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Posted 5/3/2009 2:40 PM (GMT 0)
I have sleep apnia to add to my list now, I was having trouble at night with my sleeping and my wife had been complaining to the doc, So finaly while I was in hospital doc did a blood oxygen test on me overnight and found when I was sleeping on my back my oxy levels fel to 46% saturations.  My wife sighed with releif and now doc is arranging for me to be fitted with a mask and machine to help with breathing.  It is because my muscles are getting worse in my neck and my air tunnel is collapsing when I sleep, on my side I was about 65%.

 

Has anyone had to or are wearing these masks?

I have heard that they are very uncomfortable is that true?

 

I don't like the sound of this and it seems that I will have to wear it for the rest of my life!!!

 

Anyone got any ideas that can help please.

 

Stuffed.

 

_______________________________________________________________________________

Ankylosing Spondylitis, Hypertension, type2 Diabeties, mild epilepsy

My medications are Salazopyrin 3000mg, plaquinal 100mg, morphine 40mg twice daily,coversyl 10mg, diaformin sr 3000mg, actrapid injection sliding scale + 6 units in morning, lantos solostar 16 units,epilum 400mg, omeprazol 20mg, amlodipine 5mg and panadien forte and tremadol 50mg when needed.

Posted 5/3/2009 2:58 PM (GMT 0)
I have heard of the machines. I think they are called a c-pap,although I may be mistaken. I have heard that they are a little uncomfortable at first,but you will get adjusted to it. I have also heard from several that use them that they sleep better than before. Sleep apnea can be dangerous. The treatment is these machines, I believe. I think you will be suprised at the difference. Getting the dx and the proper treatment is the way to go.
Good luck to you.
Anice
Posted 5/3/2009 3:08 PM (GMT 0)
I, too, am just started going through the process of getting a mask.

From those I know who have to wear the mask, they say that the mask improves living in so many way you wouldn't believe it. Anyway, if the results are that you DO have sleep apnea, give it a fair shot.
There are a couple here who have said they have it; perhaps they'll check in later an lend us their wisdom.

And yes, this is a lifetime term with the mask. Again, though, those I know who use it say they wouldn't do without the mask - unless a miracle cure is discovered - because of the difference it makes.
Posted 5/3/2009 3:15 PM (GMT 0)
Thankyou for your advice, starting to relax a little now. It is just that these last few months have been very difficult as my body has deteriated very fast any change starts the oh no switch. Thanks again
Posted 5/3/2009 5:01 PM (GMT 0)
I have a friend that sleeps with the mask.  She said it took some getting used to. She claims that sleeping with apnea is not really sleeping.  She could not believe how much more rested she felt when she started sleeping with the mask.  She has tons of day time enrgy now.  Good luck.

Posted 5/3/2009 6:07 PM (GMT 0)

The Reverend

Yep I am a Hose head! I have severe Complex Sleep Apnea, and I wear a mask and sleep with my VPAP Adap SV machine every night all night long! There are two different types od sleep Apnea, there is the most typical type which is Obstructive Sleep Apnea, ( that is when your throat collapses and shut off the the air from getting to your lungs) when you are sleeping. Then there is Central Apneas, where for what ever reason your brain quits telling you to breath. and there is Complex Sleep Apnea which is a combination of both Obstructive and Central apneas. That is what I have! Central apneas can often be caused by opioid medications too! For normal OSA ( obstructive sleep apnea) CPAP is used (continous Positive Air Pressure) Think of you throat as a collapsable tube, like a fire hose, the CPAP provides just enough pressure to keep the throat open so it won't collapse, and thus air can get to your lungs, and you can breath. Some times this can make it  difficult to exhale against,   especially  if your pressure is to high. Then they use BiPAP, which uses two different pressures, one higher pressure for when you inhale, and a second slightly lower pressure for when you exhale. The third type of machine is the Adaptive Servo Ventilator  ASV that is what I use, it is made to treat Central Apneas, and Complex sleep apnea and Cheyne-Stokes breathing pattern, this machine is a type of ventilator,  it will actually monitor your breathing and it will automatically do what ever it needs to do, to prevent you from having an apnea! Allong with this machine I have to, also use supplemental Oxygen  at 3 lpm  when I sleep at night! 

