had no idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey said I was having around 40 incidents a night \u2014 that\u2019s 40 times a night that I\u2019d stop breathing. I talk about it during stand up and other big guys come up to you saying, \u201cthat\u2019s nothing mate, I was having, like, 150 incidents a night\u201d. Men get very competitive about it, it’s so funny\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All that changes when Dave started wearing his CPAP mask to bed. Now he experiences less than one incident per night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI started sleeping with a mask which attached to the machine and yeah, my sleep improved a lot. When you put your mask on, all the data gets downloaded to an app on your phone. You can look at how long you sleep for, what\u2019s the deal on the mask and how many incidents you have. It\u2019s pretty handy. Wearing the mask makes you feel so much fresher in the day, you have more dreams and it makes you sleep a lot better\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sleep apnoea is no laughing matter, except when he’s on stage. <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
As part of his crusade to keep people laughing, he talks of his experience as part of his comedy routine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you\u2019ve got a health problem, it\u2019s good for a comic to talk about it. It makes you relatable. People come up and talk to me about it and they say \u201coh I\u2019ve got one of those masks\u201d so if it makes someone feel better about themselves and helps remove the stigma, I\u2019m always happy to talk about it\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s got some cracking stories to share, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was wearing it while I was having a nap during the middle of the day. I saw my kids standing at the end of the bed and I heard them say \u201cI think we should turn the machine off\u201d. They were talking about it as though it was a life support machine!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe doctor also told me to wear it around the house and to take it to work with me to wear at my desk. When I told him I\u2019m a comedian and don\u2019t work in an office, he suggested I wear it while I\u2019m driving to gigs. I asked, are you suggesting I fall asleep at the wheel of the car?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t