I can't use my cpap!

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 6:49 pm

Liam!! Heyyyy!!!

We've missed you, rascal! Did this make you get another notification? Now we know how to drag you back in here!

Liam1965 · Post by **Liam1965** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 6:52 pm

Pretty much just a paperweight.

And I don't use the machine much, either.

Seriously, the baby is great. He's nearing 7 months old, and the sweetest child I've ever had (and my older son and daughter were fairly easy babies as well, I'm so glad I've never had a baby with cholic!).

His name is also Liam. (Actually, his name is LEGITIMATELY Liam, while my Liam is a nickname).

The machine... I can't sleep with it on. I tried for months, and found that all of my symptoms were getting WORSE, because now I was not getting any sleep at ALL.

However, my apnea was always relatively minor (my pressure was 9ish, as I recall, and when I tried the auto machine, it spent most of it's time at my minimum setting), and I've found that not sleeping on my back seems to have helped a great deal.

Plus, now that my lovely wife Janet is aware of the problem, if she notices me on my back or having trouble, she prods me to switch to my side.

On the other hand, I'm concerned I may have early parkinsons. I have no reason to think so (other than that my Dad was just diagnosed with it), but one of the symptoms he has is that he doesn't move AT ALL in his sleep. I always thought I did, because I toss and turn while trying to GET to sleep, but my wife says that once I'm actually out, I almost never move, and getting me to move if I'm in a bad position and am snoring or apnic-breathing, is nearly impossible.

According to my Dad's doctor, that's why he wakes up so achy all the time, which I do as well.

But other than that (and the on-going life-long battle with depression, and a little writers block that has cut down seriously on the postings to http://liam-humor.blogspot.com), life is pretty good.

You?

Liam, who never did learn that when people ask "how are you doing", they're generally being polite and don't WANT your entire autobiography.

Liam1965 · Post by **Liam1965** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 6:54 pm

rested gal wrote:Liam!! Heyyyy!!!

We've missed you, rascal! Did this make you get another notification? Now we know how to drag you back in here!

Yep, now you know. Post to an old topic that sends me a provocative reply at a time when I'm feeling social and in a mood to post some wiseassery, and I apparently return quicker than a fat guy to the dinner table.

Liam who, lest you've forgotten, is a fat guy. He would write more, but there's food on the table.

neversleeps · Post by **neversleeps** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:43 pm

Liam1965 wrote:His name is also Liam. (Actually, his name is LEGITIMATELY Liam, while my Liam is a nickname).

Hmm... LEGITIMATELY Liam is kind of a mouthful, but a lovely name, nonetheless.

I never knew not moving during sleep was a symptom of Parkinson's Disease. I think I move constantly, but who knows? Maybe I should hire someone to watch me sleep. (Could I sleep if I knew someone was watching me?) Oh great, another thing to worry about...

I remember reading the essay you wrote on depression. That was truly phenomenal. I'm going to have to go over to your website and steal it for my Library of Stuff I Steal from People's Websites.

I can't believe your baby is 7 months old! Time sure flies.

Do you still have your machine, or did you sell it? I think you should take it out every once and a while and give it a shot. You never know; maybe you'll actually be able to sleep with it this time around. There's a new fullface mask out that some people seem to really like. Then you'd be posting again and making us laugh, which we desperately need! Of course, with a baby in the house, you're probably not sleeping all that much as it is..... Okay, just post again even if you're not using cpap.

We definitely miss your humor!

-Neversleeps, who should probably be more concerned with Liam's apnea than his humor, but is basically too shallow for that.

-SWS · Post by **-SWS** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:52 pm

Liam1965 wrote:... and I apparently return quicker than...

SHANE!! We knew you'd come back!!

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 8:53 pm

Liam,

It's good to see a post of yours that isn't a year or more old.
I was going to say something about your remark about being "....in a mood to post some wiseassery...." being timely, considering some of the exchanges that have been going on here, lately.......but I won't.

In any case, don't stay away so long.

Best wishes to you and your family.

Den, who wishes many of the "old" members would show up more often.

Liam1965 · Post by **Liam1965** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 9:05 pm

neversleeps wrote:I remember reading the essay you wrote on depression. That was truly phenomenal. I'm going to have to go over to your website and steal it for my Library of Stuff I Steal from People's Websites.

I'm more than happy to share that with anyone who wants to read it. It can be found at: http://liam-and-janet.blogspot.com/2005 ... to-me.html

For those who haven't read it, it was something I wrote when my wife Janet and I were dating, because she (not being afflicted with depression) really needed to understand and to know what she was getting in to with me.

To her credit, she barely blinked and has dealt amazingly well with my depressive episodes ever since.

But by all means, read it, copy it, pass it around to anyone you think it would be useful to (either because they are depressed and might like to know they aren't alone, or because they have a family member who is and don't quite get it).

My one request is that you keep my copyright line at the bottom, just so I maintain credit.

Liam, who gets a minor tingle every time someone enjoys one of his essays.

Liam1965 · Post by **Liam1965** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 9:28 pm

Oh, a couple of other things I should answer...

neversleeps wrote:I never knew not moving during sleep was a symptom of Parkinson's Disease. I think I move constantly, but who knows? Maybe I should hire someone to watch me sleep. (Could I sleep if I knew someone was watching me?) Oh great, another thing to worry about...