 They make a wide varity of different mask so it might take some time to find one that works just right for you! So be patient on that! And Yes Reverend for some of us it can be quite a challenge to get used to sleeping with a seemingly thousand mile and hour wind blowing up your nose and into your mouth all night long! But with patients and persistence and perseverance it can be done. I did manage to over come it! ( I was not going to be beat by a machine!)

Because of a quack Doctor that I had it took a year and a half before I finally got put on the right treatment! I started off on CPAP, and then CPAP with Oxygen then BiPAP with Oxygen, after 18 months and 6 full in lab sleep studies and a new sleep doctor, they finally got me on the VPAP Adapt SV with Oxygen, and what a diference that has made in my life! Within 3 weeks of using the ASV my severe night sweats completely disappeared, ( I would often wake up wringing wet and would have to change my night cloths and sheets because of the night sweats, sometime several times a night) and the nocturia also disappeared, I nolonger was getting up every hour or hour and a half to go to the bathroom, now I can go 6 ,7, even 8 hours without having to use the bathroom! I am nolonger waking up choking and gasping for air in the middle of the night! It took around 3 months of constant use before I noticed the severe fatigue and tiredness loosing its grip on me, and the sleep apnea brain fog was starting to clear and go away. This machine has been a real Godsend for me!

I will say that adjusting to XPAP has  been one of  the most difficult challenges I have ever had to over come. For me adjusting to using the machine and mask was extremely difficult, one thing that kept me using it though was  my Doctor told me that my O2 Saturations were so low and staying low, and that if I did not use the machine,  it wasn't a question of "if" I would die in my sleep, but rather a question of "when"!  He said If I chose not to use the the machine and mask that I would definitely die of a Heart attack or Stroke in my sleep it was just a question of "when" I would die!  I was first started off on CPAP in January of 2007 but it wasn't till  I was put on the ASV treatment in May of 2008 that things really started changing for the better for me!  I do  use my machine everynight all night long! I will not sleep without it!

 There are some outstanding Sleep Apnea Support forums if you need any information or help with it.  Or just PM me and I will help as much as I can!

Good Luck to You

White Beard


Posted 5/4/2009 7:52 AM (GMT 0)
My son uses a cPap and it has made all the difference in the world for him. Since using the machine he says he sleeps so much better and feels rested the next day. He said it took a little time to get use to the mask .

On the other hand my husband was tested and he stops breathing I can't remember how many times an hour. Of course he refused the machine and it is very dangerous.

White Beard gave you a great review of how it all works...Susie
Posted 5/4/2009 10:00 AM (GMT 0)

Thankyou all so much especially White Beard for the info and when I get the machine I will let you all no.  When it was first told to me that I needed sleep studies, I was put in contact with sleep apnea study people and told to wait for an appointment but when I whent into hospital I apparently snored so loud they could hear me in the parking lot 2 hundred meters away outside a sealed room, not so good and If it is going to make such a change in my life as to ease this constant tiredness and it is true you don't realy sleep I never feel refreshed after sleep and the slightest thing makes you wake up. The eyes are shut but that's about all.

 

Thankyou again and if I have questions I will be sure to find you.

 

_______________________________________________________________________________

Ankylosing Spondylitis, Hypertension, type2 Diabeties, mild epilepsy

My medications are Salazopyrin 3000mg, plaquinal 100mg, morphine 40mg twice daily,coversyl 10mg, diaformin sr 3000mg, actrapid injection sliding scale + 6 units in morning, lantos solostar 16 units,epilum 400mg, omeprazol 20mg, amlodipine 5mg and panadien forte and tremadol 50mg when needed.

