Sleep apnea

[LeeH]

Originally Posted by Drdogface

LOL...thanks...will do.

If you do decide you want it, send me a PM or e-mail.

[Drdogface]

Originally Posted by LeeH

If you do decide you want it, send me a PM or e-mail.

Thanks Lee...I'll likely know pretty soon.

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by fintstone

I have a question for you guys with apnea. I snore a lot... the wife says she can nudge me and I stop (and the snoring inproved significantly after losing about 10-15 lbs). As far as I know, I don't wake up at night and sleep soundly...but I am sleepy a lot in the middle of the day...almost to the point of feeling drugged. Maybe I just need to sleep longer. Did your sleep studies show you were waking a lot and you did not know it?

fint - those are classic indications of sleep apnea

make an appt. with a specialist in behavioral medicine - they will arrange for a sleep study and usually a machine rental (ins. co.s usually require both before paying for a CPAP purchase)

treatment will make you more active during the day

yes, you may not know it if you are waking up

ask the wife if you jerk awake also

eventually, she will either go find another room, (or house), or start slapping you...

sleep apnea is implicated in numerous industrial accidents including aircraft and truck craskes, crane operator mistakes, and the list goes on...

[Kistle]

Reviving this thread....DrDogface....what is the conclusion to your story?

Anyone else recently diagnosed with Apnea? How long did it take for you to start feeling better after CPAP?

JA

[Drdogface]

JA,

Turned out I just could not tolerate the CPAP masks at that time. I ended up with just an Oxygen concentrator which worked well for me. Then I lost a lot of weight and that seems to have cured the apnea all together

Thanks for asking...

[John Rogers]

I can give an update as I have had the CPAP machine nightly for a couple years now and I do feel much better and sleep better. The fact I had a stroke last September was unrelated to the sleep issues but while I was in the stroke ward I was given one to use nightly as they take this seriously.

I also really like that we get $125 month off our electrical bill from SDG&E each month and every two years we have the doctor send in a new form.

[slakjaw]

I made an appt for sleep apnea and it's a 6 month wait to get in.

[june82000]

Originally Posted by Drdogface

JA,

Turned out I just could not tolerate the CPAP masks at that time. I ended up with just an Oxygen concentrator which worked well for me. Then I lost a lot of weight and that seems to have cured the apnea all together

Thanks for asking...

Has the lack of snoring cured your marriage situation?

[Mahler9th]

I have been learning about sleep apnea and CPAP for the past decade. There is still a lot of misinformation about both out there and I encourage folks to take sleep apnea seriously.

It is important to understand the relationship between snoring and sleep apnea, and that there are two basics types of the latter. It is also important to realize that the obstructive type of sleep apnea (OSA) may be due to several causes.

It is important to understand the symptoms and that they may be very similar to those from other causes, which can make it difficult to diagnose, and that not all sleep studies are equal.

The morbidity associated with untreated sleep apnea is not trivial. In fact, there are studies that show a significant shortening of life expectancy. Perhaps a decade of life lost. The biochemical changes can be profound over time. And then of course there are productivity and relationship issues that result from a lack of quality sleep. The latter may be far more common than those caused by snoring.

It is important to realize that although there are numerous "tools" for assessing sleep quality in the consumer space, they are not appropriate for those seeking true answers. We will see a proliferation of these tools in years to come, but their safety and more importantly here, efficacy will not provide the sensitivity and specificity needed for proper medical intervention. Again, even with highly trained medical professionals in sleep centers, you can get different answers that may lead down inappropriate paths. This is critical to understand.

My professional network includes folks that have been involved with the development of CPAP and related therapies and surgical procedures both on the clinical side and on the commercial side. This is a very tough area within medicine. In fact I would say it is one of the toughest.

I am pretty sure that patient compliance with CPAP is right around 50%. And numbers can be lower with certain groups of patients. Some medical professionals including those that actually provide the machines and train the patients are better than others. Best to work with folks interested in providing closed-loop support, working with the patient on an ongoing basis to ensure optimal therapy. I think some track their compliance at well over 90%. How do they know? Some/many of the machines keep track of use frequency and other parameters and have memory cards that can be shared with clinical caregivers.

I do not have sleep apnea, but my wife was just diagnosed and will be starting therapy soon. I think at least three of the guys I race with (of a pool of about 50) are on CPAP therapy... and those are just the ones I casually know about.

This is serious business.

[jcommin]

I have had a CPAP machine for over 10 years. And I can tell the difference when I haven't used it. It made a difference when I sleep, I changed by sleeping habits. I don't thrash anymore, my throat doesn't feel like sand paper in the morning and I am rested.

Not everyone can use the machine but if/once you can get use to it - it makes a difference. I have friends that could not use it and opted for surgery. The recovery time was difficult but one everything healed up, they are extremly happy. I would work with an ENT and figure out what is the best course of action.

[Tilikum Turbo]

My cousin(who had sleep apnea issues) was given two options by his Doctor(and this may not be applicable to your situation): either give up smoking and get a serious change of diet, or you will die a early death staying in this present state.
Both the machine and doctors wake-up call scared the shyte out of him.

It's three years later...he's in much better shape...dumped the prescription meds and says he sleeps a normal 7-8 hours a night.

Good luck getting better whatever you do!

[slyguy]

Man up on the bogus thread you started in the classifieds