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Across the Fence:  Sleep Apnea  |
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Mikki
True Blue Farmgirl
1510 Posts
Mikki
Austin
Indiana
USA
1510 Posts |
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dutchy
True Blue Farmgirl
4427 Posts
4427 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 21 2009 : 11:52:09 PM
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my oldest brother did use it for years. It did help him sleep more regularly. I remember when our mom was very ill and he spend the week at my place he had forgotten to take it with him. He thought he'd be home in a day or two. But since mom passed he stayed longer.He couldn't sleep properly those nights. When mom was cremated my sis in law came and brought the machine with her. From that day brother slept better again.
Later he needed the oxygen machine, but still in the night he used the cpap.
Hugs from Marian/Dutchy, a farmgirl from the Netherlands :)
My personal blog:
http://just-me-a-dutch-girl.blogspot.com/
Almost daily updates on me and mine :)
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Mikki
True Blue Farmgirl
1510 Posts
Mikki
Austin
Indiana
USA
1510 Posts |
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Tapestry
True Blue Farmgirl
1223 Posts
Cheryl
Wisconsin
USA
1223 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2009 : 02:07:01 AM
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I've had lots of patients in the nursing home setting over the yrs. who required Cpap and all did very well using it. It may seem a bit noisy at first but you will quickly get used to that as "white" noise that will help lull you to sleep. Also just knowing that it will help you breathe normally during sleep and not deprive yourself of oxygen is such a relief to most that they sleep very very well.
Happy farmgirl sister #353
Look for rainbows instead of mud puddles 
http://fantasm01.imagekind.com/
http://tapestrysimaginings.blogspot.com/ |
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britchickny
True Blue Farmgirl
1048 Posts
Angie
Port Orange
Florida
1048 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2009 : 03:06:04 AM
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I was just diagnosed with sleep apnea and actually go to get my machine next week. all I know is that the night i was at the sleep clinic and i was getting used to the machine, I knew I had slept better. Like everything else, it will take some getting used to but i felt it was important, 1) so that i and my husband can get a good night's sleep and 2) to reduce the risk of other health issues related to Sleep Apnea. I am only mild/moderate Apnea but for some the strain on the heart can be very serious.
I think it's worth exploring and yes, the pople I know who have one say they will never sleep without one again.
ANGIE
"Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance" JUDE 1:2
http://www.pinkroomponderings.blogspot.com/ |
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Mikki
True Blue Farmgirl
1510 Posts
Mikki
Austin
Indiana
USA
1510 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2009 : 09:03:49 AM
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I was just diagnosed with it also. I go for my titration test to set my cpap Wednesday. I stopped breathing 23 times in an hour which I guess is not bad compared to some but he said it may have been worse had I slept longer and deeper. I only slept about 2 and a half hours. I had the hardest time going to sleep. I usually wake up at least 5 or 6 times a night and usually have to go potty everytime too. I forgot what it feels like to sleep all night.
~~Blessings, Mikki Jo
"Courage is being scared to death... but saddling up anyway" ***John Wayne
http://main.acsevents.org/goto/iloveyoumom
http://burningmeadowsprings.blogspot.com/
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Catherine Seiberling Pond
Farmgirl in Training
39 Posts
Catherine
Knob Region
KY
39 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2009 : 09:13:22 AM
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Hi Mikki,
The CPAP machine has quite literally saved my life and enlivened my days. I've been using it for 3 years. My sleep study tests showed that my oxygen levels plummeted to 50% saturation at night while "sleeping" (the other 50% was CO2 build up!) which can be fatal. It took a car accident, which by the grace of God, I walked out of and fortunately no one else was in the car with me or on the road at the time, in which I had fallen asleep, out cold, for 30 seconds, that got me the treatment I needed.
My father, sadly, did not treat his for 25 years and died, at 66 from related complications. When you know you can get a good sleep, a really sound, healthy sleep, and that the mask can actually be life-prolonging, it is well worth it.
If you want to email me more about this off-line, please feel free: info@catherinepond.com -- There are also many sleep apnea-related websites and forums out there, too.
