Sleep Apnea

Does anyone have sleep apnea? At my last pacer clinic visit they saw my heart was racing at night up to 150 bpm and now I am getting tested for this soon. I was wondering how people have made out with this, even though I don't think thats the problem. Thanks in advance,
Boatman

9 Comments

Sleep Apnea

by SMITTY - 2008-04-08 05:04:11

Hello Boatman,

Yes, I have sleep apnea to go with my long list of other crap. I spent a night in a sleep lab where I was monitored without and with a CPAP. In case you are not familiar with CPAP that is a harness that looks too much like a horse’s bridle you wear on your head, to suit me. It holds something called a “pillow” up against your nostrils. The name pillow is a mystery to me, except everything has to be called something I guess.

The pillow is a little plastic tube with two slightly protruding nozzles that fit into your nose. To this is attached a flexible tube attached to a little air pump. Mine pumps air under 5 psi, I think. I could be wrong about the pressure but I’m too lazy to getup and go look right now. Anyway the pressure is low enough that while you will notice it at the beginning, it quickly becomes unnoticeable. The pressurized air flow keeps you breathing on a regular schedule and stops the short to long pauses that go with sleep apnea.

The CPAP does help me. I’m not as tired when I awake but I can’t say much for the day long effects it has on me. However, our oldest son had severe sleep apnea and his has been a Godsend for him. He had constatn fatigue and was a loud, loud snorer which has also stopped. With getting a good supply of oxygen all night he says it feels as if he is 20 years younger. He will be 58 next month.

I have spoken to one other person that uses the CPAP. He also sings its praises. In fact it saved his job for him. His jobs requires that he drive several thousand miles a month and he was having such problem falling asleep while driving he was considering looking for other employment. He said that with the CPAP he no longer has any problems with trying to fall asleep while driving.

It took me several nights to get accustomed to wearing the mask and pillow, but once you get past that it is a non-issue.

So, if you have a bad case of sleep apnea, you might want to give this treatment consideration.

Good luck

Smitty

sleep apnia

by thomast - 2008-04-08 09:04:48

I do not have sleep apnia but my cardio had me on an oxygen cocentration monitor at night and I recorded a low of 81, I often wonder about this as the same people that do the monitoring also rent the o2 generator to medicare if it is below 87. anyway I am on 2 litres at night by nasal tube. The other day I was getting ready for some outpatient surgery and they were monitoring o2 and the concentration was 99. Any way my wife says I breath better at night.

Sleep Apnea

by gsue55 - 2008-04-08 11:04:31

Hi Boatman,

I do have sleep apnea and supposed to use a CPAP machine. I went through the sleep study and I stopped breathing 66 times before 2 am.

I was given a choice of a nasal mask or a complete face mask. I found that I couldn't do just the nasal mask as, you have to breath through your nose then to get the benefits of it. I can not do that, I breath mostly through my mouth.

I have a moist cpap machine which means, you add distilled water to the tank and you can adjust the tank temp, coolest being set on 1 and you can go up 1.2 marks to 4.

After I found out aI needed to get the pacemaker. I stopped using my CPAP machine. I have had 3 surgeries in 6 mos and just couldn't deal with the mask on all night long. I found that it was a bit uncomfortable for me at times..I have a hard time getting it adjusted the right way for my face.

I can say.....I know it helps and I do feel much better in the morning. I guess I am trying to tackle one struggle at a time right ow as I am recuperating from surgery again.

I hope some of this info has helped you.

Gloria

Thanks everybody

by janetinak - 2008-04-09 02:04:50

This is very timely for me as I will be doing a sleep study soon & all of this info is great.

Janet

CPAP

by ela-girl - 2008-04-09 03:04:56

Heya, Boatman!

My father-in-law and a very good family friend both use the CPAP machines. They use the face mask because they breathe through their mouths a lot. My father-in-law swears by it and also stopped snoring with it. The family friend loves his, too. He feels refreshed in the morning and not tired. I know that our friend just got the "new" CPAP machine and is having problems using it because he says it's a lot louder etc. SO...if you do end up with a CPAP machine, just know that you can always ask the medical company that supplies the machine to tweak the settings to reduce the noise etc.

Best of luck! However, I hope you're just having really good dreams!

ela-girl

Thank you all

by boatman50 - 2008-04-09 09:04:25

Lots of good info folks, thank you so much. I do believe like Electric Frank said that it is from dreams, nightmares really but you never know. It will be a few more weeks before I go in. Thanks again from a future Darth Vader!
Boatman

Hi Mark

by OIMAPRINCESS2477 - 2008-04-09 12:04:36

I just saw your post and had this come to my mind so I wanted to tell you before I forget. When you go for your sleep study and if they have you wear a CPAP mask ask them for the machine with the humidifier. If they are going to order you a machine make sure it has the Humidifier or else your CPAP mask will dry your nose and throat. Good Luck. Im here for ya if you need me.

Britt<3

Hubby with sleep apnea

by Swedeheart - 2008-04-09 12:04:52

Hello,

My hubby has sleep apnea. He is what I call a "traditional heart patient"... heart attack, by pass surgery, etc. His electrical system works well!

He uses a CPAP machine and uses the mask. It took him quite a few weeks to master sleeping with it... and once in awhile he takes it off part way through the night. However, he also has the type with the moisture... really helps him. He sleeps so much better than he used to. And, so do I. It does make a soft breathing sound, but it isn't too bad. He used to quit breathing and it would wake me up and I would shake him and say, "are you alright"... I do tease him and tell him he looks like "Darth Vader" with his mask on. [It really isn't that bad...}

My husband (67) didn't realize that one could actually sleep peacefully through the night. It is interesting, I believe there are studies that show that folks with sleep apnea frequently have heart problems...

I would give the CPAP a try, but you will have to be tenacious.... and stick with it quite a while. The sleep studies away from home are generally "miserable" and you don't really sleep much.... at least not my husband... but it has made a world of difference in his energy during the day!

Swedeheart

Another possibility

by ElectricFrank - 2008-04-09 12:04:53

The fast HR during deep sleep could be caused by dreaming. They can get the adrenaline pumping even when we don't remember them.

You know you're wired when...

Your ICD has a better memory than you.

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