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#303495 - 30/10/2007 12:57 Sleep Apnea
Laura
pooh-bah

Registered: 16/06/2000
Posts: 1682
Loc: Greenhills, Ohio
A few weeks ago I was diagnosed as having sleep apnea. I was experiencing excessive daytime sleepiness, to the point I couldn't stay awake while driving no matter how hard I tried. As of now I am off of work on a medical leave awaiting my CPAP. Does anyone else suffer from this and have you had success with other alternatives to the machine?
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Laura

MKI #017/90

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#303496 - 30/10/2007 14:03 Re: Sleep Apnea [Re: Laura]
Attack
addict

Registered: 01/03/2002
Posts: 599
Loc: Florida
I was also just diagnosed with sleep apnea and can't sleep with the mask. I'm going to back to the doctor that referred me to the clinic in about a month to see what other options I have.

I have heard that some people can sleep in reclining chairs and it helps them but I haven't tried that.
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Chad

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#303497 - 30/10/2007 14:07 Re: Sleep Apnea [Re: Laura]
Tim
veteran

Registered: 25/04/2000
Posts: 1525
Loc: Arizona
A bunch (like 5 of the 12) of people I work with, or their spouses have Sleep Apnea. The ones that do have it say the masks work wonders.

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#303498 - 30/10/2007 14:35 Re: Sleep Apnea [Re: Attack]
Laura
pooh-bah

Registered: 16/06/2000
Posts: 1682
Loc: Greenhills, Ohio
There are more than one type of mask out there. What kind did you try?
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Laura

MKI #017/90

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#303499 - 30/10/2007 15:11 Re: Sleep Apnea [Re: Laura]
jmwking
old hand

Registered: 27/02/2003
Posts: 775
Loc: Washington, DC metro
My brother has sleep apnea (and snored like a freight train - he literally woke a friend three hotel rooms down). His life changed dramatically when he got on CPAP a few years ago. It took him a little while to get used to it, but it works wonders.

I have two other friends who sleep with some sort of mask (not sure which variant), also with good results. One travels a lot, and never goes anywhere without it.

-jk

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#303500 - 31/10/2007 00:48 Re: Sleep Apnea [Re: Laura]
tanstaafl.
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/07/1999
Posts: 5546
Loc: Ajijic, Mexico
Quote:
Does anyone else suffer from this


Only indirectly.

My former wife had it quite severely, enough so that four and a half years ago she died from it. I have since remarried (Hi, kayakjazz!) and life goes on.

I only bring this up as a warning that sleep apnea is not something to ignore, and it appears that you are taking proper care and precautions.

To those without first-hand, no, make that second-hand experience with sleep apnea, it is frightening to suddenly wake up because the room ambience has changed -- suddenly it is silent where before there had been snoring. At first I would jab her with an elbow to make her breathe, but in a just a few minutes she would stop again. So then all I could do was count the seconds until she took a great, shuddering gasp and began breathing again. It was not at all uncommon to count sixty or more seconds before she would begin breathing on her own, at which point she would be all right for some hours before repeating the pattern.

One morning she just didn't wake up. Her overall health was quite poor and in some ways it was a blessing that she died, her enjoyment of life was gone.

Don't take sleep apnea lightly. I am not directing this at you, Laura, you are taking action that may well save your life. But for the rest of you, if someone tells you that you stop breathing sometimes in the middle of the night, or you know someone in that situation -- get help.

tanstaafl.
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"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

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#303501 - 31/10/2007 01:34 Re: Sleep Apnea [Re: tanstaafl.]
Laura
pooh-bah

