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Sleep Apnea - Anyone have it?

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Hey everyone,

So I just had an interesting convo with my g/f where she told me she thinks I have sleep apnea. She says I constantly stop breathing while sleeping, then after a few seconds gasp for air.

I did a little research, and I seem to have a lot of the symptoms, like the stopping breathing, and I'm ALWAYS tired. I figured the tiredness was just cause I'm overweight and not very active, plus I don't get the proper vitamins and stuff.

Anyways, I'm wondering if anyone here has it, or knows someone who has it? What the steps were they took to get it diagnosed, or how they treated it. And if it's you, how did/does it affect your work? Being tired all the time doesnt exactly help with the creative process, and it sure takes its toll on my ability to stay focused for a long period of time. Basically any information I can get that's not in a professional article online.

Cheers

Replies

  • skylebones
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    skylebones polycounter lvl 10
    Woah, now I wonder if I have it. My wife tells me I sleep like a submarine. Take in a breathe, hold it for a while, then let it out with a pshewww!! Done that for most of my life. And I sleep a lot, otherwise I feel very tired during the day. I notice I only do this while sleeping on my back. So I make an effort to sleep on my side and it seems to help.

    I don't know if it's genetic, but my Mom has it. I don't know what she does to treat it though.
  • slipsius
  • greevar
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    greevar polycounter lvl 6
    I have sleep apnea. The diagnosis is done by a one night sleep study where they put a bunch of sensors on your body and monitor you while you sleep. If they find that you do have it, they will prescribe a CPAP which is a device that pushes air into your airway while you sleep through a mask you strap to your head. It makes a big difference in the quality of your sleep, I promise you.
  • MiAlx
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    MiAlx polycounter lvl 10
    Oh damn. When im almost asleep, I sometimes catch myself "violently" inhaling air like i haven't breathed for minutes, scares the shit out of me. But it only happens sometimes. And I'm also very tired, even though I sleep 7-8 hours a night. I might let myself get checked, if it starts happening more often.
  • Disco Stu
    Had it untill i was 16.
    Everyone just thought i snored like a beast untill a friend thought i was dying awefully often while sleeping.
    Went to a sleep lab and i indeed stopped breathing for minutes pretty often.
    Got one of those breathing machines but that wasnt really an option cause i couldnt sleep at all with that thing blowing dry air into me.
    Went to the hospital got my tonsils removed and some fancy laser some parts in my nose treatment.
    After that it was gone.
    I lost a lot of weight after but im still a lazy bum :)
  • Kovac
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    Kovac polycounter lvl 18
    This sounds bad but do you drink a lot of booze, slip? I've had similar symptoms when partying a bit too hard while vacationing with friends in the past, and a quick googling seems to confirm that the two can be related.
  • dfacto
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    dfacto polycounter lvl 18
    Sleep apnea is fairly serious since chronic oxygen deprivation can lead to mental deficits. I'd get it checked out.
  • slipsius
    Thanks for all the responses guys.

    Greever, I was just told that if you get one of those machines, and dont use it, they take away your drivers licence? What happens if you go away for a weekend or something? Also, how has it affected your work?

    disco stu, what did they do to your nose? I actually dont usually breath through my nose. I find it really difficult to get full breaths, so I breath through my mouth ALOT. hmmmm

    Kovac, not really. If i drink, its like once a week. And when I do, i completely understand being tired for a day or two after. But apparently my g/f has been noticing it for a long time, and I cant remember the last time I felt full of energy for more than an hour.
  • gsokol
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    gsokol polycounter lvl 14
    My mom just found out probably 6 months ago or so that she has sleep apnea.

    Just like others have said, she stayed the night at a nearby sleep clinic, and they hooked her up to a machine.

    Now she has one of those machines, she said it was weird at first with the air pushing in, but now she has no problem with it. They make different types of masks too, in case one kind is too uncomfortable. She had one that just covered her nose, but since she breathes through her mouth when she sleeps a lot she got a different one for her nose and mouth.

