No kidding, Narile! As you might have noted in the OP, they record and document much data during a sleep study. There really isn’t much in the way of “perhaps.” As for snoring, that is only one of many possible signatures, but many people snore and don’t have apnea, it’s likely* that you can have apnea and not snore.
*: I’m not positive for adults, but I’ve read many studies regarding kids that don’t snore but have sleep apnea/hypopnea.
TroubleAgain, when I run across something, I will let you know. I am trying to find someone doing research locally, and the next thing on the agenda is to contact the profs at USF to see if they are working on this. And if not, who is… I will let you know what I find.
O
Another apnea CPAP user, here. I’m 52,male, overweight (though I lost 40 pounds this summer)and had been told by my late wife that I would stop breathing and scare her. I dismissed this until I remarried and my new wife was sincerely disturbed by my snoring, to the point where I often slept on the couch to avoid bothering her.
I went to my doctor, thinking that perhaps I could get an operation to remove the snoring problem. Fortunately, he also operates a sleep lab in the local hospital. Spent a night wired up and got back the definite diagnosis of apnea.
So for the last two plus years, I’ve been using a CPAP machine every night, including stays at hotels. It hums softly, a white noise that my wife tells me is no problem at all.
Surprise! I sleep quicker, better and often remember dreams. I do NOT get sleepy at work. This is a godsend.
A couple of observations:
1)The first few nights I felt like a total idiot wearing the getup, and had a bit of difficulty adjusting the straps. They were too tight, and I didn’t figure out for several weeks that it wasn’t a requirement that I end up with a painful nose every morning. (I use the nasal pillow type rather than a mask because I have a goatee and mustache). Loving reassurance by my wife allowed the embarassment to fade.
2)I am VERY glad that the doctor insisted that I get the optional humidifier. We live in a dry climate to begin with (eastern Oregon, far different that the wet western half of popular image). I add a bit of distilled water every second or third day. A gallon of the same costs me a whole dollar at the local supermarket and lasts for six weeks or so. Well worth it.
3)It’s a good idea to tell other medical personnel in advance of any surgery that you have sleep apnea. It will make the anesthesiologist’s job easier and safer. Some members of our support group wear a medical alert bracelet with the pressure setting used on their machine. (I haven’t yet done that, but I make sure that my wife and everyone around me knows that I use 11 pounds of pressure).
4)Obesity is definitely a factor in apnea. Of the nearly 40 members of our support group, all are overweight to at least some degree. I don’t know if losing weight will obviate my need for the CPAP machine, but it certainly can’t hurt me.
5)Using the CPAP doesn’t have to tie you down. Mine came with an attractive carrying case that looks like a small piece of luggage and I’ve used it in hotels and motels on both coasts with no problem. There’s usually an outlet right by the bed. even if it means unplugging the clock radio. One lady in our support group even takes hers camping, using a big motorcyle battery and an inverter. She says on a full charge, the battery can power her CPAP machine for three nights.
Lots of good information available online, and those of us who are also dopers will be happy to answer any questions.
Hometownboy
I got my CPAP machine (and humidifier) yesterday. It’s got the “ramp-up” feature so it starts at 4 (psi or cubic inches-water, I don’t recall) and makes its way up to 13 over the course of 20 minutes.
The respiratory therapist said it is normal for someone to sleep about 4 hours the first night before ripping the thing off. 4 1/2 the next and so on. I made it 2 1/2.
I woke up with the air gushing out and into my eyes and no amount of adjustment would fix it. I had been coughing a bit too and, all in all, was generally irritated with the thing so I chucked it. I’ll wear it again tonight, though, and tomorrow night and the next, but for now I can tell you that it is not helping me sleep. It will, though, and I look forward to sleeping through the night.
By the by, the RRT told me about a new attachment that is in testing stages that resembles a SCUBA mouth piece. He said it was coming from Fisher Paykel, but I couldn’t find anything on it.
To me, this seems like a terrific solution in that it, supposedly, won’t have straps and won’t have to cover your nose and/or mouth. Sure, it’ll be partially invasive, going into the mouth, but I’d have to imagine that it’s better than the headgear!
thinksnow, good luck with the CPAP. It took my Dad a few days to get used to it also, but he sleeps so much better now.
I wondered when you were getting it. Hope you get used to it faster than you expect.
You’re going to need all the sleep you can get with all the DopeFests in October coming up! 
I can’t believe I missed this one the first time.
My dad had the CPAP, and then had his sinuses drilled, and had excessive scar tissue shaved off the inside of his nose (laser, I think). He’s never been overweight, but his apnea has contributed to a 30 year depression. Having the surgery and machine have helped him tremendously.
