Sleep Apnea sucks

[BonifayRam]

I asked about this and the respiratory nurse advised against it for the machine I have.

However. I could put a small piece inside the mask or just get a little Vapo-rub and put it under my nose and that should be okay.

But yeah, gonna try something because I guess we're having a late pollination season in FL because my nose has been going crazy the last few weeks...

Interesting....I gave no thought that some of these devises might have an issue with the vapor entering the intake??? But its possible.

I have two cpap's my original that was a 2000 model still works well & I keep it in my RV. I have utilized the menthol vapor pads with it for over a decade. My new device is about 5 to 6 yrs old now & as with the older machine it has been run pretty consistently with the vapor entering the intake vent. It continues to do it's job very well. Lucky for me I have been able to buy parts of my facial mask online & they are delivered to my house by UPS/FedX. I bypass the health insurance route which is a mess.

 

[Mackeyser]

It can usually take a little getting used to, but it’s so nice when you’re acclimated, helps you start the day more energized for sure.

We'll see. I didn't seem to have any problem during the sleep study falling asleep.

The biggest issue is gonna be falling asleep because I'm so excited. Feel like a kid on Christmas eve...

 

[Mackeyser]

Interesting....I gave no thought that some of these devises might have an issue with the vapor entering the intake??? But its possible.

I have two cpap's my original that was a 2000 model still works well & I keep it in my RV. I have utilized the menthol vapor pads with it for over a decade. My new device is about 5 to 6 yrs old now & as with the older machine it has been run pretty consistently with the vapor entering the intake vent. It continues to do it's job very well. Lucky for me I have been able to buy parts of my facial mask online & they are delivered to my house by UPS/FedX. I bypass the health insurance route which is a mess.

Well, thankfully, I'm doing this through the VA, so no worries there.

The wife and I are seriously considering getting into RVing and could potentially do it full time, but we may not as the grandbabies are just starting to come and they're living in our home now, so we want to be home.

But RVing sounds so fun and the we both love to be out on the road. I've been to the RV show in Tampa (the big one in January) a couple years in a row and looks like a blast.

 

[BonifayRam]

Well, thankfully, I'm doing this through the VA, so no worries there.

The wife and I are seriously considering getting into RVing and could potentially do it full time, but we may not as the grandbabies are just starting to come and they're living in our home now, so we want to be home.

But RVing sounds so fun and the we both love to be out on the road. I've been to the RV show in Tampa (the big one in January) a couple years in a row and looks like a blast.

Been involved in RV Camping & RV road trips now since 1990. I did not buy an RV early in my addiction to RV'ing. Because of work requirements I was limited to just 2 weeks off. I was responsible for my wife, mother-in-law & 3 daughters. Thus the time of the vacations were in the hot summer when school was out. I sure did not want to RV in the sweltering deep south @ that time. I needed to be far NE or NW. You can't get there in 2 wks.

So I found the way to accomplish this was to buy the cheapest round trip flights available into any big city & simply would rent a RV motor home for that time period. I would get the RV then get my food & items needed to camp for that time & go into the mountains / wilderness. I did this till my daughters were grown. They will tell you today it was the best childhood memories to this day! I also claim it's better than a college education in what they were able to learn & see how the rest of the USA lives outside the deep south. This is a great & beautiful country to enjoy & see!

Motor homes are a good way to go, but they are usually rough riding hard in traffic & will limit you as to where you can go. I prefer TT over motor homes & 5th wheels myself. I find the need to disconnect from the RV is best for me. TT's' give you the great use of Generators & the room to carry all the needed gear a lot of is dirty & messy.

The first two TT RV's were used & I was able to learn a ton from those old pieces of crap but it was very useful. It was not until 2007 that I was able to afford to purchase a new RV TT. I continue RV camping with my grandkids these days but now I use my own RV & can stay out as long as I want till school starts again. I had a long RV trip planned this summer but the COVID-19 stuff has that trip just about cancelled.

I will certify that RV family road/ camping trips will test your brains & patience. RV's have the tendency to break down & need repairs. Being a well experienced RV'er pays off now in my golden years of age. It is worth it though!

