Prevalence of "Moderate-to-Severe OSA" in the 40-85-Yrs. General Population

[jnk...]

" However, no association was noted between severity of sleep-disordered breathing and presence of daytime sleepiness, measured with the
Epworth sleepiness scale."

Before I was diagnosed and was still untreated, I didn't feel at all sleepy during the day, nor did I have fatigue.
I felt wired most of the time, verging on anxiety/easily upset/irritated. (oh who am I kidding I was a b*(&) at times, why does my husband love me being on CPAP so much I wonder??)

So yes, the ESS might not be useful for many of us.

I had other symptoms such as nocturia, night sweats, waking up with a racing heart and vivid dreams. These all resolved with CPAP and that is why I will never stop using it, so I am quite lucky because I have very obvious benefits and incentives.

Thank you for sharing all of that.

Well said. Helpful words for many.

[palerider]

either way we're still screwed though unless there is litigation reform which is the big block to getting enough doctors and to the cost of the whole thing.

Welllll, that's *one* side of the story... we're still getting screwed over down here, but malpractice lawsuits are rare these days.

http://www.americanbarfoundation.org/news/568

Texas, where doctors can get away with killing and maiming people.

[palerider]

" However, no association was noted between severity of sleep-disordered breathing and presence of daytime sleepiness, measured with the
Epworth sleepiness scale."

Before I was diagnosed and was still untreated, I didn't feel at all sleepy during the day, nor did I have fatigue.
I felt wired most of the time, verging on anxiety/easily upset/irritated. (oh who am I kidding I was a b*(&) at times, why does my husband love me being on CPAP so much I wonder??)

Friend of mine said the same thing.. she didn't think she had a problem, but she's realized she's *much* less bitchy now that she's getting good sleep with her cpaps. (she's got two).

[nicholasjh1]

either way we're still screwed though unless there is litigation reform which is the big block to getting enough doctors and to the cost of the whole thing.

Welllll, that's *one* side of the story... we're still getting screwed over down here, but malpractice lawsuits are rare these days.

http://www.americanbarfoundation.org/news/568

Texas, where doctors can get away with killing and maiming people.

I said we need to find a solution to gratuitous malpractice amounts and suits. I didn't say Texas had found it. Clearly they went too far the other way, and possibly those lawyers need to not specialize as much because clearly they focused too much on that business. There may also have been a glut of those type of lawyers. obviously the system doesn't work and ham handed attempts from insurance companies to represent their side is not the correct answer either. Good law needs to be made to protect the doctors. Mostly like a public health system. but not the half hearted insurance company driven Obamacare, or whatever the hell they did in Texas. Also a good example of Republicans supporting big business regulations to the detritment of the population....

[nicholasjh1]

" However, no association was noted between severity of sleep-disordered breathing and presence of daytime sleepiness, measured with the
Epworth sleepiness scale."

Before I was diagnosed and was still untreated, I didn't feel at all sleepy during the day, nor did I have fatigue.
I felt wired most of the time, verging on anxiety/easily upset/irritated. (oh who am I kidding I was a b*(&) at times, why does my husband love me being on CPAP so much I wonder??)

Friend of mine said the same thing.. she didn't think she had a problem, but she's realized she's *much* less bitchy now that she's getting good sleep with her cpaps. (she's got two).

Yeah I was a big bastard, I never did have day time sleepiness though. It could be side a had daytime "tiredness" but I was always wired and anxious. I think certain genotypes compensate for apnea with raised hormone levels. In my case extremely high norepinephrine (aka nor-adrenaline) and cortisol according to tests.

[nicholasjh1]

" However, no association was noted between severity of sleep-disordered breathing and presence of daytime sleepiness, measured with the
Epworth sleepiness scale."

Before I was diagnosed and was still untreated, I didn't feel at all sleepy during the day, nor did I have fatigue.
I felt wired most of the time, verging on anxiety/easily upset/irritated. (oh who am I kidding I was a b*(&) at times, why does my husband love me being on CPAP so much I wonder??)

Friend of mine said the same thing.. she didn't think she had a problem, but she's realized she's *much* less bitchy now that she's getting good sleep with her cpaps. (she's got two).

Yeah I was a big bastard, I never did have day time sleepiness though. It could be side a had daytime "tiredness" but I was always wired and anxious. I think certain genotypes compensate for apnea with raised hormone levels. In my case extremely high norepinephrine (like 3 times regular levels in my case) (aka nor-adrenaline) and cortisol according to tests.

[palerider]

" However, no association was noted between severity of sleep-disordered breathing and presence of daytime sleepiness, measured with the
Epworth sleepiness scale."