    Also, hers starts out really slow then gets way more intense after about a half hour (when shes asleep)

    Being overweight can have a lot to do with it, but I hear that once you get it..losing the weight doesn't necessarily mean it goes away.

    Edit: I'm not sure, but you can probably take the machine with you...the one my mom has is about the size of a box of tissues, and I'm not sure on the license thing. I might be wrong but I think that the machine monitors her use though.
  • Disco Stu
    Im not sure i think they lasered the part in the middle a bit further in (no idea what its called in english) because it was to big or something like that, just to get more space for air.
    When your sleeping and your ( no idea what its called) in your throat collapses which is
    essentially the sleep apnoe you will breathe trough your nose as a reflex i suppose.
    Just go to a doctor already!
    Youll have a nice night in the sleeping lab :poly124:
    I wonder how they even got results out of me couldnt sleep a bit
    hooked up like a matrix energy cell but i guess exhaustion got the best
    of me after hours.
  • dfacto
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    dfacto polycounter lvl 18
    When your sleeping and your ( no idea what its called) in your throat collapses which is
    essentially the sleep apnoe you will breathe trough your nose as a reflex i suppose.

    Your pharynx (pretty much everything behind your nose and mouth) collapses in on itself and seals the airways, requiring a big gasp to get air through and restore breathing.
  • SnakeDoctor
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    SnakeDoctor polycounter lvl 14
    I don't think its sleep apnea but when I am really tired and fall asleep right before I go to sleep I sometimes violently jerk and it wakes me up.
  • Disco Stu
    Ah ok dfacto so that cant be the reason for nose lasering, anyways
    both things combined worked perfectly!

    @SnakeDoctor
    is it that im falling from a building feeling?
    Im pretty shure thats a reflex caused by evolution so we can run
    away from sabre tooth tigers coming into our caves :)
  • SnakeDoctor
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    SnakeDoctor polycounter lvl 14
    Ya its almost like the feeling, more like someone jumps up and scares the hell out of you. My fiance dosn't like it much. :)
  • slipsius
    twitching just before you fall asleep is actually a VERY common thing.

    Ya, ill definitely go see a doctor as soon as possible. I don't really care if i have to use a machine, especially if it will help me have more energy and help focus on work more. Im sure it will be uncomfortable at first, but it seems like it would be worth it. especially if it can lead to serious problems down the road.

    Thanks all!
  • dfacto
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    dfacto polycounter lvl 18
    No, it can be just your nose too, but that's usually milder forms.
  • Mark Dygert
    My dad had it, he was overweight. When I packed on the lbs after highschool, I started to do it. When I lost the weight and used a CPAP for a few years it went away. What gets the most credit for making it go away aside from the 50lb weightloss was changing the way I sleep.

    You might also be sleeping in a way that blocks your airway so it doesn't flow as easily, there has to be some kind of build up or demand before it pushes through. I was a side/stomach sleeper with poor pillow support and would turn my head so my airway was almost pinched off gaining weight closed my throat just enough to make it a problem.

    Anyway, I talked to my Dr about it after my wife said something, he sent me to a sleep clinic who did a sleep study and it came back that it was starting but with lifestyle changes it could easily be reversed, which it has.

    It concerned me because my dad died at 49 of a heart attack, at the time it seemed like a freak thing. But tragically the signs where all there, his dr (mine also at the time) thought the sleep apnea helped drive the heart disease and high blood pressure, the lack of quality sleep also drove the weight gain which together all snowballed.

    The weird thing is once I started sleeping better/different, my budding high blood pressure went away, it was easier to lose weight and I had way more energy. I'm still not at my ideal weight/health yet (having kids trows the whole thing off the tracks) but I'm 1000x better than I was.

    Seriously get that stuff looked into, it seems funky and weird but sort it out before it sorts you out.
  • Mark Dygert
    I don't think its sleep apnea but when I am really tired and fall asleep right before I go to sleep I sometimes violently jerk and it wakes me up.
    I brought that up with the sleep doctor and he said its normal. Your brain is just making a rough shift between gears. Very very common, there where things I could try if it was an issue but its not, I only brought it up because I thought it might be of interest.
  • Andreas
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    Andreas polycounter lvl 11
    dfacto wrote: »
    Sleep apnea is fairly serious since chronic oxygen deprivation can lead to mental deficits.

