Anybody have sleep apnea?

[Sarah_Jayne]

Even at my heaviest weight (which was about 90lbs heavier than I am now) I never had any trouble sleeping the pointed to sleep apnea. However, over the past 6 months or so I have been having a hard time getting a good night of sleep largely from it feeling like my nasal passages have totally blocked off at some point in the night and I can't get air through them. So, I wake up and then have to wait to be able to get enough air to go back to sleep. I went to the doctor and they think I may have obstructive sleep apnea. They are sending me to the ear, nose and throat guys next week because they think I might have nasal polyps or similar blocking my airways. My husband says he doesn't notice any snoring but then he doesn't usually notice me waking up because I can't get air through my nose either.

Anybody ever had sleep apnea like this and what were the treatments?

[Spunky]

I'm lucky if I get 3 hours per night and it's been that way for over 2 years.They will probably hook you up to a monitor first.you take a small machine home and it takes readings through your finger.
Then you will probably go to a sleep clinic where they monitor you while you sleep.
You might have to get a Cpap machine which can run up to 2k,it forces air while you sleep

[Tam]

My husband has it and it scares me to damn death... he stops breathing in his sleep sometimes and can't sleep laying flat on his back. We tried everything to get him thru this and now he sleeps in a recliner so he can just sleep. He still has episodes, but not near like he used to when he slept flat.

They sent him to a sleep clinic twice but since it's impossible to sleep for him in a strange place, the results were inconclusive, but his Dr swears he has it..... they just can't get him to sleep in those clinics.

He used to wear those strips you put on your nose at night, I forget what they are called, but that helped him a great deal, until he started sleeping in his chair, then he stopped using those.

I sleep 3 hrs a night on a good night too, although I don't have anything like that, I think mine is just sleep deprivation, but I TRY and sleep, I just can't do it, too many things constantly going on in my head. lol

[Sarah_Jayne]

My doctor said if I was lucky and it is polyps they might be able to remove them or treat them and then things might just go away if it is them closing off my airways. Hope so cause I am not thrilled by the idea of the sleep machines.

[Spunky]

Some of the machines have a face mask but some have a tube.I've seen them on Craigslist for a fraction of the price.

[tranza]

Luckly no, I dont have it...

[nojob]

I do not have it, but my cousin had it for years. He had to go through alot to cure it. They had to do studies on him and there is some really expensive machine that you have to buy to fix it. I feel bad for people that suffer from that.

[DamageX]

Originally Posted by Sarah_MaxCash

My doctor said if I was lucky and it is polyps they might be able to remove them or treat them and then things might just go away if it is them closing off my airways. Hope so cause I am not thrilled by the idea of the sleep machines.

By the sound of it, it's more likely to be polyps than OSA. OSA normally occurs through the clogging of the airways in your throat, not your nasal passage. This happens due to muscles relaxing when you sleep and no longer being able to keep the airways open due to whatever pressure. Although the vast majority of the OSA cases are fairly closely related to being overweight, that is not always the case.

As for the CPAP machine, if you were to get it I can assure you it's not nearly as inconvenient as it sounds. I've been using one for the past two years and I hardly noticed it after the first few nights. The only drawback is that I can't no longer sleep with my wife in my arms and kiss her at night, without losing the mask. But other than that, I have zero complains really.

[SCOOTER]

I had it - I Lost 170 lbs and its all gone now.

[Iron Fist]

Originally Posted by SCOOTER

I had it - I Lost 170 lbs and its all gone now.

Holy crap.

[nojob]

Originally Posted by SCOOTER

I had it - I Lost 170 lbs and its all gone now.

How did you do that? I only am 160, how long did that take you?

[WebairGerard]

Originally Posted by Spunky

I'm lucky if I get 3 hours per night and it's been that way for over 2 years.They will probably hook you up to a monitor first.you take a small machine home and it takes readings through your finger.
Then you will probably go to a sleep clinic where they monitor you while you sleep.
You might have to get a Cpap machine which can run up to 2k,it forces air while you sleep

many years ago I had a part time job while going to school and I would set these monitors up for people in there homes to record readings of sleep patterns. I would think this and newer technology is available to help combat it. Good luck I know from speaking to people back then how tortuous it can be over time.

[Sarah_Jayne]

Originally Posted by SCOOTER

I had it - I Lost 170 lbs and its all gone now.

When I reach my target I will have lost 150lbs ..about 49lbs to go...

But, I never had this even at my heaviest weight.

[DamageX]

Originally Posted by Sarah_MaxCash

When I reach my target I will have lost 150lbs ..about 49lbs to go...

But, I never had this even at my heaviest weight.

That's why I'm thinking it's something else. If you don't have it when being at your heaviest weight then I don't think there's any chance in hell to develop it AFTER losing weight.

[Tom_PM]

The nose things are Breath Right nasal strips.

They keep running a commercial here for some mouth guard thing. You mold it to your teeth and wear it to bed and it thrusts your jaw slightly outward, forcing the airway slightly more open. Maybe this is something you can look into.

[cherrylula]

We have a lot of sinus problems here in the sub-tropical south, and in the summer it is almost unbearable.

Taking a hot shower before bed helped me, when I could barely breathe through my nose.

May you get better soon, nothing worse than sleep problems.

[Sarah_Jayne]

Originally Posted by cherrylula

We have a lot of sinus problems here in the sub-tropical south, and in the summer it is almost unbearable.

Taking a hot shower before bed helped me, when I could barely breathe through my nose.

May you get better soon, nothing worse than sleep problems.

No danger of London being considered sub-tropic..lol

Thank you

[LAJ]

I have sleep hypopnia.. that's not as bad as apnea. It means my breathing gets real shallow when I sleep. I had it at 13 when I weighed 90 lbs.... I have it at 40 and weigh 180 lbs. It sucks but I deal with it. The worst thing is that I wake up at least once a night every night.

