How Sleep Apnea Causes Strokes

aland wrote:This article implies that the health problems caused by sleep apnea are due to low blood oxygen levels. My sleep study showed my blood oxygen level to be normal all night even though I had a lot of apnea events. I have been using cpap for about 3 weeks. I'm using it 7+ hours a night and seeing an AHI between 0.5 and 2.0, but I don't feel any better. So I'm having trouble being motivated to keep using it.

My question is: are there long term heath consequences of sleep apnea if blood oxygen levels are good?

There are long term consequences of sleep deprivation, but I know what you mean. I used the CPAP for nearly a year with the same results as you are reporting and even though I did feel a bit better it was not the miraculous change everyone told me it would be. I was very disappointed to say the least.

Guest wrote: ........an. I used the CPAP for nearly a year with the same results as you are reporting and even though I did feel a bit better it was not the miraculous change everyone told me it would be. I was very disappointed to say the least.

Mr. Nobody,

Having said that, what do you see as your options?

Gale Hawkins wrote:
Let me guess these countries have national health care plans?

What? Are you saying these dubious claims are the fault of national health care plans? You can't be serious?
Medicare is a national health care plan. It paid for my sleep study and my CPAP machine. While it could use some tweaking it is overall a very good health benefit. I'd take it over the crappy blue cross any day. I'd bet if you looked you could find plenty of dubious "research" that is in favor of blue cross and other private insurers not paying for medical benefits which they should pay for.

Oh I still use the CPAP machine. It has made an improvement for me, just not the miracle I was expecting! I also had to go back to the sleep lab for more sleep studies and after working out that I also have narcolepsy I added ritalin during the day which also helps. I wouldn't stop using the CPAP, though. It's a nice dream machine if nothing else

rooster wrote:

Guest wrote: ........an. I used the CPAP for nearly a year with the same results as you are reporting and even though I did feel a bit better it was not the miraculous change everyone told me it would be. I was very disappointed to say the least.

Mr. Nobody,

Having said that, what do you see as your options?

In rooster's post, the article wrote:"The important thing is to recognize sleep apnea early on so there won't be any significant damage to the brain"

To me this is the point and why I'm trying to get my son and others to listen. The damage is done to a lot of us and I think CPAP is seen as an old folks thing like the O2 tubes for Emphysema & COPD. Like a lot of things (e.g.; smoking/lung cancer) they don't fear the results because it is a long way off in their eyes.

OldLincoln wrote:

In rooster's post, the article wrote:"The important thing is to recognize sleep apnea early on so there won't be any significant damage to the brain"

To me this is the point and why I'm trying to get my son and others to listen. The damage is done to a lot of us and I think CPAP is seen as an old folks thing like the O2 tubes for Emphysema & COPD. Like a lot of things (e.g.; smoking/lung cancer) they don't fear the results because it is a long way off in their eyes.

Yep OldLincoln buddy, I know your frustration. I am dealing with two cases in my family now who refuse to go for sleep studies despite obvious symptoms. It is a shame. People are making decisions to let their health decline prematurely and to suffer a poor quality of life.

nobody wrote:Oh I still use the CPAP machine. It has made an improvement for me, just not the miracle I was expecting! I also had to go back to the sleep lab for more sleep studies and after working out that I also have narcolepsy I added ritalin during the day which also helps. I wouldn't stop using the CPAP, though. It's a nice dream machine if nothing else

......

The miracle for me is that it is keeping me alive and allowing me a better level of functioning. I badly need to do better and am working hard at it. Too many years of damage while being undiagnosed/untreated. I think some of it is being reversed by 100% CPAP compliance, strict sleep hygiene, mucho exercise, and now I am getting really serious about a much lower carb diet. Even with this it will take time before I can proclaim "miracle". And if I reach this point I will probably proclaim "Hard Work" instead of "miracle".

I guess the people who say "miracle" did not suffer all the years of damage that many of us have had.

We need early diagnosis and a better treatment to replace CPAP. In the meantime, CPAP is "all we got".

I guess I should have defined "miracle" Miracle to me would be to be even halfway functional.

nobody wrote:I guess I should have defined "miracle" Miracle to me would be to be even halfway functional.

My heart goes out to you, nobody. You are fighting more than one battle. CPAP solves the problem of your previously suffocating at night. And CPAP improves the quality of your sleep. Hopefully it will help to give you what you need to continue the battle against your other health issues, such as narcolepsy. I wish you success as you continue to try things and make headway a little at a time. Sometimes we have to expand the timeline we look at. We may not feel that much better compared to yesterday or last week. But we may see progress compared to six months ago or a year ago in some ways. That can help rally us to keep fighting for the future.

jeff

jnk wrote: .............

The reasoning has merit, though a bit Darwinian.

........

I looked at one of the reports again since it has been awhile since I first read it. I think the report even admits my Darwinian point when it says,

But the study has found that the effects of sleep apnoea do not have the same effect in younger people -- in fact, middle-aged men in particular are at a higher risk of heart disease, the Daily Mail paper reported.

A lot of the people in the apnea group have already been killed off by the effects of apnea. So only the "fittest" members remain in the over-65 group.

Thanks jeff. I keep workin on it. I'm doing a lot better than I was with both the cpap and the ritalin, plus reduction of stress in my life. That helps a lot too.

jnk wrote:

nobody wrote:I guess I should have defined "miracle" Miracle to me would be to be even halfway functional.

My heart goes out to you, nobody. You are fighting more than one battle. CPAP solves the problem of your previously suffocating at night. And CPAP improves the quality of your sleep. Hopefully it will help to give you what you need to continue the battle against your other health issues, such as narcolepsy. I wish you success as you continue to try things and make headway a little at a time. Sometimes we have to expand the timeline we look at. We may not feel that much better compared to yesterday or last week. But we may see progress compared to six months ago or a year ago in some ways. That can help rally us to keep fighting for the future.

jeff