Sleep apnea anyone?

[whittonm]

A chin strap may be worth a try. I was a mouth breather until I got my CPAP, used the chin strap for a couple of nights but then magically I became a nose breather without the need for the chin strap.

Make sure your nose is really clear before doing this, I have a diverted septum and have to regularly use nasal spray to ensure my nose is clear before sleeping.

 

[Trawler]

Thanks all for the posts I have an appointment next month as I have the stop breathing and snoring issues along with not feeling rested. I suspect I will have a machine shortly.

 

[Mo Money]

I seem to be a bit of an outlier on the apnea front: I have no weight issues and neither I nor my SO have detected lapses in breathing. Rather, I bolt up in bed almost every night and act startled. And occasionally (this is embarrassing) I scream and in my grogginess imagine all sorts of things (more embarrassing stuff): raccoons sitting on the windowsill, squirrels running under the bed, people in the bedroom or elsewhere in the house.

As you may have guessed, this has not thrilled my bedmate. So my SO frog-marched me to the sleep clinic after months of this. I thought it was just stress related to my transition from high-octane off*ce environment to ER, which occurred a few months ago. I thought it might be night terrors, but the sleep doctor wanted to rule out apnea. He did the overnight test on me and I scored 23.5, which is moderate apnea.

So I am anxious to get some sort of breathing mask that works. The nighttime "events" continue a few times a week. Thus the earlier posts. I am going to push for a chin strap and nose mask. I'll just persist till I get to the bottom of this.

Has anyone else heard of this type of thing (startled wake-ups) being a symptom of apnea?

 

[Bamaman]

I was diagnosed with sleep apnea maybe 15 years ago, and the CPAP has done me very well--with full face mask. When I don't use the machine, the next day I'm ready for a nap mid afternoon and feel rather lethargic as the day goes on.


This is a much more prevalent condition than many realize. A fast majority of bad snorers have S/A. Just about every man over 200 lbs. and size 17 shirt will have S/A. Those that do nothing about it don't realize that they may be choking in their sleep.

S/A causes many automobile accidents--and even deaths. Those with untreated S/A have an abnormally high incidence of open heart surgery as they have a very low blood oxygen level at night.


This is a serious medical condition that millions of people are ignoring. And it's also a female issue--they also can have S/A. It doesn't have to be this way.

 

[hnzw_rui]

This is a serious medical condition that millions of people are ignoring.

+1. Apparently, my dad's sleep apnea has already caused pulmonary hypertension and congestive heart failure.

 

[razztazz]

Probably not applicable to the sufferers here as I think you all have actually, clinical sleep apnea. My sleep apnea was caused entirely by running high heart rates while exercise. ie exercising too hard. As soon as I backed off the workouts heart/sleeping/breathing problems went away. And this had gone on for several years. It wasn't a two week thing. So, if any of you are constantly pushing the performance envelope, crank it back.

 

[ChicagoGal]

I was diagnosed with sleep apnea 2 years ago (my colleagues convinced me to go to the doctor after I was caught repeatedly nodding off and snoring while sitting at my desk). My AHI was 105 - frankly, a truly terrifying score. I was used to tossing and turning all night, every night, getting what I thought was maybe an hour or so of sleep at a time. My body literally never fell into a deep sleep.

Not a big fan of the masks, but from day 1, I haven't had a day time drowsy problem since. In fact, even on occasion when I felt like taking a nap from a comfort perspective, I can't fall asleep, because I'm actually rested. The technician at my sleep study said this would change my life. He was not wrong.

For anyone new to the issue, I do recommend trying as many different styles and brands of masks as you can. I took the first one they fit me with because I didn't know any better. It was fine, and clearly worked. But last year when I went in for my update, I got a new style of mask and it fits me so much better.

In 2 years, there have only been 2 nights I haven't used the mask. Once was when we lost power, and once I was on an overnight flight home from Hawaii.

I do have quite a bit of weight that I should lost for many reasons, and I'm hoping as I work on that, it will also help with the apnea issue.