Sleep apnea

[tyrone girl]

Anyone ever experienced this or know much about it?
Bf been having probs with snoring and night sweats etc and went to docs today who reckoned this is whats causing it. Booking him into hospital apparently to have tests done or somethin to diagnose properly.
Is it a common thing anyone know? Been googling it and they talk about lifestyle changes etc like losing weight - but he doesnt have any weight to lose

[Puckoon]

It is very common. Im not sure what the treatments involve though. Should'nt be anyting to lose (much) sleep over (pardon the pun).

[Puckoon]

In fairness - the snoring should be the least of either of your worries. Basically in a sleep apnea patient there are episodes in which they completely stop breathing. That is not good.

There are a number of options from what I remember - with surgery being the last and most drastic course. If its sleep apnea he has he most likely will benefit from some way of opening his airways.

[armaghniac]

There was a programme on RTE radio 1 on Saturday 2pm two or three weeks ago, perhaps this is still on the website. The tests involve measuring the frequency and duration of the periods when you stop breathing during the night. About a guy from Dublin that had the test and was now using a sleep mask oxygen thing and was now sleeping well. Losing weight may help if it started when you put on weight, but anyone can have it. Sleeping on your side may help and is easy to try.

[Eoghan Mag]

Its called sleep apnoea and 'is a breathing disorder characterised by brief interruptions of breathing during sleep'. The name comes from the Greek word apnoea meaning 'want of breath'.

Anyway thats what they sent me when I was diagnoised with it. I'm not allowed to drive and they have to fit me with a 'darth vader' sleep mask called CPAP - Nasal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure.

Ah sure I am up at all hours of the day and night. I could sleep for 8 hours, get up for 2 hours and be asleep 2 hours later. There is no option but to lie down the tiredness is so bad. I would toss and turn like a mad thing at night too. I have the better half driven demented.

Doctors told me if a person is over weight it can worsen the condition.

[ludermor]

Its called sleep apnoea and 'is a breathing disorder characterised by brief interruptions of breathing during sleep'. The name comes from the Greek word apnoea meaning 'want of breath'.

Anyway thats what they sent me when I was diagnoised with it. I'm not allowed to drive and they have to fit me with a 'darth vader' sleep mask called CPAP - Nasal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure.

Ah sure I am up at all hours of the day and night. I could sleep for 8 hours, get up for 2 hours and be asleep 2 hours later. There is no option but to lie down the tiredness is so bad. I would toss and turn like a mad thing at night too. I have the better half driven demented.

Doctors told me if a person is over weight it can worsen the condition.

More tossing than turning id say

[Eoghan Mag]

I'm still waiting on the mask. It could take at least 6 months. Doesn't help either that I also have a limp from trapped nerves!

Look if not driving saves his life and the life of others then thats the way it should be.

[Eoghan Mag]

Its called sleep apnoea and 'is a breathing disorder characterised by brief interruptions of breathing during sleep'. The name comes from the Greek word apnoea meaning 'want of breath'.

Anyway thats what they sent me when I was diagnoised with it. I'm not allowed to drive and they have to fit me with a 'darth vader' sleep mask called CPAP - Nasal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure.

Ah sure I am up at all hours of the day and night. I could sleep for 8 hours, get up for 2 hours and be asleep 2 hours later. There is no option but to lie down the tiredness is so bad. I would toss and turn like a mad thing at night too. I have the better half driven demented.

Doctors told me if a person is over weight it can worsen the condition.

More tossing than turning id say

LOL

[Dougal Maguire]

Its more the fact though that the tiredness is killing him every day. He cant keep awake and is sick of the constant sweating etc at night and im sick to the teeth of the snoring also.

I assume, given that he's your boy friend, that you can hear his snoring through the wall of his bedroom

[flantheman82]

There are two types of sleep apnoea. One is central sleep apnoea and the other is obstructive. Sounds like your bf has obstructive. Can be caused by enlarged tonsils or adenoids so surgery can sort these out.
However it can also be caused by the muscles in the back of the mouth relaxing when you enter your deep/rem sleep and falling back over your airway partially blocking it. Particularly if you sleep on your back.
Solution to this is, like eoghan said, cpap which is a continuous flow of low pressure air which keeps your airways open.

[DrinkingHarp]

TG,

Sleep apnea symptoms can be reduced by weight loss, but the CPAP machine will work wonders. My Dad has sleep apnea and when he received his machine he said the sleep was fantastic. The DR and tester will set the machine to the proper flow depending on how bad the disorder is in the patient. After a month or so the technician should check the machine to make sure the setting is still the same. Although in some cases the machine will have to be readjusted if the patient doesn't see any improvements while using the machine or a new mask may be needed.

The KEY to the machine is to KEEP using it till the DR says you don't need it anymore. After a month or two your BF may feel better but keep him using it if he gets a CPAP.

Sleep Apnea may seem like a silly or trivial disorder but it is DEADLY.  Most patients are over weight but more and more patients who develop this disorder have soft muscle in the throat that relax too much while sleeping and cut off oxygen flow for sometimes up to 2 minutes. People have died from lack of oxygen, stoke and heart attacks all from sleep apnea.

On a plus side once he starts sleeping better you will also get a better night sleep. You are probably not sleeping because of the snoring but also watching him to make sure he is still breathing. It can be easy controlled once the DR takes him in for a sleep test.

Good Luck

[delboy]

Brother has it, he used to drive as part of his job, hence lost his job because he is longer allowed to drive a commercial vechile in case he causes an accident due to sleep deprivation.

There is some machine that he uses to open the airways but its so noisy i don't know how the hell he or his wife can sleep with it on.
I think if you have an understanding GP you can get one of the machines that opens the airways and also somehow measures your sleep at the same time, i think you need to be getting around 6 hours sleep consitently for a while before the will let you drive again. And i beleive they are much more lax on personal car use but if you drive for a living be prepared to lose your licence and job (at least for a while).

[Denn Forever]

Check with the forums what the situation with the car insurance is.  The Dr. may say its ok to drive but I'm sure the Insurance company would need to be informed.

Best of luck.

[haranguerer]

Night sweats, trouble sleeping, trouble breathing....are you sure its not just all down to you putting pressure on him to make his intentions clear?

[aontroim]

http://www.sleepweaver.com/Default.asp?Redirected=Y