Sleep Apnea and CPAP therapy

I'm one of those men who over the years has constantly dismissed my wife's complaints about snoring and sleep apnea, chalking it up to her being a light sleeper and probably not really all that bad. However my kids started complaining about 'hearing Dad snore' and their rooms were down the hall, and I caught snippets of them asking their mother 'how can you stand that?'. I read up on Sleep Apnea and realized I probably did have it, and that I woke up - A LOT - at night. But, I'm a busy guy and in typical male fashion the last thing I wanted to do was pack up my pajamas and go spend a night in a sleep lab where someone observes me sleeping- that was just ridiculous. As the years piled up, my wife commented more and more about it, finally telling me it kept her up all night as I would stop breathing so many times, every single night. I realized I woke up tired every morning, and would get very sleepy at the store some afternoons - so eventually I raised the white flag of surrender to the wife's naggin....err....ahhh...comments about it and told my doctor I was ready to be tested for it and seek some kind of treatment if necessary. I'd seen those CPAP machines/masks and damn if I'm going to be hooked up to one of those gizmos though - maybe just a mouthguard device that re-positions your lower jaw, that I could do.

So my first surprise was that you don't go to a sleep lab any more. They hook you up with a electronic device that looks like a Google watch that you wear to bed, two electrodes for your fingers and one you place on your throat, and you sleep in your own bed. That was a major bonus, so I happily took the test. A couple of days later the results came back and I had not mild, not moderate, but SEVERE sleep apnea with thirty events every hour throughout the night (an event is where you cease breathing and your airway closes off, then your brain wakes you up to keep you from suffocating). That was every two minutes! No wonder my wife can't sleep at night and I felt so un-rested each day.

The Doc sends me to the Specialist, and they laugh at me when I suggest a simple mouthguard device and tell me I'm going right onto the CPAP machine immediately. Cripes, that thing makes me look like Bane in 'The Dark Knight Rises', but I'll give it a try, tubing and all. So I do, and I was amazed - shocked - at the results. It was far less invasive and troublesome than I had imagined. And it worked. The ResMed brand machine is ultra quiet, and the machine knows how much pressure to give to you to keep your airway from closing off while you sleep. I've been on it a week now, and can't believe the difference. My wife says the snoring and sudden starts are 98% gone now and I feel much better and no longer sleepy during the day. The CPAP machine even has a hard drive in it and continues to record events as you sleep. I went from approximately 200 episodes a night to just 2, a 99% improvement. And I'm told that will go down to 1 or even zero shortly.

So why am I sharing this? Because I know there must be folks on this forum that have spouses with sleep apnea and have not gone for treatment. So show this to your husband - (or your wife!) if they snore all night and sometimes stop breathing. It's no nearly as big a deal as they think it might be to get diagnosed and put on a treatment protocol. The CPAP thing really works, and its not that invasive, and they can say goodbye to restless sleep caused by heavy snoring and apnea. It's a walk in the park to do the test and wear the machine. Do it.

Duane so glad you have now gotten into the CPAP treatment. I hope your equipment supplier has given you all the instructions on sterile water only, mask and headgear cleaning. Because of my old head strong vet, refusing to admit for years he needed CPAP, he caused more damage to his heart and his already weakened lungs. BTW he is a 10 year cancer suvivor and once in a while listens to his wife. Will call next month on the Austin chair for him.

Well.. I would try it, but I like having the bed all to myself, when the wife goes to sleep in the guest bedroom...

Seriously... great post, and something to think about.

Study up on it a bit - you'll find out its more than just snoring, it causes heart damage and elevated blood pressure, and you can actually die from it in some cases by literally suffocating. Just take the test, see the results, then you can decide. I was pretty stunned at how severe mine was, actually. Call the doc and see if they have the 'test at home' equipment that you can set up yourself and give it a try. It's not that hard to do. I tell ya what, it feels good to wake up refreshed in the morning and not semi-groggy looking for a cup of caffeine to get the day going.

