Anyone with sleep apnea around here?

halo71

The doctors think I have it. I have to go to a sleep study tonight at 8:30. Not looking forward to it either!

So anyone here have this? What's your experiences with the CPAP machine? Hard to get use to sleeping with it?

chumlie

Sleep study sucks and so does the gas mask. On the bright side, it works great for a hangover.

halo71

So how long have you been using one? Great for a hangover?!?

michaeljhsda2

I work in the medical field and the patients that I've talked to over the years have stated that are amazed at how soundly they sleep with their CPAP machine... "Can't do without it" and "best invention ever" are just some of the comments I've heard.

brgman

If you have it (apnea) you'll be happy you took care of it.Also if you are a nose breather the small "mask" is no big deal.Mouth breathers get the full face mask.
Cannot begin to tell you how much better you'll feel in the morning.

vmaxer

halo71 wrote: »

The doctors think I have it. I have to go to a sleep study tonight at 8:30. Not looking forward to it either!

So anyone here have this? What's your experiences with the CPAP machine? Hard to get use to sleeping with it?

Yep, had a few sleep studies..

They hook sensors up everywhere, wires everywhere, say lay on your back and sleep normal. While they watch and listen with monitors.

Lots of fun.

The CPAP takes a bit to get used to, not bad if you have the right mask.

Good luck.

michaeljhsda2

vmaxer wrote: »

...not bad if you have the right mask.

That makes all the difference in the world, otherwise the machine is worthless.

chumlie

halo71 wrote: »

So how long have you been using one? Great for a hangover?!?

Tried a couple of times over the last 5 yrs. Can't get used to them. Oxygen to the brain, great for hangover.

halo71

chumlie wrote: »

Oxygen to the brain, great for hangover.

Correct me if I am wrong here. But you are still just breathing room air. So you are not getting anymore oxygen than usual right? Or just getting whats there more consistently? No oxygen tank hooked to it right?!?

Perhaps dumbs questions though....lol

brgman

If they show you the chart they make it says a lot.
Mine went from maybe 80% down to about 60% then i'd "wake up" and it goes back up.Rollercoaster of oxygen in your blood.
After they put a mask on me I was consistently 90+%.

vmaxer

halo71 wrote: »

Correct me if I am wrong here. But you are still just breathing room air. So you are not getting anymore oxygen than usual right? Or just getting whats there more consistently? No oxygen tank hooked to it right?!?

Perhaps dumbs questions though....lol

Just breathing room air.

chumlie

halo71 wrote: »

Correct me if I am wrong here. But you are still just breathing room air. So you are not getting anymore oxygen than usual right? Or just getting whats there more consistently? No oxygen tank hooked to it right?!?

Perhaps dumbs questions though....lol

Better air flow = more oxygen.

Jhayman

Not sure about the US but here if you have it bad and drive a truck they pull your licence..
I've been checked twice and do not have so they say but I think I do..

Jhayman

Not sure about the US but here if you have it bad and drive a truck they pull your licence..
I've been checked twice and do not have so they say but I think I do..

boston1450

Ive had 2 sleep study's. nothing to it. I hated the darn thing for 2 months--almost gave up on it. 5 years now of everyday use & i wouldnt be without it. You will feel much better with it-if you need it. No snoring= happy wife

tonyb

brgman wrote: »

If they show you the chart they make it says a lot.
Mine went from maybe 80% down to about 60% then i'd "wake up" and it goes back up.Rollercoaster of oxygen in your blood.
After they put a mask on me I was consistently 90+%.

You sure it's not from the wife putting a pillow over your head while your asleep ? You know, married people have certain red flags to watch out for. Mine seems to turn off the passenger side air bag when she's driving and I'm in the passenger seat. Ya know, Those little things that normally go un-noticed.

boston1450

If you have to have one there are different mask. Nasal or full nose & others. I use the full headset & I am a belly sleeper so it did take some getting use to it. I use to snore so bad & woke up tired as heck. Now i sleep better. If you stop breathing in your sleep like i use to-this will be a big plus. Youll feel like a new person once you get use to it. Good luck on your study. It will be strange. But if your a back sleeper it should be easy as heck

cnh

I've been snoring for years, feel hungover almost every morning, most of my friends who are of normal weight have sleep apnea. Me, I'm about 20-25lbs over where I should be, can snore people out of the room and the TEST showed a big ZERO, NOTHING. Perfectly normal breathing. And here I was hoping that that HATE I have for mornings and the tiredness I've felt since H.S. would be magically dissolved. No such luck...I had a LOT of trouble sleeping with all the gear attached to me. A couple patches came off within 15 minutes and had to be redone. I NEVER felt like I actually got any REAL sleep during the test but they dismissed me early. Which sucked!