Before I was diagnosed and was still untreated, I didn't feel at all sleepy during the day, nor did I have fatigue.
I felt wired most of the time, verging on anxiety/easily upset/irritated. (oh who am I kidding I was a b*(&) at times, why does my husband love me being on CPAP so much I wonder??)

Friend of mine said the same thing.. she didn't think she had a problem, but she's realized she's *much* less bitchy now that she's getting good sleep with her cpaps. (she's got two).

Yeah I was a big bastard, I never did have day time sleepiness though. It could be side a had daytime "tiredness" but I was always wired and anxious. I think certain genotypes compensate for apnea with raised hormone levels. In my case extremely high norepinephrine (aka nor-adrenaline) and cortisol according to tests.

Well, increased stress hormone levels is a known side effect of struggling to breathe all night.

[chunkyfrog]

Diagnosis by questionnaire is sketchy at best.
More often, completely useless,
due to the fact that we are rarely honest to ourselves.
" I'm fine, really . . . "

[nicholasjh1]

Diagnosis by questionnaire is sketchy at best.
More often, completely useless,
due to the fact that we are rarely honest to ourselves.
" I'm fine, really . . . "

Yeah, I mean in retrospect I was definitely tired all the time, but the decline was so gradual that it slipped into the new normal. nevermind that I got extra sick every time I got sick, etc. and the main questions were around sleepiness, which I never fell asleep during the day so didn't consider it "sleepiness"

[chunkyfrog]

You are preaching to the choir, man.
For years, I never experienced more than a couple minutes of fingertip numbness on arising.
Thought it was nothing--until Sept 25, when I experienced parasthesia in all finger/thumb tips,
except for pinkies--and it stayed, and quickly progressed to hyperesthesia--pure misery.
Cracked eggshells felt like RAZOR BLADES--other rough textures, similar sensation.
It has slowly faded, but I'm not ignoring it any more.
Severe carpal tunnel--I had surgery on the first wrist yesterday.
It is too easy to ignore something--until it kicks you right in the face.

[esel]

Payers

^This shows from time to time in your posts. Please understand that we are the payers. Insurance companies aren't allowed to print money. They can only get it from us.

Once again, CG, you need to work on your overall comprehension.

Well, that is what she is doing here Isn't she ?

[esel]

They are the 'death panels' that the republicans

Here ( https://tinyurl.com/http-www-PaleRiderVotesDeath ) is your Death Panel, and it's been cheerily built up by all elected partisan officials. Quit voting for Democrats and Republicans.

Someone, take granny to get her glasses cleaned.

she's confusing DEATH panel with DEBT panel.

Its OK, we like her without glasses, still soo pretty... Or is it just me ?

[esel]

" However, no association was noted between severity of sleep-disordered breathing and presence of daytime sleepiness, measured with the
Epworth sleepiness scale."

Before I was diagnosed and was still untreated, I didn't feel at all sleepy during the day, nor did I have fatigue.
I felt wired most of the time, verging on anxiety/easily upset/irritated. (oh who am I kidding I was a b*(&) at times, why does my husband love me being on CPAP so much I wonder??)

So yes, the ESS might not be useful for many of us.

I had other symptoms such as nocturia, night sweats, waking up with a racing heart and vivid dreams. These all resolved with CPAP and that is why I will never stop using it, so I am quite lucky because I have very obvious benefits and incentives.

Thank you for sharing all of that.

Well said. Helpful words for many.

Nice thread, thank you… learned a lot ...

Concerning Epworth I very much agree with Arlene1963. Only night workers would admit to be sleepy during the day. Spanish siesta is simply not acceptable in Hypnolaus - Land.
I think that Arlene1963 clearly nailed the symptoms that should be addressed in respect to OSA. Anxiety, fear induced insomnia, irritability …

I thought I should let you know that I was not a HypnoLaus guinea pig in 2015. They simply must have forgotten me. .

Isn't it odd that “29% of HypnoLaus participants declined to have polysomnography". Why did so many bale out ? They all knew it was the point of the study no ? Were they honest to Epworth and got scared away ? Did they lay to Epworth ??? And got depressed ?

"in our study, almost every individual had some degree of sleep-disordered breathing"
Well that is comforting. Maybe I am normal considering I live in Lausanne ? Could my 39 AHI just be acceptable ? No ??? Hmmm, maybe not …

"our results emphasise the importance of dedicating health care resources to individuals at high risk of complications rather than initiating treatment based on an apnoea-hypopnoea index threshold."
Well said … , to tell you the truth they still base their treatment on AHI. I am THAT guinea pig now...

