My brother was diagnosed with obstructive apnea several years ago.  after struggling with the mask for one month, he stopped using it.  oddly, he has not exhibited any of the classic symptoms since then.  but after his new doctor urged him to undergo another study recently, he discovered the apnea has worsened (i.e. more breathing stops per minute and less oxygen in his blood).  My question is:  could he die in his sleep without having any classic symptoms during his waking hours?  thanks for caring...

lawchrist wrote:

My brother was diagnosed with obstructive apnea several years ago.  after struggling with the mask for one month, he stopped using it.  oddly, he has not exhibited any of the classic symptoms since then.  but after his new doctor urged him to undergo another study recently, he discovered the apnea has worsened (i.e. more breathing stops per minute and less oxygen in his blood).  My question is:  could he die in his sleep without having any classic symptoms during his waking hours?  thanks for caring...

Hi,

His brain will do a lot to stop him passing away in his sleep. Main method is to get the heart to beat faster and get blood carrying oxygen to the brain. From that point of view it is highly unlikely that he will cease breathing completely and die in his sleep.

Some of the classic symptoms of OSA include hypertension while asleep and an increased risk of stroke. This would certainly kill him or leave him in a vegetative state. This is a classic symptom that he knows nothing about........the silent killer. Without cpap he is at least 4/5 times more likely to die in his sleep from a stroke.

He needs to understand this.......and concentrate his efforts on becoming cpap compliant.

Daniel


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

(Anon)

after 2 years of having surgery to open up my airways, i have been feeling way better than i did before after sleeping at night. i thought my sleep apnea has decreased. contrary to my belief, i underwent a follow-up sleep study in which i pretty much scored badly as my first sleep study.
as much as i hated to use the cpap machine the first time (that's why i elected for surgery), i decided to listen to the advisors to use a cpap machine. like it is being mentioned, even though i feel no adverse effects, it's the silent killer that made me decide to use the cpap machine. the nurse told us a meeting that cpap is there to help u live longer by allowing you to breathe better at night.