Sleep Apnea

jagmom3 · 03-02-2004, 05:16 PM

has anyone been diagnosed with sleep apnea or had a sleep study. I am scheduled for a study next week. I am trying not to get too excited that getting the apnea under control is going to change my life. What can I expect? Am I really going to have more energy? Should it help with weight loss? Any experience you can share would be appreciated. Thanks

ageoldie · 03-02-2004, 06:56 PM

I had the study, but was sure I didn't have it, but to make my doc happy I went through it. All I can say is it cost me 564.00 (my part, not counting what insurance paid) to find out that I SNORE ole' Alvin said he could have told them that for free!

VOW · 03-02-2004, 07:37 PM

I had a sleep study done, which determined I have "mild apnea" and my PCP said that according to the report, I "do not desaturate."

Instead of following through with the study, I got banded, LOL!

Wear COMFY jammies, bring your own pillow, and a nice, boring book to read to put you to sleep.

Do NOT plan on going straight to work the next morning. You will have a headful of goop from the electrodes, and you will be POOPED from sleeping in a strange bed. Stumble into Starbucks to get a cup of coffee for the drive home, and then count on a shower and some decent ZZZZs.

~VOW

jiffypop · 03-02-2004, 09:06 PM

oh great advice, vow... i had my sleep study the night before thanksgiving in 2001. and i found a diner and had breakfast. and then went home and took a nap!!!!

did NOT enjoy being trussed up like a chicken... and it felt like i was staying in a cheap hotel room. i know they tried to make it comfy and less hospital-like, but there was only so much they could do.

the technicians were very very helpful and kind. and they're all so used to this that it's NOTHING to them.

and the desaturation is critical. while you're sleeping, they're measuring the amount of oxygen in your system. that little clippy thing they put on your finger does the measuring, and it works kind of like those thermometers they put in your ear.

anyway. when the apnea is bad, your oxygen levels decrease when you stop breathing. that's what desaturation is. of course, some of us were so bad that we desaturated on oxygen anyway!!!!

anyway, most people's saturation returns to normal [or near normal] when they start breathing again. that's why apnea is so dangerous. you're not getting oxygen in the rest of your body and it puts you at high risk of dying from a blood clot in the lungs or heart.

the idea [which some docs buy into and others don't, but i think the smarter docs are the ones who do believe it] is that the decreased oxygen in your system makes you accumulate fluid that you can't get rid of until it's corrected. so using the cpap/bipap [the cpap is for less severe apnea, the bipap for more severe] makes you breathe properly so that you get the oxygen you need throughout your system. and you can then clear out all the excess fluid.

and i'm living proof of this.. it's how i lost the 97 pounds before surgery!!!!!

POOKIE88 · 03-02-2004, 10:14 PM

cipap/bipap?/ sorry for being so dumb but what is cipap/bipap?

Is it an operation you get or a devise you use?

jagmom3 · 03-02-2004, 11:12 PM

Oh my Gosh! the doctor showed me how much fluid I am retaining. Which I have for years but had no idea it is related to sleep apnea. I started retaining fluid 19 years ago when I was pregnant and got toxicemia. I don't guess I know how many years I have been holding fluid since then. This is what scares me is that I hear your wonderful story and hope that I can loose some weight too, when I get this under control. I have been trying so hard this year working out and everything but I have not seen any results. I keep thinking that there is no way I could be working out so hard (compared to nothing) and not loosing any weight. Maybe this could be an answer?

cpap is a oxygen mask you wear to sleep at night - oversimplified

I don't know what a bipap is.

jiffypop · 03-03-2004, 01:17 AM

cpap = continuous positive air pressure

bipap = biposition [i think, it's definitely bi] positive air pressure.

you see, in sleep apnea, your throat closes and you stop breathing. the cpap helps you take that inhaled breath to keep that airway open. and the machine essentially keeps blowing air into your nose so that you keep breathing.

bipap helps you take both that inhaled breath and helps you exhale completely. so it cycles at different pressures.

cpap stays at one pressure and only helps with the inhalation. bipap changes pressure and helps with both inhalation and exhalation.

POOKIE88 · 03-03-2004, 02:13 AM

Jiffy, Are you still using that machine or was that all pre-op for you?

jiffypop · 03-03-2004, 09:15 AM

i stopped using it about 2 months after surgery. and it's been donated to someone with severe apnea whose insurance company refused to pay for one!!!! isn't that stupid???!!!

and pookie: WHEN DO YOU SLEEP??????

Luna3 · 03-03-2004, 11:33 AM

My husband also had a c-pap machine for years before his surgery.

He was originally scheduled for a 2 night study, they wanted him to just sleep the first night so they could monitor him. Well he stopped breathing so many times, they woke him up, and gave him a machine the very first night. The poor nurse told him she could not take watching him anymore!

Well after he had his weight loss surgery, and he has lost 125 lbs in a year, he no longer has to use his machine! He was given the all clear just a month ago.

jiffypop · 03-03-2004, 11:46 AM

such good news about john!!!! sounds like he's doing great! what's he up to these days? you two must be sooo happy...

Luna3 · 03-04-2004, 10:32 AM

John is doing great!

It is so strange to have a skinny little husband! LOL! OK, well he is still 6'1 but I think you know what I mean.

As of his one year appointment he is a 71% of his total loss goal. I still think they want him to be to thin but hey, I'm no doctor, so I guess we will have to believe them. His weight loss has definitely slowed down, but he is still losing, now he just has to work more to keep the scale moving.

We have started to exercise together. And as it is getting warmer, I am on my annual course to lose some weight. So we are sort of doing the family diet and eating healthy and trying to move more plan.

It has been a very strange and rewarding year. We were discussing it last night, how he is no longer instantly mad when someone brings up portion size, LOL! Man that used to tick him off RIGHT NOW! He is finally realizing what is healthy and good for him. He has even had to remind me a few times! LOL!