just got the phone call from the sleep center....yup hubby has sleep apnea. has to go back in for another round of testing and a device he is gonna have to wear every night forever......still learning about it and wondered if anyone here has dealt with it and could give me some info......

nikko....
My dad has the same thing. He has to wear the oxygen mask every night. It has made a huge difference for him. He sleeps so much better and no more snoring. Your husband has to make sure he wears it every night all night long though. It will be weird for him at first but he will get used to it.

My WH was recently diagnosed w/ sleep apnea. (I think I have it too, but I haven't taken the test yet.) WH was given a breathing machine that requires you place a mask over your nose. It forces air (gently)into your nose. It seems to have helped, but I'm not sure exactly how it helps.

Yep...

WH has had COSA (chronic obstructive sleep apnea) for a long time now. His is so bad that he was only a couple of hours into his sleep study and they had to intervene! His oxygen concentration in his body dropped in the 70s... anything below 92-95% is abnormal. He also stopped breathing more than a dozen times every hour...

COSA is where a person stops breathing in his sleep... can be several times a night or many times an hour. The person cycles into a pattern, they stop breathing, the body rouses them enough to resume breathing and they make some funky noises, usually snore heavily. They actually wake themselves up many times through the night.

They usually are overweight (but not necessarily if there are internal facial abnormalities that obstruct the airway in sleep- my WH) they experience daytime sleepiness, often feel the need for naps, do not wake feeling rested and often suffer from high blood pressure and even depression. The strain of the lack of sufficient oxygen wears on the heart and can eventually cause heart failure.

The signs: heavy snoring, lots of snorting, popping, jerking or weird sounds when the person struggles to start breathing again. You can actually watch the person stop breathing... they will make some weird motions and eventually snort back into a breathing pattern again.

It is usually treated with a CPAP (continuous positive air pressure) or BiPAP (bi-level positive air pressure). The only difference is the CPAP blows at the same speed and pressure all night, the BiPAP cycles between two pressures, hi and low, all night. Both serve to push air into the person's airway to avoid the pauses in breathing... think about a baby, you blow in their face and they suck in their breath... it's a reflex.

WH has a CPAP, and although he hated it at first, he now really can't sleep well without it. His COSA is severe, and he may eventually need major reconstructive facial surgery, some people may only need tonsils and adenoids removed...WH has had to have his pressure increased periodically to avoid the continuing pattern. He does have high blood pressure and depression, so we are trying to avoid anything worse at this point.

Sorry if this was TMI, I am a nurse educator! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="images/icons/smile.gif" />

My son had sleep apnea - and was one of the fortunate ones that it was corrected with removal of his tonsils and adnoids...has your doctor discussed this as an option, or only the breathing machine?

WOW MOMMA----that is just what i needed..thanks. and thank you to everyone else also!

this is where we are....i told doc i thought he had it--doc ordered sleep study---sleep study done and yes it is it----have to go do another sleep study----im guessing to either see severity or to try the breathing helper thingy( <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" /> ) and see if it helps.

he hasnt made the follow-up appt yet---but he will!!

any other info is greatly appreciated.....

Nikko,

My H has sleep apnea. He used to have to be on a c-pap machine, but couldn't tolerate it so they moved him to just oxygen at night. It really did help. He isn't using anything now because an overnight pulse-oxygen test showed that he was doing okay at the time and didn't need it. Not sure I agree though. He's a little overweight, but in his case they think that it may not be obstructive, but the kind where they forget to breathe. Must have gone along with trying to forget about all of his affairs so he wouldn't slip up and tell me in his sleep! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Razz]" src="images/icons/tongue.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Razz]" src="images/icons/tongue.gif" />

Anyway, he's not on it now, but I did get a good chuckle a few days after D-day which was when he said he was going to "leave me". I told him that I wondered what her reaction would have been when he came with his bags and his breathing machine! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" /> Hey, you gotta find humor to survive right??

Stillwed

Hey! My H has that! He lasted a couple of months on the c-pap then quit! It's in the barn attic! He also has the restless leg thing. Won't take anything for that either.
I thought for years that I had a problem staying asleep! HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!
Most people don't realize that it affects the spouse too!
We recently got a bigger bed and I bought a personal size air cleaner and turn it on when I go to bed. It makes enough noise to help me go to sleep!
W-57
H-61
S-36
D-32
S-25
M-40 years this June!!

god help me stillwed......i swear i thought almost the same thing.rotflmao <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="images/icons/wink.gif" /> i even said to him today-----you are so lucky and you dont even know it do you?? your about to loose your teeth, gonna be toothless and now this and I STILL want to be with you!!!( i couldnt resist...hehehehehe <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" /> )

Hi!


I have sleep apnea - it was so severe that I rarely got more than 1 and a half to 2 hours of sleep a night - the rest of the time was spent fighting to breathe. Went thru the tests, got my CPAP - and it did wonders. Not only did I notice an immediate improvement in my health, but my wife let me come back to sleeping in the same room. Needless to say, I could keep the whole family awake at night with my snoring.

It took a little gettin' used to, but I wear it every night now, and sleep comfortably. My kids call me Darth Vader, and I always play along '...I am your father....come over to the Dark side..." in that strange voice that comes out when you have a torrent of air being pushed thru your nose - but it works wonders...

David

<small>[ February 01, 2005, 05:16 PM: Message edited by: tanelornpete ]</small>