how did you know you had sleep apnea

[Erin_Belli]

I read a book called "The Promise of Sleep" by Dr. William Dement. He writes passionately about sleep apnea. But I wasn't convinced I had it until I recorded myself sleeping. I snored like a gargoyle. Got a sleep study which suggested severe sleep apnea. Been on CPAP about 6 months now, and I'm finding I have a lot more energy for things, and that I think more deeply and clearly. I also no longer have a problem feeling like I'm going to pass out whenever I spend a lot of time on my feet.

[ZZZzzz]

My free fall started in July 2006. I noticed my muscles were getting sore and stiff. Once upon a time, I used to be in Gymnastics. Now, it hurt to bend over and put my treadmill shoes on. The muscle pain and discomfort got worse. Just changing positions in bed or stepping into the shower was painful.
One morning, after I parked my vehicle at work; that was it.....I hobbled in to the office and made a Dr. appointment. This was just not normal.
On Nov 16th 2006, I handed my Dr. a list of symptoms that I had compiled that were new to me that year.
I said: 'Please, my husband's begging you; you gotta help me figure out what's wrong with me.'

This was my list of symptoms:

stiff, sore muscles
tight muscles/charley horses in calves
wake up during the night: mostly too hot/occ. sweaty/one time shivering
wake up arms and hands completely numb
vivid dreams & nightmares
exhausted
moody to the nth degree
crying jags
angry outburts
can't stay focused
depression
poor judgment
personality changes
aggressive driving
use of profanity
disorganized
insomnia
anxiety
poor concentration
memory lapses
clumsy
lightheaded
brain zaps - that's what I call them
weight gain
too hot
tripping (scuffing) when I walk
bursitis (foot)
chest tightness
dry mouth/hoarseness
possible easier bruising
rising blood pressure
rising blood sugar
bleeding (when getting allergy shots)
sensitive startle reflex
easily disturbed sense of balance
poor posture; slouching

My regular doctor heard of my frustration about not sleeping well.
My allergist got complaints of my dry throat and hoarseness.
My chiropractor heard of my sore muscles.
(You get the picture.)
None of my doctors saw all of my symptoms on one sheet of paper until now.

It really pays to know your own numbers.
My blood pressure was always about 90/62 and suddenly it would be 128/80.
Nurses would tell me that my blood pressure was within normal limits, but I knew better and I told them, "No, that's high for me."
My fasting blood sugar came back 89 in May '06 and 99 in Nov '06 - - again, for ME, that's high.

Looking back, I can see how I would use compensatory behavior.
I would drink excessive amounts of coffee in the morning to feel normal.
Sometimes I would resort to Margaritas in the evening to come back down from the coffee.
A friend at work who has OSA said he would never sit down after he got home.
Once he sat down, it was all over and he would fall asleep.
(This would net snide comments from his wife.)
Symptoms and behavior can be tricky and interlaced to sort through.
I'm sure to some degree caffeine contributed to my higher blood pressure and edginess.

I hit an all time emotional low and found myself thinking about suicide.
The torture was 24 hours a day.
I suffered all night long with nightmares and insomnia.
I suffered all day long with exhaustion and wondered why I felt so horrible.
I knew there was something wrong but I didn't have a name for the monster.
Nobody seemed to get how emotionally, mentally, and physically wasted I was.

I NEVER had the classic daytime drowsiness.
My husband cracked the case for my Dr. and I by remarking about my sleep one night that I sounded like I was "struggling to breathe."

My OSA diagnosis was long, torturous, and expensive:
Wait to see my regular Dr.
Wait for their blood results
Wait to see the sleep doctor
Wait to get into the Sleep Study
Wait to get the results back from the study
Wait on insurance
Wait on having the CPAP machine delivered...

I thought the CPAP would be my little miracle machine but after using it for 56 nights, I'm still trying to get it right.
I'm certainly much better off than I was and I owe an immense thank you to the collective experience and compassion from the people that put their heart and soul into this website.

