Sleep apnea newbie

diamondgeog · 04-08-2010, 09:41 PM

Well I am sure many of us have wondered if we have sleep apnea or not. I definitely snore, am overweight, have a large neck, so I went in for a sleep study.

My insurance would only pay for a 'split-night study' which basically means the hook up all the wires and give you about 4hours of sleep (minus the time it takes you to actually get asleep with all the wires). Then if they do have enough data, they try you on CPAP (basically blows air, not oxygen but air from the room at a 'high pressure) for the other 4 hours or so.

Basically that pressure keeps your airways open so you do not experience short stoppages in breath that wake you up (even if you don't know it).

I am not going to lie, the mask is freaky, and I am still getting use to it. But the new CPAP machines are great. The one I have is totally quiet, the mask fits fine without any discomfort and the machine keeps the pressure of the air low until it is needed.

Anyhow on a board like this called sleepapnea.org many people have reported losing a lot of weight after their sleep apnea was treated. I am fully aware this doesn't always happen and even if it doesn't if I feel better it would be more than worth it.

Also my wife sleeps much better now. The only thing I can say is if you think you might have it OR your significant other does, GET a sleep study. Might be the single best thing you do for yourself all year and many years to come.

diamondgeog · 04-12-2010, 03:36 PM

Wow. Really? No one else have, has been treated, is dealing with, or suspects they have sleep apnea? Okay. Thought it might apply to a lot of people here. And it is IMPORTANT. Especially for weight loss. You could easily be sabotaging all your weight loss efforts by constantly not getting a good night's sleep.

AR4life · 04-12-2010, 08:12 PM

My hubby has had the cpap machine for 5.5 years now. He never lost weight but he did start sleeping through the night and doesn't snore anymore. His heart is stronger now because he is getting the deep sleep.
I was waking up when he stopped breathing so didn't get much sleep till he was tested.
A life saver !!!

beth4365 · 04-12-2010, 08:29 PM

Wow.... diamondgeog..... I'd never heard that info before. And, I'm just now seeing your post, so thank you for making it.

I'm dealing with insomnia and it certainly isn't helping with weightloss. I don't think I have sleep apnea... though.... I know I snore. *blush* I wonder if I should speak to my doctor about it? It's at least worth looking into.

Thanks again for your post!

mulder1921 · 04-12-2010, 08:41 PM

Insomnia is actually a sign of sleep apnea, especially if you snore. Basically, your brain knows that when you go to sleep its not getting enough oxygen when you stop breathing and it sub-consciously doesn't want you to sleep. Hence, insomnia.

I am a Resgistered Sleep tech and see this issue all the time.

Also, CPAP can definately help you lose weight, usually because once your sleep is consolidated, you will have more energy and your metabolism will rev up. Poor sleep is linked with weight gain and retension.

Let me know if you have any questions about sleep apnea.

kaplods · 04-12-2010, 09:18 PM

I lost weight without trying after using a CPAP, and the apnea disappeared after losing only about 35 to 40 lbs.

It took a couple weeks to really be comfortable with the CPAP, but when I stopped using the CPAP, I had to get used to sleeping without it. The quiet woosh of the machine created white noise that I missed when it was gone (because suddenly I heard every little night noise).

I never would have thought I had sleep apnea. It was so severe that I was waking every 90 seconds on average, but it was for such a brief period that I never registered it as waking. I thought I woke every couple hours. I was getting virtually no deep stage sleep at all (that kind of sleep deprivation kills labs animals of immune disfunction. I have autoimmune disease, don't think it's a coincidence, especialy since the autoimmune disease has gone into at least a partial remission since the apnea was treated).

diamondgeog · 04-13-2010, 01:23 PM

There are probably more women posters in sleepapnea.org than males. Now that might be due to who posts, but this is definitely not a gender-specific condition. Also it turns out a sizeable percentage of people with sleep apnea (and there are different kinds but the most common is obstructive sleep apnea or OSA, but I am just saying sleep apnea) don't snore. And then some that do snore do not have sleep apnea.

