2

10/8/2007 10:15:35 AM

yeah it can't hurt. better be safe than sorry.

[Edited on October 8, 2007 at 10:29 AM. Reason : d]

10/8/2007 10:29:36 AM

Quote :

"do you always have to stop breathing to have sleep apnea? my gf says that i don't stop breathing, but i do snore a lot, and i have all of the 'risks' for having it."

snoring in general means you have an partially obstructed airway, and it also means you're having to work harder to get less air, so it also could leave you tired in the morning and is probably less healthy too. Might not be as life threatening but snoring is also bad.

10/8/2007 12:15:14 PM

I saw logs.

10/8/2007 12:16:47 PM

If you even think you might have it, get tested.

The new research that is linking sleep apnea to a slew of other conditions is pretty interesting.

I dont know how true it is, but one of the things my sleep doctor was telling me is that when you are dead, its almost impossible to tell if a person had sleep apnea, so doctors are finally starting to try to put a link between heart attacks, strokes, etc.. caused by untreated apnea, versus ones caused by other things.

I know personally, we had to fight to keep my blood pressure normal, then when i went on CPAP, my blood pressure started coming down, and now my dosage for my blood pressure medicine is a lot lower, we are even talking about discontinuing it and seeing where it settles.

10/8/2007 4:33:40 PM

Do people have to use the CPAP machine the rest of their life, or what?

10/8/2007 5:37:05 PM

Quote :

"snoring in general means you have an partially obstructed airway, and it also means you're having to work harder to get less air, so it also could leave you tired in the morning and is probably less healthy too. Might not be as life threatening but snoring is also bad."

Yeah. When I was in the sleep lab they said that "snoring is indicative of a problem". Not always a serious problem of course, but ideally it should not happen.

Quote :

"The new research that is linking sleep apnea to a slew of other conditions is pretty interesting."

Yeah ... untreated sleep apnea supposedly triples the risk of things like heart attacks and strokes supposedly.

Quote :

"Do people have to use the CPAP machine the rest of their life, or what?"

Yes.

10/8/2007 9:17:37 PM

If i had SA, i would rather have the surgery done than use one of those machines. I get claustrophobic if anything is near or strapped onto my face, especially when i'm trying to sleep.

10/9/2007 8:10:09 AM

the downsides of surgery from what ive read is that it only has about a 65% success rate....and it deteriorates to about 50% over time.

im honestly suprised on how many people have had the surgery on here. i was under the impression that it was mostly used as a last resort these days. maybe im just reading out-of-date information.

10/9/2007 8:14:25 AM

i wake up sometime because i am holding my breath in my sleep. it is not that common for me, and doesn't scare me because i can remember this all the way back to around 10 years old (thats when i first start noticing it). i also experience sleep paralysis. this can be kind of scary in a way because you know you are woke but you have to mental force your body to move.

[Edited on October 9, 2007 at 8:24 AM. Reason : sdfg]

10/9/2007 8:23:44 AM

^^most of the information about the surgeries i've read has been from the late 90's.

10/9/2007 9:01:52 AM

I am perfectly content with the CPAP and have no plans on getting the surgery.

I could more understand it if I had problems with the CPAP but since I am completely adjusted to sleeping with it and it works well for me I would prefer to not have my throat cut apart.

10/9/2007 9:12:05 AM

i enjoy the meds they give you in the process.




seriously though, how much does the cpap machine cost? do you buy it? rent it? does insurance pay for it?

10/9/2007 9:12:46 AM

Insurance paid for a good part of my surgery but didnt cover one of my sleep studies which was 1000 dollars. I had my neurologist write that I tried the machine (which i did) and I was not comfortable with it and didnot look like I would ever be able to use it. I believe insurance pays for all but a few hundred of the machine. I actually still have the mask just not the pump that goes with it. You do have to get the machine calibrated over time to adjust to changes in your size and things like that.

10/9/2007 12:41:05 PM

what insurance do you have? what total expense am i looking at? how many sleep studies are needed???

10/9/2007 1:04:07 PM

^are you doing the machine or the surgery?

10/9/2007 1:31:01 PM

I don't know yet. I haven't officially been diagnosed, but I want to do the sleep study etc. I would rather have the surgery.

10/9/2007 2:35:53 PM

I dont know the exact price of the surgery or the machine I guess I can find it in my medical records. As for the sleep studies look through your policy there should be a section on them. Also call your insurance company to make sure they cover them especially multiple ones. Mine covered the first but not the 2nd if i remember correctly. I have blue cross blue shield of Kansas on a group plan. Who are you going to go see smath74? if you want I can refer you to the neurologist I went to to get all of this taken care of. He is really helpful and can answer many of your questions. I will look up the surgery costs later tonight and let you know exactly what i had to pay out of pocket for it. But I had a laser surgery that removed my tonsils and uvula (so my throat looks like a big O now instead of having the hanging button) and also my throat enlarged.
I have done two sleep studies before the surgery and i probably should go back and do another one now.

out of pocket for surgery i paid around 700 dollars out of around 2000 it would have cost and part of that is because i hadnt met my 200 dollar deductible. sleep studies are about 750 each as well plus the doctors visit to get it looked at so another 115.

[Edited on October 9, 2007 at 7:12 PM. Reason : ]

10/9/2007 7:08:30 PM

this will become more and more of a problem the fatter and fatter americans get....yeah, not everyone that has it is fat, but vast majority are... Maybe think about lap band(sp) next?

