My Life and Sleep Apnea

One problem with the CPAP mask that I haven’t heard much about is claustrophobia. The mask can be cumbersome for most at the beginning because it is so unnatural to have a mask on your face while you are sleeping. I wrote about my experiences in an earlier post, but for some, the problems might be a little more frightening. Claustrophobia is a panic disorder that causes anxiety from the fear of enclosed places. Most sufferers fear the lack of movement that a tightly enclosed place puts them in or they fear a lack of oxygen. Training the patients to identify their fears and change their behaviors is the most common treatments. Sleep Apnea patients who are claustrophobic due to their CPAP mask can find relief by wearing it during the day for a few hours to adjust to the feel and the sound of the machine. They can also try out nasal pillows where tubes are inserted into the nostrils without having any straps on their face. Relaxation exercises might also be tried to control t...

If you are using a cpap mask then you probably know how hot they can get especially in the summer. Even if you have the air conditioning cranked up high wearing a cpap mask can be uncomfortable in hot weather . You add humidity to that excessive heat and you may have a dangerous problem. With a cpap mask regardless of the weather the sleep apnea patient may feel discomfort from where the cpap mask touches the skin. If you add in the heat and humidity it will only aggravate the problem. There are things that you can do to help alleviate this problem. The first thing is to make sure that your mask is comfortable. The cpap machine and mask have been around quite awhile now and there have been substantial improvement to not only the machine but also the mask. If you don’t feel comfortable with your present mask there are many others to choose from. And of course there are humidifiers that are connected to the cpap machines. They keep the air that is going into your mouth moist whi...

I was first diagnosed with sleep apnea about 12 years ago. I knew that I was a loud snorer because my wife often complained about it although I didn’t know that it was sleep apnea at the time, in fact I wasn’t sure what sleep apnea was exactly. But it wasn’t just the snoring that caused me to seek help I was also very tired during the day. I had other health issues that I thought would be more manageable if I had more rest. So I went for help. My doctor sent me to a specialist who set up a sleep study for me.   After my first sleep study it was apparent that I did indeed have OSA. I was given a CPAP mask to use and as I have written many times before it didn’t really help much. After the first CPAP disaster I waited about a year or two before trying it again. This time it was with a different doctor who sent me to another sleep study. Once again it was shown that I had sleep apnea and another CPAP (BIPAP) was issued to me. Once again it didn’t work; frustrated I didn’t go back...

If you have sleep apnea then you probably searched out every possible remedy imaginable. From mouth exercises to playing the didgeridoo to more traditional cures such as surgery and the CPAP machine. It is a lot to consider because some things work for some folks and others don’t. Surgery, at least some surgery, can take a long time to recover from and may only have a small chance at working. The usual fix for sleep apnea is the CPAP machine, which also has issues for many sleep apnea sufferers, such as not being able to get used to the mask and the air blowing down your airway. Another option would be dental devices , but from what I have read in the past their success has only been minimal. A new study is suggesting that may not be true. According to a press release from the website ihatecpap.com “CPAP can no longer be considered the "Gold Standard" of treatment for mild to moderate sleep apnea. There is a rapidly changing dynamic in the field of sleep medicine. It ...

Everyone that has been diagnosed with sleep apnea has probably tried using a cpap mask . While some find it a life saver others view it as a torture device. It definitely isn’t a natural feeling to wear a mask to bed, especially a mask that pushes air into your mouth or nose. If you are thinking about using a cpap mask here are a few things you might want to know about them. The cpap mask can either be full face or just fit over your nose. If you breathe through your mouth then the full mask is for you. One of the reasons I didn’t like the cpap was the noise that it made. Fortunately this issue has been addressed by many of the companies that manufacture cpap machines. One of the fears that I had when I wore a cpap was what if the power went off . Having a beard with a full face mask can be a problem. It is difficult enough to get the mask to fit without any leaks but having beard makes it much worse. Even if you can’t sleep the whole night with the mask on some rest with the ...