I have gotten sick more the past few years as my sleep apnea was getting worse. I am hoping by getting better sleep my body will become a better cold and flu defender this coming season. Also the mask is getting easier and easier to use. I do feel more rested during the day for sure. It is a nice feeling and it has only been 2 weeks.

Interestingly I did some research and it seems some years on biggest loser almost all of the contestants have it. I don't watch very often but I hope they bring that up to help people

WarMaiden · 04-13-2010, 01:42 PM

One of my big motivations to change my diet/lifestyle and lose weight was my husband's snoring and (presumed) sleep apnea. He was keeping me awake at night, both due to the noise and because it freaked me out to hear him just...stop...breathing. Most nights, he had to sleep on the couch in the living room so that I could get a night's rest, and because it was actually physically easier for him to sleep there.

When I eliminated caffeine and sugar/white refined food from my diet, and then he did as well--we both easily lost weight and began to sleep much better. He no longer snores or wakes up like he used to. We both feel much, much better now that we are rested, and we are demonstrably healthier. (We have each lost 80+ pounds.)

Sometimes now at night when I can't quite fall asleep, or I wake up--these episodes are rare for me now--but when it does happen, I just lie there listening to my husband's breathing as he sleeps warmly next to me, no snoring, no stopping...and I feel so happy and content.

Sleep is so, so, so critical to health and a healthy weight.

natamars · 04-13-2010, 02:06 PM

I have sleep apnea. I don't think mine is weight-related - I've always been a loud snorer. My dr. recommended a sleep study when I mentioned my afternoon exhaustion at a visit about a year ago. I was very hopeful regarding energy and weight loss form the CPAP, but I haven't seen anything dramatic. I do feel somewhat more rested when I've used it, but there are many nights lately I just can't be bothered. But now that I saw your thread, I will make a serious effort to use it every night, because every little bit helps.

My numbers when using the machine are usually between 5-10 episodes per hour, all hypopneas(think it was 20-40 on my sleep study), so there is improvement. My husband says I am not really snoring much these days even when I'm not on the CPAP(have lost about 20 lbs. over the last several months), which is interesting, because I wasn't overweight in high shool or college and I know I snored then. Strange.

diamondgeog · 04-14-2010, 12:48 PM

natamars it seems like you have mild sleep apnea from your sleep study. So you won't see as dramatic improvement as someone with severe apnea would. My sleep study was like yours. Again it has only been two weeks for me but I am feel a little of subtle if profound improvements already.

1) Waking up. Feel WAY more rested than before. Also I use to have a coughing 'fit' for a little bit when I woke up. Now I never do.

2) Stamina. Not really energy since I wasn't falling asleep, my apnea wasn't that bad. But when I do exercise or everyday cardio stuff I do not get winded near what I use to or near as fast. So far no big weight loss the past 2 weeks...but just feeling rested finally when waking up has been totally worth it.

Also it is startling but almost every 'weight' kind of disease happens to correlate with sleep apnea; diabetes, heart disease, etc. Now if this is because a lot of people with sleep apnea are also over-weight I do not know. But it does stand to reason that constantly interupted sleep day after day has got to have negative health benefits eventually.

diamondgeog · 05-07-2010, 01:46 PM

It has now been over a month on sleep apnea treatment. It has been AWESOME. I feel better then I have in years. Lost a few pounds but have gained a lot more muscle mass because it is so much easier for me to work out and be active.

I feel better in the morning, noon, and night. The face mask is no problem once you get use to it.

I am posting again because I think for many people here this arguably is the NUMBER ONE issue they are facing. I just saw a google news article that something like 82% of men with sleep apnea don't get treatment BUT 93%, yes 93% of women with sleep apnea do not get treatment.

The higher rates are probably because people think of it as a 'male thing'. Wrong. Here is the deal no matter how much you eat right and try to exercise right you will not be as successful, nearly, as getting your sleep apnea treated. Not sleeping increases apetite and decreases metabolism. It makes you too tired to be active. Sleep apnea treatment addressess all of these.