I don't *KNOW* that it is. I know that my Mom says my Dad's doctor said that that facet of his existence was part of what led him (the doctor) to suspect Parkinson's. But I am not a doctor, so I'm merely repeating what I heard from my Mother, who heard it from my Father's doctor. File it under "hearsay" and take it with as many grains of salt as necessary to swallow it.

neversleeps wrote:Do you still have your machine, or did you sell it? I think you should take it out every once and a while and give it a shot. You never know; maybe you'll actually be able to sleep with it this time around. There's a new fullface mask out that some people seem to really like.

It still sits by the side of my bed in silent tribute to my failure to solve my sleep issues. Then again, I should say when I went off of the Wellbutrin (which I had been on for a while), a lot of my sleep issues also mostly resolved, so I'm not so sure I've got the bug to anything like the extent a lot of you do. I still have insomnia some nights, so I have great empathy for what it is like to have to get up in the morning feeling sleepy, hazy and not well rested.

But no, I have done nothing with my machine. I suppose I should sell it, but I'm not 100% certain of the legalities of selling something I needed a prescription to purchase.

Liam, whose knowledge of Parkinson's is a little shaky.

Darth Vader Look · Post by **Darth Vader Look** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 10:40 pm

Hey it's the guy that inspired me to join this forum after reading up on most if not all of his postings with the in the 3rd person humour (shoulda had a spot on Seinfeld's show). I'm glad to see you posting again or at least making replies. How's the computer programming business going

ozij · Post by **ozij** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 11:25 pm

Liam!
So great to meet your wiseassery again! I hope you'll feel like sticking around - and giving us some more of your unique kind of humor.

Wishing you well!
O.

-SWS · Post by **-SWS** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 11:54 pm

Liam1965 wrote: The machine... I can't sleep with it on. I tried for months, and found that all of my symptoms were getting WORSE, because now I was not getting any sleep at ALL.

Liam, that extreme CPAP intolerance of yours kind of rings a bell. There's a newly discovered phenotype of apnea that Harvard researchers discovered since you left. The researchers call that phenotype Complex Sleep Disordered Breathing (CSDB). CPAP intolerance is a very big indicator for that disorder as well, Liam. Small chance any given patient has that phenotype, but you may want to review the CSDB research anyway.

The very first post in this TAS thread contains the entire text of that CSDB sleep study: http://www.talkaboutsleep.com/message-b ... hp?p=89686
(Recognition and Management of Complex Sleep-Disordered Breathing by Geoffrey S Gilmartin; Robert W Daly; Robert J Thomas.)

That one's a monster of a thread, however. As if that wasn't bad enough we're just finishing up a monster of a highly speculative CSDB thread on cpaptalk.com as well:
viewtopic.php?t=10545&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

____________________________________________________________________________
-SWS, who is quite fond of the days when wiseassery was a wee bit less disastery

Missy · Post by **Missy** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 4:30 am

melbykins, I feel your pain. You can read SO many remedies on this board , so I'm not going to repeat them to you now. I have problems getting to sleep also. One thing I haven't read about, but helped me is I bought a CD of some really cool relaxation music from this "new age" shop. They had the thing playing when I walked in, and I immediately felt relaxed. They had others that I sampled while I was there, and so I found one I liked. I know it sounds "cheezy" but it realy helps me to relax enough to get past the sounds and feelings of being closed in. Try it, you never know...

Liam1965 · Post by **Liam1965** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 6:16 am

-SWS wrote:
Liam1965 wrote: The machine... I can't sleep with it on. I tried for months, and found that all of my symptoms were getting WORSE, because now I was not getting any sleep at ALL.

Liam, that extreme CPAP intolerance of yours kind of rings a bell. There's a newly discovered phenotype of apnea that Harvard researchers discovered since you left. The researchers call that phenotype Complex Sleep Disordered Breathing (CSDB). CPAP intolerance is a very big indicator for that disorder as well, Liam. Small chance any given patient has that phenotype, but you may want to review the CSDB research anyway.

-SWS, you continue to astound me. You always did have a fantastic ability to find lots of useful links for just about anyone who asked.

I will read through what you sent later, when I'm not supposed to be getting ready for work.

My initial gut reaction is that my intolerance for the machine has little to do with the pressure and everything to do with trying to find a comfortable position to lie in with the Alien strapped to my face. It didn't feel like a physical problem, it felt like I just couldn't relax enough to stop concentrating on the fact that I had a large plastic squid constantly blowing in my mouth.

But I suppose I should reserve speculation until I find out whether they say that that exactly is the symptom they're looking for.

Do you recall if they've determined any kind of effective treatment for it, since xPAP seems not to work, or whether it'll be one of those "Great, now I know what I've got, but that's about all I know" moments of life?

Either way, thanks for the information. More info is generally better than less.

Liam, trying to get the image of french kissing a plastic squid out of his mental eye.

mommaw · Post by **mommaw** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 12:47 pm

SWS and Liam BOTH posting in a current thread!!!! Can it get any better than this. Sure wish you both would hang around, we need wisdom and humor like yours on this forum.

Please stay!

Gilda

Liam1965 · Post by **Liam1965** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 12:53 pm

mommaw wrote:Sure wish you both would hang around, we need wisdom and humor like yours on this forum.

For a while, perhaps, so long as everyone promises not to confuse my humor with wisdom.

And, while you're at it, don't confuse your garden hose for your CPAP hose.

Liam. A year and a half later, he still can barely resist making lewd "hose" jokes.

Mask	Humidifier

Additional Comments: Pur~Sleep Oils (Love Them) Aussie Heated Hose, Encore Analyzer, Pad-A-Cheek Guards (Work Great!)

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