Good luck!
For anyone that might be interested, I’ve found out some other information that may affect me. The thread is **here **and it deals with tonsils and getting a UPPP.
Question, does this sound like sleep apnea:
My boyfriend is 23, kind of overweight. He sleeps a lot (12 + hours if he doesn’t have to wake up for work or anything) and is often tired, although not so much so that it seriously affects his life.
I have noticed on several occasions that when he falls asleep (at the beginning, if that helps any, I’m not sure about later in the night as I am asleep, too) he’ll stop breathing for about 20-40 seconds at a time. He also has chronic lung disease.
Is this worth checking out?
(Note: If it costs much money, it’s probably impossible now anyway, but is there serious health risks?)
Laur, if he is experiencing any episodes of apnea or hypopnea, it can be a serious risk to his health (and possibly a factor in his being overweight.) Assuming he has insurance, it’s a fairly simple matter to go to his doctor and request a sleep study.
I didn’t sleep more than usual, 6-8 hours, and I wasn’t groggy per se, but I was tired.
Check the links in the OP, have him read them and express your concern. It is very real, it can be very serious.
Good luck.
Bump for John Corrado, since his email-box is full.
Timely bump, for the sake of good.
Did you ever do a followup on how your apnea has been Thinksnow? I browsed this thread and the Big Tonsil thread and didn’t see if/where you had said the tonsilectomy helped or not? Did you ever get adjusted to the CPAP machine?
I was on the CPAP for a while but I couldn’t stand it. In my case, weight loss helped the apnea tremendously, but I’ve since put most of the weight I lost back on and I can tell the apnea’s coming back though it’s not yet as bad as it was.
thinksnow and Fredge thanks for the bumps, otherwise I would have missed this thread.
One thing I can’t seem to figure out: several people have mentioned that sleep apnea is a contributor to them/SO being overweight. First of all, how does this happen?
Second, several people mentioned being overweight as being a factor in their sleep apnea. Does sleep apnea increase your tendency to be overweight, which then increases your tendency to get sleep apnea?
Why I’m asking: my girlfriend has been complaining about my snoring for the past 10 months or so. We’ve been together for 4 years, and snoring was not a problem for me until about a year ago, apparently. Since we’ve been together I’ve put on about 30 pounds (let yourself go, right?). I know that the weight gain has caused the snoring, but after reading this thread I’m starting to wonder about apnea as well. She has said nothing about being afraid of me not breathing during the night and I have vivid dreams that I remember, but I wonder if I’m heading toward something really bad.
I guess the basic question is: being a middle-aged male, can simply gaining weight cause me to develop sleep apnea? Can obstructed apnea develop because something in my neck gets fat?
Thanks again for the thread and the bumps!
I’ve got a slightly different take on the situation.
I’ve experienced all of the things Thinksnow has mentioned and I greatly appreciate putting ‘words on paper’ about it. BUT:
After seeing my doctor, and a ENT doctor, and taking a sleep study (Boy did THAT suck. Lie on your back, get woken up every 60 minutes, try to get comfortable and when you do, they wake you back up and put you back on your back. Bleh.) The results were borderline and qualified as a cosmetic surgery. With Twins on the way, this was something I didn’t have money to fix. 
I was snoring like mad. And what I thought was unrelated: My HEARING was going away, there wasn’t a position I could sleep in that my soft palate didn’t make noise, I was not getting enough REM sleep, etc. (There was a third, disctinct, symptom that escapes me at the moment.)
I went BACK to the doctor on an unrelated issue. I’d been taking claritin for allergies for the last four years or so and it seemed to be less and less effective. He changed my allergy medication and BAM, two days later I’m sleeping like a baby, my hearing comes back, I stop snoring, and my life is about 1000% better.
Evidently my allergies were causing the soft tissues in my sinuses to become inflamed, causing all of the other symptoms. I was VERY surprised that the Ear Nose Throat doctor didn’t think about that.
Yes, weight gain can cause apnea in people who have never previously experienced symptoms. OSA (obstructive sleep apnea) is caused when the airways are blocked due to either relaxation of the throat muscles, blockage in the sinuses and airways, or increased pressure due to weight on the throat and lungs. While weight gain is a major factor in OSA, it’s not de facto. People who are not overweight but have enlarged tonsils, small jawlines, or other problems with their sinuses, jaws or airways are also at increased risk of sleep apnea.
From a website on sleep disorders:
What medication did you switch to? I’ve been taking claritin for many many years as well. I’d be curious to know if there’s something better out there I could look into trying.
