Sleeping disorders?

[Larry Edgerton]

I notice that occasionally I stop breathing when I am sleeping and it wakes me up. That is probably a good thing, that I wake up, unless you are talking to one of my ex wives, but I guess I need to check it out. I have insurance but it sucks these days thanks to O Care, so a specialist would cost me more than I could pull off right now.

Any recommended reading on the subject?

A couple of friends of mine have breathing machines for whatever reason that they use at night, but that would certainly not work for me. I have broken 63 bones in various misadventures and so toss and turn as I can only stay in one position for a while till something starts hurting. I'm up at 5 AM every day no matter what because of the pain.

I need more sleep!

Thoughts, experiences?

Thanks, Larry

[Dimitrios Fradelakis]

Sleep Apnea is a very serious disorder. When you stop breathing and wake up it puts tremendous strain on your heart. See your doctor ASAP about the issue you're having. Asking for advice on a serious matter like this on a woodworking forum is not a good move.

Best of luck to you.

[Nike Nihiser]

It sounds like you have sleep apnea, as do I. It can have serious implications. I had the sleep test. got the breathing machine and hated it. I have a back problem that makes it virtually impossible to sleep on my back and the mouth/nose apparatus doesn't work well with side sleepers. Additionally, the machine dried out my mouth and throat very much. I got a humidifier attachment for the machine and it helped but not enough. The dryness was a bigger problem for sleeping than the bad fit of the mouth/nose apparatus. I now use the Breathe Right things you can buy at any drug store. While not a 100% cure, they help. The other thing is body weight, I have fewer issues with the apnea if I keep my weight down. You should probably talk to your Doctor.

[Phil Thien]

Asking for advice on a serious matter like this on a woodworking forum is not a good move.

I don't disagree w/ the advice to talk with a physician. But asking here allows several benefits:

(1) You get to hear what other doctors have told members with sleep apnea. Instead of limiting your input to a single doctor or two, you leverage a bunch of them.

(2) You may find someone else that also suffers difficulty sleeping due to previous injuries, and sleep apnea, and they may have very useful advice about equipment that allows additional mobility.

(3) Others that may suffer from sleep apnea can learn from the discussion. Those just beginning to experience symptoms may learn of the need to seek professional attention.

(4) Those with loved ones that have the disorder may learn a thing or two.

My doctors are great guys and aren't dismissive at all about what I find on the Internet. They have no problem helping me separate the wheat from the chaff and have often followed-up with links to articles and papers to clear things up.

If your doctor doesn't want you doing your own research and asking questions, you need to find a different doctor (IMHO).

Discussions like these improve the quality of healthcare, not the other way around.

[Brian Elfert]

There are dental devices that will help with sleep apnea. There is also an implant called Inspire Sleep, but the cost is around $40,000 and is usually not the first option. You cannot get an MRI after getting the implant. The whole MRI thing would be a no go for me along with the $2700 out of pocket.

The first therapy they always try for sleep apnea is a CPAP machine.

[Larry Edgerton]

Asking for advice on a serious matter like this on a woodworking forum is not a good move.

Best of luck to you.

Why not? You just informed me it is a serious issue. I did not know that.

[Larry Edgerton]

It sounds like you have sleep apnea, as do I. It can have serious implications. I had the sleep test. got the breathing machine and hated it. I have a back problem that makes it virtually impossible to sleep on my back and the mouth/nose apparatus doesn't work well with side sleepers. Additionally, the machine dried out my mouth and throat very much. I got a humidifier attachment for the machine and it helped but not enough. The dryness was a bigger problem for sleeping than the bad fit of the mouth/nose apparatus. I now use the Breathe Right things you can buy at any drug store. While not a 100% cure, they help. The other thing is body weight, I have fewer issues with the apnea if I keep my weight down. You should probably talk to your Doctor.

I have broken my back twice, same issue. If I don't roll around I get spasms in my tenderloins. I am a bit overweight at the moment, part of the problem with being crippled up. Been working on it but still have 30 pounds to go. Will get more serious.

I worked out of town with a friend that used one of those machines. No way. I roll about every 20 minutes or less and can not sleep on my back at all.

Phil, that about covers why I posted this on all bases.

[Alan Hick]

I notice that occasionally I stop breathing when I am sleeping and it wakes me up. That is probably a good thing, that I wake up, unless you are talking to one of my ex wives, but I guess I need to check it out. I have insurance but it sucks these days thanks to O Care, so a specialist would cost me more than I could pull off right now.

