Sleep Apnea Member Introductions

Sleep Apnea
#129

Hello,

I have a 13 yr. old daughter whom has been diagnosed with sleep apnea. She has been scheduled for an MRI and 48 hr. ECG. The doctor has given me 5 drugs to look up and consider. She goes into a deep sleep and has mini seizures. The odd thing is that it only happens once or twice a year. We discovered it last year for the first time. She always manages to bite her tongue during the episode. Any suggestions–I’m not sure about the meds because the side effects are horrible.

#130

Just been diagnosed with sleep apea and am interested in talking to others. Have heard there is a surgery that can be done in stead of the cpap and am interested in learning more if anyone has any info on this. Thanks

#131

Hi, I have severe sleep apnea to the point I almost died. My sleep study showed me waking up aboput 389 times in 365 minutes. I also have restless leg which was dorment the time of the sleep study. I was awake only a few hours a day, I got double pnemonia and a collapsed lung and didn’t even know I was sick until the collapsed lung. Doctors alway said that there was nothing wrong with me and treated me for depression until I got the sleep study. I cannot take Requip as I am too sleepy during the day. Anyway, even with the CPAP I still get groggy during the day. How do I deal? any suggestions? Help

#132

Hello everyone. My name is John. I’m a 48-year-old male in Shelton, Washington, who was recently diagnosed with sleep apnea. I also have NAION (Non-Arteritic Ichemic Optic Neuropathy), which means that I had a stroke in the optic nerve of my right eye in July which caused 75 percent blindness in that eye. Coming to a diagnosis of sleep apnea is the result of me trying to determine what caused the blindness in my eye and trying to prevent the same type of stroke from happening in my left eye, which would then leave me mostly blind. Fortunately, my left eye is still good.

Since July, I’ve had several blood tests which found my cholesterol to be high (249) and my thyroid to be underworking. I am now on meds for both, which are working successfully.

I’ve also has my carotid arteries tested and they are fine. And I’ve had an echo cardiogram of my heart, which showed my ticker is doing okay as well.

So the only thing I can figure is that at some point at night, I stopped breathing for an extended period of time, and that deprived my brain and, specifically the optic nerve in my right eye of oxygen. The end result was that my optic nerve began to die. Thank God that I finally woke up.

A sleep test from about a week and a half ago showed that I stop breathing in my sleep 28.7 times per hour, which I’m told is on the upper end of moderate and close to severe (30) sleep apnea.

Tonight, I begin the second night on CPAP. I’m on the test machine through tomorrow night to determine my eventual air pressure. Then I will begin on my new CPAP machine, which is also equipped with a humidifier. I’ve opted for the nose pillow mask, which does not cover as much of the face. Although last night (the first night of use), my nose did become somewhat tender. The test machine does not have a humidifier, so my nose was dry most of the day, and as a result, I had a nose bleed earlier today. I’ve purchased some saline nasal gel to help replenish the moisture in my nose.

I didn’t sleep well last night because of the apparatus. I’m hoping that given time, I will become more accustomed to this so that I can sleep better. Knock on wood!

My wife is not yet sure of the trade-off: me snoring vs. a continuous whoosh of air all night. So this will be an adjustment for both of us.

Still, I’m trying to think positive about this, even though it is all a total bummer. My alternative is to give up CPAP and run the risk of going blind altogether. Doesn’t that suck?

So anyway, I’m just looking to talk with others about their experiences with CPAP and to see if anyone has experienced the optic stroke which led them through the same path I’ve traveled, eventually coming to a sleep apnea diagnosis.

You’re welcome to e-mail me anytime at sattgast@hctc.com. Please no advertisements or spam. I get enough of that. But I’m open to talk with folks about this issue.

Thanks!

