Anyone here with sleep apnea?
06-08-2011, 02:21 PM
#111
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Oregon
Posts: 384
Originally Posted by Phyllis nm
i was sleep tested and was told i woke up 60 times an hour. i wore it for about 6 months and i felt the same tired. it seemed to piss the sleep dr off. so he kept the machine. i can not sit still with out going to sleep, i have to keep moving around. then my dr said my thyroid was dead about 2 years ago. i am still tired. but most of the hot flashes are gone now.
06-08-2011, 02:28 PM
#112
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Oregon
Posts: 384
Originally Posted by GrannyHanaDa
I have had apnea for years, and got my machine about a month ago.
As a child I stopped breathing, Mom said I would snort and gasp and then start breathing again. We did not know then how severe apnea is to your health. In fact we did not even know what "apnea" was.
I knew something had to be done when I would wake in the morning to find my husband sleeping in his recliner because I had snored him out of the bedroom!
It is the first thing I pack too! I am miserable without it.
Finally after 46 years I am getting a good rested night of sleep, I just turned 57. I do dream, and they feel like I am right there and I remember them. Before I never went into REM sleep, so never could recall dreams.
My machine is totally silent, and I took to it like a fish to water.
During the night of my sleep study, I stopped breathing 133 times in 116 minutes.....all my doctor could say when reading those results was OMG.
I love my machine, it is the first thing I pack when we are going away.
As a child I stopped breathing, Mom said I would snort and gasp and then start breathing again. We did not know then how severe apnea is to your health. In fact we did not even know what "apnea" was.
I knew something had to be done when I would wake in the morning to find my husband sleeping in his recliner because I had snored him out of the bedroom!
It is the first thing I pack too! I am miserable without it.
Finally after 46 years I am getting a good rested night of sleep, I just turned 57. I do dream, and they feel like I am right there and I remember them. Before I never went into REM sleep, so never could recall dreams.
My machine is totally silent, and I took to it like a fish to water.
During the night of my sleep study, I stopped breathing 133 times in 116 minutes.....all my doctor could say when reading those results was OMG.
I love my machine, it is the first thing I pack when we are going away.
06-08-2011, 03:08 PM
#113
Super Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: SW Ohio
Posts: 2,103
I just got the results from my sleep study. It turns out I have severe sleep apnea. The main concern was my oxygen levels were as low as 69% during the night. It was below 90% for three-fourths of the night.
I have to go for a second sleep study on Tues. to sleep with a cpap machine and see what settings will control my apnea. Any questions I should be asking the doctor? Thanks!
I have to go for a second sleep study on Tues. to sleep with a cpap machine and see what settings will control my apnea. Any questions I should be asking the doctor? Thanks!
06-08-2011, 03:43 PM
#114
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Oregon
Posts: 384
Here is my story...a long time ago (15 years ago maybe?) I asked a doctor in the next town over about sleep apnea. He scoffed at the idea and kind of make fun of me like it was not a real disease/malfunction for anyone, least of all me. Only about five years later that same scoffing doctor began the sleep center there in that same town and he made a mint! However at that point, I refused to see him and worked with the other sleep doctor there.
I was diagnoised with pretty severe SA and given a CPAP which I loved very much. I never ever slept without it after that. Over the years they kept adjusting the pressure up and that was causing a big problem as I seemed to be fighting my exhaling because the pressure was sooo high. My doc decided to do another sleep study on me to see if a Bi-Pap would work better for me. The first half of the night was miserable using just the cpap! I was awake, had a headache and it was an awful night. At about 3 AM, they hooked me up to a bi-pap. Oh my word! The next thing I knew someone was say, "Mrs. Patterson, are you going to wake up today?" I asked what time it was...it was 10 AM. I was out like a light from 3 to 10.. I would have sworn it was only 5 minutes that they put that Bi-pap on me. When I looked at the graph thing, it was spikey up and down until 3. After three it was straight and smooth. I felt great!!
The sleep center there told me to come back in a few days to get the bi-pap machine. I told them that I was not going to go home without it but they told me that they were too busy to get it for me that day. I argued, they looked at the schedule but they were just too busy, could not possibly work me in on that day. I innocently asked them for the phone number of their competetion because I was not going to go home without a bipap. They suddenly found time to get me a machine after that. Go figure.
Just a few months ago I had to get a new one because my old bi-pap broke. My new one is light and quiet. I love it. Some nights, however, I fight with the mask much of the night. Other nights it is good. Of course the mask is always a sexy looking addition! About a week after i got my very first machine, I heard a young beautiful woman doing a story on sleep apnea on the news. AT the end of the story she made a very degrading comment like "I don't care who you are, nobody wants to see someone in one of those masks, not too mention going to bed with them." I wrote a letter to the news station saying that i was having a difficult enough time dealing with my new diagnosis and machinery without hearing something like that. I reminded her that she might not always be that young and pretty either. Secretly I hope that she has to have one of those someday too. haha I hoped for an apology but that was not to be.
Last night I fell asleep in my chair because I had taken pain meds for some dental surgery. I slept great and felt good this morning without the machine but usually I wake up with a sore throat and congestion. In March I had a very big surgery with a tube in my nose for the first day or so. With that nose tube they could not put the mask on me. That was nearly the worst part of the recovery, trying to sleep without my machine.
