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Thread: Sleep apnoea?

  1. #1
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    Default Sleep apnoea?

    Just wondering how many people here have been diagnosed with sleep apnoea.

    Tonight I have my second monitored sleep session, last night was the first. They want to repeat the test because they don't believe my oxygen levels could have dropped so low without me kicking the bucket. I told them it could explain why I feel dead.

    Last nights session I was in bed for 9 hours. 5 hours sleep recorded, on average I stopped breathing 41 times per hour and my oxygen levels dropped to 45% of normal.

    Keen to hear from anyone that's been down this path and to hear how things are going for you now.
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  2. #2
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    I have severe obstructive sleep apnea and had numbers a bit higher than yours 5 years ago.

    I have slept with a machine since. Just this past month I had finally lost enough weight to qualify for the surgery.

    I have lost over 85lbs and just had the throat surgery done (tonsils, adenoids, tongue shaved, etc).

    I only made it 2 hours into my first study before they woke me up and put a machine on me... LOL

    Hang in there it will help..

  3. #3
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    loose weight and it will go away. I lost 85 pounds and it pretty much left.

  4. #4
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    Congrats to both of you above on your weight loss, i know off topic, but that is an incredible job!

    My father is on the machine, only for 2 months now, but still isn't sleeping regularly.
    leading in trailing technology

  5. #5
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    What if he's not got much weight to lose? Only reason I ask is: dnar posted a picture, granted, about 20 years older by now, but if he's anything like similar build now, he's not got a lot to lose. As far as I know there's a strong relation to weight, but there may not be in his case for all I know. Context is everything...

    I don't think I've ever had sleep apnoea, exactly, but as a kid, and sometimes later in life, I'd wake sharply, needing air, not knowing why other than that it may be stress carried into sleep because it felt inescapable. I often breathe very shallowly anyway. When I was 15 one kid nicknamed me beanpole. I'm not so thin now, but never got much beyond 85 kilos. One way I keep it that way is running. It's not so easy the older I get, but even so it is easier to maintain the habit than to restore it if I let it slip. If we don't stay mobile often enough, our brains stop trusting our bodies. It may be that sleep apnoea, like myclonic jerks, is the brain trying to shock the body into a response it can trust. Sometimes during long sessions of chairbound work I have become conscious of a need to breathe, consciously. Unless we MOVE, often enough to keep our brains and bodies working in ways they expect, then some consciousness is needed to mediate that. In sleep we can't do this, hence,. apnoea, myclonic jerks, etc... And I suspect that it may be that fitness might not be a guaranteed fix, IF it is followed by a sedentary year in which the body and brain have trouble adjusting.

    Disclaimer: Despite my 'name' here, I am not a doctor, and do not try to be one. But I find that studying my own life is my best shot at not needing one very often. My post might not be very useful but it's all I have, and I could easily do worse than share the limited info.

  6. #6
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    That's awful nice of you Doc, but the reality is that photo was back when I toured constantly and moved TONS of sound equipment.... 86kg then, 133kg now!

    Thanks for those that have posted, it's good to know I am not alone and that improvements are possible. Yep yep, loose weight, my high BP is another reason to loose it, and in fact this sleep issue is only being investigated as my medical team think it could be a major factor in my high BP (taking meds for it now 5+ years, and it's around 180 this week). High carbon-dioxide levels, body releases adrenalin, heart speeds up (my resting rate is over 100 bpm) and blood pressure rises...
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  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by dnar View Post
    That's awful nice of you Doc, but the reality is that photo was back when I toured constantly and moved TONS of sound equipment.... 86kg then, 133kg now!
    Ok, that could change things. While I have none of the precision advice that might be better used, we all start with the same basis: use what we have... So that adrenalin thing could be to your advantage. Divert that to extra motion. Loaded weight doesn't help (in my case risks further harm to fragile lower spine), but unloaded running eased pain instead of worsening it. Running is almost fun again. Not as much as it should be, but better than not doing it. Could affect heart rate adversely, but I have to watch that anyway for palpitations. Partly anxiety, but almost certainly not only that. Even if I have to abort a run to walk a mile of it, it helps. I find it far easier to know what my heart needs, i.e. more motion, or more rest, if I'm in motion already. I think it's when we let our bodies forget this stuff, that's when it goes agly if we don't start mediating it consciously. When we're younger we don't have to, but when we're younger we move a lot anyway. I couldn't be kept in a chair without fidgetting. When it breaks down it gets really hard to figure out, and we need doctors, so if we can recall anything of how it felt when we were younger, and use that, we can keep it going that bit longer without help. And if something really IS wrong, then this is the best way to make that stand out and get diagnosed right anyway. It can be hard to find reasons to move in an age of cars and sofas, and I for one can't stand to waste energy pulling on a spring in a gym. It's why I run. Weirdly, there were reported findings that suggest playing motion-simulation video games can engage a brain in enough feedback with the body to stay healthier. So maybe driving helps too. I don't play them though, or have a car, so I have to walk and run a lot.

  8. #8
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    Exclamation Don't mess around - this is serious

    Regardless of the cause, Sleep Apnea is not something you want to just "put up with". The long term health risks are severe. You are literally losing years of your life by putting up with it.

    Step 1: Get on a C-pap machine right away. This will prevent your O2 saturation levels from dropping dangerously low. They're hard to sleep with, and your quality of sleep may suffer, but at least you won't cause further damage to yourself, and your sleep will still be better than it is now.

    Step 2: Get on a serious weight-loss program. Go see a specialist. Sure, everyone will tell you to "eat less and move more", but sometimes that's not enough. A specialist can offer other options. Look into appetite suppression medication, and consider anti-depressants as well, because keeping your motivation up during a long-term diet and exercise program is damned hard.

    Step 3: Have yourself evaluated for corrective surgery to alleviate the Sleep Apnea. Not everyone is a candidate, because sometimes the problem isn't the structure of the airway but rather the excess weight you're carrying. But if there is a structural component (tonsils, adnoids, oversize tongue, etc), then surgery can help.

    Step 4: Consider bariatric surgery. Yes, this sounds like an extreme measure, but the benefits are many. Don't forget that all that weight puts you at risk for many other diseases besides sleep apnea. (Diabetes, heart disease, stroke, hypertension, etc) My doctor told me if I couldn't lose at least 30 pounds in 6 months that he would put me on the list for bariatric surgery, and that was when I weighed 250 lbs. (I'm 5 ft 11.) Sound extreme? It's not.

    Bottom line: don't mess around with your sleep. Did you know that chronic sleep deprivation is universally fatal to mammals? There's a reason we need sleep. It's damned important.

    Seriously Wayne: Get this fixed right now. You'll be glad you did.

    Adam

    PS: If you want to scare the shit out of yourself and also understand why sleep needs to be a priority in your life, go purchase and read the book "Sleep Thieves", by Stanley Coren. (ISBN:0684831848)

  9. #9
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    Adam, I am doing something about it mate, hence the tests. I should be asleep now except my Adrenalin is raging and my mind is going a zillion miles an hour thinking about all the unfinished projects, future work etc.

    Shit, its 2am, best I strap all this monitoring shit on and try to get some Zzzzz.

    BTW, Step 3 will follow after the tests are complete, Step 4 I have already explored and decided it's not something I can live with.

    I am an expert on sleep deprivation, just ask my family who put up with me during my waking hours and my previous employer that often received long winded emails of diatribe and "constructive criticism" at 3am..... I can be a frikin nightmare to live with. I'll be honest. Besides being an over-active deep thinker and extremely over-analytical to the max, I am also eccentric and just "different" to everyone else.... I have even recently discovered I have some very strange habits and behaviors that just don't exist with other people, such as a need to touch the floor regularly, counting things, avoiding cracks in the side walk, or if I knock something I have to knock the other way to balance it all out, or arranging items (just about everyone that has seen my new workshop at home has told me I am OCD). Things I always assumed everyone did.

    Some people play hard to get, I play hard to want.... Thus far it's worked for me.
    Last edited by dnar; 11-21-2013 at 09:07.
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  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by dnar View Post
    Adam, I am doing something about it mate, hence the tests.
    Good to hear it pal. Don't let it slide though. Lack of quality sleep is what ultimately lead to my father's suicide. Trust me when I say: "Don't fuck with your sleep!"

    I should be asleep now except my Adrenalin is raging and my mind is going a zillion miles an hour thinking about all the unfinished projects, future work etc.
    They have drugs for that. Consider them. (I have the same problem, and I can tell you that the drugs work.)

    Step 4 I have already explored and decided it's not something I can live with.
    There are several options, some of which are not nearly as severe as a full bypass. The stomach bands can be installed laparoscopically and have a very low incidence of side effects, for example.

    I am an expert on sleep deprivation
    This sentence right here is what tells me you NEED to read that book I linked to above.

    I used to think the same thing about myself. The truth is that there is no such thing as becoming an expert on sleep deprivation. When you cheat on sleep, you are causing damage to your body - period. You can't "get used to it", you can't "build up a tolerance" to the lack of sleep, and you damned sure can't reverse the damage it causes.

    I'll say it again: Chronic sleep deprivation is universally FATAL to all mammals. Think about that for a moment.

    Seriously dude... This isn't something to joke about. Go read that book.

    Adam

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