Musing about just how this has effected my life..

[eaglett1111]

Now in my third week of CPAP use and getting much better sleep already, I have been wondering just how long I have had sleep apnea. I mean, what if I've had it for years and didn't know? How different would my life have been? Have you guys thought about this... of course you have. I'm sure there is no way to trace back to when this started.

Did I have apnea 20 years ago when my divorce sent me reeling? Would I have handled it better if I had been getting good sleep? I didn't have some of the glaring symptoms I developed this year, but I know I snored. What about the years from then till now? Except for the past year, when I'm pretty sure i had it, I just wonder what effect the condition has had on my life, and how it could have been different if this had been treated sooner?

What, if any, conclusions have you come to about your lives before CPAP?

[SleepDepraved2]

I can remember back when the fatigue started I blamed it on lots of different stuff. I had young children, I had a baby, my blood sugar must be off, my thyroid did it, my lack of thyroid did it, my Synthroid level did it, must be vitamin D deficiency, maybe vitamin B deficiency, stress (plenty of that!), yada yada yada...

Who knows how long it had gone on before? I know the second day of CPAP, when I woke up feeling so great, I could not remember ever feeling like that in the morning, at least maybe since I was a child. Now I'm beginning to forget what it felt like before, only that I don't want to go back there!

[BlackSpinner]

I know exactly when it started: When I had my youngest I started to snore very badly, it didn't go away. I went to the doctor and was told to take OTC antihistamines, it didn't work.
The snoring eventually was the last straw of the relationship, separate bed rooms didn't work for us. By 1998 I had random spikes of high blood pressure, by 2001 I had heard about OSA and seen it in my massage clients but according to my then doctor because I didn't present as exhausted (and wasn't a truck driver) I would have to wait 2 years to get a sleep study. Eventually several years later and in another province a bad case of flu /bronchitis tipped me over the edge into fatigue and a visit from my sister whose husband has OSA got me a sleep study. And the world suddenly became brighter, more interesting and all that.

Basically OSA destroyed my relationship, my career, and all the small stuff around it.

[chunkyfrog]

I'm sure I've had apnea for a long, long time.
Had I been diagnosed when I first suspected it, I may have been treated;
(but I was in an HMO)--probably not very well.
Had I been diagnosed much earlier, I would be breathing through a hole in my neck--if at all.
I guess it has worked out the way it has for a reason; it may well be for the best.
In any case, I expect to make the most of it.
My life is full of "coulda, woulda, shoulda's"; but that's in the past.

[Sloop]

I was a heavy smoker and physically way out of shape. I had a great doctor who happened to be very tuned in to OSA. He asked me if I had micro-awakenings at night. I told him, I didn't think so -- but when I relayed this conversation to my wife, she said "hell, you've been doing that for five years". So, I at least had gone 5 years with this condition. The first thing he did was to have me do a night study in my home, as a qualifier. When that showed severe OSA, he immediately sent me to University of Virginia, under the care of Dr. Paul Suratt, one of the country's leading pioneers in treating OSA. UVA made the connection between OSA and drivers (especially truck drivers) falling asleep at the wheel.

Here is a fact that not many are aware of. Smokers have a 40 times greater chance of OSA than non-smokers.

[Wonderbeastlett]

I am young, only 25 and I can look back and see things I wish would have changed. At 15 I was having sleep paralysis, of course, I had no idea what it was then. It was so scary and would happen so often. I finally told my mom about it and her reply was,"That's a symptom of sleep apnea. Your grandpa has that but you're too young and skinny to have that!" So, I just trusted my mom like any child would do and my symptoms got worse so I just didn't tell anyone. My overwhelming fatigue and pile of stress (via full time college, a full time job, a fiance my parents disapproved of and a wedding to plan) made it worse.
The next 2 years of my marriage was good but not as good as it could have been. I was waking up on a monthly basis with either sleep paralysis and/or extreme nightmares. They would wake my husband up and scare him. I gained about 100 pounds and felt so tired and sluggish.

It wasn't until my mom called and said that dad went to the doctor and was diagnosed with OSA that I finally looked up the symptoms and decided I needed to check out what was wrong with me. I know I cant change the past but there's quite a bit I wish was different. I wish my mom would have done something instead of shrugging me off. If you cant tell already, We've not had the best of relationships over the years. I suppose I felt it was her responsibility to tell me what OSA was and say hey we need to check this out. Then again I didn't check it out for myself so..Whats done is done. I'm just glad I finally took my health into my own hands and when I do have kids I will make sure they're checked for these things.

[jweeks]

Hi,

I just turned 50, and started on CPAP when I was around 45. I know for sure that I had Apnea as early as 28, and probably had it at least since my teens. I was always a world class snorer. In fact, at hotels, people in other rooms would pound on the walls.

I tried to get tested and get treatment when I was 35. I was told by the doctor that it was unlikely that I had apnea. If I did, I'd probably die of it before I would be able to get an appointment. That miffed me so badly that I didn't try again until it became a life crisis. I am fortunate that I found good doctors the second time around.

I know how productive I have been the past 5 years. I sometimes think of what might have been if I could have gotten treatment 10 or 15 years earlier. However, I cannot change the past, so I am focused on the future. I lost two jobs in rapid sequence when my apnea was at its worst. That could have been a financial disaster. However, by being out of work at that time, I stumbled into one of the most interesting and enjoyable jobs that I have ever had. It is funny how random unconnected circumstances can converge at the same point time.

The biggest thought that I have from living with OSA is how lucky I was to avoid having a very serious car accident. I love to do road trips and I often drive 30,000+ miles a year. I remember often waking up for a road trip in the morning, and then struggling to stay awake at the wheel within 45 minutes of getting going. I found that if I stopped at a convenience store for ice cream, the cold food would wake me up a little to help me press forward. Lot of good that did causing me to gain even more weight, probably making the OSA even worse.

-john-