10/9/2007 10:26:47 PM

Snoring usually is a natural part of sleep, but it may also be a symptom of a potentially lethal condition known as obstructive sleep apnea (referred to as OSA or sleep apnea). Untreated sleep apnea is associated with stress, irritability, increased risk of industrial accidents, traffic accidents, high blood pressure, cardiovascular strain and other factors that can contribute to disability or death. http://www.sleepservices.net/documents/SleepApnea.pdf

Apparently now they are linking sleep apnea to a gain in weight. I'd also wonder which comes first weight gain or sleep apnea. As I cant remember a dream prior to my surgery since when i was around 10 but i can remember them before that.

10/9/2007 11:05:52 PM

so i went to the doctor last week. i pretty much just filled out a questionaire about my sleep, the doctor went over it, and scheduled me for a sleep study at the end of the month.

we talked a little bit about options, and he said they almost always start with the CPAP machine since the surgery is fairly intrusive and only has about a 60% success rate.

i guess ill just wait and see what the results of the sleep study are.

10/16/2007 8:45:34 AM

seriously man if u can get the cpap machine and sleep with it then do it. I think i am going to get my wisdom teeth removed the first of next year so i can have a little more space in my jaw and that should help my problems too

10/16/2007 9:53:58 AM

yea use the cpap thing. Its a little scary looking at first but after a few weeks you will wonder why you didn't get one sooner. screw the surgery.

10/16/2007 11:52:05 AM

i have no reservations if its going to give me a good night's sleep. im tired of being tired all the time.

10/16/2007 12:01:57 PM

i'm not saying screw the surgery but see what works best for you. if you cant do the cpap thing then get the surgery. If you are fat then go on a diet and start parking as far from the entrance of every store as possible.

10/16/2007 12:43:39 PM

My best friend had one of the worst cases of sleep apnea that the sleep study clinic that he went to had ever encountered. I do not remember how often he stopped breathing, but I do know that I could hear him snoring and stop and start breathing from just about anywhere in the house whenever he spent the night. He also had problems with multiple tonsil/throat infections. They didn't even recommend the machine for him. He had his tonsils and who knows whatever out and he doesn't know how he survived prior to surgery the difference is so dramatic.

10/16/2007 12:50:39 PM

i go in for my sleep study tonite...should be interesting.

10/29/2007 10:39:51 AM

my dad was diagnosed with it, and used one of those loud breathing machines (i rememebr i could hear it down the hall), and I'm pretty sure that I have it now as well- he said that the machine worked really well, and that he rarely has to use it anymore (and i think he lived with it for so long that his body adjusted, cause now he only gets ~5 hours of sleep every night and that seems to be enough for him)

i just can't afford to go do all the testing nor could I afford any of the treatments if i were to be diagnosed with it

10/29/2007 1:42:16 PM

So what doctor do you go to see if you're concerned about this? I haven't been to a doctor since my last physical about three years ago and I don't even remember the name of the general practitioner who did it. Do you have to go to a general practitioner first or can you just skip that and go straight to a sleep specialist?

I sleep about 10-11 hours if I don't force myself to wake up. I use three alarm clocks on different sides of the room so I have to get out of bed to turn them off and I still sleep through all three on occasion. I really think there is a problem in my sleeping.

10/29/2007 3:02:06 PM

You should probably go back for a full physical to you gp. This should come up in conversation by him or you (by writing it on something). He will refer you .

10/29/2007 3:17:06 PM

Quote :

"my dad was diagnosed with it, and used one of those loud breathing machines (i rememebr i could hear it down the hall)"

The machines are no longer that loud. Mine is pretty quiet and I am certain they have even quieter ones now. It isn't even close to as loud as someone snoring, mostly a very soft hum.

Quote :

"I'm pretty sure that I have it now as well"

As soon as you get a chance, get it checked out man ... sleep apnea can lead to very serious problems (heart attack, stroke, etc)

Quote :

"So what doctor do you go to see if you're concerned about this?"

Your regular physician. If they see fit they will refer you to a sleep lab to have a sleep study done. For insurance purposes the insurance company usually requires you to be referred and after the sleep study is done you go back to your regular doctor to get the results. At that point if they find out that you do have sleep apnea (or something else) then you can discuss treatment options.

I will state again that the CPAP machine works very well and I personally prefer it to surgery for many reasons.

10/29/2007 7:30:28 PM

i wish they had a machine for those addicted to tww

10/29/2007 9:15:33 PM

So the sleep study is done, but apperently some of their software crashed so some of the measurements could not be taken, so more then likely I will have to take it again. it was definately not a very pleasant experience. i grabbed a quick (and not very flattering) picture of some of the shit i was hooked up to:



as you can imagine, it was pretty uncomfortable to sleep. it took me a long time to fall asleep, and id say i woke up 4-5 times and had hard time falling back asleep. i did dream though, which is something i don't normally do anymore, so i was surprised. overall, not very fun, and unfortunately im probably going to have to go through it again.

10/30/2007 7:05:48 AM

dreaming doesn't happen during REM sleep though, does it? I thought it happened during the cycling periods

10/30/2007 8:23:04 AM

according to that episode of star trek the next generation, REM sleep is when you dream.

10/30/2007 8:27:32 AM

^^i was under the impression that it did. i was told that i did have periods of REM sleep, although short.

10/30/2007 9:20:02 AM

rofl i had no idea sober looked like that...goodluck though...i dont get how eraser likes the machine so much when it looks like a hassle to sleep with

10/30/2007 9:22:16 AM

well, thats not the machine. those are just all the sensors they hooked on me to measure my vitals. i had 24 sensors in total glued on.

i just got a call from the lab and i do have to take it over again. 2 weeks away. yippee.

10/30/2007 9:58:58 AM

how much was the study?

10/30/2007 6:25:39 PM

did they let your woman stay with you?

10/30/2007 6:26:09 PM