sleep

[FJRay]

I'm laying here with about a zillion wire hooked to me doing a sleep study. How are you supposed to sleep when you're wired up like a fukin stereo. I need some good drugs.

 

[dave k]

Did one about 20years ago just watched TV till late, did another about 3 weeks ago and could not sleep too save my life as now I can't sleep with out my CPAP it's a mental thing with me but I guess I did sleep for 73 minutes, so good luck or self medicate if possible.

 

[Greg 03]

been there, done that

then I had sleep apnea surgery

not sure it helped much

 

[TomInPA]

I was unable to sleep during a sleep study in 2008, and was prescribed an auto-titrating APAP. I never sleep without it anymore, except last Thursday. I forgot the power supply and had a miserable night of snoring and gasping for air. If they find you need it, you'll wonder how you ever got along without it.

 

[Old Guy]

I'm laying here with about a zillion wire hooked to me doing a sleep study. How are you supposed to sleep when you're wired up like a fukin stereo. I need some good drugs.

They want my wife to do one, and I wish she would. But she asked the same question. "How can you do a reliable study of how I sleep when this is nothing like how I sleep?"

 

[bigjohnsd]

I had a similar experience. They wired me up and made me sleep on my back while wired. I never sleep on my back, left side or stomach sleeper here. I told them it wasn't going to work and I was correct.

They claimed I slept for 45 minutes, sufficient time for them to determine I needed a CPAP.

I got one, used it for a few years, couldn't notice any difference.

I lost 70#

Went for another sleep study and asked about the sleeping position before the study. They said you have to sleep on your back, I explained how it was, they said you have to sleep on your back, I said take your test and put it where the sun don't shine as it is a waste of my time and my money.

Still sleeping on my side with no apparent apnea. On the rare occasion I fall asleep in my recliner I can wake myself up with apnea.

I did some research and found that sleeping on your back certainly raises the probability of experiencing apnea. Sounds to me like the whole sleep study industry is founded on the principal of a faulty test if one is not a back sleeper. But they sure sell a lot of CPAPs!

 

[juniorfjr]

The two times I've done the study they gave me something to knock me our a little. Hard to fall asleep when you are wired up like one of Frankensteins experiments. Feel the same way about the CPAP, anybody want a good deal on a lightly used one? Oh well, gotta die of something.

 

[Bounce]

I'm laying here with about a zillion wire hooked to me doing a sleep study. How are you supposed to sleep when you're wired up like a fukin stereo. I need some good drugs.

turn off the gadgets and close your eyes. eventually you'll get bored and fall asleep but not if your surfing the interwebs.

If they find you need it, you'll wonder how you ever got along without it.

my wife was prescribed one. she went whole hog with extra masks and tubes and **** for replacements. then pretended to try it once while insisting i sit over her and watch her in case it failed (the implication was that she could smother). she never used it again. waste of money and her health continues to suffer from her apnea.

 

[TomInPA]

More people fail at using CPAP after being diagnosed with apnea, than succeed. That is why many insurance companies stipulate the equipment be rented for six months or so before the purchase. Part of the problem, is the patient is usually prescribed the cheapest crappiest piece of **** equipment noisy that has no humidifier, data or auto-adjustment, and a bulky mask. The other part is a lack of support system to learn the best use of the equipment and how to deal with the inconvenience, embarrassment and social stigma of relying on a continuous positive air pressure machine to normalize sleep and long-term health.

I didn't have the option of a 15-year younger girlfriend, but at least my wife of 35 years was supportive and appreciated the better night's sleep sans snoring. That's saying a lot considering there is a guy that sounds like Darth Vader sleeping next to her.

 

[HotRodZilla]

My dad was a big guy. He snored like a train which, as kids, we all thought was funny. He would stop breathing long enough to wake himslef and my mom up numerous times a night. He started having raging headaches and would fall asleep every time he sat down.

He went in for a sleep study and bitched about how they woke him up to see of he was sleeping. During the short time he did sleep, he stopped breathing a stupid amount of times. His O2 sat sank into the low 70s. The correct diagnoses was sleep apnea and he ended up with a C-Pap machine.

He could finally sleep and his headaches were instantly gone. He went through a few series of them, but wouldn't even take a nap without using it. His quality of life improved 100%.

That being said, I wouldn't let pride or stubbornness slowly suffocate me. If you need one, accept it and use it. You'll be glad you did.

