Sleep Apnea

[Ayatollah So]

Apparently the most modern machines are (almost) totally silent, and make less noise say than a room fan would.

I've heard one, and it's true. Plus the new ones are smaller, like a book, not a toaster size like mine. My wife actually likes the white-noise it provides. She doesn't like the air blowing on her though, if I happen to turn on my side, facing her side. But mostly I sleep on my back, so it works out. Maybe they make one that blows all the exhaled air at an angle above your head or something, if that's an issue for you and your wife.

I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea and my machine cures it. I also like the way it forces my air passages open so that, even if I'm having some congestion due to allergies, I can breathe pretty easily.

I never had significant daytime sleepiness before I got my CPAP. But my snoring was waking my wife, and sometimes even me (I mean, enough that I remembered it). And then there's the health benefits. Plus, I think all those years of low oxygen at night killed off a few brain cells. As you can see, I can't afford much more of that

 

[MobBoss]

Yes, I had mild sleep apnea--not diagnosed by a doctor, diagnosed by my wife who went through years of hell sleeping next to me and thought I was suffocating to death while sleeping every night. Saw a pamphlet at the Dentists and tried it out and it was unbelievable what a difference it made. I suppose I was lucky now that I have researched it as it does not work for everyone.

I have a family friend who did the surgery and it worked for him, although he looks like a different person. The surgery slightly altered his face. Not much but enough to notice a difference.

Good luck MB--you will be amazed at what it actually feels like to get a full night's sleep. For years I thought it was totally normal to be barely able to keep my eyes open at 2PM everyday.

Thanks! Just as a side note, my oldest daughter had that surgery done...not because of sleep apnea tho, but because the back of her jawline didnt provide enough of a hinge to keep her molars from grinding together. They broke her jaw on both sides in a z-cut to extend them down, pinned them, and also broke her bottom jaw at the front center to even it out front to back. It gave her a more pronounced jaw, and to date so only has a small numb spot in the cleft below her front lower lip (like where a guy would grow a 'love patch'). I would only opt for that surgery if my docter insisted I truly needed it or else, because it did involve a lot of pain and a fairly long recovery period.

actually, iirc, there are two types of sleep apnea, central and peripheral....in the former, the brain is at fault..it does not properly send signals to the respitatory muscles...this on is more dangerous than the later, which is caused by an interruption in the air supply, a drop in oxygen saturation in the blood then causes an alarm to go off in the brain..."wake up...wake up"....so in this case, the brain is working fine...it's the body that just does not rest....

mob...they did say it was peripheral sleep apnea, right?

That is correct, my noggin is working just fine.

MobBoss, would you consider yourself overweight in your upper chest area? I would go for tonsil removal and upper palette. If loosing 20 pounds would prevent them from moving the jaw, I would strive for that. You may even loose that much due to not being able to eat your normal diet for some time after that. Whatever you do, not not go back to soda/pop/cola or whetever you call it. The sugar will put the weight back on in no time flat.

Even people with the machine who do not maintain a healthy weight will still have trouble even with their tonsils and other parts "fixed".

I am very thickly muscled (for example I have calf muscles bigger than Arnies in his prime, and I have a 21.5 inch neck), but I wouldnt say I have fat in my upper chest area - its mostly the traditional spare tire kind of thing.

As for pop, the only soda I drink anymore is zero calorie Coke Zero, and the occasional Arizona 'Arnold Palmer' (a lemonade/tea mix). I think part of my problem is i've gotten used to eating a small snack right before I go to bed at night for the simple reason having a slightly full tummy always seemed to make me sleep better.

Crazy huh?

I've heard one, and it's true. Plus the new ones are smaller, like a book, not a toaster size like mine. My wife actually likes the white-noise it provides. She doesn't like the air blowing on her though, if I happen to turn on my side, facing her side. But mostly I sleep on my back, so it works out. Maybe they make one that blows all the exhaled air at an angle above your head or something, if that's an issue for you and your wife.

I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea and my machine cures it. I also like the way it forces my air passages open so that, even if I'm having some congestion due to allergies, I can breathe pretty easily.