When I first was diagnosed with sleep apnea I really didn’t know anything about the disorder let alone the treatments. I had heard a little from a friend about the cpap but not much. My friend had a difficult time with it and gave up on it. Like a lot of people it was just too uncomfortable for him. if you have read my blog before you know that I had pretty much the same experience with it. I thought that wearing the cpap was making matters worse rather than better. Looking back I don’t know if that is entirely correct. High expectations I don’t know why I had such high expectations about the cpap machine. My friend had given me his horror story of the trying to use the cpap but still I thought that I could make the adjustment. For some reason I though that the adjustment would literally be over night! I would instantly fall asleep and feel fantastic the following day. As a matter of fact at the first sleep clinic that I went to they showed me a video about this guy who had sleep...

Luckily there are many remedies besides the CPAP ( although it is probably the most popular ) that are effective remedies for sleep apnea. I recently wrote about throat exercises to tighten loose tissue in the back of the mouth, it may not cure your sleep apnea but it may help. Playing the didgerido o, a musical instrument, also helps to unblock the airway. And there are also dental devices , also called oral appliances that you may want to try. In a previous post I described MAD or the mandibular advancement device , a device that is fitted in your mouth to push forward the jaw which helps keep the airway open. There is also a dental device TRD or tongue retraining device. What happens with the TRD is the tongue is kept in place by a splint which in turn keeps the airway open. Of course dental devices like the CPAP aren’t for everyone. If you have severe obstructive sleep apnea dental devices might not be enough, using a cpap or surgery might be your only option. And you might ...

About two weeks ago I had an injection in my ear to treat my meniere’s disease. I will receive a total of four shots with two weeks in between each shot. After the first injection my ear hurt quite a bit and I had a terrible headache. The doctor called in a pain medication and it seemed to help some but as you know pain medications and sleep apnea usually aren’t a good mix. It is widely known that sleeping pills shouldn’t be used by sleep apnea patients. The medication apparently relaxes the muscles in the back of the throat blocking the airway making the sleep apnea even worse which means you get even less sleep. Now if you are using a CPAP then it might be a different story, you’d have to check with your doctor to see if it’s okay to use sleep medication while using a CPAP. As for pain medications in my own situation it really makes it difficult to get any rest. I know that the pain pills are sedative in nature so like sleeping pills they probably relax the muscles in the bac...

When I first read this headline while surfing the net I couldn’t believe it. I really didn’t think that anything could reverse the loss of brain tissue , but apparently there is validity to this claim. There was a study done in Italy with half the people with sleep apnea and the other half without. At the beginning of the test it was determined that the sleep apnea group had less gray matter, then the group that didn’t have sleep apnea. This isn’t anything new people who have studied sleep apnea for years have been talking about how this condition not only affects your heart and your energy but also your mind. The thought that this condition could somehow be reversed is quite remarkable. What is gray matter? Gray matter is composed of cell bodies of nerves in the brain. The amount of gray matter can depend on heredity as well as environment. While it is believed by some people that intelligence depends solely on the volume of gray matter, in reality it only plays a part in how h...

In the spring before it gets too hot I like to sleep with the windows open . The air is refreshing and usually cool which is conductive for sleeping. Unfortunately there are also problems having the windows open especially if you have sleep apnea. If you have sleep apnea and can’t use a cpap then you know how difficult it is to get any sleep in any situation. Having a comfortable surrounding as well as a comfortable mattress is very important. In a previous post I wrote about how the room temperature needs to be cool if not cold. You would think in the spring the evening air would be perfect for sleeping but there are problems. Noise is always a problem especially if you live in an apartment or a house that is close to others. TVs blaring, dogs barking, people talking very loud and the list goes on. And I am sure that your neighbors in an apartment building aren’t too thrilled about hearing your snoring. Pollen is another problem because it forces you to close the windows and thi...