Everyone I know who uses the machine says it makes them feel MUCH BETTER on the WAKE UP side. Guess I'll have to resort to drugs! lol or move in with Jesse. I really don't like the "mornings" and could stay up forever, ah the "darkness" so quiet, so free of commerce and the like. Everyone "asleep". No one to attend to! Could this be Heaven?

cnh

halo71

Thanks guys! I appreciate it. I've heard it takes some getting use to wearing the mask and all. I normally sleep on my back or right side. After I told them that it's normal for me to wake up 4-8 times a night, just wake up, not have to pee or anything. They told me they'd give me a sleeping pill to make sure that didn't happen. My warped way of thinking is that that would throw off my "normal" sleeping rhythm. But we'll see tonight.

Gotta leave here in about 30 minutes. Takes me an hour to get there! Living way out in the sticks sometimes has disadvantages.

gudnoyez

A hunting partner of ours finally gave in and had the sleep study done and wears the mask. He snored so loud the rest of us had a
hard time sleeping. We told him get it done or sleep out in your deer stand, and not the hunting shack. He did and we now bring a Honda 2000 watt generator up as there is no electricity, he looks better, lost weight and is sleeping in the shack plus he says his wife is glad he listened to us. Do it.

boston1450

I tell my wife im gonna sleep without it & she says "yeah on the couch". Funny story's here--hope your test goes well. Keep us updated with your results. Dont freek out when ya see all the wires lol

george daniel

your first study will be diagnostic--to determine if you have obstructive,,or central sleep apnea. Based upon the results you may be returning for a cpap titration study-which would determine the optimal level of cpap pressure (measured in cmh20),,to relieve/overcome the apnea.In some case where apnea is releived but the spo2(oxygen saturation) does not return to acceptable levels,then oxygen is titrated.If you have a positive study,,pm me and we will talk about your options,etc. Good luck-- you'll be fine.

brgman

tonyb wrote: »

You sure it's not from the wife putting a pillow over your head while your asleep ? You know, married people have certain red flags to watch out for. Mine seems to turn off the passenger side air bag when she's driving and I'm in the passenger seat. Ya know, Those little things that normally go un-noticed.

Is that why her hairdryer is always plugged in and laying in the tub when I go in for a shower?
She said she is just forgetful.

brgman

For those thinking about it a friend recently buried his 40 something brother-in-law.He had a mask and didn't like wearing it so he stopped.Died in his sleep and they said it was a direct connection to not wearing the thing.
Extreme case of course but it is hard on the heart.

Polkersince85

brgman wrote: »

Is that why her hairdryer is always plugged in and laying in the tub when I go in for a shower?
She said she is just forgetful.

I wondered why the rat poison was always on the counter. I used to bleed like crazy and had black fingernails, Could this be related?

Good luck Gary.

Shizelbs

PM sent.

teekay0007

Sssssshhhhhhhhh, everyone....Gary's sleeping.

nspindel

I have an off the charts case. It is rated as mild, moderate, or severe. They told me I am severe, only because that's the official title. But they said if there was such a title as "really, really, really severe" that'd be me. Mother has it, father has it, we are one big sleep apnea family. It took me two months of the mask annoying the crap out of me before I finally got used to it. Now, I wouldn't even take a nap without it. It's mind boggling how much better I feel because of it.

A lot of times, "mouth breathers" are breathing like that simply because that's the only way to get air (snoring, of course). I used to be one of them, could snore the roof off the house. But with the machine, my body is perfectly happy breathing through my nose. I thought I might need one of those chin straps to keep my mouth closed but I don't. So I am able to use the nasal pillows, which are far more comfortable than either the nose or full face mask.

A lot of what the sleep study measures is overkill. Bottom line - are you getting the oxygen you need in your blood or not? I bought an SpO2 sensor that connects to my iPhone, with an app that holds up to 12 hours of sensor history in 1-second intervals, and can display the results in a graph. Then you can email the results to yourself in a file that you can open in Excel and analyze however youd like. Sleep study you say? There's an app for that! I use it every once in a while to make sure all is ok. My O2 hovers at 95-96 all night long. When I had my sleep study, my O2 levels were in the low 60's. Life is good.

boston1450

If your a user & you fall asleep on the couch for a hour or more. When you wake up you know why you should of went in your bedroom & used your machine. You will notice the difference

kn505

I had a sleep study done 20 years ago. If I recall correctly, I "woke up" 15 times every minutes. I was given several different machines to try for about a month, but I could not sleep with thing strapped to my face. I chose to go with the surgery. I was supposed to go back every 5 years for the sleep study, but didn't, because my wife had not complaining about my snoring or lack thereof. The doctor told me that as I am getting older and likely getting fatter, there would be more fatty tissues around inside my throat that would block my air pipe.
Before finding out about my apnea, I was always tired. I thought it was because of having 3 little kids. I was taking actuarial exams and having difficult times passing them because I could not remember what I read. I felt much better after the surgery and finished all my actuarial exams within several years.
Iam very happy with the surgery decision, even thought I was living with only Ensure for the first 3 weeks after the surgery.

nspindel

boston1450 wrote: »

If your a user & you fall asleep on the couch for a hour or more. When you wake up you know why you should of went in your bedroom & used your machine. You will notice the difference

Absolutely.