Sleep apnea??
 

OK so does anyone else out here have this "sleep apnea"? About six months ago I was watching my wife sleeping and noticed that she seemed to be not breathing (not inhailing) for very long periods of time (30-60 sec), and it kind of freaked me out, and made me watch her even more, afraid that she was going to stop breathing all together. When I told her a few days later she said that she noticed that I was doing the same thing in my sleep, which is kind of scary.

So we decided to ask about this during our annual physicals this year. We are going through the testing stages of this disorder now, and we have both been diagnosed with it. My wife is rated 17.5, and I am rated 22.5, which is how many times we stop breathing for more than just a few seconds every hour. Apparently this disorder is becoming more common than most people think, and doctors are saying that millions of people just never get it checked.

The knowledge I have gained is this. It all has to do with aging and how the throat begins to relaxe and close up while you sleep, causing you to struggle to take in air. This in turn starves the brain and the rest of your body of oxegen and creates a situation resulting in one not really getting any rest at night. In stead your body spends the entire time fighting for air fatiguing everything about you. This is why some people can sleep for 8 hours and wake up feeling wasted. This disorder leads to other problems as well like heart desease, stroke, and even brain damage or death.

So now both of us have to get these machines that we will have to sleep with for the rest of our lives. They create a positive pressure in your airway that will keep the throat fully open so you can breath properly. It also stops the snoring as well. It is a little bit uncomfortable, but we will get used to them. Now that we are going through all of this I remember many years ago that my father had the same problem, but it was not yet discovered what it was. Anyway we have been fully checked out, scoped, and anylized so we have done all that we can to make sure there are no hidden secrets. One of our colleages has just been diagnosed with inoperable colon cancer 45 years old. They have two young teens and she has been given about 6 months to live. Early detection is the key. We are seeing too many of our friends and family suddenly getting sick and passing away with very short notices. Don't wait until it is too late. Don't be shy. If you are 50 and over get checked every ten years. Life is already too short, so don't make it shorter than it needs to be.

Glad to hear you got it sorted Jerry. I know quite a few people with this issue and a colleague almost died because of it. Having frequent examinations is a very good idea. I am only 30 and can see the benefit from starting early with the preventative care.

Im not sure if sleap apnea is what i have, but i quit sleeping on my back because i would wake up not being able to breath. so now it is my stomach or my side that i sleep on. I do snore LOUDLY though. Sometimes if i fall asleep while watching tv i will wake up from my own snoring lol. Also i thought there was a surgery to correct sleep apnea?

Causes
 

Sleeping on your back is when it happens the most, because your tounge and soft pallet relaxe and fall towards the back of your throat closing off your airway. Heavy snoring is one of the major signs that you have this condition. Get it checked and resolve it one way or another. Surgery is available, but there are risks and side effects involved that we are not willing to chance at this point. It is pretty barbarick surgery once you see how they try to change this, and it is not usually permanent either. I have discussed this with a few people who opted for surgery and they were not very happy about it afterwards. We can always change our minds later if we decide to get surgery, but for now we will deal with the CPAP machines and see how that works out.

Those who have gotten these machines sweare that they will never sleep without them now. using the machine changes the way you sleep, and releaves the chances of complications, which I can live with. Plus it has been determined that it allows you to actually get a good nights sleep, which makes you feel better rested every morning.

This disorder is a game changer and a killer. Get it checked out if you suspect anything is wrong. The testing is anoying, but easy to complete. In the states they have you sleep overnight one time for an 8 hour period. The first half is to determine just how severe it is (0-10 mild, 10-20 moderate, and above 20 is considered sever), and the second half is to figure out what level of forced air pressure you need to overcome the problem. Here in Korea they insist that it has to be done in two sessions (more money for two nights stay) and I just completed my second session at Samsung Hospital. Now I have to go to our on base facility to get fitted and receive the machine under our insurance(Tricare). So far it has cost me about $450, out of the total cost of $1500 up to now. We have to file that with our secondary insurance for refunds. I believe they are going to supply the machine at no cost to us. We shall see.