[Scott McD]

Thankfully i don't get that. Though i do get sleep paralysis, which fucking sucks...

[TondaB]

I could sleep for days! What do I have?

[PR|Jordan]

I used to have it, took out my tonsils and it fixed everything - such a huge difference!

[Martin]

Originally Posted by Scott McD

Thankfully i don't get that. Though i do get sleep paralysis, which fucking sucks...

I get that too. Sometimes I have out of body with it. I can walk around my condo looking around, but Im still in my bed trying to wake up. WTF??

[Joe BrainCash]

I used to have a bad case of apnea, and I'm faar from overweight ( the first DR I saw told me it was stress because only Obese people have apnea-dumbass). Anyways saw an ORL and he told me my nasal cavities were un-aligned and my throat wasn't wide enough so when I sleep, the air can't go through my throat also because it's too narrow.

Anyways, I got surgery. Removed my tounsils and uvula as well as correcting my nose alignment. I had stiches in the throat and was painful for 3 weeks... only ate Jello and icecream (lost a lot of weight).

A month later, I sleep like I've never slept before.

[JFK]

I have it as well, I'm told its weight related.

[CS-Jay]

i actually dozed off reading this thread. I have it too. But I just got back from lunch...

[farkedup]

Originally Posted by SCOOTER

I had it - I Lost 170 lbs and its all gone now.

I have had sleeping problems for years but now that I'm up to 210 its way worse... I need to drop about 50lbs but I love me some cheeseburgers.

[Calico Jack]

I have it, spent two nights in a sleep clinic last year and came away with a Cpap machine. I lasted 2 weeks sleeping with it. Couldn't lay in the positions I like to with the mask on, it was noisy (though supposed to be whisper quiet), squealed like a banshee if she mask seal was broken. All in all I felt worse for having used it.
However, I have some friends that are on Cpap and it's the best thing that's ever happened to them.
My solution, I bought a mouthguard type device for $70 that holds the lower jaw forward through the night. I was skeptical, but surprisingly it works. My wife reckons that it has reduced the actual quantity of snoring by 90% and the volume by 75%. I also no longer wake up feeling as though I'm ready for bed.

[andy83]

i had an old friend who has it. really trouble some but i feel for her. i feel so lucky not to have this. hope everyone who gets this gets cured soon.

[SexualDragon]

I have it. Had to have my tonsils taken out because of it. still around tho...not as bad

[Peaches]

I dated a guy with it and it scared the crap out of me. Ask hubby to stay away one night while you're sleeping - he'll be able to tell because you just....stop...breathing...then gasp for breath. It's freaky as hell.

Another thing to look into is allergies or sinus problems that are clogging you up at night but draining while you're upright.

[aico]

My father has it, he sleeps with some machine hooked up to his face to keep the passage open.

[uno]

Originally Posted by SCOOTER

I had it - I Lost 170 lbs and its all gone now.

I only weigh 170 lbs and this is becoming a problem for me. My dad used to have it to, but it just went away on its own. Sucks to wake up with your throat closed trying to gasp for air.

[Fucksakes]

sometimes.. very rarely I lose my breath while sleeping and I wake up gasping to get my breath back, not very often.. never even though anything of it.. figured my throat was just dry or something.

[maxarbo]

I had palyps in my sinus's block the tubes that go to my ears causing pressure which gave me problems hearing and also gave me pressure.

At the time I thought these were just allergy symptoms.

I went to a ears nose and throat doctor. He put a small camera scope up my nose and throat and showed me what he found on a color monitor. He then looked in my throat and saw a flesh growth and said I also probably had sleep apnea.

I went to a sleep study. Turned out i was getting ZERO REM Sleep!!! For the second half of the test I used a CPAP Machine. It was amazing for me. I woke up like, totally clear headed and focused. I felt great, it was amazing!

Then went to surgery and had the palyps removed and had my sinus passages widened, since he was operating anyways.

Operation and recovery wasn't too bad.

About 2 weeks later got a CPAP of my own. Now i feel great every day and several other things have improved:

1.) No more acid reflux while sleeping
2.) No more achy joints
3.) No more having to sleep during the day
4.) No more feeling exhausted all the time
5.) No more having to sleep for 10 hours
6.) No more staying up all night and having screwed up sleep schedules.

I use this when my allergies really bother me.
I actually use this and it works better than a shower or breathing boiling water.

http://www.neilmed.com/usa/sinusrinse.php

Its sort of a nose douche, but it removes every last bit of mucus in your nose.
My ENT doctor gave it to me when I had my sinus operation.

[cgu]

http://www.drmcdougall.com/free.html

I doubt anyone will read that link, but the McDougall Diet has a lot of success with sleep apnea. You can search the term and review (watch videos) of testimonials.

+1 on the nose douche above. I've got one and its a miracle machine. You can get the "netti pot" at Whole Foods or any pharmacy that does the same thing w/o the motor. Allergies GONE.

[Brad Gosse]

I have it. They told me I needed a darth vadar mask in bed. I am trying other things now like losing some weight.

The worst thing is the drunk feeling I get some mornings from lack of oxygen.

[DamageX]

Originally Posted by Brad Gosse

I have it. They told me I needed a darth vadar mask in bed. I am trying other things now like losing some weight.

The worst thing is the drunk feeling I get some mornings from lack of oxygen.

Try the mask. Feeling rested in the morning will help you with having enough energy in order to work out, which will likely never happen if you're constantly tired. If you lose enough weight then you can likely cure the apnea and thus will no longer need the mask.

[tornell]

I don't have ....