John S.
Shelton, Washington

#133

Hi

I had my first sleep study almost 2 years ago. A couple weeks ago I had
another study done. It was a horrible night. I kept waking up and feeling like I
was being blown away :slight_smile: My left ear kept plugging up and I would need to open
my mouth to clear it. I called the tech into the room and told her about the
ear and she said she had “never heard of that happening”. I think the
pressure was just way too high and if I ever have another sleep study I am going to
remove the mask if it happens again. This did not happen during the first
study.
Yaya

************************************** See what’s new at http://www.aol.com

#134

Oh, I just had my 3rd sleep study this last Friday night and I was blown away too!!! I, like you, did not have that happen in my previous studies. Mine was a horrible night too! Kelly

Yaya sleep-apnea-cpt2336@lists.careplace.com wrote:

#135

Wow, John, that is a bummer. At least you are on the cpap machine now. I did not tolerate my cpap machine at all when I first got it and I still have a hard time with it. Kelly

John S sleep-apnea-cpt2336@lists.careplace.com wrote:

#136

Hi, I’m Karen, and I live in NE Alabama. I was just diagnosed with severe sleep apnea (AHI of 87). They’ve placed me on the CPAP at a pressure of 10, using the nasal mask. They’ve also prescribed me Trazodone and Requip.

I’m 42, very overweight, and have some real problems with depression. I take Prozac for that. I used to drive truck for a living, but have been on disability for 4 years now due to Myasthenia Gravis. Alot of my depression stems from not being able to work, not feeling useful, I guess. I’ve spent the last 4 years working with animal rescue, but even that’s coming to an end, since I can’t handle the stress anymore. I’m not allowed to drive at all, and since hubby’s still driving truck, we’ve had to have his brother and wife move in to live with us, so that I’m not alone.

How do you get through this? I mean, how do you get past the feelings of uselessness that accompany things like this? I really want to know…cause sometimes it’s more than I can bear.

I know…I’m whining…it’s frustrating, tho, not knowing what’s going to happen next. I’m hoping to learn a few things here, and maybe it will lift some of this cloud I feel like I’m under. Thanks for letting me join, and I look forward to hearing from any of you.

#137

In a message dated 10/2/2007 8:28:01 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
sleep-apnea-cpt2336@lists.careplace.com writes:

How do you get through this?

Hi & welcome.Walking helps me but if I can’t get out I exercise to a
Prevention DVD, Wal-MArt should have them or order online. Keep moving, it really
helps.
Yaya

************************************** See what’s new at http://www.aol.com

#138

Hi Karen, So glad you are here! I know what you mean by feeling useless because of health issues…I whine to my husband about that often. It sounded like you were on a good path to feel less useless by helping animals! Is there anything else you could do to benefit animals that’s not so stressful, or some other type of volunteer that would make you feel better? Just throwing some ideas out there. Kelly

ndars1 sleep-apnea-cpt2336@lists.careplace.com wrote:

#139

Hello everyone. I just wanted to say thanks for the support. I finished the trial run of my CPAP and the doc put me on with a pressure of 10. I have a Respironics REMstarPlus M series which has a nice ramp-up feature that starts me off at 5 and then slowly increases over the course of 20 minutes while I begin to sleep.

I’m still trying to get used to having a hose on my nose. The nose pillows are a hard adjustment and my nose seems to be sore every morning. I’m hoping that will pass.

I saw an opthomologist yesterday for the NAION in my right eye. He said that I was on the right course to prevent it from going into my left eye by staying on the CPAP and keeping my cholesterol in check.

I don’t have much of a choice. CPAP or blindness. No choice there. So I’ll work to get accustomed to this. Hopefully one of these nights, I’ll finally begin sleeping entirely through the night like I used to.

Best wishes to everyone.

John S. in Shelton, Washington
aka Sleepy in Shelton. lol

#140

Hi John,

Thanks for the update.

I wear the nasal airway with my autopap machine and my nose was really sore in the beginningand my nose is not so sore anymore! Hope that helps.

I hate my equipment also, but then I tell myself that I guess I should be thankful we have these. It is bittersweet, I know!