I never had significant daytime sleepiness before I got my CPAP. But my snoring was waking my wife, and sometimes even me (I mean, enough that I remembered it). And then there's the health benefits. Plus, I think all those years of low oxygen at night killed off a few brain cells. As you can see, I can't afford much more of that

The size of the unit isnt much bigger than my cable modem box to be honest. Its quite small.

 

[LucyDuke]

That is correct, my noggin is working just fine.

At respiration, anyway.

 

[Berzerker]

I had apnea (have?) so bad I'd wake up in the middle of the night suffocating. I'd have to get out of bed and try to relax and stretch my neck and wait for the air to gradually sneak thru. I lost ~25 lbs (more since then) and that problem stopped, it was just a matter of a few lbs. Thats your problem Mobby, combination of weight and thick neck muscles makes for narrower breathing passages. I thought they made a mouthpiece designed to shift the lower jaw forward, I'd look into that as a temporary fix until you can address the underlying condition.

 

[Zelig]

I am very thickly muscled (for example I have calf muscles bigger than Arnies in his prime, and I have a 21.5 inch neck), but I wouldnt say I have fat in my upper chest area - its mostly the traditional spare tire kind of thing.

Being very thickly muscled can cause problems too... not that I'm making any actual recommendation regarding your body composition.

Some quotes I ripped from a bodybuilding forum:

"very hard on my knees/lower back (i sweated profusely 24/7) just walking across the gym floor caused me to be out of breath and my lower back to hurt"

"i remember Flex Wheeler talking about when he got that heavy. Sai everything was very difficult. Sleeping even was an effort. I know I use several pillows to try and get comfortable. My heaviest at 280+, everything but lifting was very difficult. Forget sex standing, sound like a friggen train comming up a hill. Answering phone breathing hard other person says "why are you breating so hard?" answer, cause I had to walk over and get phone."

"i never hit 300. i was 278 at my biggest at 5'5'' tall. i experienced excessive sweating, lack of energy, insomnia at times, lethargy, tying shoes was a strain, washing even with a back scrubber was a strain, wiping my ass was a strain, all clothes where bought to big and tailored, people act like idiots, it is very similar to what i see obese people going through."

 

[MobBoss]

Well, the vendor came last night, introduced me to the CPAP machine, and I tried my first mask out last night. First of all, the machine itself is probably just a bit smaller than one of the Bose Wave Radio things you see advertised. Very small, with a digital readout on one side, and a compartment for a humidifier on the other. When I saw it I laughed and asked the lady if it also played CDs. She said this one actually doubles as an alarm clock (nice), and the next planned model change will indeed have a CD player in it (amazing). The unit itself came in a handy carrying case, similar to a carryon bag for an airplane. This model actually features a heated hose on it to totally eliminate condensation from within the breathing tube.

As I tend to breath thru my mouth a lot while asleep the vendor recommended a mask that covers both my nose and my mouth. Basically, the thing looks like a smaller version of a fighter pilots oxygen mask, that covers me from the bridge of my nose to the indentation just above my chin. The hose is connected to this by a flange flexible to any direction. All of it is very lightweight. In trying it on, it was MUCH more comfortable than the one I tried during my initial sleep study. I didnt have any problems with my ears at all, and apparently, this unit is a 'smart' unit, that starts out with low air pressure but slowly ramps it up as needed as your sleep breathing pattern gets set.

So, went to bed about 11 pm, set my alarm for 6 am and off to bed I went. Initially, I felt like I just laid there for two hours with this thing on my face. It wasnt uncomfortable per se, just different. I was still able to move comfortably in the sleeping positions I was used to. Woke up voluntarily at about 10 till 6.

My wifes comments: the thing was totally silent. She didnt hear it at all. The mask itself difused the outgoing air to where she didnt feel it at all either. She didnt hear me snore once all night. The other thing she noticed was that I didnt toss and turn like I usually do. She said I actually was fairly still through most of the night, which is a good thing.

Did wake up with a small line on my face of the outline of the mask. Hoping if I keep it clean it wont irritate my face, but we'll have to see. Perhaps I had it on too tight.

 

[Lillefix]

So how do you feel after a night of uninterrupted sleep?

