Main > Everything Else

Sleep Apnea

(1/14) > >>

mountain:
I have struggled with snoring and gasping for air when I sleep for the last 5-7 years or so. It has slowly gotten worse over the years. My family has been on me about seeing a doctor about it because of the health concerns involved. I decided to finally do something about it. Last night I went to a sleep lab and had my sleep monitored. The tech said that when a patient struggles with breathing and their oxygen drops to unsafe levels, they like to get a jump on the diagnosis and put on a CPAP device to help with breathing as soon as they determine how bad the problem is. Apparently I have such severe sleep apnea that they woke me up after 1 1/2 hours to put the CPAP machine on me. It is a device that forces air down your airway you keep it open, sort of like an air stint. After getting used to it, I fell asleep and was able to actually fall into a deep sleep for the first time in years. It looks like after I see my sleep specialist again I will be coming home with one of these machines. It kind of sucks that I will have to use one every night for the rest of my life but at least my quality of life should drastically improve.

Has anyone here been diagnosed with this condition?

hatrick:
I have sleep apnea as well and have been using a CPAP machine for almost 2 years now. Mine has made a huge improvement in my quality of life, but I still have a long way to go. I have my pressure adjusted as high as my body will tolerate, and it's not enough.
For me, that means I still get tired and fall asleep during the day. The only option I had left was to use the CPAP at night to get a decent amount of sleep, then take a perscription drug everyday to keep me awake. Not an ideal situation, by far, as the sleep apnea, and associated lack of sleep, is still killing my brain cells and hurting my heart, etc.
I'm hoping to one day find a real solution that does not involve drugs  :dunno
It is a challenge to get used to wearing a mask all night, but at least you can pretend you are Darth Vader or something! It's worth it in the end.
.

shardian:
My mother-in-law uses a CPAP. My wife has went thru 2 sleep studies, but she is considered 'borderline', so she never got a CPAP.

ChadTower:
I have had sleep apnea issues for years.  Keep in mind sleep apnea itself is not a condition - it is a symptom of a condition.  Think of it like a cold and sneezing.  You don't have sneezes, you have a cold that causes you to sneeze, and ideally you will treat the cold rather than the sneezes.

First thing you want to find out is what type of sleep apnea you are experiencing.  The two basic types are Obstructive and Central.  Obstructive is much easier to treat as it is a mechanical condition - your airway closes off when you fall asleep, you stop breathing, and your fight/flight reflex kicks in.  Central is much harder to deal with because the issue isn't your airway it is that your nervous system is sending inconsistent breathing signals while you're asleep.

Depending on which type you have you may not have to spend the rest of your life on CPAP.

protokatie:
I wake up once or twice a week unable to breathe. I have to punch my chest. It isnt a fun experience. It feels like I am being drowned.

Too bad I can't afford such things like medical care.... (Or even an examination)

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

Go to full version