New word needed??

[crossfit junkie]

Hi folks,
I'm still 'new' and as I read I see so many similarities amongst us. One note that really strikes home is the Excessive Tiredness that we all had prior to treatment. I feel there should be a new word added to the Oxford Dictionary for tiredness for CPAP patients; A stronger, more descriptive word.We were more than 'tired'. "Tired' doesn't cut it. When we hear a co-worker say, "I'm tired today," the connotation of 'tired' is much more for us, don't you think? They mean they are a bit off, a bit sleepy, not quite up-to-par. We are almost deranged with tiredness; physically and emotional unwell from tiredness. We may not have known this (speaking only for me, of course) but I didn't know what tiredness was (and still have a ways to go) until I felt better. I didn't have anything to compare it to- I felt like this for years and as far as I knew- it was normal. At work, I'd say, "Yes, I'm tired too." But, I bet, I was the only person in the office, sneaking down to the locker room, getting IN a locker and taking a 10 minute nap. Wow! Sounds pretty bizzare when I think about it. Thanks for being here, everybody.
CFJ

[SleepGuy]

How about Stark Raving Mad? Apnea Zombie? Perpetually Sleep Deprived? Long-term sleep deprivation is a Living Nightmare, in my experience. And the worst part is the Sleep Deprivation is not the worst part of apnea. Blood oxygen deprivation literally destroys your body, little by little.

Looking back, the only way I could describe it is that I was getting very close to utterly breaking down--mental, emotional, physical--total meltdown. And that was after possibly 4 or 5 years (who knows really since I've always snored). It's the kind of thing you'd have to experience to describe.

I find it amusing that in university studies about sleep deprivation, subjects are forced to stay awake for 36 or 48 hours. They go looney. Research has shown that sleep is primarily for the brain, not the body. And it has much to do with memory. The way our super-computers work, the brain needs time to decompress and, as I would describe it, "dump" the short term memory buffer (it's like RAM in a computer). During sleep the brain decides which memories to transfer to long-term storage (long-term memory) and it literally dumps mountains of data that collected during the day. By morning, it's gone, erased. This is what dreaming is about--the memory storage and dumping process. This is what REM and the other forms of sleep are about--the process whereby our amazing biological computer resets.

With apnea, you get 0 clinical sleep. None. Nada. Not even a minute. You're like the university students participating in the sleep deprivation study but you're basically "awake" for years on end.

I have much more compassion for my grandfather's grouchiness. He must have had untreated apnea for 40 or 50 straight years. So on top of the physical damage he suffered (diabetes, high blood pressure, strokes, heart disease, bypass surgery, cancer surgery and treatment, etc) he was clinically sleep deprived for perhaps 40 straight years. Wow.

This therapy works! People, keep after it and don't give up. It's a challenge at first (to say the least) but don't get discouraged. Before too long you will adjust to it and actually sleep. You're at the right place for answers.

[roster]

Wasted?

[Wulfman]

Apneafied (or apneaFRIED)


Den

[Debjax]

Chronically exhausted was the word for me. Often thought about getting tested for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome...and wonder if THAT could be related to apnea.

[nomoore]

How about LoTAITed? Long Term Apnea Induced Tiredness. Except I don't think acronyms get into the dictionary.

[jnk]

I propose the word "Pfawds" :

Profound Fatigue Alternating With Depressive Stupor

[dieselgal]

I have slept more than 2 hours straight in 5 days and today I literally feel sick from exhaustion.

[Bluebonnet_Gal]

Looking back, the only way I could describe it is that I was getting very close to utterly breaking down--mental, emotional, physical--total meltdown. And that was after possibly 4 or 5 years (who knows really since I've always snored). It's the kind of thing you'd have to experience to describe.

It's so good to hear this description from someone else. So good to know that I'm not the only one. So good to know there is a reason I was feeling that way and it's NOT MY FAULT! I refer to the tiredness as exhaustion, but it's more than that. I often felt I WAS close to total meltdown. There were numerous mornings when I just didn't know if I could get through another day. My sleep study showed I wasn't getting any REM sleep at all. I know I've had sleep apnea for more than 5 years, possibly as long as 10 years or more. Looking back, I wonder how I functioned at all for such a long time!

[carbonman]

It's the kind of thing you'd have to experience to describe.

Having experienced it, I don't know that you can explain it in a word or at all.

enervatedebilitating fatigue

When I went in for the sleep study, I thought I was dying.

I know I never want to know that pain again.

[RipVW]

How about "cpapitated." :<)

[slacker361]

now you know why sleep deprivation is a form of torutre.............................Ill tell ya what you want to know, just let me sleep

[MrSandman]

I called it "Bone Tired". I would try and describe it as it ached just to lift your arms sometimes. People I have worked with will just never understand.

[maxhal]

Snonked from Snored out and Zonked

Come to think of it , even with the cpap treatment, I'm not even at the just tired stage yet, I'm only about to the onked level