How miserable were you before diagnosis?

[LowOnJuice]

I'm 23 years old, and I can honestly say that the two or three years before my diagnosis were the worst of my life. Falling asleep on my couch after I got done coaching kids in the summers, falling asleep while studying during the school year, falling asleep a couple of times while driving back to college and anywhere else I would go that would require a 2-3 hour drive. I. WAS. MISERABLE. How about you guys?

[OutaSync]

I spent 40 years never wanting to do anything but sleep. My motto was, "never walk when you can ride, never stand when you can sit and never sit when you could be lying down."

You are lucky to have gotten help at such a young age. Keep reminding yourself of that.

Bev

[irishgranny]

About 15 years. The symptoms got really bad about 1 1/2 year ago. I was at the point where I had no life. I was afraid to drive anywhere's over a few miles, couldn't do my housework, did not want to visit with anyone and on and on. I am new at this but already feel sooooooo much better.

[Emilia]

You are so fortunate to get diagnosed as a young age! I went 13 yrs complaining to every doctor about my extreme fatigue and other issues. They had every excuse in the book to blame it on, and not one ever mentioned a sleep issue. It wasn't until I took myself to a cardiologist to have a checkup and stress test, that he suggested and overnight pulse/oximetry test that showed my very low O2 during sleep. Off to the plumonologist and then a sleep study. I am now 4 nights into therapy and I am sleeping better. Still a little headache each day, and I do feel a bit groggy, but nothing like I felt like last week! I look forward to many more years of good sleep, energy, and enjoying life!

[imsleepynomore]

Things got so bad I didn't even want to go to bed. I would wake up every half hour to hour to pee sweat like I don't know what sheets soaked gasping for air Hubby said when we stayed at hotels people in the next room would bang on the wall sorneing very LOUD I couldn't wait for my APAP been on hose two years and no going back Life is good now even with kidneys functioning at 22%Another site I frequent

[fireman38355]

I have been absolutely MISERABLE for the last 10 years! Been to every specialist you can imagine for my persistent nausea, upset stomach, etc....... Been scoped inside and out from every angle, only to be told I was healthy and that it must be depression..... GGRRRRRR! Noone ever suggested a sleep study.....

This is my first week on PAP therapy (ASV), but I already feel so much better and know that I am on my way to getting my life back.

Jeff

[brazospearl]

Low, my friend, you are a blessed man for finding out so young what the problem is. Many of us lost YEARS of good living and developed issues that can now only be "managed." Pre-cpap I had chronic pain from orthopedic problems, high blood pressure, hypothyroidism, depression, high cholesterol, allergies, and was bone-tired all the time. Was I miserable? You betcha! Things are SOOOOOOO much better now, I can't even find the words to express how much better I feel. Best of all, my pain is now managable with only 2 extra-strength acetominaphen every day. Yea! You are so lucky to have saved yourself years of misery.

[Duckie]

I don't know how long I have had OSA. Everyone would tell me that I look exhausted all the time. I have had 16 surgerys due to a childhood accident. The fatique I had was blamed on that. This last winter I could not get healthy. I was exhausted. My memory was shot. I have a mother and two siblings that have OSA still the Dr. refuse to do a sleep study. Finally he sent me to a allergist. I refused the one he want and picked a young fresh MD. thinking she would hopefully listen. Well, once she looked at my history, spent 1 month treating allergies and she sent me for a sleep study. My RDi was 29 per hour for the night, 120 while in REM. I pretty much do not have rem sleep or slow wave sleep. I also have PLMS. So I have been on an auto pap for 11 days and still have major problem with fatigue. I have not seen a sleep Dr. yet. I will in two weeks and hopefully get the range smaller and get something for the legs. PS the MD that refused to give me a sleep study I no longer see.

[elena88]

Since childhood, dreadful insomniac..

Never went to the doctor for it, because I KNEW I would not get any help and I did not want a sleeping pill..

Was diagnosed by total accident at one of my husbands doctors appts... still cant believe it..

I have never been sleepy a day in my life, but my nights were miserable, just laying there, dreading another night ..

NO wonder! I was getting ready to suffocate every night, so I slept as little as possible..

[Jason1975]

I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea about 2 years ago. Before that, I would get really, really bad headaches in the middle of the night and early mornings that would last all day no matter what medicine I took. I would also wake up at times feeling SO dizzy I couldn't move. I would literally throw up if I tried to move. I had to wait it out until everything stopped spinning. Sometimes, that would take hours of just being still in bed until it wore off. I came close to going off the road a few times on my way to work in the wee hours of the mornings (4:30). Everytime I would sit down it was a given that within 5 minutes I would be out, no matter what time of day. We would go to the movies and I would be out cold with my wife elbowing me every minute to wake up. Anyway, since C-pap, my headaches are gone and my dizziness and nausea have also left. For that I am REALLY grateful for. However, I still have daytime drowsiness but no longer am falling asleep going to work.

