How many???

[bap40]

A poll of sorts. I am wondering how many of you asked for sleep studies for yourselves and how many of you had your doctors or other medical person bring it up to you?

I was told for several years I snored badly both from my husband and daughter. Of course I did not believe it. That is until my husband said that I would stop breathing during those snores. He said he would wait and wait for me to take another breath. I must admit I did make a appointment with my doctor pretty quickly. It really hit me like a lightbulb going off and explained all of what was going on. That was when I found this board and learned so much so fast and was pretty prepared for the sleep test and all that comes with it.......DME's. When the time came I knew what machine I wanted and in the process fired my first DME to another one who gave me what I wanted.

I will celebrate my 3rd year mid Feb.

[Marvinvwinkle]

I just had a sleep study in Dec and still have not heard from my Dr or the sleep study Dr. On my first sleep study, my PCP which dealt with my diabetes. Needless to say I didn't get much info.

[nomoore]

I brought it up to my doctor because I had been feeling tired, I had woke up a few times gasping for air when my alarm went off, and my Dad has sleep apnea. He quickly referred me to a sleep center.

[HoseCrusher]

My wife for years has told me that I stop breathing while sleeping. I would sometimes find her hand resting on my face. She was checking to see if I was still alive.

I was also told that I snore when sleeping on my back.

I was chatting with my cardiologist about recent advances in heart treatments when he brought up the subject of sleep apnea. I told him my wife's reports, and he got things going for a sleep study. I have occasional issues with atrial fibrillation and we are wondering if xPAP therapy will eliminate those.

[msradar65]

I was told by my husband when we first got married that I turned blue in my sleep. He woke me from a sound sleep all upset that I was dead! 20 plus years later when visiting with a friend who has severe sleep apnea and scared me half to death I thought I would do the right thing and have a sleep study done in the hope that my friend would get treatment.

Well, it back fired on me. I have moderate sleep apnea and I am faithfullly using my CPAP and getting treatment. My friend is still in the land of denial!

[bap40]

Denial can kill you!

[CruzTerri]

I knew I snored but never knew how loud. Over the last 12 months have been very sleepy, experiencing falling asleep when I hadn't before like watching TV, sitting in a theater waiting for a show to start, etc. Had an incident while driving, and resolved to contact doctor about being so tired. I thought maybe my thyroid meds weren't working. So the weekend before my Dr. appointment, which was Thanksgiving weekend, family and I were discussing my upcoming Dr. appointment and why I was going. Hubby of 24.5 years calmly states that yes, I hold my breath when I snore and that I can be heard through a closed door. What! I said, how come you never told me, he just shrugged his shoulders.

Saw Dr. on 11/29; had sleep study on 12/22; picked up my equipment today. I'm so looking forward to feeling better soon! I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. I am one of five sisters, now we all use a CPAP machine!

[chunkyfrog]

We both had to ask.
The doctor ordered our diagnostic studies right away.
Hubby went for the 'positional training' hogwash before being scared silly by a lecture on Atrial fibrillation.
I went for the second study ASAP--I was sooo sleep-deprived.

[snuginarug]

I listened to my mom snore and gasp and stop breathing all my childhood. I guess somewhere in the 80s we heard the term "sleep apnea" and all agreed : Mom has it! However, nothing was ever done about it and to this day she is untreated. Kinda scary. I started getting reports from roommates and bed partners that I snored, so I thought I probably have sleep apnea, just like mom. No big deal for her, no big deal for me. I mentioned this several times to my psychiatrist and PCP, and they sort of said Oh, ok. However, I got to thinking about my intractable insomnia, and thought perhaps treatment for sleep apnea might help the insomnia. My psychiatrist thought this was a good idea. I kept forgetting it and putting it off and what not. Brain fog, you know, hard to get things done. But she kept encouraging me. So I brought it up to my PCP. But essentially, it was my idea. No one told me of all the dangers of untreated OSA. I learned that here. I was quite surprised. I wrote to my mom about it. She just sort of skipped over it. My insomnia is now worse than before, but I am less tired than I was, because when I do sleep, I sleep with my mask on and actually SLEEP, instead waking up again and again. Now if only I could get myself to sleep more than 3 hours at a time.

[Cindy Lou Who]

I've had dark circles under my eyes, AND snored since Jr, high school. When I got married in '96 my hubby told me I snored...so did he! During hubby's first follow-up visit with the Cardiologist (a month after hubby's heart attack) I told the Dr. he stopped breathing at night for 15 to 20 sec. twice a minute when he was in a cycle. For hubby...Sleep lab = cpap machine... done deal. Hubby became a hosehead Jan, '08.

Hubby began waking me in '09 because my snoring was waking him. At the same time my foul moods...irritation, depression, anger and rage ...were constant companions. A bone-aching weariness was constant although I didn't think of it as feeling sleepy.
Short term memory was failing. I struggled at work. Because of the work issues I asked hubby if I stopped breathing during sleep. He couldn't tell. He told me about this forum and I began reading the Wiki, and other Apnea sites.
I asked my Dr for a home sleep study and tested positive: Moderate Apnea. Hypopneas averaged 127/hour. Got a machine in April, '10.
We're both feeling soooo much better
Cindy

[ozij]

My initiative.

[BusyLyn]

I was referred to a kidney specialist for treatment to better manage my resistant hypertension. One of the specialized tests he wanted done was a sleep study. I didn't feel excessively sleepy (an adaptation I guess from too many years of being a working mother ), but the sleep study showed severe apnea (AHI of 35, oxygen desaturation at 61% ). The titration study showed me how great I could feel after getting a few hours of restful sleep with no desats below 90%. I've been blessed with a relatively easy adjustment to the hose...

[bap40]

It's interesting to hear your stories of how you got started. Sounds like a lot of you had other problems that can now be attributed to Apnea. We are the lucky ones who sought answers for ourselves.

[Pliezar]

It was the Internist/Cardiologist at the clinic my doctor works. I was sent to see him by my GP because of my family history of heart disease. I had several "face swallowing" yawns during my appointment and he asked me if I was tired all the time and if I snored. I answered yes and he recommended I have a sleep study. I bawked at it until my GP sat me down and told me the risks. My father snored and snorted all his life and died in his sleep from a heart attack when he was 56 (I am 37 turning 38 and 30 at my father's passing). My GP said that Sleep Apnea can run in families and that my father could have had Sleep Apnea. He was not around to see my Son born, and I was determined to see my Grandchildren and had the test. I have been on the machine for just over 2 months and I am thankful for it.

[jabman]

My wife had told me fro years that I snore and quit breathing when I sleep. One day at work a coworker mentioned he had sleep apnea and explained the symptoms, that was oh maybe 8 years ago. From That conversation I figured I had sleep apnea but didn't think it was a big deal and never heard much about it since that conversation. Last year I was went to give blood and was told I could not donate because my blood pressure was to high, when that happened again I made an appointment with a doctor who asked How I was sleeping, I told him that I thought I slept fine but had been falling asleep at work and that my wife complained about me snoring and not breathing at night so he set up a sleep study.
I have severe sleep apnea and have been faithfully on my machine since last July.