Best and blessings,
Catherine Pond
Farm girl at heart and in practice. Food/memoir writer and historian. Check out my blog at www.InthePantry.blogspot.com |
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Catherine Seiberling Pond
Farmgirl in Training
39 Posts
Catherine
Knob Region
KY
39 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2009 : 09:20:11 AM
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PS And my test also showed that I stopped breathing about 65 times an hour! That's more than once a minute...
Farm girl at heart and in practice. Food/memoir writer and historian. Check out my blog at www.InthePantry.blogspot.com |
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Mikki
True Blue Farmgirl
1510 Posts
Mikki
Austin
Indiana
USA
1510 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2009 : 09:30:31 AM
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Ohhh my Catherine, Thank God you are finally getting treatment. Sorry to hear your father is gone tho. Sounds like you have a very severe case! I can sometimes feel my throat close off right when I get really relaxed but of course after I go to sleep I have no clue. I'm a little nervous about getting the correct mask ect. I'm sure I breathe thru my mouth when I sleep so I'll have to use the face mask. But oh well, it's all worth it I know
~~Blessings, Mikki Jo
"Courage is being scared to death... but saddling up anyway" ***John Wayne
http://main.acsevents.org/goto/iloveyoumom
http://burningmeadowsprings.blogspot.com/
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Catherine Seiberling Pond
Farmgirl in Training
39 Posts
Catherine
Knob Region
KY
39 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2009 : 09:41:35 AM
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I was always a mouth breather and now sleep with my mouth closed (I have a full face mask because of the severity) and breathe through my nose. It didn't take long at all to get used to doing it. If the mask is on properly it is also quiet (no air leaks). Even when I have a cold or chest congestion, and had a bad bronchial pneumonia bout last winter (first ever), I've been able to use my mask.
Before I would wake up with severe headaches in the front of my forehead, from the CO2 build up, and having to pee...several times at night. That was one clue. The other was falling asleep in a chair with my morning cup of coffee at 8am! And my husband would get upset when we'd take day trips and I was asleep in the passenger's seat before we even left Main Street! But then we both realized why.
Now we are both losing weight, which should help, but another big factor is genetics as well as throat/neck size/anatomy.
I would highly recommend anyone who thinks they have it or knows someone that might have it to get tested. It can save your life! (One good friend now has a mask, as does a brother and even my husband--which makes for an interesting night!) Untreated sleep apnea can lead to high blood pressure, memory lapses, heart attack, stroke and the most common killer: death at the wheel from falling asleep.
xoCatherine
Farm girl at heart and in practice. Food/memoir writer and historian. Check out my blog at www.InthePantry.blogspot.com |
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dutchy
True Blue Farmgirl
4427 Posts
4427 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2009 : 09:55:52 AM
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Catherine (or anyone else for that matter) would you know if it is family related?? I only know of my oldest brother having one, but maybe from the other side of my family, I just don't know. Also don't know if it IS family related, hereditary or anything like that.
might go and ask my doctor. Need to go for a visit to her anyways Need new meds for my thyroid and new anti depressants, yuck
Come to think of it. maybe my mom had a sort of apnea as well. I remember always having to strain to hear her breathing when she slept and I think that she also stopped breathing sometimes during her sleep. I know because the last 2 years of her life she slept down stairs. Couldn't walk anymore so we had a bed downstairs. She used to sleep often during the day and I always listened whether she was still breathing :(
Hugs from Marian/Dutchy, a farmgirl from the Netherlands :)
My personal blog:
http://just-me-a-dutch-girl.blogspot.com/
Almost daily updates on me and mine :)
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Edited by - dutchy on Jul 22 2009 09:58:52 AM |
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Mikki
True Blue Farmgirl
1510 Posts
Mikki
Austin
Indiana
USA
1510 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2009 : 09:57:18 AM
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I fell asleep at the redlight one time and my sister had to wake me up. Scared me to death, and I pee like I said 5 or 6 times a nigt. Drives me crazy. I have gained about 40 lbs over the past 4 years and I always thought it was due to my hysterectomy but the dr told me the other day it's more than likely due to my sleep apnea and that I should be ABLE to lose weight after I get it under control. He said with apnea it slows your metabolism down so bad thats why you gain and cant lose. Makes a lot of sense.
