Sleep Apnea--comments?

[learnteach]

Sleep apnea--last night, the third person in recent times asked me if I had gone and checked for sleep apnea.  Sigh.  Time to stop being a martyr and go fight the system to see a doctor.  Of course, the fact that I'm waking up several times a night to urinate (when I don't need to urinate as much during the day), the spells of sleepyness and irritability (which I attribute to school based depression) and the excess weight I have and lack of exercise, combined with the fact that one of my brothers has a CPAP for his apnea...hmm.

Any help/notes any of my friends can give me?

Comments

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

We've been through the apnea thing.

Yes, being overweight is definitely a factor in it, but you knew that.

My-John was waking up, just slighly, several times a minute, before the CPAP. (Which, btw, costs around $5K so you'll need a medical plan which covers durable medical equipment.)

When you're asleep, there's a hormone which suppresses urine production. Forget what it's called, but it's something really obvious. However, if you've got apnea, you're awake a lot, and maybe the hormone doesn't go into effect, so you need to pee as if you were awake.

Apnea of course contributes to sleepiness. Lack of sleep can make you irritable and clinically depressed. And of course it makes thinking harder, which makes life harder in general, even if you're not depressed.

[tsgeisel.livejournal.com]

If you think you have apnea, get it checked out. If they recommend a machine for you, give it a try.

From the very first day I got a CPAP, I fell in love with it, and wouldn't trade it for the world. It made a *huge* difference in my life, immediately.

[marysdress.livejournal.com]

Michael resisted and hated adjusting to the machine and now it's changed his world - and changed my ability to sleep as well. He only somewhat met the checklist, but boy did the sleep study confirm he had it.

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

It was irrational, but I felt I needed to poke my hubby regularly to make him breathe. Plus, every time he did the micro-waking, he'd jump as if he were startled. That was definitely restful. Not!

I have it

[bagelfather.livejournal.com]

I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea 3 years ago. They tested me and found that I was coming out of REM sleep over 150 times during the night. I could sleep for 8 hours but get only 3 hours of rest. The frequent urination at night is a definite sign you may have it. Also have you been tested for diabetes? If not you may want to do that also.

When you get tested take the following day off from work. You won't sleep well during testing as you are hooked up to Darth Vader's love machine for measurements.

Weight may or may not be a factor. Weight can contribute but it will not solve your problems necessarily if you lose it. When I was down a lot less than I am now and I still had it. For me my tongue is too big for my mouth. There are surgery options but they are long and painful recoveries and not always guaranteed.

I did not have trouble adjusting to the machine for myself. I had a problem adjusting to it with people I was sleeping with and explaining it. I got over that.

If you ever want to talk about it drop me an email and I'll give you my phone #.

[ermine-rat.livejournal.com]

Get it done, and take the test.
It will improve your mood and energy.
It sure helped me immensely.
I could sleep for ten hours and wake up exhausted, that was my wake-up.

[terpsichoros.livejournal.com]

I have read that for some people with sleep apnea, Breathe-Rite strips have made a huge difference. And for others, they don't work worth a damn (but they don't cause any problems). You should probably try that before you shell out for a CPAP.

[parlor-games.livejournal.com]

I have heard the same thing, and from our sleep doc at the UW...some people can actually benefit from - wait for it - sewing a tennis ball into the back of their sleepware. It keeps them from rolling over onto their backs. I think that sounds like fun just on principle.

Definitely get tested/evaluated, my friend. Sleep deprivation can lead to weight gain, depression, anxiety, and a compromised immune system, among other things.

[ladybrid.livejournal.com]

many dittos babe! get it checked!
sleep deprivation is a bad thing, and makes the weight concerns and all worse as well.
check for diabetes.
check for thyroid issues as well. my lil'bro turned out to have sleep complicating thyroid issues that doctors kept blowing off as him not managing his diabetes, until he INSISTED they run the tests.
now with thyroid medication (fairly simple and non-invasive), he's got energy, regular sleep, better mood, better blood sugar control- across the board better health.

[maestrateresa.livejournal.com]

CPAP *friend*! Really.
Also--if they do recommend it to you, remember that there are a variety of types of masks out there. If the first kind feels yucky to you, there are other types. And yeah--the sleep the night of the testing is really horrid bcause of the unfamiliarity of the testing equipment.

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

And sometimes the sleep techs are real goobers and treat you like a pair of old boots, or send you home at 2am rather than letting you finish sleeping.... But those are minor compared to the good it can do you.

[maestrateresa.livejournal.com]

Kaiser sends you home with a bunch of monitors that you bring back the next morning. No sleep techs involved, and you're in your own bed--with a pulse ox, and a bunch o' other crap strapped to you.

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

I guess it depends, then. The three folks I know had to go to the sleep study center. They got wired up, slept a bit, got woken up, then one or two of them then were given a cpap to use, then they slept again, were awakened, and sent home.

Which wasn't such a big deal for someone with a car, but one of my pals used public transport, which goes to "seldom" after about 2am.

[trinsf.livejournal.com]

Okay, so, it's not always weight, I can tell you this because ewhac is pretty much an otter, not a bear, and he was diagnosed and prescribed a CPAP earlier this year. *He* think it doesn't make a big difference, but I know it has positively impacted our household, largely because now *I* sleep better. He was also a martyr, by the way, and fought the system for a year, and then drug his feet every step of the way, so that from first appointment to bringing home the CPAP took over 6 months.

We recommend "Bay Sleep Clinic", which isn't as well known as other ones, I'm told, but is much more financially friendly, I thought. Big M covered much of it, though they didn't get a preauth for the sleep study, so they didn't cover that.

As the bedmate, I was *really* afraid that the CPAP would be loud and keep me up, but the opposite is true -- it's much quieter than the snoring. I pretty much can't hear it at all.

[shutt3rg33k.livejournal.com]

If you want to talk with my 'rents, they know a lot, being respiratory therapists. Dad was the one who told me to tell you to get it checked, and this was without any info from me.

[skachick-101.livejournal.com]

I know alot of people who have a CPAP due to apnea, and they all say it's made all the difference in improving their lives all around. At least check out what a doc has to say, that won't hurt :)

[redsquirrel.livejournal.com]

Definitely get it checked out. What everyone else has said. I have a surprising number of friends with it and it's amazing how much better they feel when they're on the CPAP. Now if only I could get my dad and brother in for sleep studies...talk about foot dragging!

[kawgirl.livejournal.com]

So, what everyone else said and... What was not said is that a lot of people who get tested and get a CPAP, resist actually using their CPAP (your friends seem to be exceptions to this). So, if you get tested and find out you have apnea, then I would also recommend some counselling, perhaps from someone who does motivational interviewing (which deals with how to make behavior changes).

Good luck!

[trinsf.livejournal.com]

Exactly. My SO still sometimes wants to do without it, and certainly resisted even getting it, because he felt is was giving in to a "weakness" or somehow becoming a sick person -- he has been healthy his whole life.

And as someone alluded to elsewhere, doing this benefits you, and also everyone who sleeps near you or interacts with you during the day.

[kawgirl.livejournal.com]

In fact, resistance to using the machine is so common that helping clients accept and use the CPAP is covered in trainings for mental health care providers at the county I work for. Because the CPAP provides such a huge benefit, all efforts are made to help people who need CPAPs to make a habit out of using them.

[shutt3rg33k.livejournal.com]

There are other treatments that may also be options. The CPAP is not the only possible answer.