Sleep Doctors in Japan (and other languages)

[tokyosleeper]

Hi All,

I just found this site today. I really wish I'd found it a couple of years back!

To make a long story short, I had a sleep study and received a CPAP machine some years back with "moderate" apnea (I forget how many cm, but I want to say 18 or 16. However, the machine gave me severe aerophagia (didn't know the term for it until today!) to the point where the symptoms that came with using the CPAP were often worse than the symptoms of not using it, so I pretty much just gave up on it for a year.

Recently I've decided to get back into it and address the issue (now that I know that aerophagia is relatively common and even has a name I'm a lot more confident about that)

But I live in Japan now... and I speak the language so-so at best. Ideally I'd like to find a doctor who could help with this in English who lives in Tokyo, but I realize that may be asking too much. I could get a native-speaking Japanese friend to go with me, but then again even they probably wouldn't know how to translate words like "sleep apnea" and "aerophagia" as well as whatever the doctor would be saying to me in response.

Does anyone have any advice? Also, any general advice for folks living in places where English may not be spoken by their doctors would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Julie]

Try lowering your pressure just a bit, it often works for aerophagia. Other than that, I suggest you look for an "American" hospital (there usually seem to be some around - the embassy could direct you) and ask them to recommend English speaking doctors. Or for that matter just ask the embassy (or consulate) for help.

[harry33]

I agree about lowering the pressure, if the instructions dont say how to it may be posted on the net

[secret agent girl]

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[tokyosleeper]

Thanks everyone for your great responses. It's really great to know that this community is so friendly, and that it exists at all. It was hard feeling like "I was the only one."

@secret agent girl:

I do still own a machine (well, I'll be picking it up from the States over Xmas- got so bad I didn't even bother bringing it last time) so I guess the first thing I want to do is get it reprogrammed, maybe see what I can do to work with the mask etc. Hopefully that works & if not, try the next thing. The main thing is I'm just looking for someone to help me thru the process.

What I think I'm going to do is just go to a native English speaking doctor. My colleague recommended one, unfortunately he's not part of the Nat'l health insurance program (so I'll be paying out of pocket) but he's a native speaker and even if he's not a sleep specialist he should be able to at least point me in the right direction and I can go from there.

Thanks all for your help!

[Julie]

You're assuming a lot about that one doctor. Just speaking English is not enough and his knowledge of OSA and Cpap could be terrible (as it seems to be in so many doctors right here "at home"). It just hasn't been around long enough for enough MD's to really have a clue and you don't want to be led down the wrong path by ignorance (knowledge about OSA/Cpap is something doctors have to choose to acquire - it's not a basic in med school - yet, anyway). Honestly, the people on this forum have made themselves into mini-experts in many cases (present company excluded!) and I would vet questions you have here after you see that MD. BTW, what is the exact and full name of your machine? It matters, because there are different features on each one.

[Marietjie]

tokyosleeper - welcome! and pleased to meet you! I saw this on internet: Sleep Clinic, Chofu, Tokyo and Sleep Clinic Ginza, Tokyo. Have a look.

[Jay K]

I realize it is quite a distance, but if you should find yourself in Bangkok, Bumrungrad Hospital (http://www.bunrungrad.com) has a decent sleep clinic and is relatively inexpensive, e.g., around $450 US for an overnight sleep study, and less than $100 more for a series of consultations with their sleep doctor. Anyone who is interested, might want to do a search on their website for a doctor in the specialty sleep medicine. Each of their sleep medicine doctors did 2- or 3-year fellowships in the U.S.

Incidentally, it is where I had my sleep study done. And yes, I realize it is a six or seven hour flight from Tokyo, but I mention it because some people in Japan take vacations in Thailand.