K Evans implied I am falling apart, so I thought I would come clean. Did I mention I just went through a sleep study? During the gall bladder surgery, both the surgeon and one of the operating room nurses mentioned that I stopped breathing when they were going after my gall bladder, and they ran a tube down my throat to keep the airway open. They recommended I do a sleep study to determine whether, or to what degree I have sleep apnea. My wife chimed-in that I scare her on occasion by not breathing when I'm sleeping, then suddenly gasping for air. I didn't bother telling her, but I think that coincides with when I'm chasing that Bo Derek (in her prime) looking blonde on the beach.

I wore a device on my head for one night (at home). It was like wearing a Petzl headlamp. The sensor is fixed on your forehead. The result was that they believe I have moderate sleep apnea. Twenty times an hour my breathing was shallow enough that the equipment didn't register a breath. I've ordered a CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) device. Supposedly, I'm going to sleep every night with that thing on. Unless I don't encounter Bo Derek again. If that happens, I'm throwing the damn thing away.

That's it for me. Every other thing works; I swear to God.....except for the peripheral neuropathy in my feet.

I guess the short answer probably is.......yeah........I'm falling apart.

I'm with you on Bo Derek, wherever she may be today. How are you treating your neuropathy?

I've slept with a cpap machine for about 1 1/2 yrs. works great, even when you roll over and pull the machine off the night stand.

I have been wearing a Bpap mask for several years now. When I first started wearing it, I thought that I was getting an early sample of Hell. I actually broke one of the mask by the simple act of getting up and pounding it on a chair. But, like many things, you'll get accustom to wearing it. It will take time however.
I read a recent article that sleep apnea can not only kill you through stopping breathing, it has been linked to heart attacks.
Enjoy

I had the surgery first and then the sleep test and failed it miserably 180 episodes of apnea and 140 of hypopnea during the 7 hour test. I've slept with a mask ever since- that was 12 years ago. I've gone through many masks- started with the over the nose & then to nasal prongs. The latest- Phillips makes a new one "Respiraire" or something like that, which I love.

I also have one I travel with that has a battery pack- the Transcend. It's great to take hunting as you can charge up the battery during the day if camp has a generator. It also comes with a
solar panel, but I have yet to take it to Alaska as I won't be (spring) bear hunting any time soon and the fall tends to be a bit overcast and rainy.

Don't underestimate how well you'll become. I dropped 10 points in my blood pressure- both systolic and diastolic once I started using it and I really have a difficult time when I spike out without it.

Good luck and congrats for getting diagnosed. It'll be a life changer for you.

I have sleep apnea and not one time was I able to go to sleep with the cpap machine. BTW if you are prior military and have sleep apnea, you should apply for disability.

quote:

Originally posted by carpetman1:
I have sleep apnea and not one time was I able to go to sleep with the cpap machine. BTW if you are prior military and have sleep apnea, you should apply for disability.

Can you elaborate? How are prior service and sleep apnea related?

I have been using a CPAP for over ten years now. I originally did the sleep study and got the machine to alleviate snoring, which affected my wife's ability to get a night's sleep.

Now I use it every night, even when she's off visiting her sisters or something.

Yes, the appliance takes some getting used to--I went from a mask to nasal pillows, and that helped a lot.

Nitro--In my case, the sleep apnea was tied to sinus problems that were mistreated in the military. Sleep apnea disability benefit payments had gotten so high that they had to change their policy in Jan of this year. It had been 50% if severe enough for cpap. If you are retired and have a rating less than 50%, what you get paid is held out of your retirement and thus becomes a tax break only. Once rating reaches 50% or more it is not held out of your retirement---you still draw full retirement pay as well as the disability pay. This is 50% of the VA rate which is much lower than 50% of your military retirement. How VA reaches decisions is way beyond me. Apply and let them decide.

quote:

Originally posted by carpetman1:
Nitro--In my case, the sleep apnea was tied to sinus problems that were mistreated in the military.

I wasn't treated for any sleep or sinus issues when I was in the army, and I retired over 25 years ago with no disability, so I doubt I'm eligible.

I did suffer a hearing loss, had plenty of documentation in my medical records, and probably should have applied for disability based on that, but I didn't.