    Like starting a thread about it on Polycount :P
    slipsius wrote: »
    What the steps were they took to get it diagnosed

    Visiting a doctor I would think! ;)

    Seriously, if you stop breathing involuntarily at any point during your day, go to a doctor.
  • MadnessImport
    I have it

    only happens once every now and then
    Its weird too because it only happens when i have a nightmare... My dream transitions from the nightmare to weird colors that yo would see as if your being strangled then i jump up gasping for air

    I just dont go to sleep on days that i think it'll happen
    Still happens
  • cptSwing
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    cptSwing polycounter lvl 11
    the twitching thing is nerve or muscle related, something about nerve impules when your body starts to relax during sleep. it's absolutely not unhealthy or dangerous as far as i know.
  • Xenobond
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    Xenobond polycounter lvl 18
    I know that my wife has it. It's like sleeping with Darth Vader. Awesome...

    I think I may have it too, but my doctor is having me go through pills and other tests before letting me take a sleep study... Lame.
  • Andreas
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    Andreas polycounter lvl 11
    Anyone ever wake up with a massive erection?
  • rooster
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    rooster mod
    We get it, you don't approve of the thread, but plenty of people seem to be getting something out of sharing their experiences. Just don't read it, pretend it's not there.
  • Isaiah Sherman
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    Isaiah Sherman polycounter lvl 14
    From who I've known that has this, they're all overweight. I can't urge enough how important it is to be within the proper weight range. So many problems happen to your body when you're overweight.

    The breathing machine should only be a temporary fix. The REAL fix is getting more active and healthy. Stop eating fast food, increase vegetable intake, and go for walks. This documentary was pretty awesome. My fiance and I decent shape (slightly athletic), but when we started doing this we felt and explosion of energy that was almost unreal.

    http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com/

    You can watch it on Netflix instant if you have Netflix.

    You should watch some of these videos:
    http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com/testimonials.html


    Here are recipes for some drinks:

    Mean Green Juice (original) (the one my fiance and I use)
    This is the official recipe used by Joe Cross and Phil Staples according to the Reboot Program.
    6 Kale Leaves
    1 Cucumber
    4 Celery Stalks
    2 Green Apples
    1/2 Lemon
    1 piece of ginger

    Mean Green Juice #2
    handful spinach
    3 stalks of kale
    2 golden delicious apples
    small handful parsley
    1 lemon
    1 cucumber

    Mean Green Juice #3
    2 stalks celery
    1/2 cucumber
    1/2 apple
    1/2 lemon
    small piece ginger
    1/2 green chard leaf
    bunch cilantro
    5 kale leaves
    handful spinach

    Mean Green Juice #4
    1/2 pear
    1/2 green apple
    handful spinach
    handful parsley
    2 celery stalks
    1/2 cucumber
    small piece ginger
    slice of papaya
  • slipsius
    Thanks for the suggestions haiasi. Ill give it a watch. Hopefully its on canadian netflix.

    So, the guys who have/had it. Did you notice a difference in your work before / after treatment?
  • thomasp
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    thomasp hero character
    i don't suffer from this but the whole feeling of tiredness you guys mention can also be related to sitting in front of the computer all day, pushing the soapbox around. i know i get awfully tired if i suspend working out for just a few days in a row.

    as for sleeping habits - i am unable to sleep well at all with the windows closed, i always have to have fresh air or i'll feel like a zombie during the day. that's someting i never had a problem with in my youth.
  • percydaman
    I do suffer from pretty bad sleep apnea. I definitely find it gets alot more prevalent when I go over 210 lbs. I'm not obese, (6ft and used to do alot of weight lifting so I'm bulky) but I can't deny that I'm overweight. Mix acid reflux with sleep apnea and it can get pretty unbearable some nights. I find that it mostly happens when I sleep on my back, which I never intentionally do anyways, since I have a bad back. I definitely need to lose some weight.
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