 

Posted 5/6/2009 2:23 AM (GMT 0)
White Beard,

Thank you so much for that information. Truly appreciated.

One thing that doesn't make sense.

I have kept hearing 'mask'. But all I got was one of those 2-prong thingy tubes that stick in my nose. That isn't what is considered a 'mask' is it?

Also, I got set up at 4lpm. Sounds like to me I'm going to have dry nasal tubes regardless of what I do.

Well, just got the machine and got it hooked up. 4lpm isn't any more than about what I have gotten routinely when going in for surgery; or seems so.

But using the nostril connection rather than a 'mask' may make all the difference. Wish I had some training on this stuff, and wish I could talk to a doctor to find out what is going on.

If anyone understands this stuff at all, I would surely appreciate some of your wisdom.

Feeling awfully lost with lots of air.
Posted 5/6/2009 5:28 AM (GMT 0)
Tony

They make all kinds of sleep apnea mask some cover just the nose and some are just nasal pillows, some cover both the nose and mouth, I use one that covers the mouth but also has nasal pillows coming out the top of it that fit in the nose. E-mail me an I will give you some good web sites to go to for it, I post allot on a couple of them. and I will help you all I can!

Good Luck to You

White Beard
Posted 5/6/2009 10:57 AM (GMT 0)

The Reverend said...
I have sleep apnia to add to my list now, I was having trouble at night with my sleeping and my wife had been complaining to the doc, So finaly while I was in hospital doc did a blood oxygen test on me overnight and found when I was sleeping on my back my oxy levels fel to 46% saturations.  My wife sighed with releif and now doc is arranging for me to be fitted with a mask and machine to help with breathing.  It is because my muscles are getting worse in my neck and my air tunnel is collapsing when I sleep, on my side I was about 65%.

 

Has anyone had to or are wearing these masks?

I have heard that they are very uncomfortable is that true?

 

I don't like the sound of this and it seems that I will have to wear it for the rest of my life!!!

 

Anyone got any ideas that can help please.

 

Stuffed.

 

_______________________________________________________________________________

Ankylosing Spondylitis, Hypertension, type2 Diabeties, mild epilepsy

My medications are Salazopyrin 3000mg, plaquinal 100mg, morphine 40mg twice daily,coversyl 10mg, diaformin sr 3000mg, actrapid injection sliding scale + 6 units in morning, lantos solostar 16 units,epilum 400mg, omeprazol 20mg, amlodipine 5mg and panadien forte and tremadol 50mg when needed.

I am getting a C-Pap machine and full face mask. I had to do 2 split sleep studies. I can't wait for my machine to get here so I can start sleeping better.

HARA

Posted 5/6/2009 11:01 AM (GMT 0)

There are several different masks. There a two nose masks and at least two full face masks.

HARA

Posted 5/6/2009 3:59 PM (GMT 0)
Hara

There are dozens of different mask out there by all different manufactures! Nasal mask, three are probably at least a half dozen different models, and then the nasal pillow type, and again there is a bunch of different types, and then the full face masks, and I personally have tries so many of them, I can't count them all, and then the Hybrid and Liberty which is part full face mask and part nasal pillow, and then there is one that just fits in the mouth, and there is also  one that covers the full entire face! (that one I just could not get to work at all) There are also whole bunch of different machines, made by a half dozen different manufactures. CPAP alone probably has at least a dozen different machines, and close to that many for the BiPAP machines, the ASV machines are very limited I think there are only two manufactures, and  they only make one model each of the ASV machines. That is what I have and they are Expensive, like 8 grand for mine, the basic CPAP machine can be purchased for a few hundred dollars. Allot of DME's don't carry all the different makes and models of machines and masks but they can usually order them. Also, I feel it is better, if you can get a Data Capable machine so you can monitor your own progress on sleep apnea treatment. If you have any questions you can E-mail me or go to the ww thing dot sleepapneasupport dot org and look for forum. You can get all the help you need with sleep apnea there. There are allot of good people there, and very knowledgeable about Sleep Apnea too!,

 But I still think the people here are the best of anywhere! yeah

Good Luck to You

White Beard

Posted 5/7/2009 5:33 AM (GMT 0)

I just don't know what to do. I talked with my dr's. nurse today about getting a C-Pap machine. The report said I didn't get to REM sleep and they suggested an at home sleep study. I don't think I can take it anymore. No more sleep studies!!!