Any recommended reading on the subject?

A couple of friends of mine have breathing machines for whatever reason that they use at night, but that would certainly not work for me. I have broken 63 bones in various misadventures and so toss and turn as I can only stay in one position for a while till something starts hurting. I'm up at 5 AM every day no matter what because of the pain.

I need more sleep!

Thoughts, experiences?

Thanks, Larry

If you're having episodes of stopping breathing that wake you up, it's possible if not probable that you're having similar episodes that don't wake you up. As noted this can have some serious cardiovascular consequences. There are several questions that will need to be answered--with a doctor, not here-- such as :
1. Is this drug or alcohol induced? If you have lots of pain from previous injuries, and you're on chronic narcotics, or you consume a lot of alcohol to help you sleep; or you're on other drugs that can "depress" the function of the area of the brain that controls breathing while you're asleep, then some adjustment in what you're doing may be all that's needed
2. Are you significantly overweight? and is there possibility that you could lose said weight?
3. Do you nod off easily and sometimes unexpectedly during the day? If so, are you still driving? Because if the answer to both is "yes" then you're putting yourself and other people in danger.
4. If this is "Sleep Apnea", then is it "obstructive sleep apnea" or is it "central sleep apnea"? Central sleep apnea is a little complicated to describe in a forum such as this, but it can be caused by heart failure, or damage to the breathing control areas of the brain. You can have "cyclical breathing patterns, sometimes referred to as Cheyne-Stokes breathing, where you progressively breathe deeper and faster, then slower and shallower, and sometimes stop...and then start the cycle over.

With obstructive sleep apnea the airway is "obstructed" by your tongue relaxing and falling back and contacting the soft flap of tissue in the back or your mouth, effectively forming a seal. This is one of the causes of snoring, and when you get really relaxed the seal is so tight that you stop breathing altogether. Then you wake up, or almost wake up, and the cycle starts over.

The purpose of the "breathing machine" is to supply a small amount of constant or variable pressure to hold your soft palate away from your tongue while you're sleeping. Thus there's no obstructive seal, and you don't stop breathing.

You should make an appointment with a sleep doctor. They'll ask a bunch of questions and do a brief exam and decide whether you need a sleep study or not.

Good luck.

[Von Bickley]

Sleep Apnea is a very serious disorder. When you stop breathing and wake up it puts tremendous strain on your heart. See your doctor ASAP about the issue you're having. Asking for advice on a serious matter like this on a woodworking forum is not a good move.

Best of luck to you.

I agree with Dimitrios......
When I was diagnosed with sleep apnea, I would stop breathing 67 times per hour. With the sleep machine, I am down to 3 times per hour. When you stop breathing, your blood oxygen drops, and when that happens, you can be damaging your internal body organs, not just your heart. With my machine, I sleep on my right side, left side, and back. You can move around. I also do not snore when I wear my sleep machine. My wife and I would sleep on opposite ends of the house because of my snoring. The machine took care of that.
I hate using the sleep machine and wish I could just take a pill, but that is not going to happen. The doctors have told me that a significant weight loss would help. As we get older, we learn that we have to make changes, and we do what we have to do.

Wishing you the best with this problem and you really need to have a sleep study done.

[Pat Barry]

Just curious Larry - How do you know that you stop breathing and this wakes you up? How do you know its that and not something else that is waking you up? Most people with sleep apnea get alerted to issues due to snoring and stopping breathing (holding your breath) by a spouse for example. Its probably a bit unusual, and maybe worse, if you recognize this on your own. I'd say you need to see your Dr soon

[Scott Shepherd]

I'm not affiliated with any of this, but I have friends and family using (or have tried to use) CPAP machines with no luck, so this one caught my eye when I saw it posted on some tech website....

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/a...ro-cpap#/story

I hope it works, it will change a lot of people's lives.