Untreated sleep apnea can very likely lead to diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, heart attacks, early death. Look it up. In fact I bet many of the stuff always linked to being overweight is actually because the overweight can be a contributing factor to sleep apnea and then the sleep apnea leads to all those things. You would be shocked at how low oxygen levels can get with untreated sleep apnea.

Honestly after a week the mask I wear is no problem. It has made my bed life with my wife better not worse frankly because I have a lot more energy and drive. So if you have it, do something about it. If you are female reading this and your significant other snores and is overweight look into it.

Might spend hundreds, thousands of hours dieting, exercising, etc. etc. And be sabotoging all of that because you have untreated sleep apnea. Get it checked out. Trust me, best thing I ever did.

hpnodat · 07-17-2010, 12:40 AM

I have a huge problem with snoring, my husband & I have been sleeping in separate rooms because of it for a while now and I just cant stand it anymore. I'm getting ready to go in for a sleep study. I'm really concerned about the cost, we have insurance but it only covers so much and I'm not sure if it will cover the cost of a cpap machine if I need it. How much does one of those things cost anyway.

Buddha Belly BeGone · 07-18-2010, 11:37 AM

Hi everyone,
I'm new here and saw this thread and just had to pipe up. I too suffered from sleep apnea. I knew that it was bad because of the constant exhaustion I felt. My husband knew it was bad because he couldn't sleep either - I could shake the roof off the house with my snoring, snorting and gasping.

Here is a lesson for everyone who is considering testing. I went for a sleep study in the sleep study center. I was wired with super glued probes on my head, masks, the works. I showed absolutely no signs of sleep apnea. I dreamed, by the way that I was trying to climb to the tippy top branches of a tree to escape lions that were clawing at me, but I couldn't because the damn helmet on my head was attached to wires so I'd better be quiet. Think that had any affect on my study?

I didn't give up. I sought help from an ear nose and throat specialist to get a second opinion. He sent me home with a very non-invasive band that strapped to my head and small tubing under my nose that had a monitor attached. The machine was equipped with what would normally equate to an eight hour capacity for monitoring, making notations for lapses in breathing and oxygen levels.

When I took it in the next morning, I got a call within two hours. The doctor wanted to schedule me for surgery! He said I wiped out the system in 4 hours, not 8. My oxygen level dropped to 30% 3 times in those 4 hours.

I stopped breathing for over a minute 7 times and once for over 2 minutes.

He said I was very lucky to be alive. People don't usually survive at this level. This can also create such stress on the heart that it could create heart damage. Let's not even talk about the brain damage from the lack of oxygen. (To this day, I still feel I pick things up much more slowly that before the symptoms set in.)

I was in surgery within the week. My blockages wouldn't be corrected with a mask. It was the most painful surgery I've ever been through. Morphine didn't even help. (Think of being roto-rooted.)

They broke my nose and straightened it, removed my tonsils, adnoids and 1/2" of scar tissue in my throat (left over from a childhood illness). They took out my uvula, cut and tightened my pallet (sp?). For all the pain, it was the best decision I ever made.

(All this was done with laser - the only way to go.)

Within a week, I was sleeping better even though I was still in pain. Within a couple of weeks, I started having energy. I started thinking more clearly, less moody, and felt like I was living again.

So understand that not all tests are equal and not every conclusion right. If you feel this is an issue, push forward to get heard. Your life may depend on it.

buddly · 08-02-2010, 04:09 PM

Hi all,

I have a prescription for a cpap, but I've been putting off making an appt for it. I was hoping for surgery, but they want me to try this first, of course. Looking back I've probably had sleep apnea my whole life. I thought it just happened when I was congested, but obviously not. And that was why I thought the surgery would be a good idea as its obviously my anatomy, not weight or age.
Its nice to see comments from other women, I can find a lot of info on men with snoring and sleep apnea, but not as much on women. I'm finding I'm so self conscience about going to sleep now.

Have a good day all,
K