I got hit Feb 2016 and landed strait in Hoseland. And thanks to many here I got lots of help, advise and the sanity to keep my CPAP alive. I got a split night PSG Oct 2018 as the aerophagia monster was having too much fun with me. Well, the outcome was clear. My sleep is much better with VPAP than without period.

And I love their final conclusion : “A progressive association between severity of sleep-disordered breathing and cardiovascular, metabolic, and psychiatric diseases will be hard to define.” They are not kidding ? Wouldn’t the mixing up of that many parameters logically come up with such a conclusion ?

Oh, boy ! Should I give up chocolate ? check my heart ? eat more Effexor, less Lamictal, and what about the Ritalin for my ADD ?

If only Zeus could talk to my CPAP El Nino I sure would love Hoseland. Or is it all that nice French red wine in my belly that is able to call for El Nino ???

[zoocrewphoto]

" However, no association was noted between severity of sleep-disordered breathing and presence of daytime sleepiness, measured with the
Epworth sleepiness scale."

Before I was diagnosed and was still untreated, I didn't feel at all sleepy during the day, nor did I have fatigue.
I felt wired most of the time, verging on anxiety/easily upset/irritated. (oh who am I kidding I was a b*(&) at times, why does my husband love me being on CPAP so much I wonder??)

Friend of mine said the same thing.. she didn't think she had a problem, but she's realized she's *much* less bitchy now that she's getting good sleep with her cpaps. (she's got two).

It is really hard to see the symptoms when they creep up over years. I really assumed that I was less energetic due to getting older and gaining a little weight. I thought I slept pretty well. I did wake up 2-3 times a night for the bathroom, but I have always gone more than other people, even during the day. I knew I snored, but I misunderstood what sleep apnea really was, so I didn't see it as a big deal....until I watched a news story about sleep apnea and how it caused high blood pressure, and how that led to heart attacks and strokes. I already had high blood pressure, and my doctor was tellingme I was at a higher risk of stroke. She never mentioned sleep apnea. After that news story, I scheduled an appointment so that I could request a sleep study. Before that happened, I shared ahotel room with a friend. The next day, she asked how soon my appointment was. I asked if I was really that loud. She said no, but I snored scary. Gasping, not breathing, really scary. Nobody ever told me that before.

The sleep study went well, and the night after that, I dreamt about having to wait 6 months for a machine. I was angry. I wanted it now. The next day, I realized I felt horrible. I also realized that I felt normal. My normal was horrible. I just needed an awesome night to tell the difference. 5 hours with a cpap was enough to feel the difference.

Within a few weeks of starting cpap, I realized I was less tired, happier (less grumpy, less bitchy). No more waking up choking until I was sick. No more nightmares, morning headaches, or multiple bathroom trips. I fall asleep faster, move around less. In hotels, I sleep really well (even better than at home sometimes) rather than awake at least once an hour, watching the clock. It is amazing to me how much different I am since starting cpap. I really thought I was sleeping pretty well before. I only got tested because of the blood pressure issue. I was NOT a good judge of my sleep quality.

[Arlene1963]

It is really hard to see the symptoms when they creep up over years. I really assumed that I was less energetic due to getting older and gaining a little weight. I thought I slept pretty well. I did wake up 2-3 times a night for the bathroom, but I have always gone more than other people, even during the day. I knew I snored, but I misunderstood what sleep apnea really was, so I didn't see it as a big deal....until I watched a news story about sleep apnea and how it caused high blood pressure, and how that led to heart attacks and strokes. I already had high blood pressure, and my doctor was tellingme I was at a higher risk of stroke. She never mentioned sleep apnea. After that news story, I scheduled an appointment so that I could request a sleep study. Before that happened, I shared ahotel room with a friend. The next day, she asked how soon my appointment was. I asked if I was really that loud. She said no, but I snored scary. Gasping, not breathing, really scary. Nobody ever told me that before.

I watched Wanda Sykes performing stand up comedy on a show called "Not Normal" yesterday (Netflix). It was so interesting because as she spoke about various issues I thought "I wonder if she has sleep apnea?" She mentioned weight gain, age (55) hot flashes, how tough menopause was, etc.

Then, right at the end of her performance she revealed that she's started snoring so loudly recently that her wife records her because the snoring keeps her awake at night. Apparently Wanda played the recording to her doctor and he said it sounds like OSA and she should have a sleep study.

Sykes was horrified at the thought because she thinks it incredibly unsexy to wear CPAP.

Let's hope she's joking and that if she does have OSA she gets it treated. Her wife will thank her, no more snoring for starters!