My Life and Sleep Apnea

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...

Headaches are bad at any time of the day, but when you wake up with one that can be particularly irritating. What causes the headaches?  Drinking way too much the night before is definitely one way to have your head splitting open in the morning. The need for caffeine when you wake up will also give you a pretty good headache, especially if you are a big coffee drinker. Sleep apnea can also cause headaches in the morning . According to WebMd.com , “ Because breathing stops so often, the person does not receive sufficient oxygen, causing carbon dioxide to build in the blood. This affects the nervous system as well as blood flow to the brain, causing headache as well as memory and mood changes” In a study cited by Webmd 35 percent of complained of morning headaches. In many cases the headaches go away when the sleep apnea is treated.   Of course the thing to remember is that just because you have headaches in the morning doesn’t necessarily mean that you ha...

One of the signs of sleep disorders especially sleep apnea is daytime sleepiness . As the day drags on you find it harder and harder to stay awake. Caffeine is a little help but really not that much. By the time you get home you find that all you want to do is fall asleep, take a little nap before you do anything else. Of course that little nap gives you enough energy to stay up for a while before going to bed. But when you try to go to sleep you find that you just lay there staring at ceiling and walls hoping that you will fall asleep soon.   Anxiety starts to build as you look over at the clock and it is getting later and later.   If this is you then your problem has to do with sleep latency . Being able to fall asleep quickly and having interrupted sleep can be a problem with sleep apnea. You wouldn’t think falling asleep would be a challenge considering how tired you are but it is. The problem of sleep apnea is bad enough with the way to wakes you several times an hour ...

It seems like there are a million things to worry about in life from health to family to making a living all this stuff constantly gives you reasons for concern (and headaches!). Health matters whether they involve your family or you are right up there at the top of the list. One of my concerns is the amount of rest that I get or don’t get each night. As you probably already know sleep apnea has been a thorn in my side for many years. In fact I can’t remember when I wasn’t affected by it, maybe it wasn’t a problem when I was a kid or a teenager but I can’t say for sure. Sleep apnea can be a precursor of many ailments like diabetes, depression, gout and the biggest concern is what it does to your heart. As we all know heart problems can lead to the most unfortunate conclusion, which is unexpected death. Are you worried about dying from sleep apnea ? This question is relevant to me because my father who suffered from sleep apnea died of heart troubles at the age of 61 in 1977. Of cour...

As many of you already know sleep apnea isn’t just for middle-aged people who are overweight.   Potential victims of sleep apnea cover a much wider range than that, young adults and children may also experience the dangerous effects of sleep apnea. We don’t hear much about children having sleep apnea ; usually you read about how older folks try to cope with it by using the CPAP machine or a dental device or maybe even surgery.   But some children do suffer from it. What is really surprising is something that I read the other day that a lot of pediatricians aren’t being trained to handle sleep apnea. Sleep apnea isn’t the only sleep disorder that children, including infants, can have. Bedwetting is something that a lot of parents have to deal with as well as night terrors where the child will wake up terrified.   Snoring can also be a problem. According to an article in Medscape “ The vast majority of pediatricians believe it is their role to advise parents or guardi...

It is well known that sleep apnea isn’t good for your health. High blood pressure, heart problems, circulation problems, diabetes and the list goes on and on. If you have sleep apnea then you also know how it can affect you emotionally. Lack of sleep from any sleeping disorder brings on anxiety, stress and even depression. It also can bring on OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) as well as Post traumatic stress disorder. What is post-traumatic stress disorder? According to the National Institute of Health post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD is” a type of anxiety disorder. It can occur after you've seen or experienced a traumatic event that involved the threat of injury or death.” This can be caused by being in a terribly stressful situation such as an accident, assault, rape and any other event that caused you great anguish. The main symptom of PTSD is the reliving of that particular event over and over again. Support groups have been found to be the best cure for PTSD al...

If you do have sleep apnea do you remember what it was like not to have sleep apnea? The ability of waking up feeling like you had a great night’s sleep and feeling refreshed with a lot of energy to spare. It is hard for me to remember that since sleep apnea has haunted me for so many years that I can’t remember what a good night’s sleep is or was. It’s strange but you get used to waking up so many times to start breathing again because that is what obstructive sleep apnea does to you. Living with sleep apnea unfortunately does more than deprive you of rest; it also leads to serious health issues. Not breathing continuously interrupts the flow of oxygen into the lungs, which is what sleep apnea does. This can also lead to other problems like high blood pressure and possible heart failure. Usually but not in every case those who have sleep apnea also have a problem with their weight, which further exacerbates the problems with your heart. While losing weight is su...