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15 November 2005

Anyone here have sleep apnea? [More:]I'm going in to the hospital tomorrow night for an overnight sleep study. Anyone here ever done this? It seems likely according to the whitecoats that I'll have to live with one of those fabulous CPAP machines. Classy! But I hear you do sleep much better. Any anecdotes?
i have it. it remains untreated.
posted by quonsar 15 November | 23:47
Any anecdotes?

I was a heavy snorer, probably well on my way to sleep apnea, until I lost 60 lb. this year. If you're overweight, don't underestimate the health benefits of losing some of it. This is about the time of year last year I started planning my assault on my oversized midregion via a low-carb diet. Worked like a charm; I lost 1/4 of my body weight in 6 months not to mention several health problems (including the snoring) and the need to take seven pills a day to stay alive.

Take care of the immediate problem. But if your sleep apnea is caused by excessive weight, lose it.
posted by Doohickie 15 November | 23:55
I got diagnosed with severe sleep apnea about 3 months ago. I've been using a CPAP for 1 month now, and it's helping, though it took me about 2-3 weeks before I could sleep the whole night through with it on. It's pretty durn claustrophobic.

Do you know if you're doing a split-night sleep study? That's where they monitor you sleeping normally for half the night, then they put a CPAP on you for the other half of the night.

For your sleep study: It'll help a lot if you're tired as hell when you get there. Don't take a nap that day, and get up early that morning if you can. Don't drink any caffeine that day either. It can be hard to get to sleep with all the crazy wires they put on you. Even so, I was so tired from skipping my nap that I fell right asleep. However, I had to go back for a 2nd sleep study to try me on a CPAP, and I had a really hard to getting to sleep with my first taste of CPAP, and even with an Ambien, I couldn't stay asleep more than an hour at a time.

Anyway, I'm not taking naps anymore, so it all has a happy ending. I used to sleep 11+ hours a day and still feel exhausted as hell.
posted by agropyron 16 November | 00:34
dad had it, due to 2x breaking of the nose in the only two games of rugby he ever played. they rebroke his nose and straightened everything out; he had black eyes something fierce, but the volume of his snoring has gone from 747 in a power dive to remote control plane across a soccer field.
posted by sam 16 November | 01:15
My boyfriend has sleep apnea, and he's worn a CPAP for a couple of years. If I had any advice to offer, it would be this - dogs *love* to chew up those masks! We've already lost one.

The CPAP has been a godsend for me. I sleepwalk, and the snoring would set me off. Never mind him - I'm happy that I wake up *in bed* every morning.
posted by freshwater_pr0n 16 November | 01:32
Awesome, the CPAP sounds potentially less annoying than I thought it would (and there's some on ebay for 50 clams). Agropyron, it's a split night study, and they've supplied me with happy lil sleeping pills, but I plan on being exhausted by the time I get there tonight. Doohickie, they say it's more than likely CNS apnea, but weight loss won't hurt. I also have an abnormally narrow airway, but surgery is out as it would pretty much axe my voiceover work. After my initial consultation, I joined a gym anyway and shaved off about 10 lbs so far, and I'm slimming into an Arial Narrow from a curvy Comic Sans rather quickly, to use a font metaphorically.

Thanks for the advice and wisdom, all!
posted by moonbird 16 November | 07:21
A colleague of mine has it and wears the CRAP thing. He is HORRENDOUSLY overweight though - like close to 400lbs at about 5'-8" if that. Sweet dreams with the study. Give them an entertaining brain wave or two. You could put it on your holiday greeting cards this year!
posted by chewatadistance 16 November | 08:03
My husband has it. Getting the CPAP probably saved his life AND our marriage. (The boy snored loud enough for Y'ALL to hear him.)
posted by bunnyfire 16 November | 08:05
I have central sleep apnea as well. (I weigh about 160 at 5'9".) I read a lot about how CPAP doesn't generally help with CSA, but my sleep technician collected the stats from my CPAP yesterday and it says I'm only having 5 apneas an hour now, down from 60+ an hour.
posted by agropyron 16 November | 11:49
Housing bubble about to burst? || serve with ice cold beer.

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