Advice

I have tried to get my father to get a sleep study for a long time, he is 76 and maybe sleeps 4-5 hours a night. He has night terrors where he is fighting in his sleep and has fallen out of bed several times. He does have copd and is being treated for leukemia and prostrate cancer. When he finally went in to do a sleep study he said he didn't sleep much and was told there is nothing else to do. The diagnoses listed on the hospital app is Sleep hyperventilation due to lower airway obstruction, rem sleep behavior disorder and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. He is on oxygen while sleeping. Thanks Michael

He's obviously being treated by many doctors there... what kind of advice could we give that would be able to take everything into account and be helpful from here? He's also probably on a lot of meds that we're unaware of and they must have an impact as well... again, something we can't 'speak' to from here given the rest of his history. We'd like to help, but I'm not sure how.

Hornnumb2 wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 03, 2018 10:06 am

Sleep hyperventilation due to lower airway obstruction

Was it hyperventilation or hypoventilation? Here is some information on hypoventilation - https://www.sleepassociation.org/sleep- ... ntilation/

Michael, apparently, you convinced him to have a sleep study. Would it make sense for you to accompany him on a visit to the sleep doc to discuss a treatment plan?

All I see is a statement about your fathers health, which is very complicated. Do you have any questions you forgot to ask ?

Just didn't know if I needed to push harder, the doctors say that there is nothing else to be done about the sleep. But my thoughts on it, is he is starving for air while sleeping. Yes is was hypo...

COPD is progressive, lousy as that is, and there is only so much that can be done along the way... it's just too bad it's together with the night terrors.

With hypoventilation, supplemental oxygen treats the hypoxemia part of it but does not assist with ventilation (and could potentially make CO2 retention worse).

He needs at the least a bi-level machine, preferably a ResMed as there are specific settings that benefit those with COPD.

"There is nothing that can be done" (about COPD or sleep disordered breathing) is not accurate and I would seek another doctor...hopefully one that specializes in both sleep medicine and pulmonology. Not treating sleep-related hypoventilation alone is very detrimental to your health - it can lead to bad stuff like pulmonary hypertension and right heart failure.

I can't speak on any other health issues he is having, as those are outside of my knowledge.

Please don't misquote me! I didn't say nothing can be done, but he is 76 and does have many problems.

Julie wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 03, 2018 8:41 pm

Please don't misquote me! I didn't say nothing can be done, but he is 76 and does have many problems.

Try to keep up here, Julie. Raisedfist was quoting the father's medical team.

Hornnumb2 wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 03, 2018 10:06 am

was told there is nothing else to do