Kelly

John S sleep-apnea-cpt2336@lists.careplace.com wrote:

#141

Hi, I’m new here.

I’ve been having trouble for a long time, seen lots of doctors, had lots of tests, and today I saw a rheumatologist who believes most of my problems are due to sleep apnea. I will soon go for a sleep study. I have a hard time believing apnea is my primary diagnosis - I’ve seen so many docs that I don’t want to get my hopes up just yet…

Here are my symptoms. I want to know if any of you have these kinds of symptoms as well, and any advice is appreciated.

  1. I am tired. So, so tired. I don’t want to do anything but sit around. I get fatigued very easily. I wear out so fast for only being 29.
  2. I do stop breathing at night. Usually when I’m on my back. I have to sleep very propped up. Sometimes it wakes me, gasping. I have “sleep paralysis” episodes. It’s worse when I am sick.
  3. I snore. A lot.
  4. I am sore all over my body. My joints, my muscles… I have pain in the “fibromyalgia” pressure points. If I work hard or move around a lot it is worse. I have good days and bad days. The bad days are terrible.
  5. I am very depressed and sometimes anxious and irritable. I have trouble caring for my kids and cleaning the house.
  6. I have chest pain. Worse at night.
  7. I am very stiff, especially in the morning.
  8. I have episodes of weakness and numbness in my limbs.
  9. I am forgetful, foggy, have trouble remembering words and talking.
  10. I have IBS and esophagitis.
  11. I am having a period every 18 to 22 days.
  12. I have been feeling bad for so long, I am becoming despondent and seriously thinking about taking up a good hard whiskey habit. :wink:

Thanks for reading my rant.

–Crow

#142

Hi. My name is Wayne. I am glad that I have found this group. I was diagnosed with OSA seven years ago.

#143

Hi. My name is Wayne. I am glad that I have found this group. I was diagnosed with OSA seven years ago.

#144

If I could I would stay awake and never go to sleep, I sleep better in daytime then night. I’ve always worked night shift for many years and now that I am much older I have trouble sleeping, so most of the time I stay up all night on computer and sleep when I can during the day. Not to long ago I was up without any sleep for 27 hours

#145

I am new to Careplace, found out about this site from the yahoo group, i am here trying to understand this disorder, i haven’t gone to the doctor, but i been suffering from this several years, not knowing it was SP, my hubby says i snore loud and often and last night he noticed my breathing was different he watched me and said to himself if she’s going to have an epidsode it will happen now and it did i woke up adruptly trying to catch my breath, so now i know it’s has to be SP

#146

Hi Neicy! Go to a sleep lab and have a sleep study done! That’s the only way to know for sure. I had so many of the sleep apnea symptoms, which included dull headaches, short term memory loss, falling asleep easily, snoring while sleeping and the list goes on. Good luck! :slight_smile: Wayne

#147

Thanks wayne, i will when i get some insurance i was recently laid off and
so was my hubby so right now i can’t go, anything i can do while waiting
like trying something over the counter?

From: Wayne sleep-apnea-cpt2336@lists.careplace.com
Reply-To: Wayne sleep-apnea-cpt2336@lists.careplace.com
To: poeticneicy@msn.com
Subject: Re: [sleep-apnea] Sleep Apnea Member Introductions
Date: Sat, 28 Jun 2008 00:54:03 -0400

#148

not sure if u received the 1st email, it came back to me

Thanks wayne, i will when i get some insurance i was recently laid off and
so was my hubby so right now i can’t go, anything i can do while waiting
like trying something over the counter?

From: Wayne sleep-apnea-cpt2336@lists.careplace.com
Reply-To: Wayne sleep-apnea-cpt2336@lists.careplace.com
To: poeticneicy@msn.com
Subject: Re: [sleep-apnea] Sleep Apnea Member Introductions
Date: Sat, 28 Jun 2008 00:54:03 -0400