I may owe my life to my husband, friends, and family.

Whoever would have thought that sore muscles would have led me to a diagnosis of Obstructive Sleep Apnea?

My sleep doctor said this disorder was genetic yet few would argue than extra weight aggravates the condition.
(Both of my parents and one of my three sisters has Sleep Apnea.)
Now, I quote my sleep doctor: "Thanks to higher blood sugar levels and high night time Cortisol levels, Sleep Apnea encourages and causes weight gain, especially belly weight."
It's so cruel that everything about Sleep Apnea causes Sleep Apnea to get worse.
Is this another case of hereditary loads the gun and environment pulls the trigger?

I'll be honest...I'm in total denial about being on "The Machine" for the rest of my life. I'm waiting for surgery or weight loss to cure me. I'm floating in a pool of DENIAL.


That's my story and it's sticking to me. # : )

-Bev

_________________

[mj]

I developed vertigo that was much worse in the mornings, and would clear-up by mid-afternoon. I went to my PCP who said she really offer anything other than drugs for the vertigo. She did discover a heart murmur that I had never had before and sent me for an echocardiogram.

The echocardiogram revealed changes in my heart that indicated sleep apnea and I was sent to a sleep specialist. It took more than three months to get the sleep study and equipment. I'm still stuggling to get through the night but am up to about 4 hours a night and the vertigo has completely dissapeared and the heart murmur can no longer be heard.

I final word of gratitude to everyone who contributes to this forum. I believe I have taken advantage of every tip I could find and I know without them I would still be one dizzy chick (I'm just glad I'm a brunette - I can't imagine the jokes had I been both blonde and dizzy!)

[track]

Wow....my story is pretty simple and short compared to others. I moved out of the master bedroom about 3 years ago because of snoring. It wasn't that I had suddenly started to snore... it's just that my wife doesn't sleep as deep as she used too so it was keeping her up.
Everyone decided I probably had sleep apnea because I like to take a nap...makes me feel more rested. I didn't go to a sleep clinic instead I bought an apap machine and it showed up on the apap that I was having AHIs to the tune of about 8-10 an hour at the pressure I started at which was 4-14. Since that time I have zeroed in on a pressure from about 8.5 to 12.5 and the AHIs are now in the 5 range typically. I guess that means the machine is helping...I feel a little more energetic during the day. I still like to lay down for 30-45 minutes in the afternoon..sometimes I doze off and sometimes I just rest. It's a good way to break up the day and recharge the battery.

[Alisha]

Over many years my fatigue, headaches, depression, etc., had received several different diagnoses and treatment; however, the symptoms remained.

When the GP I am now seeing told me he thought I might have sleep apnea and wanted to send me to a sleep specialist to see if a sleep test was warranted, my response was "There is nothing wrong with my sleep; if anything I sleep too much." That's how ignorant I was about sleep apnea. In fact, I had never heard of it.

The GP explained what sleep apnea is, and I agreed to see the sleep specialist. As is usually the case, the appointment with the sleep specialist was a month later and the PSG a month after I saw the sleep specialist.

The sleep specialist saw me the morning after the PSG in the sleep clinic, told me I had severe sleep apnea, but the earliest titration appointment was another month away. The doc was there again the morning after titration, handed me a prescription for a cpap, a list of DME's to choose from, and told me to choose whatever equipment I wanted.

IF ONLY I'd had a computer at that time and had access to the combined experience, ingenuity, and wisdom shared on this forum, I could have made more informed choices instead of following the RT's suggestions. The only suggestion I refused was the small mask she wanted me to use after she measured my face. I told her it was too small and I needed a medium.

Four years (of 100% compliance) later, after reading this forum for weeks (or months) I determined what I needed and ordered it from cpap.com. Now when I have a question about xpap therapy, I ask you learned hoseheads instead of the doc, RT, or sleep clinic. I discovered long ago they didn't know the answers!

That's my story..and I'm stickin' to it!