[Larry Edgerton]

If you're having episodes of stopping breathing that wake you up, it's possible if not probable that you're having similar episodes that don't wake you up. As noted this can have some serious cardiovascular consequences. There are several questions that will need to be answered--with a doctor, not here-- such as :
1. Is this drug or alcohol induced? If you have lots of pain from previous injuries, and you're on chronic narcotics, or you consume a lot of alcohol to help you sleep; or you're on other drugs that can "depress" the function of the area of the brain that controls breathing while you're asleep, then some adjustment in what you're doing may be all that's needed
2. Are you significantly overweight? and is there possibility that you could lose said weight?
3. Do you nod off easily and sometimes unexpectedly during the day? If so, are you still driving? Because if the answer to both is "yes" then you're putting yourself and other people in danger.
4. If this is "Sleep Apnea", then is it "obstructive sleep apnea" or is it "central sleep apnea"? Central sleep apnea is a little complicated to describe in a forum such as this, but it can be caused by heart failure, or damage to the breathing control areas of the brain. You can have "cyclical breathing patterns, sometimes referred to as Cheyne-Stokes breathing, where you progressively breathe deeper and faster, then slower and shallower, and sometimes stop...and then start the cycle over.

With obstructive sleep apnea the airway is "obstructed" by your tongue relaxing and falling back and contacting the soft flap of tissue in the back or your mouth, effectively forming a seal. This is one of the causes of snoring, and when you get really relaxed the seal is so tight that you stop breathing altogether. Then you wake up, or almost wake up, and the cycle starts over.

The purpose of the "breathing machine" is to supply a small amount of constant or variable pressure to hold your soft palate away from your tongue while you're sleeping. Thus there's no obstructive seal, and you don't stop breathing.

You should make an appointment with a sleep doctor. They'll ask a bunch of questions and do a brief exam and decide whether you need a sleep study or not.

Good luck.

Good post, Thanks for taking the time.

#1 not an issue. I have an occasional beer, two max maybe once every two weeks. I was taking two Aleve every morning. but stopped that when they [FDA]came out with the warning. I now only take them on really bad days. I have purposely stayed away from narcotics, saving that for the end. I like my liver, thank you!

#2 A bit. I am a big fellow, and with the joint pain I have lost a lot of muscle mass in the last few years. You know what that turned into. I am trying to change my diet to fit my new/old body and still leave me energy to work. About 30#'s over but on the way down. I will accelerate this process.

#3 No, but I am tired from lack of good sleep..........

#4 Here you may have something. I have been chasing a strange numbness if you will in my head, mostly on the left side. It has continually gotten worse over a fifteen year or so period. Sometimes it is in my arms and legs. Have had every test known to man and seen several neurologists and no one has found anything. I was also tested for heart/stroke and have not had those issues. I had a bad accident many years ago that fractured my scull from ear to ear, and I feel that it has something to do with this, but.....

This year I gave up on finding out what is wrong in this. They were scheduling test after test, racking up huge bills, and all for nothing. I would not have considered the possibility of the two being connected until you mentioned this. I almost have all my copays paid off from the last couple of years, and when I do I should perhaps find some one to take a look at it from a different angle. I am done with the local chain hospital. They have wasted my time and money and don't even offer any suggestions. I think because they can not see it they do not believe it is there really.

I very seldom snore.

[Phil Thien]

I'm not affiliated with any of this, but I have friends and family using (or have tried to use) CPAP machines with no luck, so this one caught my eye when I saw it posted on some tech website....

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/a...ro-cpap#/story

I hope it works, it will change a lot of people's lives.

That looks promising.

I saw a story once indicating that the sleep apnea causes a vicious cycle where people don't get enough sleep and so they eat more which causes weight gain and more sleep apnea. The report indicated that for many people, stopping the sleep apnea results in weight loss but the apparatus (CPAP I guess) didn't work well for a lot of people.

If that gizmo you linked works, it could be a real game changer.

[Scott Shepherd]

That looks promising.

I saw a story once indicating that the sleep apnea causes a vicious cycle where people don't get enough sleep and so they eat more which causes weight gain and more sleep apnea. The report indicated that for many people, stopping the sleep apnea results in weight loss but the apparatus (CPAP I guess) didn't work well for a lot of people.

If that gizmo you linked works, it could be a real game changer.

Yeah, that's a really clever gadget. What I didn't realize until today, was that they are disposable, I guess. You buy a "45 day supply" of them, and it says the cycle is 8 hours long, so I'm guessing you get a new one every day. If that's the case, I'm sure someone will figure out how to prolong that so they last days and weeks at a time.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Larry - -

All is very easy - just go see a Doc. You have been living with this condition for a long time, so you are not going to cash out in the next 48 hours if you don't go right away. Alarmist rhetoric helps not. A calm, reasoned, action plan is the ticket.

But - there is no reason to be screwing around and avoiding it.

We need you here, brudda. Man up and get it done. Garage door open season is coming soon, and we want to see this year's kill rate.