Duane, good for you. You have most likely added years to your life. I could write a similar story. I finally gave in 6 years ago and was tested. I was at 45 AHIs per hour, a very dangerous level. Today I am down to less than 2. Sounds like you have already adapted pretty well to your mask and hose. If you have any issues remember there are many styles available to give you a good seal and the best comfort. I use ordinary distilled water in my humidifier. Cleaning my mask and hose takes my about 5 minutes each day and a sterilization with a hospital grade disinfectant once a week that takes 30 minutes total. I purchased an equipment hot air dryer that I strongly recommend. PM me if you want the details.
Like you I went from waking up many times every night, sometimes gasping for a breath and tired during the day to now sleeping soundly the entire night and feeling much more energetic during the day (with rare naps).

Maybe other forum members using CPAP will come forward like you to share their experiences and benefits and encourage others who need to be tested.

One of the guys on my motorcycle forum writes this, he's in the Sleep Medicine business....I've edited out some of the salty language...lol

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The facts around untreated apnea (or apnoea in the rest of the world!) are horrific: Four times MORE likely to die of a heart attack (you hear about those guys who go to sleep & never wake up? Well, they did - just one final time in the night - having a cardiac arrest), seven times more likely have a stroke, five times more likely to be involved in a daytime sleepiness incident involving a vehicular or workplace injury, greater risk of developing diabetes, arthritis, and so on....

Apnea is a serious condition and affects (we think) about half the male population over 40; numbers aren't all in yet - Sleep as a recognised science is only about 30 years old. And guess what? It affects roughly the same number of women.

No, you don't need to go into a lab, but the test the OP had is really only a screener - which revealed he had a severe case - just how severe is irrelevant.
However, a full polysomnographic evaluation (sleep test in English!) does need several sensors, as it measures your breathing, your heart rate, oxygen concentration, your brainwave patterns, Rapid Eye Movement, involuntary leg spasms - and yes, your snoring: it is a EEG, ECG and EMG, all in one; the wires plug into something you wear on your chest about the size of a TV remote.

If the Dr tries to send you to a hospital, it better be because he thinks you are in danger of arresting - otherwise, he's trying to rake in cash; you will get a more representative snapshot of your 'normal' night's sleep in your own bed, in your own environment.
The results take about 2 hours to fully evaluate (much is computerised and a tech just needs to decide on grey areas) and a treatment plan can be suggested.

Some mild apnea can be treated with nothing more dramatic than a rolled ball of socks (or a tennis or golf-ball) sewn onto the back of your nightwear, to stop you sleeping on your back, or one of those cleverly shaped pillows that tilt your head back and support the neck.

From there, there's a 'boil & bite' mouthguard that holds the jaw in place, or a 'mandibular advancement splint' that holds the jaw 3-7mm forward; these can cause jaw-ache the next day, but are effective: some dentists can make them.
Then there's CPAP - Constant Positive Airway Pressure - and yes, there's a bedside machine, a hose and a mask - can be anything from a full nose-and-mouth affair to a soft little 'nasal pillow' depending on severity, pressure required, physiology, shape of face etc: People of Asian origin often have small airways, people of African orgin seldom do - it's the way we are made. The machines are all very quiet - lowest claim I saw was 24dB; some have humidification tanks that make the air moist in dry climates; others heat the hose in cold weather, to prevent condensation; others can run on 12v or internal batteries.

We have had a few patients who, armed with new-found vitality thanks to getting a decent nights' sleep for the first time in decades, start a more vigorous lifestyle that sees them lose weight and eventually weaned off their CPAP - but it's rare!

To dispell a myth: not only or all, old guys snore, or have apnea: it's common in wrestlers, rowers, motorsportsmen, boxers and various other sports where large muscle mass is built up on the neck; in Stage 4 sleep, all muscle tone is lost and the weight of the neck muscles can cause the airway to collapse.

Some health insurance companies require you to go to a sleep clinic before they will cover a CPAP and supplies. Perhaps policies are shifting. Perhaps, though, some insurance companies find they get fewer claims for apnea when they make it much more inconvenient for their insureds to document the need for treatment.