Nitro, I sent you a PM.

ive been wearing a cpap at night for several about 5 yrs... I've never slept very soundly, and my breathing habits were a contributing factor... picture this:::several yrs ago, on a week-long hunt with several close friends...after dinner and a few drinks, everybody would turn in,,, cabin was like a huge dormitory, with beds separated by a divider, lots of man-noise at night,,, coughing, gagging, snoring... etc... I woke up one night to find all my "friends watching me... seems they were standing there, seeing how long it would be before I took another breath,,, bastards!!.... it was an awakening for me, when I got back, I did the sleep study and was diagnosed with sleep apnea... have a responics cpap machine, with a 10 foot long hose, nasal pillow for headgear... now I sleep most of the night until arthritis wakes me... don't wait until it's too long.. get treatment!...

quote:

Originally posted by Kensco:
K Evans implied I am falling apart, so I thought I would come clean.

I guess the short answer probably is.......yeah........I'm falling apart.

Well...I suppose if all of us on here that are my age (63) or older were to come clean, we all are "falling apart" a bit at a time, but I doubt many of us are ready to throw in the towel just yet!

I've been using a bpap now for almost 3 years. I use the nasal pillows. I couldn't handle the mask.

I've been on CPAP for 19 years. My latest setting is 14 PSI and I had 72 episodes/hour on my sleep study. If I fall asleep on a sunny afternoon in my lazyboy I wake up choking almost immediately.

I've tried masks and pillows. The masks take more getting used to but are better than the pillows, IMHO. The pillows caused a lot of dryness and soreness inside my nose.

Make sure you get and use the humidifier with it, all year round.

You might also consider one of the full-face masks, especially if you're a mouth-breather. Or wear a chinstrap to keep your mouth closed in the night.

You should also look into a CPAP-friendly pillow. One of the things you want to try to avoid is the mask getting pushed off your face when you toss and turn.

I can't honestly say that I've realized any of the benefits they claim afa more energy, less sleepiness during the day (I never did get sleepy during the day). But I don't snore now, they claim that sleep apnea can contribute to ED, so treating it could provide an extra bonus (both benefits relationship-wise) and I don't wake up choking any more. So I guess it's worth it.

Now I just have to come up with the cash to buy one of the portable battery packs. I lug around a 35lb car booster battery when I go to moose camp now and it's a PITA.

A good friend + hunting buddy had to take that contraption on all of our hunts just so he could sleep. In my mind was (imagine Lewis + Clark;sorry,can't move until we have the right supplies.) RIGHT! I understand it to be a problem but I do not understand the condition anymore than I understand insomnia or depression.Not being cold,I just don't understand that feeling. I'm still of the school of W.C. Fields that was confronted by an insomniac was to get more rest.As I mentioned depression,which we have found that an alarming number of American women have fallen prey to. Again I do not understand. Perhaps + this only a perhaps,that they have had life so easy up to this point that any form of effort is now a problem? Boy Oh boy,I can hear the cats screaming.(Those that are looking over your shoulder while you type + read;the worst type)Therefore I do not pass judgement on anyone for things I do not understand.Only muses.

I suspect I should invest in a trail cam. My fear is that when I'm gasping for air at night my wife may be holding a pillow over my face. That trail cam should be able to put that worry to rest.

I got my CPAP machine yesterday and used it last night for the first time. I don't think it will be hard to get used to. I found it funny that I use it one night and wake-up the next day and find an article on CNN about CPAP results.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/29/...-patients/index.html

I was originally diagnosed with apnea about six years ago. The machine and mask I was "given" worked fine, but the mask was shaped like a catcher's cup. I would awaken in the middle of the night and it would be on the floor, blowing its fanny off with me never realizing I had pulled it off while asleep. So I quit wearing it.

Fast forward to six weeks ago. Hypertension, found during cancer treatments, dictated I see a cardiologist. He told me to go get a sleep study. I asked how sleep and hypertension were linked and was told that the heart can get "thirsty" at night if it doesn't get enough oxygen, and it works harder than it has to.

I had the study and it re-affirmed the apnea. When I went for the follow-up with the sleep disorder MD, he told me that six years ago what I had was severe, but I had lost weight (I am down about 20#) and now the apnea was minor.

I now wear the nasal pillows and a chinstrap, and typically have little trouble sleeping. But I will add that I also take pain meds for abdominal pain brought about by the colon cancer, and I have no doubt that helps a lot. I don't peel the stuff off my head during the night either.

