Here is the deal. I have been getting more and more tired over the past few months. Seems like I always have a headache. I wake up tired, I go to bed tired. I take a nap everyday during lunch and 1 and 2 hour naps on the weekend. I get about 7 to 8 hours sleep every night. About a month ago I started having problems with ED, so I went to the Doctor, all of this is very unlike me. I never get sick so in 45 years I have never had blood work done. The blood work came back perfect.  From the start my Doctor said it is sleep apnea.  I wake up a lot at night, in the last couple of years my wife says I have a light snore, SOME nights, and apparently the doctor says the back of throat is small. I also take Allegra D for allergies.  I am going to a sleep med Friday for a consultation.
   I have talked to some people who have been and now have the air machine and I am getting two different stories. Some say this is a gift from God and changed their life. Some say it is just the latest fad and another way for Doctors to get your money. My question is, am I wasting my time and will I get an honest evaluation?  Is there really something to this sleep apnea thing? My wife cannot recall my breathing actually stopping, does that mean I do not have apnea? I'm just to tired to think about it all

Hi there,

I can understand why some people might be skeptical about the machine and that part of the medical community out for the almighy dollar.
We sure get bombarded with enough commercials from the drug companies, don't we?

But sleep apnea is a REAL condition.  The understanding of it has only come about in the past few decades, and actually, cpap usage is fairly new, comparatively.

If you die because of sleep apnea, the cause won't say sleep apnea.  The cause of death would be likely stroke, heart attack or some other problem.
Before the understanding of sleep apnea, people merely suffered.  If they got bad enough they would get the trach procedure.  Worse still, they would die from heart attack or stroke or other things.  But sleep apnea is real, and it is life-threatening.

Sleep apnea is a breathing disorder.  Some call it a sleep disorder, but I feel that is misleading.  
This is a pulmonary respiratory problem, as serious as other conditions.  Untreated sleep apnea rivals diabetes in how widespread it is.  

There are lists of symptoms, but you might not have every one of them.  Nearly all sleep apneacs snore, but there are acceptions.   Some say that the removal of tonsils early in life might have reduced the snoring.  All I know is mine were removed when I was a kid, and later in life I snored like crazy!!
You seem to have many of the symptoms, enough to warrant being checked out.  It's true, your wife might not be noticing breathing problems in you.  But you also said you wake up frequently in the night.  I did too.  Many sleep right through the apneas.  I think I woke up because of them but didn't realize it.  At first I just thought I needed the bathroom often.  But after sooooo many trips with no good reason, I later realized I was waking up for other reasons.  So you might be waking up out of some unconscious reaction to the stopping of breathing.

It's a breathing disorder.  Because of the condition, you are not getting enough oxygen.  Lack of oxygen over time creates problems.  The organs, especially the heart, works overtime to compensate and to jumpstart your breathing.  Your body is trying to save your life, but it's a strain on the body.  If indeed you have sleep apnea, it can only get worse.  None of us wish you have it.  But it's best you find out.  Even if you don't have it, the testing could point to probably causes.  Either way, you would be helping to improve your health.    Nodding off, naps, ED, depression, headaches, frequent waking up at night, daytime exhaustion, all are symptoms.  These can be symptoms of other things too, but it's important you find out.  It's your health and life that is at risk.  

Ask lots of questions, learn more about it.  And if you go for a sleep study, be sure to get a copy of the report from the study.  
It has a lot of important information in it.

The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section of this forum might help answer some of your questions.  Here is a link to one of the more general topics on sleep apnea from that section:

click here for link


Let us know how things go.


Linda

Dog Tired in GA wrote:

Here is the deal. I have been getting more and more tired over the past few months. Seems like I always have a headache. I wake up tired, I go to bed tired. I take a nap everyday during lunch and 1 and 2 hour naps on the weekend. I get about 7 to 8 hours sleep every night. About a month ago I started having problems with ED, so I went to the Doctor, all of this is very unlike me. I never get sick so in 45 years I have never had blood work done. The blood work came back perfect.  From the start my Doctor said it is sleep apnea.  I wake up a lot at night, in the last couple of years my wife says I have a light snore, SOME nights, and apparently the doctor says the back of throat is small. I also take Allegra D for allergies.  I am going to a sleep med Friday for a consultation.
   I have talked to some people who have been and now have the air machine and I am getting two different stories. Some say this is a gift from God and changed their life. Some say it is just the latest fad and another way for Doctors to get your money. My question is, am I wasting my time and will I get an honest evaluation?  Is there really something to this sleep apnea thing? My wife cannot recall my breathing actually stopping, does that mean I do not have apnea? I'm just to tired to think about it all

Hi Dog Tired,

At 45 you might feel old, but if you DO have apnoea and you DO get it treated YOU will certainly not feel old.

The people that tell you cpap works and is a gift from God are the people you should listen to as they are being positive and are obviously reaping the benefits of successful treatment therapy.

At this stage I think you should forget about everything people are telling you, go and see the sleep doctor. If you have sleep apnoea and are diagnosed, then and only then is the time to look at treatment options. Walk before you run. Don't try and anticipate, go with the flow.

When you finish with the sleep doctor, post the findings and I know you will get great support from this forum.

Kind regards,

Daniel


_________________
The untreated Sleep Apnoea sufferer died quietly in his sleep.......
Unlike his three passengers who died screaming !!!!!!

(Anon)

I have to agree with Daniel.  I am 44 and started CPAP 10 months ago.  It has been a gift from God.  You don't have to be old and/or overweight to have sleep apnea.  There are many people out there in their teens and 20's who are physically fit with sleep apnea.  

Go see your doctor ASAP.

I go for my sleep consultation in the morning. I guess at that point they will set me up for an overniter.  I will post all my results, yea or nay, and keep you up to date on how it goes. Thanks for the help and support, this is really a great site for anyone with questions or answers. I'll post again tomorrow.

I think it's the other way around - many people mistake the symptoms for untreated sleep apnea as just signs of getting old.  I know I did - for the longest time I just assumed I was feeling so tired because I was getting older...that my memory was getting worse because of age...that I was getting up 3-4 times a night to use the bathroom because I was older...etc, etc.  Turns out it was all due to sleep apnea (for me at least).

A few weeks on CPAP and I'm feeling incredibly better than I was.  Much more energy, clearer mind, memory seems to be improving (tough one to tell), no more bathroom trips at 1am, 2am, 3am, and 4am...

I love that machine.  

Definitely keep posting and let us know how it goes!


_________________
--Frank (FJC)

Well I go Thursday night for my overniter. They let me check out the room and hang out and watch a video on sleep apnea and what to expect. The room is nice and the wires don't look too bad. Just hope with all the crazy weather we don't have a thunder storm Thursday night Anyway, I'll post the results and my thoughts on it when it's over,  Mike

Well, Dog, when I had my sleep study they combined the titration, (since after 2 hours they thought I might die ), so at around midnight they put a cpap mask on me and the next day I had more energy, felt younger, healthier, had no desire to sleep until night... it was very promising. Hope you feel much the same. For me it's been a great thing.

I agree on the age thing, anyone can get this. I've had it since I was 17, but I didn't know I had it, I just thought something else was wrong. I learned to get through life with a minimum of effort. It wasn't until I got engaged and my fiance encouraged me to go to the doctor about my sleeping problems, that I went and got diagnosed.

I haven't got my CPAP yet, I don't have insurance, and its pretty expensive. Hopefully soon, I want to feel better.


_________________
-ZzZzZzZz please.

I think it can be very important to get diagnosed. My lowest oxygen level during my sleep study was 67%, which is "you might as well be dead" territory. Pretty scary.