APNEA -- I got it

T. Erdelyi - You've got it

Mamav - You've got it, might have not gotten a good result with the study since you were in strange circumstances...ask to be retested

Nasty - *I* have it too...the whole series...and am trying to get though the whole mask thing. I put it on at night, but it gets up and moves to the floor at night. I think it likes it better down there. My next step will be duct tape because *I* am not going to be taken out by a lazy mask.

FWIW, a 32 year old co-worker of mine named Sam Kim (Korean, slight, an active competitor in body building, weight lifiting and arts) died last Friday night of a heart attack they believe was induced by sleep apnea. Sam lived alone, so no one ever told him he snored and stopped breathing regularly.


Cog - Popular medicine is very popular. Good luck, God bless.

Everyone else - get the test if folks tell you that you snore like mad. If it comes back negative and you have the other symptoms, ask to be tested again.


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There are a couple of things which will make apnea worse and can bring on an attack

( for those that have not had an attack its like an asthma attack you stop breathing and your throat closes)

bad for you if you have apnea alcohol and chocolate.
If your in a more advanced stage your nose and lips go numb your speach slurs thats a sign an attack is comming
 
Bill Marsh- This thread of yours may help save somebody's life.

If you might have it- Insurance pays for the "sleep study" - really it's not so bad. You spend a night at well, wherever they do it- could be a hosp., clinic, etc. You're monitored by a nurse, and fitted with a bunch of sensors. Trick is to sleep as normal there, but if you have sleep apnea, you're so tired you probably sleep well anywhere (or you fall asleep easily- you actually are sleep deprived).

I then had a EKG & CAT scan. Hate to tell you- no, I can't- what the doc told me. But if suspect sleep apnea, do something about it.

Life is short enough as it is without a preventable common condition making it shorter.


Ad Astra

(now, go see my JKM thread and throw me rep points).
 
Nasty said:
Nasty - *I* have it too...the whole series...and am trying to get though the whole mask thing. I put it on at night, but it gets up and moves to the floor at night. I think it likes it better down there. My next step will be duct tape because *I* am not going to be taken out by a lazy mask.
Click to expand...
Uwinv it sounds like your mask doesn't fit correctly. I quit using mine because it blows cold, dry air. But a while back Robert, another Uwinv, got me a heater and dehumidifier and a handful of new masks.
After reading this thread I called him and asked if he was gonna be at Kathie and Joe's Sweat tonight. Affirmitive. He's going too bring them along, I'm taking my CPAP so we may get it fitted correctly this time.
I'm always waking up for no reason at all and then find myself setting up sleeping on the couch.

So get yer butt down too yer supplier and get fitted with a proper mask. There are a helluva lot of different ones so one will fit you like a glove as it's supposed too.:D
 
My sleep study showed apnea about 4 years ago.
Doc's first advisement was to loose weight.
Still trying to get down to my 25th year weight,
but as soon as I lost 5 pounds my snoring (and apnea)
decreased dramatically.


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Ad Astra said:
Bill Marsh- This thread of yours may help save somebody's life.

If you might have it- Insurance pays for the "sleep study" - really it's not so bad. You spend a night at well, wherever they do it- could be a hosp., clinic, etc. You're monitored by a nurse, and fitted with a bunch of sensors. Trick is to sleep as normal there, but if you have sleep apnea, you're so tired you probably sleep well anywhere (or you fall asleep easily- you actually are sleep deprived).

I then had a EKG & CAT scan. Hate to tell you- no, I can't- what the doc told me. But if suspect sleep apnea, do something about it.

Life is short enough as it is without a preventable common condition making it shorter.


Ad Astra

(now, go see my JKM thread and throw me rep points).
Click to expand...


They gave me a little box and some sensors that attach with velcro bands around the torso, fingertip oxygen monitor and a nose piece that monitors something. Went home and slept in my own bed.

Brought it back the next day and they downloaded the info.

It was a very scary thing to hear the nurse say, "You stopped breathing and average of 18 times PER hour last night......" There was more that was also scary. I had NO idea this could be such a problem.

The 30 YO body builder that had a heart attack in his sleep?!?

AA, I feel like handing out brochures on the street. "Excuse me sir, have you heard about Apnea?"

The nurse also said that they regulalry make presentations in schools. Both for the children and so the kids can warn their parents.

My grandfather snorred so loud that you could hear him outside his house. He had a heart attack. Makes me wonder.... but I can't go there.

The really scary thing is that the person who has it does not know they have a problem. So the nudge MUST come from someone else.

I feel much better today. Thought that I was coming down with Alzhiemers.
 
Bill Marsh said:
I feel much better today. Thought that I was coming down with Alzhiemers.
Click to expand...

Um...feeling better is often a sign of Alzhiemers.... :eek:


:rolleyes: :p ;) :D

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I'm glad this thread is running, this is my wife’s business she owns a healthcare company that does the cpap machines and therapy she has about 6,000 patients on the machines... she will tell you how important this is and how not doing something early can be a big mistake

one of her clients is the VA they cover the cost 100% and every insurance company she does business with covers it which is all of the major ones
 
Thanks for this thread Bill Marsh and all those who have contributed---

Yep! I've definitely got it and will be getting tested next week.

Gotta say I've been blessed and more than a bit lucky, catching these things before the SHTF.

Dodged another one by the skin on my teeth! :eek:
 
Skin on your teeth? I think that's lycanthropy...

Better get that checked too...

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Bill, you did good. Your post literally turned into a blooming public sevice announcement. And I'm not being sarcastic about it - in fact I think that's something the HI Forum does best!