~~Blessings, Mikki Jo
"Courage is being scared to death... but saddling up anyway" ***John Wayne
http://main.acsevents.org/goto/iloveyoumom
http://burningmeadowsprings.blogspot.com/
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Catherine Seiberling Pond
Farmgirl in Training
39 Posts
Catherine
Knob Region
KY
39 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2009 : 10:07:14 AM
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Yes, that is so true about weight gain, also. Because when our bodies are sleep-deprived/exhausted they want to eat more to compensate for lack of energy. But I learned that every CELL in our bodies needs sleep to restore, rejuvenate and refresh. And if our cells are not getting adequate oxygen or rest during sleep, they don't perform well.
Dutchy, how you describe your mother is exactly how I observed my father on a trip back in the 1980s. His snoring was so awful that it kept me awake and then I'd hear him stop breathing. I had seen a sleep apnea program on 20/20 or some such and was convinced that is what he had. I urged him to get treatment/answers but he was a stubborn one. In his last few months, not even 20 years later, his RESTING/WAKING oxygen levels plummeted to 50% so the damage had been done and it was too late for him.
Many people think this is a "disease du jour" but the reality is that many people have always had it and only now are there the advances in treatment. When people used to die in their sleep, and often younger than older, of a heart attack or stroke, it was likely apnea-related.
Untreated apnea issues can also cause irritability and depression, too.
And yes, genetics a huge factor. I've also met thin people who have it.
Farm girl at heart and in practice. Food/memoir writer and historian. Check out my blog at www.InthePantry.blogspot.com |
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Mikki
True Blue Farmgirl
1510 Posts
Mikki
Austin
Indiana
USA
1510 Posts |
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dutchy
True Blue Farmgirl
4427 Posts
4427 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2009 : 10:12:11 AM
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I am not overweight indeed, more underweight (is that a word?)
Guess I better talk to my doctor, just to be safe anyways. Thanks for the info. I remember my mom also snored and then stopped and later she started again. It always frightened me, but I never ever thought of sleep apnea :( My mom was also a stubborn one :) She also had severe dementia so NO way to talk her into anything at all :(
Hugs from Marian/Dutchy, a farmgirl from the Netherlands :)
My personal blog:
http://just-me-a-dutch-girl.blogspot.com/
Almost daily updates on me and mine :)
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Catherine Seiberling Pond
Farmgirl in Training
39 Posts
Catherine
Knob Region
KY
39 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2009 : 10:18:16 AM
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Mikki, no, thankfully. In fact, the reason that people with sleep apnea wake a lot to pee is because there is a build-up of harmful carbon dioxide (C02)in the bloodstream which equals toxins, so the body has to release it somehow. When the body is at rest in a deep sleep, with no other problems (like a bladder infection or pregnancy that would effect that, too), it is much harder to wake.
I sleep 8 good hours a night--soundly, with great "story" dreams. My old dreams in untreated days usually involved feeling like I was drowning or I would flit from place to place. I wasn't in REM sleep. Sometimes I sleep less (like six last night) and sometimes a bit more but mostly I can count on 7-8 hours of refreshing sleep!
Thankfully and God bless!
Catherine
Farm girl at heart and in practice. Food/memoir writer and historian. Check out my blog at www.InthePantry.blogspot.com |
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Mikki
True Blue Farmgirl
1510 Posts
Mikki
Austin
Indiana
USA
1510 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2009 : 10:28:15 AM
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Catherine, you have made me feel so much better about all this! Thank you so much!!! I had no idea why I had to pee so often but it drives me crazy and then I toss and turn. I havent slept thru the night since I don't know when. My sisters tried to tell my dad last night that he sounds like I do, coughing and choking when he sleeps but he just don't believe it. Stubborn thing. I wake up choking and gasping and spitting and coughing, lol. But I will be so glad to get this titration test done with and get my cpap started!
~~Blessings, Mikki Jo
"Courage is being scared to death... but saddling up anyway" ***John Wayne
http://main.acsevents.org/goto/iloveyoumom
http://burningmeadowsprings.blogspot.com/
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Across the Fence: Sleep Apnea |
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Sleep Apnea