Exercise is often the best cure & the best 'life choice'

I have a friend who has the machine, although it works it's almost validated his poor lifestyle & removed the need to make healthy choices

Go for a run, buy a bike, swim every day...whatever the exercise it will make a notable difference

Spa
 

We already go to the Spa several times each week and use a meriad of methods for exercise. I swim laps nearly every day now, and I take the boys on bike-rides on the Han River here in Seoul a couple times a month, because I love the views. We ride for at least 10 to 20 miles every visit. They have several hundred miles of bike paths along both sides of the river, which makes for some great riding. I do believe that laziness has contributed to this problem to some extent. Still there is only so much one can do. After spending over 20+ years in the US Navy and having to complete a PT test at least twice a year kept me in shape. After leaving the service I pretty much gave up most of the exercise but have kept up with other kinds of physical activities. When I look around at others my age and from what doctors are telling me, I am in pretty good shape compared to most. I am in the low 40's catagory, which is pretty good considering that I am about to turn 52. Very little drinking and no smoking(ever).

We were discussing this yesterday and we are seeing a lot of changes in the way people are living and growing now compared to 50 years ago. I believe we as a human race are going through changes that are really begining to show some level of deterioration of our physical health overall. We just read that the average death age is begining to drop. Evolution is always a constant and things do not always go in the direction of positive changes. Life changing illnesses are at an all time high and we seem to be getting worse as time moves forward with Diabedes, cancer, heart desease, ostioparosis, aids, MS, and a whole bunch of other deseases seem to be on the rise.

I believe that we have poisoned ourselves with too many man made chemicals and polution and now we are begining to see the effects of that mistake. Dursban and other pesticides have been banned due to the fact that these chemicals never deteriorate and are ending up in our driking water along with mercury, lead and others, but after nearly 100 years of use I fear the bans on these things were too late in coming. We will feel the effects of this disaster for decades. Plus illnesses are becoming more powerful like the super bugs and bacteria that are now showing up. It is hard to see it now, but we could actually be extinct in a few hundred years if something does not change in a positive way.

I think my Grandfather has this. I remember years ago when he got this machine that goes over his mouth and nose and basically blows air down his throat. I would always try it on since it feels really funny, hahahah..... Anyway, glad you got yourselves checked out, hope all goes well from here. My grandfather must be on it for 12 or so years now....still kickin pretty dang well for an 85 year old war veteran that held his own guts in to get back to a medic....

Updated equipment.
 

He may want to look into some updated equipment as things have changed over the years with this condition. Apparantly the newer models only cover the nose leaving the mouth open just in case electricity is lost. It was weird to because I would have thought that the pressurized air would have forced my mouth open during sleep, but it does not. I slept with my mouth closed through the entire study oddly enough. Plus the newer machines are so much quieter nowa days. The only sound you hear is a very low whirring sound that is rythomic with your breathing. No mechanical sound at all. Its all very cool. Especially if it helps us get a better restful sleep, which will in turn give us a more wide awake time during the daylight hours.

Exercise does nothing for sleep apena. I'm very active, and have it.

Jerry - I just got my machine about a month ago. I'm not sure how they measured anything during my "test" sleep, 'casue I dont think I slept for more than a half hour or so. Very little insulation in the building, its on the corner next to one of the main hospitals in the north Seattle area, and all them damn wire hooked up to me was just a little wierd. Anyway, I blew you away on the score - I was in the low 80's - about every 35-40 seconds.
They have me set on about 8 for the pressure level.

I did suprisinlgly well with the machine for the first week. I'm a fairly light sleeper, and find it difficult to get to sleep. The noise level is quite low. I've only made it through a night with it on maybe twice. Most of the time it gets yanked off around 2 or 3 in the morning (normally get up at 4). Seem to having a hard time with the headband adjustment. When you are laying on your back, its a little tighter. But if you roll over, or change the tilt of your head, it will loosen up some. When it does this, it blows the air out the sides of the mask, and gets very irritating. Mosts of the time, I pull it off without really knowing what I'm doing.

As far as results, I haven't noticed much difference in how I feel yet. My wife is definitly getting a better nights sleep without worrying about me, and without my snoring.

Just an FYI, you'll have to clean the filter about once a week it seems.

Try anything.
 

Considering the alternatives I will try my best to overcome, and I am sure that I will succeed. Yea the whole test session was a little bit weird to say the least. I do not sleep on my back usually anyway, so this will surely be a challenge for me to. During the second phase of my testing I knew noise would be an issue so I made sure to bring my Ipod along, and it helped me get to sleep pretty quickly once I overcame the fitment issues of the mask.

The first mask put too much pressure on my forhead and after one hour it had to be removed, because it was keeping me awake and giving me a headache. The second mask was much more comfortable and tolrerable. Then I fell asleep within a few minutes.

