From OP that started this thread:
A request and then a big assumption: Everyone! Please list what you've done to reduce your Total Time in Apnea(TTIA)?
I am willing to bet:
The real reason Apnea is bad is not mainly because it interrupts sleep. It is bad because of starving the brain and body of oxygen. If that's wrong I'll go back to trying to reduce AHI. (Trim)
Sorry I type 65 wpm and have lot of questions about sleep apnea and other methods to reduce issues. My initial post into this thread was no longer than post above mine. In thread I posted on machine reccomemdations imcluded a few screen captures had in my phone showing AHI numbers from 87 to 139 and even with BiPAP aSV, sleeping wedge to elevate torso and tried every other trick the doctor had or could get from other sleep specialists he knows. It's still common for me to have nights above 150 AHI. More than once have stopped breathing in my recliner if fall asleep watching television. Wife gets out of bed, into wheel chair, comes and shakes me awake where start breathing again. When watching t.v. or reading in my recliner wear a wrist watch type pulse oximeter with little finger cuff attached by wire. Pulse rate and blood oxygen level drops below safe zone alarm sounds which seems to not always wake me. She says like climbing friends have grey or blue skin color by time she shakes me.
Did not have experience with breathing disorders at low altitudes till now but lots of experience treating HAPE (high altitude pluminary edema), digging folks out from avalanches in 20 years doing active mountain rescue plus before and after as was close to incident. Also spent four years as a lifeguard pulling a lot of people out of a lake station with a high dive. A younger healthy weight victim pretty much started breathing on their own soon as purged lungs of lake water. At the time older fat men (40's and 50's seemed old when I was in the 16 to 21 year age range) who usually had a few drinks before trying the high dive and likely other health issues could be hard to restart more often than not.
This is where learned a lot about odds of survivability of victims from lack of oxygen/lung issues based on physical conditioning. My apnea came on after three issues between 2007/2009 and doctors do not know if one, two, all or none had any bearing on sudden onset of such severe case of complex sleep apnea. Specialist says I am his worst case at any age and was riding my bicycle 100 miles a day at least once a week when not on a climbing trip, averaged 350 miles per week minimum on bicycle along with a couple of runs per week, couple of evenings carrying heavy backpacks up and down hills per week and regular gym sessions always ending with a swim. Had resting heart rate in the 40's, body fat average of 7% and was in best physical condition possible with trainers and coaches keeping me on task.
2007 was rear ended by person text messaging in a Chevy Tahoe with cruise control set at 45 mph while I was dead stopped. Broke the C2 and C3 vertebrae in my neck. Turns out while imaging my neck radiologist noticed something odd on edge of a scan when imaged via MRI, CT and PET scans turned out to be a small tumor on pituitary gland which responded to combination of chemo and radiation. Just as cancer treatment was ending and was getting back to work fell off a cell tower from about thirty feet and fractured rear base of skull and had heavy swelling of the Cerebellum and Brain Stem which is important juncture for breathing signals to pass from brain to body but healed rather quickly and continued to train during this time keeping in shape but soon as returned to high altitude all my climbing partners freaked out about waking up in tent with a dead man, a physician client on one trip unofficially diagnosed me with sleep apnea which was confirmed in lab when got back from Andes.
I want nothing more than to return to mountaineering as should have a decade left in career but this apnea makes it basically a death sentence to sleep above 14,000 feet without a machine and carrying one on top of normal load with batteries would be impossible. In discussing medical issues, especially extreme issues details are important and what I know about breathing issues and death till apnea all related to avalanches, HAPE and near drownings so that is only personal observed information I have to draw conclusions from. If not patient enough to read a detailed post would likely not make a good medical provider for complex issues and do not have to read entirety of a long post if you don't want to but should be able to speed read through the parts of little interest and slow down for information that may be of interest.
If anything would help I am interested and figured since came back on the group to see if better BiPAP choices now lurked about and just asking a few questions. Tolerate me a bit, odds are not going to find the magic bullet here but asking doesn't hurt and using my life experience in trying to articulate my knowledge of breathing issues, especially those that lead to death. You folks that talk of AHI going up to 2 or horribly up to 3/5 range have no idea how well off you are. Lowest AHI I have ever recorded was 35 since began chasing this demon which may be in high 30's to mid 40's couple nights per week when lucky and amazing how much bether feel when wake those days. Mid 70's to mid 80's is common with 100+ more common than mid 30's/40's. Any night 50 or under is great and am concerned this disease is going to kill me.
Doctor says my conditioning level and fact heart is so strong is probably why I am still alive. Like CPR uses compressions only and no breathing as been discovered keeping blood moving is more important than getting atmosphere in lungs plus easier to teach/implimemt. In lab my numbers will show total stoppage of breathing but heart chugs along till something or somebody wakes me where immediately start breathing again.
For those with no compassion when someone as bad as my case is asks questions using analogies from my life experience and seem to get upset about a detailed post I wonder if your on such a group with intent to help or just have nothing more interesting in your life. As an FYI read the post about "skins", part of my business is wrapping everything from trucks, cars and items down to firearms in custom graphics. Might be persuaded to print a wrap kit for folks machines as time permits which most anyone with a hair dryer and small stiff brush could install. My time is limited for wraps especially since began wrapping firearms but to send out the print if provided good quality high resolution artwork would be possible.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth
