New to all of this - would appreciate some help

Sleep Apnea
#1

Hi everyone,

My wife and I think she might have sleep apnea, as she has some of the symptoms (at least we think they’re symptoms - we read them on Wikipedia).

Even though we think she might have it, my wife refuses to get diagnosed - largely, I think, out of fear of having to use a CPAP machine.

My wife has had panic attacks in the past, and she also feels claustrophobic easily. So the idea of sleeping with a mask on her face completely freaks her out.

I have a question that has probably been asked on this forum many times before, but I’ll ask again anyway: is there a “natural” cure for sleep apnea, or any kind of natural treatment that reduces its severity? The reason I ask is that my wife has always been into yoga and asian-type remedies, so I think she’d get diagnosed if she know there was a natural alternative to CPAP.

Thanks very much for your help,

Mark MacDonald

#2

Mark,
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There is no natural cure for sleep apnea. If she gets a diagnosis, her physician will explain her options bases upon the reason. I personally, have extremely large tonsils and due to my age (46) my physician does not think it best for me to have a tonsilectomy, and palatal surgery for fear of hemorraging to death.
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Have your wife read my profile. It was the death of my friend’s husband from sleep apnea that promted me to begin using a cpap. He’d lost a lot of weight and was under the misguided impression that he no longer needed the machine. He died in his sleep on July 6th very early in the morning at the young age of 41.ÂÂ
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I hate to be blunt, but basically, your wife has an option between life and death. The failure to get oxygen can seriously damage vital organs such as the brain, the heart and kidneys. This information was explained to me by my doctor because I too hated th thought of using the cpap machine and mask. He told me that my failure to use it could result in a heart attack, stroke, or damage to my kidney (I only have one because of kidney cancer in 2003). My mother had a mini-stroke in January of 2006 just after a diagnosis of sleep apnea - she wasn’t using her machine. I’ve had panic attacks, and I too am claustrophobic. I did online research following the death of my friend’s husband, and found a mask I thought I could tolerate. I will provide the link below. I took 1/4 of a Xanex about 30 mins before bedtime for the first three nights. I woke up each morning about 5:30 and took off the mask and slept for another 90 mins or so. After that,
for about another three nights I didn’t take the Xanex and still woke around 5:30. Since, then I’ve been sleeping through the night with the machine and it has changed my life. I have more energy, don’t have to drink soda throughout the day to stay awake, I’m not easy to respond with a quick temper, my headaches have disappeared, and I don’t have to take two or three naps a day on the weekends. After my first week, I could have kicked myself for refusing to get the titration study and use the machine!!!
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http://www.cpapwholesale.com/teleflex-hybrid.htm
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Please, please, insist that your wife see a doctor and take the two test necessary. The first one is a diagnosis test, the second is what they call a titration study where they see what pressure the machine would need to be set at to make sure your wife maintains a 100% oxygen level.
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I hope I’ve been of some help. I know first hand what a devastating and humiliation diagnosis this is but the way I look at it is that people who love me can look past a machine especially since they’d be asleep when it was in use.
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Good luck to you!
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— On Sun, 11/2/08, mmacdonald sleep-apnea-cpt10881@lists.careplace.com wrote:

From: mmacdonald sleep-apnea-cpt10881@lists.careplace.com
Subject: [sleep-apnea] New to all of this - would appreciate some help
To: sadlersgagirl@yahoo.com
Date: Sunday, November 2, 2008, 1:48 PM