 

[MobBoss]

So how do you feel after a night of uninterrupted sleep?

Well, not much different yet, as I was still trying to get used to having the thing on my face.

So, right now, i'm still feeling about the same. Lets see what happens over a week or so.

 

[Wolfbeckett]

Hope it works out for you bud. My dad has one but he never uses it because he couldn't get used to the mask. Patient compliance = not his strong suit it seems. In all fairness i probably need one too, I'm sure I must have SOME kind of sleep disorder, as no matter how long I sleep I always wake up feeling tired, but I don't even know if my insurance covers this kind of thing and I'm still young enough that being somewhat sleep deprived doesn't ruin my life.

 

[LucyDuke]

Good luck, Mobby. Keep us posted.

 

[FriendlyFire]

Thanks.

I have RLS
I need to stop all caffine in my diet as it helps (went caffine free for lent and slept a lot better) but with work stress I've been drinking a lot of tea. Which leads to restless sleep which leads to more tea drinking. Iam going to stop all caffine again .... only drink when eating out.

Give it go Mobboss go without caffine for a month it should help with sleeping.
The other things are special pillows and devices which help hold your throat open.

sorry to hear about breathing problems.

 

[Brighteye]

actually, iirc, there are two types of sleep apnea, central and peripheral

Central respiratory problems are incredibly rare compared to normal sleep apnoea. He'd remember if they'd mentioned it because they'd probably want him as a research guinea pig.

I am very thickly muscled (for example I have calf muscles bigger than Arnies in his prime, and I have a 21.5 inch neck), but I wouldnt say I have fat in my upper chest area - its mostly the traditional spare tire kind of thing.

I can't help with direct experiences, but I can say that pretty much any research paper about sleep apnoea links it to being overweight, especially around the neck. It's neck compression that is often the cause.
As has been said already, it might be time to lose some of that muscle in exchange for healthy sleep. Run more, less gym.
By the time people are overweight enough to have sleep apnoea, it's only exacerbating problems they have of metabolic syndrome (etc.). You might like being a heavily muscled guy, but your body seems to think otherwise.

 

[Hygro]

An uncle of mine got the surgery for it and he really regrets it. Definitely work with the machine.

Also, you might have allergies and not know it. Environmental to biotoxins (molds), environmental to chemicals (from detergents to sprays to fabric softeners etc), to food allergies. Definitely worth the hassle of figuring that out before you do massive facial surgery.

I was recommended similar surgery FYI, and I was glad I didn't get it because it was an incorrect diagnosis.

 

[FriendlyFire]

PLMD is what I have. Not RLS since it only occurs when Iam asleep. ( I sometimes am aware that my limbs twitch and others have noticed it) Yeah same advice, going to cut all caffeine, dont drink alcohol so no big lose with that.
I'll miss drinking coca cola

Periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD), previously known as nocturnal myoclonus, is a sleep disorder where the patient moves limbs involuntarily during sleep, and has symptoms or problems related to the movement.

It is also advised to not consume caffeine, alcohol or antidepressants as these substances could worsen the PLMD symptoms.

 

[DaveShack]

I've been using CPAP for about 6 years now. My wife used to complain about the old machine sounding like Darth Vader having an asthma attack, but the new one I just got is really quiet.

If you have to fly anywhere, make sure airport security doesn't mess with it too much. Our local TSA folks made me unpack mine completely because they apparently didn't know what it was, and they forgot to put one of the hoses back. (well, maybe they rushed me and I forgot, but anyway...) Then the other hose sprung a leak on an international trip and I had to tape it closed to be able to use it. Stupid insurance company wouldn't pay for a 2nd replacement hose in that time period, and made me go through the whole sleep study thing again. Upside is it got me this spiffy new machine.

I use the nasal mask only, with a chin strap. Couldn't handle the full face because it felt too much like my chem warfare mask from the USAF. Only problem is, can't use it with nasal congestion. On the plus side, with nasal mask and chin strap my snoring is gone.

Don't worry about power failures. You'll still move enough air via the holes at the tube/mask junction -- they're there so your exhaled co2 will go somewhere, but also let in fresh air if the pump is off.