Sleep Apnea

[Barch]

Considering things that have been discussed here lately, I thought I'd bring up the subject of sleep apnea. I'm sure a lot of the members here may suffer from it, mostly because of higher body weights causing difficulty breathing during sleep. Now suffocating is only one of the problems with sleep apnea. Another aspect is that sleep apnea can cause serious heart disease and, sometimes, even heart failure. The irregular breathing causes stress on the heart by restricting oxygen to the heart as well as frequent drops and rises in BP making it difficult for the heart to function properly.

If you snore a LOT, or people comment that it sounds like you're choking when you sleep, you wake up tired and/or out of breath all the time, you're fatigued throughout the day regardless of how much sleep you get, you might want to get checked for sleep apnea.

High BP, heart arrythmia, and even strokes! Who knew snoring was so bad for you?

 

[badhabit08]

what can you do for it? i sound like a dying bear when i sleep i snore so bad. would love to fix it.

 

[tomw]

what can you do for it? i sound like a dying bear when i sleep i snore so bad. would love to fix it.

Many options from oral appliances,Cpap dev. all the way to surgery

 

[Barch]

Yeah, there are several different treatment options. A lot of people, when they have sudden weight gain (like a nice cycle can produce), will start to develop sleep apnea. People die from it, so if you think you might have it, go to a doctor. An ENT (Ear, nose, throat) doc, or a sleep clinic is a good call.

 

[Barch]

BTW, I'm convinced that a lot of people who "mysteriously" pass in their sleep actually are done in by sleep apnea.

 

[galaxy]

I had the surgery. It worked but was a nightmare at the time. I had some bleeding and had to go in for surgery twice after the original surgery to stop the bleeding. Better than wearing that cpap every nite tho.

 

[ttrader]

Galaxy, what surgery did you have done? Did you have the soft pallet removal?

I've been diaganosed with sleep apnea also but can't use that damn cpap becuase it is so freaking uncomfotable and I have a 90% blockage(deviated spetum) on the right side of my nasal passageway.

On another note about sleep apnea it also has been shown to be a factor in developing gout. I only learned that this last spring when I got hit with a couple bad attacks of gout. Changed my diet a little and it hasn't bothered me since but a friend of mine mentioned that gout can be a side effect of sleep apnea. Apparently the oxygen starved enviorment cuased by sleep apnea cuases the breakdown of cells in the body which forms uric acid which crystalizes in the joints and cuases the pain associated with gout.

Trust me it really sucks.

 

[galaxy]

Uvulaplasty and tonsilectomy. Just stayed in bed for 2 weeks eating jello and percs basically. Lost like 20lbs

 

[my_pain]

Yeah, there are several different treatment options. A lot of people, when they have sudden weight can (like a nice cycle can produce), will start to develop sleep apnea. People die from it, so if you think you might have it, go to a doctor. An ENT (Ear, nose, throat) doc, or a sleep clinic is a good call.[/QUOTE

Very serious thing. My cousin died from it 2 months ago in his sleep.
He was overweight @ 54 yrs old. The coroner diagnosed it as "coronary Heart failure due to sleep Apnea". Went to the emergency room, they sent him home told him to see a doctor and he died that night.

I have it myself and use a Cpap machine. If I don't use it I feel like shit.
My body was producing too many red blood cells due to the fact I was choking in my sleep and the body reacted which can lead to a blood clot.


I hate wearing the mask, but looks like I will be on it the rest of my life.

 

[perryscoon]

BTW, I'm convinced that a lot of people who "mysteriously" pass in their sleep actually are done in by sleep apnea.

I agree with this.

 

[txmike]

The most common cause of sleep apnea is weight gain and advancing age(10% of men over 65 have it.) When you relax, extra fat tissues and the tonque relax as well and can close the opening in the windpipe. That's why you have loud snoring and gasping for air that wakes you up.....or maybe doesn't in time.
Oprah's doctor said that by losing only 15 pounds you reduce the apnea problem by 40%. That's an odd stat to me, but I dropped 20 pounds and had a profound improvement in my sleep.
You can help yourself tonight if your apnea is severe by sleeping more upright like in a recliner. That stops the relaxing tissues from constricting the airway.
Or sleep on your side, not your back. Put pillows or something around yourself to prevent moving on your back at night.
Try using those tapes that go outside your nose to pull open the nasal passages and maybe try allergy meds before sleep to dry up and constrict the passages.
AAS may cause bloat and just like weight gain bloat can increase the size of the tissues. Try a diuretic temporarily to see how that eases the problem, but it's definitely not the fix.
Not everyone can take the CPaP machine partly from cost(even with insurance it may run near $4000 including the sleep study to get it) to claustrophobia to some odd side effects. There are easier to wear masks you can find on the internet if claustrophobia is a problem for you.
Before you dismiss the CPaP you can listen to celebrities who used it and all had the same comment: The day after the first night sleep was like living for the first time.
People with sleep apnea don't enter REM sleep long enough to get the restful sleep they need, so during the day they are doing more than just dozing.
You can also ask your dentist for a mouthguard he designs to help keep things open.
For other reasons already mentioned in this thread, it's worth more to you to correct the problem than to tolerate noisy nights with snoring.
The greatest man in my life died from congestive heart failure. We later realized that my father had severe sleep apnea that can cause congestive heart failure.

 

[Burpees]

I used to be 189, made it to 305 in like 4 years, Little Debbie Diet check it out all you hard gainers. Anyway, by the time I was in the 270's I was keeping the dogs and the neighbors up with my choking snores. The heavy choking stopped when I started doing cardio, the snoring went completely away when I made it to about 250.. I'm 230 now but mid cycle, and my composition is totally different than it was 2 years ago.. I sleep fine, no more apnea...

If you're in the south florida area I can get you signed up to a sleep study, takes about a week, you make about 1000.00 and they monitor your sleep which lets you know if you have any oddities going on while you sleep.

 

[Barch]

I remember reading somewhere about sleep apnea being treated with shots to the offending tissues. The shots, which had to be given several times if I remember correctly, essentially reduced the size of the uvula and the soft palate, thereby clearing the airway for easier breathing. While shots in the mouth don't sound so great, it may be a better option than surgery or the CPAP.