 

[snackdaddy]

Back around 2010 I was about 230 pounds. Its a natural weight for me as I've been between 220-230 since I was 20 years old. I'm over 6 foot tall too. Over the next 4 years it ballooned to 275 pounds. About ten pounds per year. Well, sure enough I had sleep problems and was diagnosed with sleep apnea. I remember how tired I would be by the time I got home from work. Pretty much took an hour nap every night after work. Then I got the Cpap. Was no longer tired.

A couple years later the cardiac doctor misdiagnosed a heart attack. Said I had one according to the tests. Apparently I have a condition called bundle branch blockage that fools the machine while doing the treadmill test. Its nothing serious. The doctor just has to know I have it. If I ever have to go to emergency and they do an EKG they would think for sure I'm having a heart attack.

Long story short, the scare about the heart attack that really wasn't made me want to cut out fats from my diet. I lost 20 pounds in a few months. Then a couple years later I decided to cut all starches and sugars out of my diet. Lost another 20 pounds. Now I'm back to my more natural 230 pounds.

Now to getting back into the sleep apnea issue. My sleep doctor said I need to see him every year to keep getting supplies. Apparently my health insurance contracted some company called All Care to run their business. I get a call from the cpap company and they say I owe them over $500 for the supplies. I told them the insurance is paying. They say it was denied by my insurance. I call them up and I have to speak to an All Care rep. They said their requirement was seeing the sleep doctor every 6 months. So they were not paying for the last shipment of supplies. They never notified me or the doctor about the change. I tried to appeal it and they said no.

So I said screw it, I guess I won't be using the cpap anymore. Well, I don't get tired anymore. I can't take naps because I'm not tired enough. I go to sleep around 10 every night and get up between 6 and 7 every morning. Feeling fine. Don't feel like I'm not sleeping. My wife says I hardly snore anymore. The only thing I can think of is being 40 pounds lighter from when I was first diagnosed. I asked the sleep doctor if sleep apnea caused the weight gain or if the weight gain caused the sleep apnea. He said it was a little of both. My primary doctor says if I maintain my current weight, or lose a little more(They always say that) I probably will be ok.

I do wake up a few times during the night. But its from hip and knee pain. I was doing that even with the cpap. I have arthritis and apparently the muscles relax during sleep and can't hold the joints together enough causing some pain. But I always go right back to sleep and start dreaming again after rolling over to the other side.

 

[Mackeyser]

Oh yeah, no doubt. I know I need to lose weight. But for other medical reasons, I'm kinda on lockdown. No exercise.

I've done a few 4 day fasts and legit, I weighed exactly the same after 4 days of no food and only vitamins. Like..what? My metabolism is slooooooow. Digital scale. Same weight to the 1/10th of a pound. Weighed same time of day with no clothes.

Anyway... um... yeah. I had problems. First night I was too excited and even once my body got tired, I just laid there and focused on my breathing. After 3 hours of that shit, I gave up. Wicked bad dry mouth.

Turned the humidity up to the max...made it 4 hours. Actually slept. But even with the nasal lavage with eucalyptus AND Breath Rite Strips...nose kept closing...and...wicked bad dry mouth.

Then I threw my back out which relegated me to the downstairs couch. If I could catch a break, it'd probably be a bone...

Hoping to maybe be upstairs tonight or tomorrow night and start over.

I LOVED being 230 and doing BJJ...for a lot of reasons...the extreme lack of butt and hammy cramps during whoopee is way up there...

 

[-X-]

Hey Mack. I had a pretty bad snoring issue myself, and I thought it was due to weight (I'm around two fiddy). I tried all the OTC stuff, breathe-rights, mouth guards, nasal sprays, etc., and none of it worked. About 6 months ago I started to push my bottom jaw forward and prop it that way with my pillow before I fell asleep. I could immediately feel how much easier it was to breathe. It took a couple of weeks before it stopped feeling weird & a little uncomfortable, but now it's just habit and I fall asleep really quick. My wife has since informed me that I don't snore anymore. Like, at all. I didn't really wanna get surgery to correct my jaw alignment, and quite honestly I don't even have to consider that option anymore. But that was the problem the whole time. Took a couple of different pillows for me to find the one that made aligning my jaw like that the easiest too, but hell. Small price to pay. And it wouldn't be a difficult thing for you to get accustomed to either, considering it just takes discipline (a BJJ staple).