 

[user 213]

Bunch of comments. I've BTDT with the full on sleep study and was stopping breathing something like 30 times an hour. I felt like I couldn't sleep for the first four hours of the study, time just dragged on until they came in and put a mask on me for setting the CPAP pressure. I closed my eyes and a minute later they were poking me to say it was time to leave. It was four hours later and I had slept like a dead man. I left with a CPAP, decent unit, not that loud and with a humidifier, Phillips Respironices System One. That was '08, after I rode to a rally and was so sleep deprived that I had to tell the RM that I was a DNS at the start, because I realized I wasn't capable of functioning safely on the bike for a 32 hour endurance rally after working a swing shift, riding 800 miles and only getting 5 hours of crappy, interrupted sleep.

@Ray - I hope you slept enough for the study. Too damn expensive to waste the time.

@Bounce - Tell your wife that when she sleeps w/o the CPAP, she is suffering not only from sleep apnea, but she is starving her brain for oxygen. The long term result of this is loss of brain function. This is no joke. It starts with your memory not being as good as it used to be, and goes on to everything from early onset Alzheimers to dementia, (night dementia for some, which is baffling at first and terrifying later), and loss of fine motor skills. It can lead to a stroke and other instantly life altering and threatening events too. Tell her if she wants to live, wear the damn CPAP. There are different types of masks, nose masks, full face, etc. Ask her what the problem is with her sleeping with the mask on and suggest that she needs to actually use it long enough to get used to it before it will become more comfortable for her. Sounds like she hasn't really tried wearing it every night for at least a couple of weeks strait.

I was lucky in a way. I didn't have issues with the CPAP, just started using it that first night and have every night since. I sleep better, feel more rested than I did before and usually only get up once, if that, during the night. I used to get up a dozen times to pee. Got meds that helped that, but didn't need them once I started using the CPAP. Wasn't a prostate issue after all.

It's part of life for me now. Yeah, I'm still overweight, but down about 30 lbs from when I got the CPAP. Could stand to lose another 60+ and I might not need it. Fat guys don't usually sleep on their stomach. I used to when I was skinny. Now it's back or side. Used to be more side before the CPAP, and while that can help sleep apnea for some, everyone is different. I suspect I was adapting to the apnea, so that I could sleep. Now it's mostly on my back or sometimes side, but that's usually because my back is hurting and it makes the mask push up on my nose sometimes.

When I travel by bike, the CPAP takes about half of a saddlebag. On the FJR, I added a pelican case large enough for the CPAP as a top box, just because of having to travel with that. I do know people that use CPAPs and don't take them when they travel by bike. That's dumb. If you have been prescribed a CPAP, use it every night. If it's not working for you, talk to your Doc about a Bi-PAP or other solutions for your needs.

 

[SwollenRaccoon]

Wow, OCfjr, you nailed it, on many counts.

Me: (At the test time, I was about 47 years old, maybe 10 to 15 pounds overweight). Went through a sleep test about 10 years ago. Thought I didn't sleep at all, but actually did. Snored at a 4 level (0=no snoring, 5=complaints from the bowling alley two blocks away). No sleep apnea, but they did put the CPAP on me, and I did a little better. I have a couple of bad disks in my back, so can only sleep on my back for short periods. So, I alternate sides all night. In the sleep study, he said I was waking myself 45 times an hour, for no apparent reason. By the way, very impressive wiring harness used for that test. Like something to wire a B1B bomber, but without mil-spec hardware.

My old office partner at work: Overweight guy, four years older than me. Kept nodding off at work because he was tired. He went through a sleep test, got a CPAP, and never nodded off at work again. Not once. Takes his CPAP with him wherever he travels.

My mother, now 80 years old: Went through a sleep test about 10 years ago. Now uses the CPAP religiously, even for most naps, and sleeps a lot better.

Conclusion: If you have sleep apnea, follow your doctor's instructions. Contrary to what you may think, no matter how smart you are (or aren't), your doctor knows this **** better than you do. I'm as stubborn (probably more so) than the next guy, so I understand the problem. Best bet: Use your CPAP, lose weight, count sheep if you have to (except for Bust), and develop a regular sleep habit. Good luck with this. It isn't a minor issue.

 

[FJRay]

Lots of good input sprinkled with the usual level of BS. I guess now I wait for the sleep folks to review it and forward the results to the VA to see if they want to buy me a machine. The sleep study was their idea so who knows what's next. I spend half my time in bed and the rest in the recliner cause my back is a mess so maybe I need two machines.

 

[Bungie]

RE: OCFjr falling asleep hard with CPAP on for the first time.

A few years back my mother was dieing of lung cancer/COPD and was on an oxygen machine 24/7. The day before she passed away she ended up in emerg. After a big hit of Ventolin, the pulmonary guy comes in with the worlds biggest CPAP machine.