I’d been using Claritin and Patanol (an eyedrop) and was switched over to Zyrtec-D and Nasonex as necessary. I’ve just been taking the Zyrtec-D.
A nice side effect is: those little niggling colds you get that never turn into anything are nicely handled by the ‘D’ part of the Zyrtec-D
OK - i’ve got about a million things to say on this thread! I’ll add more as i remember all the stuff i’ve read…hoping that some of you who posted so long ago are still around to read it
I appologise for this being so long.
sleep apnea affects all people groups
While it is most common (and yes, it’s about 10:1 - not 2:1) amongst the male population, particularly those obese and over 40 - sleep apnea can affect anyone, children and even very slim women… I for one am female (I think it was me cazzle was referring to in her post!) and i wasnt’ excessively overweight when i was diagnosed
** you DON’T have to snore to have apnea**
it is commonly thought, not only amongst the general population, but also by many doctors, that if you dont’ snore really badly, you don’t have apnea…while it is more common for those who have apnea to snore loudly, it is not always the case…again, i’m a classic example, i very rarely snore even quietly!
surgery sucess rate is very low
whle surgery does appear to help some, it is very rare indeed that it is a “cure” for apnea. surgeons will often tell you the sucess rate is over 50% - but they’re getting paid to cut you open! They have a very non-specific meaning for the word “sucess” - they take it to mean any slight improvement for any period of time. In reality, the real sucess rate is believed to be much lower than 50% and in most cases the use of CPAP is STILL required, even after the surgery. It can have some very nasty side effects, including food coming up your nose when you eat - and in those who say it has been sucessful for them, commonly, a year or two down the track they find that their symptoms are all coming back - so… think VERY carefully about surgery, particularly UPPP - and make sure you get more than one opinion…AND make sure a proper examination is done…this includes sticking a camera down your throat for a good look at what’s going on.
The only exception to surgery for apnea IMHO is that designed to unblock nasal passages, and again, this is not usually a cure as it’s commonly the tissues at the base of the tongue that are the problem, and not the nose, but having the nose fixed can make CPAP treatment more pleasant and more sucessful
Apnea & Weight Loss
There is often a significant link between sleep apnea and weight. Stuidies have shown that poor quality sleep will make you put on weight. Part of the reason is the need to eat more because you have lack of energy during the day, sometimes poeple eat more simply because they feel so lousy. In addition to the eating problem, having no energy from poor quality sleep can also lead to inactivity - another cause of weight gain. It becomes a vicious cycle. You have no energy to excersise to lose weight and you feel the need to eat more to get more energy, but the extra weight is causing the poor quality sleep…etc…
I’ve heard of a number of people who often tried to lose weight but never had any sucess until they started using CPAP to treat their apnea!
Doctors don’t always get it right
Many docs are still ignorant of the facts of sleep apnea. If you suspect you have apnea, go to see your GP/PCP - tell them you snore and have other apnea symptoms (lack of energy, poor concentration/memory, wake up with dry throat or/and headache, having to get up to pee during the night etc). If they don’t refer you directly to a certified sleep doctor, INSIST!! do NOT let them tell you that all you need to do is lose weight, for the reasons i explained above, soemtimes it’s not possible to lose weight. The other issue to consider is that weight may NOT be the cause of your apnea, I stated earlier, thin people can have apnea too! You NEED to have a sleep study done…there’s no other way about it.
Do I have apnea?
If you suspect you might have apnea, but don’t think it’s worth finding out for sure, think again. untreated apnea can kill you! Not only do you risk not waking up if you stop breathing…and stop breathing permanently, you are also over the long term doing damage to your heart and your brain. Think about it, hundreds of times every night you are depriving your brain of oxygen, this places stress on your heart and is now believed to be one of the leading causes of heart attack and stroke! Sleep Apnea is no petty thing, you need to pay attention to it.
Not only that, but getting it treated it will also improve your life! All that memory loss, trouble concentrating, feeling tired probably isn’t just old age catching up - it’s your body being damaged. Your sleep is constantly being disrupted and your body isn’t getting a chance to heal from anything that’s not right. Your body does most of it’s healing during the deep stages of sleep, if you have sleep apnea, you probably aren’t getting enough - if any - deep sleep.
Sleep apnea can be misdiagnosed as many things , including “laziness” and depression because a lot of doctors still don’t know enough about it… If you are reguarly tired and have no explaination for it, get a sleep study done!
Things to avoid
If you have apnea, treated or not, there are some things you should definately avoid! more so if you’re not being treated.
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Alcohol should be avoided several hours before bed.