Regards,

Alisha

[roster]

My story is long, so instead let me tell you about my friend at church, James.

James, age 46, sat down beside me in church in February of 2006 and told me he had pneumonia and was taking heavy antibiotics. He was incredulous that he could have pneumonia and not know it. But he sure was fatigued when he visited the GP.

I forgot about it and James never brought it up again. In November of 2006, James missed church two Sundays in a row. I asked his wife about him. She told me he was "laid up in bed" and was too lazy to get up.

I called James the next day and asked him a few questions and told him to go back to his GP and tell him he needs a sleep study for sleep apnea. One month later, James called me and said the sleep doctor had explained the study results and told him that he was in great danger of a stroke or heart attack due to severe osa.

James has been a compliant hosehead ever since and regularly thanks me for "saving his life". He is firmly convinced that he never had pneumonia.

[onecoknower]

My story is not very dramatic.

I've always snored. I've always been an extremely light sleeper - tossing and turning, every little things wakes me up (furnace going on, my then-infant son breathing in the next room).

I've been struggling the last few years to get into better shape, eat better, work on thyroid and blood sugar levels. Everything I've done is supposed to have the "lose weight" side effect. Last year I went on a liquid diet - one on which most people lose 25 pounds a month. I was compliant, yet no results.

When I went for my physical last November I complained about my extreme fatigue, my stress levels, my inability to lose weight no matter what I did. My DO suggested a sleep study.

My PSG showed 30 apneas per hour. I've been a hosehead for just over 5 weeks now. I am still tired, but am seeing many signs that I'm finally getting good sleep, so I keep on...

Oneco

[sarnadle_vector]

Started around the age of 25 for me (29 now)....had lots of problems staying awake while driving...I also had to sneak lots of naps in during the workday.

My snoring got worse and worse from about 21 onward. At the peak...I was snoring about as loud as a really 'turned up' alarm clock...it's was very loud and very bad. I was also moving a lot in my sleep. My wife described it was "violent kicking and twisting".

Talked to a few of my doctors..over the years and tried multiple non-pap, snoring-specific, remedies...various decongestants and the like...nothing worked.

Finally got sleep studies done in late '05...and have been on CPAP ever since...and there's no looking back! Now I look forward to the good night of sleep....and I feel pretty great during the day.

-sV

[momsworry]

I've snored for quite a few years, but my wife was becoming concerned for me when to her it would seem that I would stop breathing, then wake up. I was walking dead, falling asleep in church, at the theater. I couldn't read a magazine or finish a TV show without falling asleep, but I was still always beat. One day while making my commute home from work, I fell asleep while driving. I realized what I had done and knew it was only momentary but I also knew that on other days I had pulled off on the side of the road for a ten minute snore fest, just so I could finish the drive home. Falling asleep at the wheel convinced me that I needed to get to a doctor and start addressing the problem. I've been on CPAP since early December 06 and it has been life changing. Almost every aspect of my life has improved and I seemed to take to the device almost immediately. I even slept well for the second half of my sleep study, woke up more fresh than I had in years.

[cajapato]

My wife has told me for years that I snore and it keeps her awake. That complaint progressed into concern when she noticed I would stop breathing and snort or gasp to breathe again. She told me I needed checked, then she told me again and again.
I did not get checked but I did end up at my yearly physical. My doctor (and good friend) asked me some questions. How are you sleeping? How is your general mood? Do you get angry?, etc. etc. I thought he was trying to find out if I was depressed. I guess maybe I was and I resisted giving any answer that would label me. Then I thought of what my wife had been saying. Well, I gave up the resistance and he got it out of me. I was exhausted, I had no motivation, tasks I loved at work were taking more effort, I had memory loss, I could not sleep. I quoted my wife's findings about what I was doing. He scheduled me with a pulmonary doctor and the rest is history. I was diagnosed and am now a hoser. My wife is happier, I am happier.
Had I been single, I know I would never have been diagnosed. It was my wife's prodding that got me there.