They hook her up and the doctor says to me "I betcha she's asleep in one minute"

The fired up the CPAP and literally expanded her chest like a balloon. I can still see the look of panic in her eyes.

Ya, she was asleep in 5 seconds flat.

Seems people go years getting only minutes of sleep intermittently each night. It takes its toll. When they finally get a good lungful, it's like a knockout punch.

She spent her last night on earth sleeping like a baby.

 

[Bounce]

@Bounce - Tell your wife that when she sleeps w/o the CPAP, she is suffering not only from sleep apnea, but she is starving her brain for oxygen. The long term result of this is loss of brain function. This is no joke. It starts with your memory not being as good as it used to be, and goes on to everything from early onset Alzheimers to dementia, (night dementia for some, which is baffling at first and terrifying later), and loss of fine motor skills. It can lead to a stroke and other instantly life altering and threatening events too. Tell her if she wants to live, wear the damn CPAP. There are different types of masks, nose masks, full face, etc. Ask her what the problem is with her sleeping with the mask on and suggest that she needs to actually use it long enough to get used to it before it will become more comfortable for her. Sounds like she hasn't really tried wearing it every night for at least a couple of weeks strait.

Yep. We had all those conversations. After she blew up at me I asked her to at least have the courtesy of not lingering.

 

[user 213]

@Bounce - Tell your wife that when she sleeps w/o the CPAP, she is suffering not only from sleep apnea, but she is starving her brain for oxygen. The long term result of this is loss of brain function. This is no joke. It starts with your memory not being as good as it used to be, and goes on to everything from early onset Alzheimers to dementia, (night dementia for some, which is baffling at first and terrifying later), and loss of fine motor skills. It can lead to a stroke and other instantly life altering and threatening events too. Tell her if she wants to live, wear the damn CPAP. There are different types of masks, nose masks, full face, etc. Ask her what the problem is with her sleeping with the mask on and suggest that she needs to actually use it long enough to get used to it before it will become more comfortable for her. Sounds like she hasn't really tried wearing it every night for at least a couple of weeks strait.

Yep. We had all those conversations. After she blew up at me I asked her to at least have the courtesy of not lingering.

Try again, she's likely forgotten all that by now, what with the memory loss.

Yeah, I know how difficult it is to have these conversations with the spouse. Getting mine to go to the Dr if she isn't actually in the active process of dying is a real bear. Getting old sucks. Losing the one you love and getting stuck being the one left around sucks more.

 

[user 213]

Lots of good input sprinkled with the usual level of BS. I guess now I wait for the sleep folks to review it and forward the results to the VA to see if they want to buy me a machine. The sleep study was their idea so who knows what's next. I spend half my time in bed and the rest in the recliner cause my back is a mess so maybe I need two machines.

Nah, the machines have gotten much more compact over the years. My Dad's was huge, with a humidifier that probably held a gallon of water. Mine is 10.5" x 7" x 4.5 and half that length is the humidifier, which comes off w/o tools. I've left the humidifier in the luggage when I rode to Machuu Pichu in Peru so I didn't have to stuff the whole thing in my pack. It wasn't too big a deal there to not have the humidifier. At the price of the damn things, you don't want to be buying two. That said, when you get yours, have the doc write you an actual prescription for one too. You can buy the things from medical supply houses locally and on line for a heck of a lot cheaper than the insurance will charge you, depending on your coverage and what the VA covers.

CLICK ME That's mine, discontinued unit now. I think I got billed $1750 for that machine, which can be found for something under $500 recently.

Check out the current offerings and prices so you have some idea, just in case you're paying for part or all of the machine. Get the Script from the Doc, so you can order another or a different one, should you want to.

I just Googled CPAP and this site came up, but there are lots of them. I bet LaPine has a medical supply place too, that either has them and supplies, or can order them in. LINK

 

[dcarver]

Good read for me. Tx guys.

 

[Khunajawdge]

My CO2 on this subject = 50 years ago, most people didn't live much past 50. A lot of them just died in their sleep. Now, we are living until we are 80+. Maybe CPAP machines have altered the balance of things? (but then, so have long distance touring motorcycles).

I have and use my CPAP machine nightly, and I don't fall asleep in the afternoon anymore = Especially dangerous when riding!

At home, my wife tells me she can sleep a full night, without waking me to tell me I quit breathing?

I have trained myself to breath through my nose, even though my mouth still feels like I am ready to spit cotton in the morning.

Strangely(?), the best cure for morning dry mouth is to brush my teeth in the AM.

CO2 broadcast over... you are now being returned to your normal programming.