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NEVER take medications or herbs etc that will relax you and make you more drowsy, this could mean that your body isn’t able to wake itself up when you’re struggling to breathe - very bad news.
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caffine…not for several hours before bed
CPAP hints
USE A HUMIDIFIER mention of humidifers has been briefly mentioned in this thread, i’ve got a few more comments. First, if you don’t have one, and you’re having a hard time with CPAP…GET ONE!! you would not believe the amount of differnce it can make… don’t settle for a passive humidifier, they’re basically useless, get a heated one. If your insurance won’t cover one, there’s a letter of necessity you can print out that should help to change their minds.
GET THE RIGHT MASK for you. There are many diff masks available now, the most popular nasal masks (fit over your nose kind of like an oxygen mask) seem to be the Ultra Mirage and the Aclaim, most popular nasal pillows (these don’t cover your nose but fit at the base of your nostrils is the Breeze, and now there is an oral mask (kind of like scuba gear) which fits right in your mouth, it has no headgear which is quite a bonus for some people. You can’t consider using the Oracle if you have had UPPP surger, clench your jaw or grind your teeth.
SUSPEND YOUR HOSE - it can be uncomfortable if you get tangled in your hose as you toss and turn while you sleep, and sometimes moving about can pull on the hose and dislodge the mask from your face, the best way around this is to suspend your hose above your head…my own simple method is to put a cuphook in the wall and attach a few elastic bands to hook the hose through, this allows freedom of movement while i sleep…you can buy proper hose suspencion contraptions online.
WASH YOUR MASK AND FACE each night before going to sleep. Facial oil will stop your mask from sealing properly - washing it will help avoid leaks. Use a lanolin free soap to wash the silicon part of your mask.
DON’T MAKE IT TOO TIGHT - common reaction to leaks is to tighten the mask, some masks are acutaly designed to be looser, not tigher - always lie down to fit your mask, start off with it very lose and then tighten it a little at a time till you have eliminated leaks.
IF YOU CAN’T GET USED TO IT - try wearing it during the day, especially if you feel claustraphobic with it on - stick your mask on and do something relaxing, like watching tv - this will get your body used to it being there and make it easier to sleep.
A couple of other points.
CPAP pressure is measured in cm/h20 (centimeters of water) NOT PSI… a typical CPAP pressure - say 12 - if measured in PSI would blow you up like a balloon!
If you have to have a high pressure setting, you might find that Bi-PAP works better, this has a high and low pressure setting that means it’s not so hard to breath out against - making it more comfortable
ADD/ADHD - especially in children, is in fact often mis-diagnosed Sleep Apnea - children often respond to being tired in the opposite way to adults, by becoming over-active.
SIDS - it is thought amongst some professionals that SIDS may in some cases at least be an infant form of sleep apnea - if sleep apnea is known in your family it might be worth asking your doc to put your baby on a monitor during sleep to alert you to any apnea events (periods of no breathing) - while apnea isn’t genetic exactly - it can and does run in some families - probably because of physical features that are passed on - narrow throat etc.
stress apnea is not caused by stress, nor I believe aggrivated by it, however it may make you more aware of it, if you’re not sleeping as well as you normally do because of stress, you may be more alert when you wake up because of apnea events and remember them more frequently than you would otherwise.
your sex life can be greatly improved by getting sleep apnea treated… all that extra energy you didn’t realise you didn’t have! (seriously)
COMMON SYMPTOMS
tiredness
snoring
waking up with headache
waking up with dry mouth
memory loss
poor concentration
depression
irritability
getting up through the night to pee (yes, seriously)
people commonly think they’d know if they were waking up in the night unable to breathe, but this isn’t always the case, again i’m a perfect example, i only have moderate sleep apnea (stop breathign 26 times an hour) and i never had any idea that i was waking up so often because i couldn’t breathe!
More info
there’s plenty sources online for more info, but the best by far I believe is the alt.support.sleep-disorder newsgroup. They have a website, you can find it at http://www.anchorweb.com.au/sleepdisorders - it gives much of the info i have here plus lots more - and instructions on how to set up the newsgroup. You can also access the newsgroup through google archives - there’s a link on the site.
There’s also info on what to expect from a sleep study, FAQ about apnea, CPAP & Mask info
you might want to look into steroid based nasals sprays - they reduce/prevent the inflamation caused by allergies and can safely be used all the time - I started using Rhinocort (budesonide) for heyfever a few years ago and was amazed at how much it really helped! It may be called somethign other than rhinocort outside australia
wonders if anyone actually read the post that took me ages to write