 

[bluecoconuts]

Oh yeah, no doubt. I know I need to lose weight. But for other medical reasons, I'm kinda on lockdown. No exercise.

I've done a few 4 day fasts and legit, I weighed exactly the same after 4 days of no food and only vitamins. Like..what? My metabolism is slooooooow. Digital scale. Same weight to the 1/10th of a pound. Weighed same time of day with no clothes.

Anyway... um... yeah. I had problems. First night I was too excited and even once my body got tired, I just laid there and focused on my breathing. After 3 hours of that shit, I gave up. Wicked bad dry mouth.

Turned the humidity up to the max...made it 4 hours. Actually slept. But even with the nasal lavage with eucalyptus AND Breath Rite Strips...nose kept closing...and...wicked bad dry mouth.

Then I threw my back out which relegated me to the downstairs couch. If I could catch a break, it'd probably be a bone...

Hoping to maybe be upstairs tonight or tomorrow night and start over.

I LOVED being 230 and doing BJJ...for a lot of reasons...the extreme lack of butt and hammy cramps during whoopee is way up there...

Depending on the fast and your diet, you can retain water and make you seem like haven't lost anything. I ballooned up after the military like so many others and wanted to get back into shape, tried similar things. Restrictive diets of chicken and veggies that made me want to shoot myself rather than eat, intermittent fasting, just doing cardio like a mother fucker. I would fall in and out of things, and my weight would fluctuate but slowly increase until my normal was about 240.

Then I basically decided to stop fucking around get serious with it. Started lifting weights and tracking my food. Started planning out some basic meals to get me through my day, and then looked for healthier options for my cravings, it's been so much better. Rather than forcing myself to cut out pizza I swapped out some ingredients and made for a large pepperoni pizza that comes in at under 400 calories for example, or make french toast with egg whites and that'll help you lose weight and it's friggin french toast. There's plenty of YouTube channels out there with various recipes and tips to try as well. Made shedding lbs much easier, combined with walking and lifting weights, I dropped weight pretty quickly.

 

[snackdaddy]

The dry mouth was a problem for me too. I smeared some toothpaste on my teeth and gums before bed and it helped. Not perfect, but better than nothing. A gel toothpaste is best.

As far as losing weight, I find cutting starches and sugars was the easiest. I didn't do full Atkins because I ate more fruits and vegetables than Atkins allows. I just cut anything with sugar or starch out of my diet. No bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, etc. I didn't count carbs either. Its a slow, steady weight loss. But I don't feel like I deprive myself. I eat a good size breakfast with 3 scrambled eggs, sausage and cheese. Maybe switch up and have ham or bacon.

Dinner is usually a good portion of meat and vegetables. Meat could be beef, chicken or pork. And I don't cut portions. I make sure I have enough to keep me satisfied but not too full. I always felt deprivation weight loss plans were doomed to fail because you get tired of depriving yourself so much. This one works for me. Doing that is a slow weight loss but its steady. And I stick with it. Which is probably most important with me.

I'm good with my current 230 pounds. Been there for over a year now. So I don't do the diet every day. Just enough to maintain it. Maybe at some point I will try and lose more as I get older.

 

[Memento]

Sorry for bringing this thread back from the dead, but I have confirmed sleep apnea. I don't know how serious it is, but the sleep study two nights ago confirmed it.

 

[Raptorman]

I had it for a while. When I did my study it was like 30+ times an hour. I got a cpap machine and it made all the difference. Haven't had to use it since I lost about 20-25 pounds. That was the difference for me. I pretty much sleep like a rock for about 5-6 hours a night now. Every once in a while when my arthritic hip bothers me, I take some Advil PM and sleep for 10 hours. Funny thing, or not so funny, the Sleep Doctor never mentioned my weight as a possible contributing factor in my sleep apnea. Which kinda pissed me off when I found out it could be the cause. As long as I stay below 210 I don't have a problem. Since I haven't been above 200 for several years it's really is no longer an issue. One of the problems with being overweight and sleep apnea is it's kinda a self-fulfilling deal. You need to lose weight, but you are too tired to work out, so you can't, and that just makes the matter worse. If you ever paid attention to the show "The Biggest Loser" every bed in the house had a CPAP machine next to it. Not saying that is the only reason people have it, just one of t he contributing factors.