Posted: 7/18/2005 1:43:25 PM EDT
Well, I'm going to the hospital this evening after work to do an overnight sleep study. My docs think I am a textbook "obstructive sleep apnea" case & want to verify it so they can treat it - I'll probably end up with a CPAP.  I have snored like a freight train (or three) for as long as I can remember, but in recent years my wife has told me (1) it's getting much louder & (2) now I periodically stop breathing durng the night for brief periods. I do know that I never seem to feel rested, regardles of how much sleep I get, and I fit the profile in a lot of ways. I put this off for a long time, but I know about the possible long-term affects and finally relented. Any of y'all been this route? (Probably lots of you - I realize this is very common.) |
No (never), no (never), and yes - but I've already lost 40 pounds (about halfway back to my "target weight") in the past few months and it hasn't alleviated any of the symptoms in the least (I really thought it might). |
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Been there, done that. I now have a CPAP machine and use it every night. I'm much more rested and I swear I think clearer now. When I woke up after the first night, I went in where the screen was showing my sleep disruptions. The sleep center lady said "here's one, here's one, and here's one" pointing to 3 obvious changes in the trace on the screen. I figured that wasn't too bad, but just to make sure, I asked what time frame was shown on the screen. When she said 120 SECONDS, my jaw dropped. It sure explained a lot. Woody |
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The results of letting it go on is worse then using the machine. My husband retained so much water that he almost drowned in his own fluids. He was trying to do a form of cpr on himself when I made him get up and walk across the street to the hospital. (he didn't want me to call the EMTS) He spent 2 days in ICU. Your not breathing is also affecting your spouse if you have one. Because she is listening for your breathing. I never realised how tired I was until I had a few nights with out him in bed next to me. The_Queen_B |
I slept pretty well last night in spite of all the wires... or so I thought.  The nurse wouldn't give me a number - just made a funny face and said I stopped breathing "a lot." I'll be doing the whole thing again in a couple of weeks with a CPAP so they can measure the difference/effect. Looks like I've probably been needing it for a while... 
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I tried the CPAP machine, and I could not sleep with it, I had the surgery, VERY painful, tonsils, adnoids, and worse of all I lost my uvula. All this still did not completely solve the problem, but it did make a marked improvement. Good luck with that machine (my main complaint was trying to turn over while sleeping, just couldnt do it without waking up so much that I could not get back to sleep).
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I don't think I'll have trouble sleeping with the machine - I sleep best on my back. Before I was married, I slept on my back and hardly moved at all through the night. But my wife won't let me sleep on my back because that's when I snore the loudest. If I roll over on my back during the night, she pokes me in the ribs until I roll onto one side or the other. The night of the sleep study - with all of those wires coming off of me - I slept on my back all night and didn't move.
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It'll change your life my friend. No, I don't have OSA. I'm a doctor, and I have seen the transformation many times. As for surgery....The UP3 described above has about a 30% success rate overall. The other procedure has a higher succes rate, but is much more involved. And congrats on the weight loss. Although weight management may not be a cure, it WILL pay off in the long run. (Sorry about the late post, out of state last week) |
Tat you sick bastard, I knew they allowed you to marry your first cousin down there but same sex marriages as well? And they say wisconsin is liberal....other than that how are things? |
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Well, last night I went back in for my second sleep study - this time with a CPAP machine. I didn't have any problems with the apparatus and actually slept quite well. One of the things they gave me (along with a copy of my prescription for my CPAP) was the report from my first sleep study (with no CPAP, to esptablish a baseline). Those of you in the field can probably take one look at this and understand more about how bad (or not) my problem is/was than I do after studying it. I do gather that I've got a pretty bad case of sleep apnea:  Anyway, I left today with a "C-FLEX" CPAP machine with a heated humidifier (Rx for 14cm) and a "SWIFT" delivery device (more of a nasal snorkel than a "mask"). I slept with the SWIFT apparatus last night and found it unobtrusive. They said this was all top-of-the-line equipment. Any comments/observations/advice from those of you "in the know?"  Thanks to those of you who have e-mailed/IM'd me - appreciate the concern & kind words! 
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Just a quick update. It's been a month + now, and no problems sleeping with the CPAP. In fact, I am sleeping better than I have in years. No more time sleeping, just better quality rest - I wake up much more ready to face the day.  And I don't snore anymore! "Mrs. HardShell" does say she sometimes thinks she's sleeping with Darth Vader (the slight breathing-machine noise), at least until I try to speak - at which point she's convinced she's sleeping with Marvin the Martian (the sound of my voice when wearing the apparatus ).Either way, I'm glad I finally got tested... |
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I did a sleep study and have been diagnosed with "moderate" sleep apnea. I've been trying to get used to a CPAP for the past 3 weeks, but I'm still sleeping very poorly - I just can't seem to get used to wearing it. Maybe I need a new mask or something. Being constantly sleep deprived is no fun. I have very little energy for any activities and often have trouble thinking clearly (not good for a professional software engineer). For the record, I'm 5'9" and 150lbs, so being overweight is not a factor. |
CPAP: Fisher & Paykel HC221LE (apneatherapy.com/action/products/info/id/119.html) Mask: Resmed Mirage Swift (apneatherapy.com/action/products/info/id/263.html): 
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I'm using the REMSTAR C-Flex w/ Heated Humidifier (HERE), but I have the same mask that you're using. |
What level of C-Flex do you prefer, and which level of heat do you prefer? |
They set all of that at the hospital before I took it home & I haven't had it long enough to need to change anything yet. It is set at 14cm pressure - I don't know what the heat setting is. They did say that as I lose more weight the pressure required might diminish, but my weight -loss has slowed considerably since I broke my foot...
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