Sleep Apnea Blog » apnea

Alternatives for treating sleep apnea?

admin — Sun, 16 May 2010 08:42:11 +0000

I was diagnosed with sleep apnea 2 years ago. I was given sleep-pack mask but it’s even harder to sleep with that on! Does anyone know of an alternative to the mask that works?!

depends on the causes of your sleep apnea. One of the main causes is being overweight, and you don’t even have to be a lot overweight. That’s not always the cause (my dad has it, and has always been on the leaner side). My older sister has it, and hers is DEFINITELY weight related.

Not knowing you i can’t say if weight is a factor or not, but you would know. If it is, try eating healthy, (which everybody should do anyhow), and you will lose weight as a side effect of eating healthy.

Sometimes sleeping on the side helps, but not always.

There are alternatives, i.e. surgery, but as for how well that works, not sure (according to a doc i saw recently, he says it’s 50/50, but anther doc said he gets good results). Surgery should ALWAYS be a last result however, but sleep apnea needs to be taken care of. It’s very hard on the heart.

Can Sleep Apnea be causing my Palpitations?

admin — Sun, 16 May 2010 08:42:11 +0000

I seem to sometimes wake up with a pounding heart, but I have been to the doctor twice and had normal ECGs and blood oxygen levels.

Hello!

I will try to answer to your question as simple as possible.

If you have sleep apnea disorder, your heart may be affected by serious health problems, such as:
-heart arrhythmia, or abnormal heart rhythm. It means that heart may have long pauses between beats, even 2 or 3 seconds long, or extra beats.
-congestive heart failure, in which the heart fails to adequately maintain the circulation of blood. So your heart will deliver low blood oxygen level to the body tissues.

You need to remember that all this heart problems appear most of the time during sleep, when you have apnea episodes.

With CPAP treatment, all this problem will disappear.

I hope this information will help you.

How do you cure sleep apnea without a breathing machine?

admin — Sun, 16 May 2010 08:42:11 +0000

My boyfriend has no insurance. He cannot afford a machine. He wakes tired from this condition and he is a carpenter. Hard work with power tools. I worry about him.

you can’t cure sleep apnea even with a cpap machine. what you can do is get a uppp operation by a ent specialist or lose weight and do not drink alcohol before sleep. do not sleep flat on your back either. those things will help but you are right to be concerned.

what exactly is sleep apnea and what are the most common symptoms?

admin — Sun, 16 May 2010 08:42:10 +0000

Havinng his condiion myself I can tell you it is an airway blockage.

Morning issues such as dry throat, headaches, being very tired uppon waking, excessive daytime drowsiness which may also be narcolepsy.

Surgery cures most snoring but rarely apnea which is further back in the throat. There are treatments out there but the only one thhat works for me is a CPAP.

It is a continuous positive airway pressure system designed to keep the airway open.

Is an oxygen concentrator normal treatment for sleep apnea, and can oxygen cause headaches?

admin — Sun, 16 May 2010 08:42:10 +0000

I’ve had several test where overnight I wore the thing on my finger to test my oxygen saturation levels, and apparently the levels went down because now the Dr. has ordered an oxygen concentrator to wear at night. We’re doing another oxygen level test in a few weeks, to see if the concentrator helps. I’m just wondering if this is a normal first step, because I see a lot of people on here use other things. I’ve also noticed that I’m waking up with horrible headeaches after sleeping with the oxygen, is that normal?
It’s just a normal concentrator with a humidifier bottle and nasal canula. I don’t think the headaches are from it being too tight, because it only goes over my ears and is just tight enough that it doesn’t fall off.

Usually when you get headaches it’s from lack of oxygen, I used to get those heaps but once i went on oxygen they cleared up straight away. If you think the prongs are too tight just hook them up underneath your nose and tighten at the back of your head, I do that because it feels like my ears are being pushed out the other way lol. As for the headaches, talk to your doctor and see what can be done, you may not be getting enough oxygen at night and might have to put it up higher.