Being tired all the time is no fun. Lack of rest can increase your chance of heart disease and diabetes and that can weigh heavily upon you. Then depression and despair follows, sleep apnea is a real pain. But it isn’t just a pain for you, it is also one for your partner, who has to put up with the snoring and the strain that sleep apnea puts on a relationship . Unfortunately damaged relationships are just another harmful side effect of sleep apnea. Even if your partner is a saint that unique grunting sound that accompanies sleep apnea will eventually be too much for them. They may stick cotton in their ears or turn up a sound machine to try to muffle the sound of your snoring but it usually doesn’t work. And when they have had enough of the maddening sound they will head for another room, preferably one that is far enough away so they don’t hear you gasping for air every couple of minutes. This isn’t good for a relationship. (Believe me) Let say that you have a cp...

Whether it is in the middle of summer or the dead of winter I sleep better in a cold room. Well, I sleep as well as someone with sleep apnea can. Does the room temperature matter when you have sleep apnea? It seems that a lot of people say that a cold room is better for sleeping than a warm room and that makes sense. In the middle of summer our air conditioning is cranked up and blowing cold air all night (not good for keeping the electric bill down). According to a study the ideal temperature for sleeping is in the 60’s. Above or below this range and it becomes uncomfortable. There must be something to this because at each sleep study that I went too the room was always very cool, to the point of being cold. I definitely needed a blanket to sleep. The problem that I have that is tied to sleep apnea is that I sleep with my mouth open . If the air is cool from the window being open or I have a fan blowing on me I will wake up with a sore throat or at least with a raspy throat. I...

As I have mentioned in a previous post my father had sleep apnea. I believe that his sleep apnea played a part in his heart problems and subsequent fatal heart attack. That was in 1977. No one at that time even mentioned that he might have had sleep apnea. Of course people have been suffering from this sleep disorder for a long time. Treatments for sleep apnea are relatively new. The history of sleep apnea Strangely enough the first mention of sleep apnea came in a round about way from literature. A 20th century physician, William Osler, a fan of Charles Dickens, noticed that one of the characters in the Pickwick Papers had a sleeping disorder that now could be considered Obstructive Sleep Apnea . Osler referred to patients who had similar problems as “Pickwickian. “ In 1965 a group of French Doctors, lead by Dr. Gastault determined that the interruption of sleep happened over and over again every night. In 1978 a Harvard Physician Dr. John Remmer made the connection between th...

I probably should have written about this a long time ago but better late than never. How do you know if you have sleep apnea symptoms ? It seems that more and more people every day are tested for this condition and they find out that they indeed have sleep apnea. Unfortunately there are still many who don’t have any idea that they may have it. They wake up every day tired and restless and just write it off as a bad night's sleep or maybe they think they are just a light sleeper, when in fact there is a much deeper problem. What are the sleep apnea symptoms ? In my own case, I knew that there was a problem because my wife complained about my snoring and how it kept her up all night. It would get a little better when I slept on my side or on my stomach, but I didn’t find those sleep positions very comfortable. But what really did it for me was a friend at work talked about going to a sleep study and how he was fitted for a cpap machine. He told me that his wife complained about his ...

I have dealt with sleep apnea for the past 10 years. If you have read my blog (and I hope that you have) you will know that I have been to several doctors and I have tried both the cpap and the bipap without much luck. This past year has been rough for me because I am still trying to get my meniere’s disease under control. I have had some success; this year has been a lot better than last year. So that’s good. But in the back of my mind I always think of how much sleep apnea has held me back. But this feeling isn’t anything new. I knew that I had a problem with my sleeping because my wife had mentioned how strange my snoring was and I also was extremely tired each morning. In 1999, I started on my quest to finding the solution to my sleep apnea problems and that first attempt was definitely a failure. The cpap experience was bad. Looking back I probably could have tried harder but that mask just wasn’t going to work. I then ignored the problem as best I could for another 2 years til...