If you have trouble sleeping with the contraption on your head, you might consider one 25 mg Benadryl at bedtime. I know of nothing any less invasive or harmful to the body than Benadryl, and it DOES make most folks sleep. Not all, but most...

I'm sleeping good with the "catcher's cup". The funny thing is that I'm waking up LESS at night now. Before I thought I was waking up three or four times a night due to my swollen prostate. Now it looks like maybe I was waking up because of the sleep apnea. Since wearing the CPAP I'm waking up once a night (4:00am), take a leak, and go back to sleep until 6 or 7. So far so good.

So far still getting out of bed first. I think your scenario is further on down the road, thank God.

Let's hope not, Bud. Really not all that funny. I meant no offense and I'm deleting the post. My apologies.

quote:

Originally posted by Kensco:
So far still getting out of bed first. I think your scenario is further on down the road, thank God.

Where did the time go? How did I get old? I guess I am not old, yet. But, this type of discussion is hitting closer to home for me. I can't even remember the last time I didn't get up during the night to pee. I go to the dermatologist to get places frozen off my face. I had to go back yesterday and have one biopsied to make sure it isn't cancer. I am turning into my grandfather. He ended up having so many places cut out of his ear lobes they almost looked a hogs ear with notches.

Sorry for straying off topic. You aren't alone!

Tom

Growing old ain't for the faint of heart. I played golf yesterday with a man that has been removing skin cancers for the past five years. He uses sun screen and continues on with his life. What else are we going to do?

I feel like I'm getting sucked deeper into the medical-industrial complex on a daily basis. When you can say you have an oncologist, a urologist, an internist, a neurologist, an ophthalmologist, a dermatologist, a therapist, and a pulmonologist; you pretty well have to admit you are on the downhill slide, and nothing more than part of their revenue stream.

Oddly enough, all these "ists" tell me I'm in really good shape for my age.

I don't have sleep apnea but since you mentioned your prostate I'll say that is probably the second most common and poorly managed problem us old farts have. Like most guys with BPH, I waited until the problem was epic before I had a TURP procedure (roto-rooter of the prostate). The difference is profound and I wish I had not hesitated so long. Like sleep apnea, people delay and delay getting diagnosed and suffer unnecessarily.

The old way is to nip away from the inside until the path is opened and the "new" way is to burn the excess tissue with a laser. The old way takes a good surgeon but heals much faster. The laser is more common, I believe mostly because the learning curve is easier for urologists (and possibly the margin for error is less); not because it is a better technique.

FWIW, it's a wonderful thing to sleep all night again and not plan longer driving trips around water holes or worry about getting stuck in Houston rush hour with no way off the freeway.

I was diagnosed with sleep apnea a little over two years ago. I have snored for decades. I had a similar experience as Jimatcat. I was on a pig hunt and was crashed trying to catch some zzzz. Trying to remember the gang I was hunting with...CamomanJ, GatoGordo, Geedubya, Jeffeosso, MichaelJ, and a few others. Seems they were placing bets as to when I would take another breath.

I suffered through treatment for other conditions often with similar symptoms.

When I finally had a sleep study done, I stopped breathing 467 times in 300 minutes. My longest period of uninterrupted sleep was 5 minutes! No wonder I always felt like hammered shit and was gaining weight no matter what I did.

I now sleep through the night no problem. The sleep study was the best thing I have ever done for my health. I have not gained a single pound in over two years.

One obstacle to many apnea sufferers is their insurance will cover the equipment, but not the initial testing-which can cost upwards of $2000.

Andy B

So far so good on sleep apnea. But my lower back is about shot and I'd be a complete mess without dutasteride (Avodart) and doxizosin for the BPH. Then there's the losartin, the simvastatin, the Cymbalta et al ...
Be 64 in March. Sheesh!

I thought Avodart was the berries too but nothing beats a properly behaving prostate, which the surgery gave me.

I've been on the cpap for 13 years now.When I go on wilderness hunts or backpacking I take breathrite strips and double them up seems to work ok.Took a chance and bought a minicpap unit it arrived today with the battery unit.We'll see how this works for me.Any others tried this mini cpap yet.Your thoughts ?

I have one with the battery pack. I use it for all my travels. Works great. I bought the solar panel to use as a charger, but I've never taken it to the field as my last few hunts have been pack hunts in Alaska. My concern is that it'd never get enough sunlight in Alaska (during hunting season) to be useful.

Worked great on flights to Europe and New Zealand though.