Are these apneas bad?

admin — Sun, 16 May 2010 08:42:10 +0000

Is a few episodes of central apnea and hypoapnea bad? I had a few episodes during a sleep study and only was able to sleep supine for 6 minutes, but during, had 1 episode of that, and 4 of the hypoapnea. I had NO obstructive apneas, yet was diagnosed with Mild Obstructive sleep apnea.

Apneas are never good, but a mild case is the least concerning case for you to have.
As long as you’re maintaining your oxygen levels to some degree and are getting moderate amounts of restful sleep every night, you may want to explore secondary options such as diet and exercise, Breathe right nasal strips or ambulatory surgery in order to fix your apneic case.
Talk to your doctor for more personalized information.

Has anyone lost weight once beginging sleep apnea treatment?

admin — Mon, 10 May 2010 00:25:07 +0000

In the coming weeks I will start using the CPAP mask to treat my sleep apnea. My neurologist suggested I could lose roughly thirty pounds just by beginning the treatment. I am wondering if anyone has ever lost any weight once they started using a CPAP machine and if so, how much and over how long of a time? Everyone things my doctor is blowing smoke up my butt.

It sounds a bit hard to believe! I have never heard of it, but the doctor would be committing a serious error if he was lying or "joking" without making it clear that he was joking. I have done some research and nothing shows that weight loss is a side effect of the treatment.
Take a look at the info below

Can sleep apnea cause seizures?

admin — Mon, 10 May 2010 00:25:06 +0000

I have a 6 yr. old daughter who recently started having seizures in her sleep. (or recently that I know of) The first time I called 911, the second time I drove her to the hospital myself. They were 8 days apart and both were in the middle of the night. We went in and had a cat scan, mri and eeg. No signifacant results, which is good news, but I can’t live the rest of my life waking up every time she scratches an itch. She has always snored slightly and had to have her adnoids out at age 4 because of this. Does any one here have a sleep apnea and if so, have you ever had a seizure because of it?

well yes kinda my son 2 also has sleep apnea and as you know it is because they stop breathing(apnea) so if they stop for a longer amount of time then oxygen to the brain has stopped so they could sizer now remember I’m not a Dr this is just we were told by my sons Dr we also keep him on a pulse oxcemider at night so i know if he stops breathing you might ask for one good luck if you have any more ?s i will be happy to help

Is sleep apnea treatments covered by medicare?

admin — Mon, 10 May 2010 00:25:05 +0000

You need to talk to the homecare company that provides the equipment. They generally rent the machine and you are eligible for a new mask approx every 6 months.

Could my symptoms be more than sleep apnea?

admin — Mon, 10 May 2010 00:25:04 +0000

I have been having health problems since October. Symptoms im having are…muscle pain, weakness, sudden loss of strength, burning pain in joints, muscle spasms and cramps, fatigue,clumsiness like dropping things alot, unsteadiness, tingling in my legs and arms…my family doctor did blood work which came back normal, at first he thought i had fibromyalgia until i started having muscle weakness, he ruled out sleep apnea as I dont snore much and sleep fairly well nor do i have very many of the symptoms. He sent me to a neurologist as he thinks i have a neurological disorder…the neurologist says he thinks i have sleep apnea and scheduled a sleep study test, ive talked with others who have sleep apnea and they say I need to see a different neurologist and get a second opinion…has anyone else had these problems with sleep apnea???

The doctor is simply checking out the possibilities. A sleep study is routinely done with many fibromyalgia patients. He is correct that sleep apnea can cause many of the symptoms you are having.

A diagnosis of fibromyalgia is made inpart by excluding other things that couldbe the cause of the symptoms you are having. In addition it is not unusal for fibromyalgia patients to have several health problems in addition to the fibromyalgia.
Your doctor is covering all the bases and you should be happy that he is being thorough. I wish everyone got as good of help as you are getting.

Every person is different and each fibro patient has different symptoms and problems. The thing about fibro once you get the diagnosis , doctors tend to stop looking for other problems that could be causing your symptoms.