When I first read about the use of a chin strap to help with Sleep apnea I was skeptical. I sleep with my mouth open and I can’t believe that just by using a chin strap your sleep apnea would go away. But for some people I guess it does work. The idea is quite simple; the sleep apnea patient has a strap around the top of their head and around the chin. This keeps the mouth closed forcing the patient to breathe through their nose. One of the first sleep studies that I went on I used a chin strap with the cpap mask. The reason why I did that was because the sleep lab didn’t have any full face masks and I am a mouth breather. It didn’t work. The feel of the strap around my head was very uncomfortable and I just couldn’t get used to breathing through my nose. I suppose that I could make the adjustment to breathing through my nose but it would certainly take a long time. But from what I read many people find relief from sleep apnea just using the chin strap without the cpap machine. ...

On Friday I had an appointment to see a new doctor about my sleep apnea. I felt pretty good about going because he was in the same group as the doctor who treats my meniere’s disease. So I knew where to go and it was a comfortable setting. Anyway the visit didn’t take long at all, as I expected. I brought with me my sleep study from last year. I don’t think that it helped much since I had only slept for about an hour or so. The new doctor didn’t waste anytime and began by looking into my mouth. He saw how big my tongue was. He also remarked that since my head and face were so big that combined with my enlarged tongue made me a candidate for surgery. He then described the surgery and it didn’t sound very good. There would be an incision under my chin and somehow my tongue would be pulled forward. After the tongue was pulled forward 3 little screws (they would have to be little, I presume!) would be inserted under my chin holding everything together. To top that off I would have the...

In a previous post I discussed sleeping with your mouth open. At one time I had a problem with grinding my teeth while I slept. This is called bruxism . Approximately 8 percent of the population clench or grind their teeth every night. It can be caused by anxiety, stress, smoking or sleep apnea among other things. The consequences of this disorder can be dental problems, headaches, earaches and lack of sleep. I wouldn’t have thought that folks with sleep apnea wouldn’t have bruxism since most sleep with their mouth open trying to grasp for air. But apparently it is true. According to the National library of Medicine and National Institute of Health bruxism rarely occurs alone and that many of those who have it also have sleep apnea. The first thing that comes to mind as a cure would be a dental device which would prevent the teeth from clenching and grinding. But many feel that dental devices only help those with mild sleep apnea. Of course if you didn’t have sleep apnea, the de...

Well I have another appointment set up in about 3 weeks to see another doctor about my sleep apnea. I was referred to by the doctor who handles my meniere’s disease. I am a little hesitant to give it another try considering all the trouble that I have had in the past with sleep studies and cpap and bipap. But I am going to try again . I really have to because of my age and my family’s history with heart disease it doesn’t make sense not to try to do something. I thought about going to a dentist but from what I have read dental devices are mostly for folks who have mild apnea. I don’t have mild apnea, from the past sleep studies I fall in the severe category. I can’t remember how many times I woke up every hour but the number was high. My meniere’s doctor asked how long ago it was since I had a sleep study. I told him it was last October. He wanted me to get a copy of the result and bring it to my sleep apnea doctor. As I remember the sleep study was a bit of a bust because I had a ...

When I was using the cpap mask years ago I probably made it through about 4 or 5 hours before I would pull off the cpap mask . After I did that it seemed like I slept better. Although looking back I probably didn’t sleep better with the mask off it just seemed more comfortable than having the mask off. From what I have read I’m not the only person who did that. In sleep apnea forums I have found that it is common for sleep apnea sufferers to wake up in the middle of the night with a dry throat, or dry gums or just irritated from having the mask on. Of course I used a full face mask which creates a whole series of problems for cpap users. The biggest problem with that is leakage; at least it was a problem when I used the cpap. I’m sure that there have been improvements made to the cpap masks now. Another problem is panic, as in panicking because you think that your air is being cut off. That happened to me a few times. I never had a problem with claustrophobia but some folks do ...