Nasty - eat a head of raw garlic like my Transylvanian uncles, and you won't need to skin your teeth again for a good long while!
 
Good stuff.

I went into medical a while back for sinus problems. The doc rammed some fiberoptic hoobiejoob up my nose and said, "Whoa." Between seasonal allergies, recreational diving and exposure to who knows how many chemicals, my sinuses were trashed. X-rays of my lungs showed that they were "fuzzy," despite the fact that I've never smoked and my TB is supposedly cured. My nose had been broken one too many times (the result of a rather brash youth) and the passages were a bit tight in spots. I was expecting nasal spray; they were talking surgery.

This is the reason that I really dislike going to medical, by the way - just when I think that I'm fine, I find out that I'm not. :)

Then they brought up the sleep study: "Hey, since we're going to have you under the knife anyway, let's see if you have any other problems. Might as well fix everything while we're under the hood, right?"

After some calls to Tricare and some miscommunications I got tired of trying to deal with them. My schedule is pretty tight most days and I wound up blowing them off. (Satori's rationale: I made it to 28 with this equipment, I can keep going.) The fact that a buddy went in for this surgery just ahead of me and got a bit hosed up kind of drove the point home for me.

To move ahead, I've dropped 25 pounds over the last three months and all the symptoms that I answered "yes" to for apnea, would be "no's" now. The doc had mentioned that. I guess he knew what he was talking about after all. I've found that there are other benefits as well. We did a timed 1.5 mile run yesterday for informational purposes (as opposed to the 1.5 mile run that we'll be doing in a few weeks for real) and I posted a decent time - 12:28, and I could talk at the end...not all that bad for a big 'un who only runs 3 miles a year. (In fact, my partner was slowing me down.) After I gave it some thought it made sense - the last time I'd run this I was carrying the equivalent of a loaded backpack. No wonder it was easy this time.

That said, I think that I'll be giving Tricare a call on Monday. Rusty hit the nail on the head. Might as well get the work done while I'm under warranty, you know?
 
I'm thinking that I should have woke (awakened?) that person up on the train and chatted with him...he probably didn't know he had a problem. It's not my business, though...yet I could have potentially helped him save his life...hmmm...it's a tough one. Thanks for bringing up the subject.

BTW, one of my pet peeves with doctors is that they know very little about nutrition, they think they know a lot, and many doctors are not comfortable discussing lifestyle with their patients. And patients don't want to hear that they can lose weight or go low carb. They want to hear that there's a label for their problem and a medicine they can take. So I guess it works all around, actually. Good system really. Hmmmm again.

Thanks.

edited to add P.S. my pa's a doc, my FIL was a doc, and my niece is in third year medical school. I am really seeing things differently as I see what my niece is going through...first year spent on anatomy, second year on a little of this and a little of that, third year same...the guys and gals with MD next to their name aren't all that different than shamans...really they are trained very little on anything...I think emergency medicine is da bomb but I have many doubts about most of it. I take medicine for allergies and asthma and I am grateful beyond measure for it.

Enough rambling.
 
Wow! This problem is more prevalent than I had ever imagined! Glad that you are all getting tested.

The CPAP mask is no fun and I am looking for alternative masks and other ideas.

Also trying the South Beach diet. Hear it works pretty well. Need to get back to my earlier weight.
 
Bill Marsh said:
The CPAP mask is no fun and I am looking for alternative masks and other ideas.
Click to expand...
My nephew fitted me with a new state of the art mask last night. It actually "floats" on your face and is a whole helluva lot more comfortable than the other two masks I have had.
He also brought my new heater and humidifier but forgot a hose that hooked everything up too the mask, he's bringing that over today.
But in spite of not having the heater and humidifier hooked up I went ahead and used my CPAP with the new mask last night.
Went too bed about 12:30 a.m. and slept really good, woke up once, but went right back too sleep and slept until 6:30 a.m. this morning!
I haven't had that good of a nights sleep in I can't remember when! :D :cool:

I'm urging everyone that's having problems with their CPAP's too see about getting fitted with a new mask and if you don't have a heater and humidifier then ask and demand them as well!!!!
I mostly quit using mine because it was uncomfortable as hell and that it blew super chilly air all night long that was distracting, especially when I would wake up and try to go back too sleep.
Robert's gonna bring the hose over today so we'll see how tonight goes.
It would be wonderful too be able too sleep at night and all night rather than being all drug and wrung out during the day where nothing will fix it except a nap, sometimes two.:grumpy:
 
Satori-
couple points. One, the people doing the sleep study on me were not smart enough to see my nose was messed up. Had the passages fixed surgically, same as you, tight in spots, and much of the apnea went away.

my other point is that my own sleep distubances did not become great until I left the friendly climate of Ca., and moved North. That and age.





munk
 
I've used a CPAP for years. During my sleep study I was wired and the session was taped with infra-red equipment and I was waking 40-60 times an hour. For me, the quality of sleep with a CPAP compared to without overshadows any objection of wearing it. I can get a good night's sleep in less than 8 hours and often wake up, too rested to fall back asleep, after maybe 6 hours. I believe the increased pressure may cause more oxygen to dissolve in to tissues - who knows. During the winter a heater is a good idea to keep from being awakened by blowing cold air and the harness for the mask or nasal pillows must fit correctly to be comfortable, but the effort is worth it. I even travel with mine. I've heard of people running them off marine batteries when they camp, etc. I also noticed that my airway was more constricted and snoring worse when I had consumed alcohol. The main thing I don't like is my perception that I would be less aware if someone broke in, as Munk mentioned. Stick with it guys.
 
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