During the first phase I felt like I had not slept at all, but they assured me that not only did I sleep, but I snored very loudly and a lot. also during the second phase At one point the tech had to come in and wake me up to shift, because I had rolled onto my right side which is the way I normally sleep. I remembered that when I shifted to my side that I had to readjust the mask to keep it from leaking, but it worked out OK. All-in-all it was uncomfortable, but I believe that I can manage. You may want to try using earplugs, or listen to music to fall asleep. That to can take some getting used to, but it is doable.

During my various tours in the Navy I learned to sleep just about anywhere. One of my posts was on a floating drydock in Holy Loch Scotland. We would be at docking stations for many hours without much relief, so I used to climb up on the operating Catapillar generators and sleep while it was under full loads.

There are also several styles of masks available, and you just have to find the right one to sute your comfort level. My hope is to turn this into a positive solution and not let anything beat my efforts. That is just the way we operate here in the Hll House. Never surrender, never say die. This is the same principle we apply to dealing with our 8 kids. I refuse to be beaten by any child no matter how strong willed they feel they might be. Improvise, adapt, & overcome.

Jerry, I had been diagnosed with Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea last year. The Navy gave me ny CPAP machine about a month after being diagnosed. I sleep with it and gives me a good full night sleep without the usual headaches in the morning after waking up. It's uncomfortable but it's okay since I know it'll save my life. I'm glad I heeded my wife's advice or else I would have never known. There is no known cure to it but it can be prevented. A fellow Chief onboard had his tonsil removed hoping it would cure his sleeping disorder but it didn't.

The best thing about this is knowing what I have and preventing it from killing me in my sleep. Another good thing is the machine prevents me from snoring. The Navy had ackowledged the prevalence of this disorder amongst us. In fact, since I'm diagnosed with it and acquired it while in the Navy, I will be entitled to 50% VA disability after I retire. Teel you what though, I'd rather have a healthy life instead of receiving disability benefits.

I'm glad you had it sorted out.

When I was in my early 20's my GF at the time discovered I wasn't breathing for lengthy periods. She said she counted slowly to 30 and could stand it no longer so she moved or figgeted or jigged and I would take a deep breath. I think I did snore too.

This happened to be early in the night and I was just falling asleep, right on the cusp. So for a few nights I was unimpressed with her antic's :diablo: I didn't think anything of it as work was physically hard and I was generally active anyway- cycling(daily), bushing walking (with the dog, so regularly), visiting the beach (with my young cousins) were some of the norm's. Diet was usually good. I just figured my body was relaxing.

I honestly don't know if I still do anything like that during sleep, the wife hasn't said anything :whistle:

I think stuff like this has always been around, possibly more so nowadays with the easy life (unhealthy lifestyes) and also with doctors and the big pharma's coming up with more ways to make people think they are unwell (don't take offence to that). What surprises me most is you people that have just posted come across like you are active and healthy, so why do you have sleep apnea? Is it really just age related?

Thanks
 

Thanks Lito for the words of support and encouragement. Life is never simple or easy so we just have to find the easiest way to deal with the obstacles that are thrown in front of us and move on. WOW it must be a huge imporition dealing with this onboard ship every night? Glad to hear that things are working out for you with this disorder though. Because of snoring and just the basic noises onboard ship I always went to sleep with either ear plugs or headphones on to help me get to sleep and stay that way. We are just happy to be getting things sorted out now before we head off to Prague. There are no US facilities/services available there so it would be a serious PITA trying to get things done traveling back and forth to Germany. The wife hasher appointment this Tuesday for her CPAP titration test. Then we can both get our machines issued and put into operation. We are both hopeful for a better nights sleep from now on. Along with better health that goes along with this remedy. Wish us luck.

I think it's the military culture that did it for me since I never had irregular sleep pattern until I started standing watches down in the engineroom. It doesn't healp either when almost 75% of my career was spent onboard ships. I exercise almost daily and eat healthy and don't drink or smoke so I don't think it's my lifestyle.

The company from Hawaii sends my supply of filters and hoses every couple of months. I'm glad I don't have to spend a penny on it.

According to a recent study, there was a significant increase of sleep apnea cases in the military during the past 10 years. There are now roughly 20K sailors diagnosed with it compared to about 9K ten years ago.

The general trend I see here is it is increasingly affecting either the whole population or active people. Interesting.

Do you think that increase is partially do to people's education (they know about it now), so are aware of the sign's and get it checked?