If you are having trouble with your C-PAP because of high pressure settings, I recommend you try a bi-pap. It breathes with you. It forces air, then backs off for the exhale. Love it, love it love it!
Since I have had my machine, I have not had a cold. If I am congested, the air pressure of the machine clears my air passages. I do love it and fear the day that I absently forget it when I go on a trip.
I was diagnoised with pretty severe SA and given a CPAP which I loved very much. I never ever slept without it after that. Over the years they kept adjusting the pressure up and that was causing a big problem as I seemed to be fighting my exhaling because the pressure was sooo high. My doc decided to do another sleep study on me to see if a Bi-Pap would work better for me. The first half of the night was miserable using just the cpap! I was awake, had a headache and it was an awful night. At about 3 AM, they hooked me up to a bi-pap. Oh my word! The next thing I knew someone was say, "Mrs. Patterson, are you going to wake up today?" I asked what time it was...it was 10 AM. I was out like a light from 3 to 10.. I would have sworn it was only 5 minutes that they put that Bi-pap on me. When I looked at the graph thing, it was spikey up and down until 3. After three it was straight and smooth. I felt great!!
The sleep center there told me to come back in a few days to get the bi-pap machine. I told them that I was not going to go home without it but they told me that they were too busy to get it for me that day. I argued, they looked at the schedule but they were just too busy, could not possibly work me in on that day. I innocently asked them for the phone number of their competetion because I was not going to go home without a bipap. They suddenly found time to get me a machine after that. Go figure.
Just a few months ago I had to get a new one because my old bi-pap broke. My new one is light and quiet. I love it. Some nights, however, I fight with the mask much of the night. Other nights it is good. Of course the mask is always a sexy looking addition! About a week after i got my very first machine, I heard a young beautiful woman doing a story on sleep apnea on the news. AT the end of the story she made a very degrading comment like "I don't care who you are, nobody wants to see someone in one of those masks, not too mention going to bed with them." I wrote a letter to the news station saying that i was having a difficult enough time dealing with my new diagnosis and machinery without hearing something like that. I reminded her that she might not always be that young and pretty either. Secretly I hope that she has to have one of those someday too. haha I hoped for an apology but that was not to be.
Last night I fell asleep in my chair because I had taken pain meds for some dental surgery. I slept great and felt good this morning without the machine but usually I wake up with a sore throat and congestion. In March I had a very big surgery with a tube in my nose for the first day or so. With that nose tube they could not put the mask on me. That was nearly the worst part of the recovery, trying to sleep without my machine.
If you are having trouble with your C-PAP because of high pressure settings, I recommend you try a bi-pap. It breathes with you. It forces air, then backs off for the exhale. Love it, love it love it!
Since I have had my machine, I have not had a cold. If I am congested, the air pressure of the machine clears my air passages. I do love it and fear the day that I absently forget it when I go on a trip.
06-24-2011, 06:52 AM
#116
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Oak Ridge TN
Posts: 733
I had a sleep study done and was told "you have the worse sleep apnea that we have ever seen" Got the machine and the setting was so high that I felt like a leaf blower every time I opened my mouth. Could not get used to it so I returned it. While in the office to return the machine I hear them telling 2 other people that "they have the worse case they have ever seen!" Fast forward 3 years and I am passing out when I stand up and having equilibrium problems and not sleeping, sinus problems. I am sent to ENT Dr. who tells me I have to have another study and Use the machine. I tell him I cannot and he gets real angry & tells me that He Cant Help ME and cancels my next appt. SOO...I went to a chiropractor and guess what? All of the bones in my neck were out of place and locked up. A couple adjustments later I am sleeping thru the night. No equilibrium problems and if my sinus get stuffy or neck gets stiff back to the Chiro I GO!
06-24-2011, 05:12 PM
#119
Super Member
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Northeast IL
Posts: 2,064
My DH has SA. He is not overweight - he just stops breathing. Before he was diagnosed he'd fall asleep at the drop of a hat, in the middle of a sentence, at red lights, whenever he sat down, etc. The scariest was when he'd fall asleep while walking.
He just got his 3rd machine and it's the quietest yet. The 1st night I got up to check that it was turned on.
He just got his 3rd machine and it's the quietest yet. The 1st night I got up to check that it was turned on.
06-24-2011, 08:40 PM
#120
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: WI
Posts: 706
Had sleep problems several summers ago and thought I was loosong it big time. Was due for the anual Thyroid test to renew prescription. Same time was emailing with one of my Aunts. Turned out the dose of the Thyroid med was way off and my aunto was the one who cued mr as it is one of the first things anyone should look for when having sleep issues. The problem was getting the nurse practictioner to hear me. Her report was I needed to make life style changes to address my wieght gain and take sleeping pills to sleep. When I got the test results and had to argue how far off base she was, I finally yelled into the phone to receptionist who also wsn't listening to deliver this message to the doctor who was too busy to take a call or see me. ' Tell her my life style change is going to be to find a new doctor after I go to the head of the clinic with the lab results and their disagnosis of irresponsably treating a symptom rather then the cause.' Funny- they finally heard me.
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