Registered: 16/06/2000
Posts: 1682
Loc: Greenhills, Ohio
Thank you for the warning. I have heard it can be life threatening and now I know it can be. It had become dangerous for me because I was falling asleep driving many times everyday and had many near misses. The doctor at the sleep center who is treating me now told me that I was a danger on the road and not to drive so I took a medical leave until I am feeling better. I've known for a while that something was wrong with me but it took a long time to finally find out what it was. I get my CPAP machine tomorrow and hope that life will start getting better in many ways. My family doctor had tried me on the drug Provigil to keep me awake and for 3 days it worked and it was the difference between night and day how I felt. I hope I feel that way from the CPAP.
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Laura

MKI #017/90

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#303502 - 31/10/2007 11:35 Re: Sleep Apnea [Re: Laura]
BartDG
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/05/2001
Posts: 2616
Loc: Bruges, Belgium
I know nothing about sleep apnea myself, but I do remember that a couple of months ago, it was all over the news here that the university of Antwerp (Belgium) had developed a revolutionary treatment. It seems with a relatively simple (you only need to remain one night in the hospital, and the procedure is done with a local anaesthetic) surgical procedure, they can prevent the tongue from 'dropping' into the airway while sleeping and effectively blocking the air transfer.

Read the press release here. I was released on August 21st 2007, so it's rather recent. Here you can see an animation of the procedure.

Once the procedure is completed, no more sleeping with a CPAP mask is necessary. Life returns to normal, so to speak.

Hope this helps.
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#303503 - 31/10/2007 13:14 Re: Sleep Apnea [Re: BartDG]
RobotCaleb
pooh-bah

Registered: 15/01/2002
Posts: 1866
Loc: Austin
That's a frightening video.
Pretty neat, though.

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#303504 - 31/10/2007 16:51 Re: Sleep Apnea [Re: BartDG]
Laura
pooh-bah

Registered: 16/06/2000
Posts: 1682
Loc: Greenhills, Ohio
Maybe some day that will be available in the states. Until then, I got my mask today and will give it a try.
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Laura

MKI #017/90

whatever

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#303505 - 31/10/2007 16:53 Re: Sleep Apnea [Re: Laura]
wfaulk
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
Does this have anything to do with your jimmy legs?
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Bitt Faulk

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#303506 - 31/10/2007 17:01 Re: Sleep Apnea [Re: wfaulk]
Laura
pooh-bah

Registered: 16/06/2000
Posts: 1682
Loc: Greenhills, Ohio
In a round about way. I knew something wasn't right back then and thought it had to do with Restless Legs Syndrome. After the sleep study they said that wasn't what was causing me to awaken all night long. I do have them but it is mild and they seem to only bother me during the day. I gave up taking the medicine that the doctor had given me for it because I would feel drowsy the next day. Turns out that any medication to help you sleep is a very bad thing for people with sleep apnea sine it makes it worse.
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Laura

MKI #017/90

whatever

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#303507 - 02/11/2007 00:05 Re: Sleep Apnea [Re: Laura]
schofiel
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/06/1999
Posts: 2993
Loc: Wareham, Dorset, UK
I did, was told it could cause brain damage and all sorts of nasty stuff.

Solution - after all the other advice - was 3m MicroPore medical tape. A short piece about 3cm long across your lips at night before you go to bed fixed it for me by training me to breath only through my nose at night.

YMMV. Worked for me. It's Aponea.
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One of the few remaining Mk1 owners... #00015

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#303508 - 02/11/2007 07:13 Re: Sleep Apnea [Re: schofiel]
peter
carpal tunnel

Registered: 13/07/2000
Posts: 4180
Loc: Cambridge, England
Quote:
It's Aponea.

It's apnœa, except in US English where they do their usual trick ("esophagus", "fetus") of simplifying the oe-ligature to "e".

Peter

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#303509 - 02/11/2007 11:50 Re: Sleep Apnea [Re: peter]
wfaulk
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
Except the œ ligature in those words has no actual basis in etymology, as they are native Latin words, not Latin words borrowed from Greek, which is the only place in Latin where the œ ligature is used. On the other hand, by that rule, it ought to be "œconomy".

reference
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Bitt Faulk

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