HARA

Posted 5/7/2009 5:35 AM (GMT 0)
I didn't realized I was suppose to get to REM sleep anyway. I had a frickin mask on or course I'm not going to get to REM sleep.

Posted 5/7/2009 6:20 AM (GMT 0)
Hara

That is not unusual allot of people with sleep apnea don't get into the REM stage of sleep! Usally it is because you have so many apneas your body can never get to that stage. As you sleep you go from  one stage of sleep to another and then you recycle through it again and again most people cycle through it 3 or 4 times a night, but if your having apneas and it wakes you up (even if you don't remember it) but if your in stage 2  of sleep for example  and you start having apneas then you wake up just enough that it puts you back in stage one sleep, and then you start over, and then you have apneas again, and you start over again, it keep happening and so you never have a chance to get in to REM or stage 4 sleep. Allot of people when they get on CPAP treatment will spend allot more time in REM sleep and it is call rebound REM sleep you are kind of playing catch up on REM, this is an important stage of sleep because that is the stage where the body repairs and restores its self! And if you never get there then your body isn't getting fixed and repaired and restored and that is why a person with untreated sleep apnea is so tired and feels so lousy all the time!

Get your study done and get onto treatment, you won't feel great all of a sudden or over night but it will happen it takes time, sometimes as long as three months, but if you use your machine and mask every night all night long it will happen!

Good Luck to You

White Beard

Posted 5/7/2009 7:47 AM (GMT 0)
I thought REM sleep was where you dream?

Posted 5/7/2009 1:01 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Everyone thankyou for your fantastic advice and I appreciate all the support.
I know the doc said I need a full face mask but as yet I am still waiting on the specialist to organise my visit to someone who sells these machines and he also has second hand machines and a higher scheme as well so if the machines are too dear there are alternitives and if I can higher the automatic one it will give readings out in a memory card so then I can get the appropriate machine for me without extra expense hopefully this works in my favour.
Hara REM sleep is the very deep sleep where you body basically runs on auto mode Dreaming is above this level but don't take my word look it up. I sometimes get to a level of dreaming but most of the time it is just things in my head that I run over and over and I am glad my Doc took the time to do something while I was in hospital or I beleive I would be in the same boat. You will get there and I do understand. Docs wont do anything until they have the info, frustrating I know.

I just returned from taking my son to Rockhampton for surgery and am very sore and tired, I have too do some work tomorrow so I will say Good Night and thankyou all so much. Luv yas all.

Posted 5/7/2009 2:27 PM (GMT 0)
Hara
Yes REM is the stage where you do most of all your dreaming, it is also thought that in this stage that this is when your brain reorganizes its self as in consolidating your memories, ( think of a computer and taking the memories of the day and organizing them and putting them in files and storage as to where they are suppose to be) Your brain kind of does that, REM sleep is also thought to be the stage where your body and mind energizes its self. Your stage 3 and 4 is the stages where your body does most of its repairs, and restores it's self, it is considered the deepest sleep. Allot of people with sleep apnea never get to these stages or are only in them for very brief periods of time not near long enough for the body to be restored. Allot of people with sleep apnea have memory problems, ( difficulity remembering things) and what is called Sleep Apnea Brain Fog, and that is definitely the worst, you kind of feel like you are in a twilight world, ( your brain is foggy) from lack of sleep. Bottom line if you have sleep apnea you really need to get it treated.
Good Luck to You

White Beard
Posted 5/7/2009 9:02 PM (GMT 0)

I have been having some memory problems as of late. I'll have to remember to tell the doctor that to if I don't forget...lol

Thanks

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