[LowOnJuice]

I appreciate all the feedback. I felt like my situation was a unique one, because all of the information I dug up said that no sleep apnea case was the same. But everyone sharing their experiences makes me feel alot better about what happened to me. I had memory problems as well, getting up repeatedly at night to go to the bathroom, lack of concentration...but I think everyone here is glad that most of that is behind us now that we have our therapy. Thanks everyone.

[Janknitz]

Way more miserable than I was willing to admit, even to myself.

I thought it was stress--I have a lot of job stress, and when I would wake up in the middle of the night in an absolute panic, I would obsess about all the troubles of work--it took me hours to go back to sleep. I thought this was perimenopausal insomnia, exacerbated by stress. Funny, the stressors are still there, but I don't wake up in the middle of the night stressing about them anymore. I wake up in the morning feeling peaceful and calm isntead of in a heart pounding panic about all that I have to do that day.

I refused to admit that I was getting sleepy driving, with my children in the car!!! I had shady parking lots along the routes I drove out of town so I could stop and take 10 or 15 minute "power naps" even with plenty of caffiene aboard. My youngest daughter has some orthopedic issues and we had to make 2 1/2 hour drives to the nearest Shriner's hospital for treatment every two weeks for a while. I was terrified that I would fall asleep on that drive. Now I shake my head and wonder how could I take this chance with my most precious children????

I couldn't watch a movie or t.v. show without falling alseep. I'd fall asleep in the car whenever I was a passenger, even if we were only traveling a few miles. I stopped reading and knitting in the evenings because I couldn't stay awke for one row or one page.

I slept until 10 or 11 most weekends, and then took long naps all afternoon. I was always tired.

My poor, dear, sweet husband slept half of the night on the couch because he couldn't sleep through my snoring.

I was very miserable, but I thought that was "normal". Boy am I happy to have been so wrong!

[Beachmeezer]

I didn't even know I was dealing with this so I didn't know how bad off I was and I guess I just coped without realizing I was coping. My husband complained about snoring but until he taped me and played it back (and he was in a room two rooms away from where I was sleeping when he taped it) did I realize there was a problem. After just a few nights on CPAP, I felt SO different than I had before I was kind of depressed that I'd let so much of my life go without doing something about it. For me I'm so much more focused - I can really plow through a task list and work now without being so easily sidetracked.

When I went in to review the results of the sleep study, the sleep specialist kept saying to me over and over again "you know you shouldn't be driving - pull over when you're tired" and I kept wondering why she was telling me this. She told me my OSA was so severe she didn't know how I got through the day and was worried about me driving to the sleep disorders clinic lol. I don't have my report in front of me with the data but I remember that my oxygen was less than 85%. That freaked me out. My mother has COPD with 88-90% function and has supplemental oxygen!

I walked out of there sold. It could be why I was determined to succeed and didn't really have problems coping with the mask (once I got the right one). I was freaked!

Kim

[LoQ]

My motto was, "never walk when you can ride, never stand when you can sit and never sit when you could be lying down."

That wasn't my motto, but only because I didn't think of it. I remember going for a walk with a friend, and thinking that I was so tired I couldn't possibly make it back to the house. I had a completely irrational thought--"maybe I can just lie down here on the pavement and sleep for a bit." My friend's answer was that I just needed to get up and exercise first thing in the morning and all would be well. I'm afraid exercising, morning or otherwise, was not compatible with life for the longest time.


On another occasion I found myself in a dangerous situation, and I actually had no fight or flight response. I was just more or less thinking, "Oh, well."


I was having trouble with my memory, comprehension, and concentration. My memory is still a problem (I have memory black-outs, and I don't even drink), but the other things have improved greatly.


I know I've had OSA for decades. The problem was that when I first went to the doctor for help, I was young and skinny. Back in those days, OSA was not really being diagnosed very easily, and certainly not for people who didn't fit the profile. I lost decades of my life to OSA. Good for you for finding out NOW rather than 30 years from now.

[Sillyme]

I saw my doctor this morning and told him how grateful I am that he caught this. I have MS and I just thought the fatigue, foggy brain, weakness and memory problems were due to that. I feel like the whole world is a shade brighter and I'm only on my 4th night. I think most other docs would have patted me on the head and sent me on my way. Stress and MS don't mix well and I didn't even realize how much stress OSA was causing me. I already feel stronger.