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i'm 41, diagnosed in dec. 2006, been on cpap since jan. 4, 2007...i know i've had sleep apnea as far back as i can remember, just didn't know it had a name...have snored like a powerdrill since i was a kid, always sluggish, tired, fatigued, unmotivated, always felt crappy... have had a serious decline in my health in the last 13 years, and am only now peeling away layers of issues, osa, plmd, rls, deviated septum, etc. i wish i had been diagnosed young, my body has been through hell, including constant chronic pain, weakness, sudden rapid weight gain (40 lbs. in less than six months) which has caused more pain...you're lucky, my doctor "listened" to my symptoms and told me to eat less, move more and prescribed me anti depressants cause i couldn't stop crying! of course i was crying, i was falling apart! i had to tell her to send me to my sleep doc and i haven't darkened her door since last sept.

commit to your therapy, you'll be glad you did...best of luck
sharon1965

Sharon, That is wonderful smile, and a pretty face, stay focused on your health issues, and feeling well shall return. Peace be yours.
Ed

So far, I am the oldest. I am 65 for a while longer. I believe I have had sleep apnea problems for at least 25 years. I was glad to find out why my health had deteriorated and that it could be treated without medication. That was until I started the therapy. After more than 8 months I have become accustomed to it, and accepting of it (most of the time!). I am totally compliant, at least with the therapy, if not in other aspects of my life.

I resent not knowing about the OSA and what effects it had on my health. I wish I had known. My husband does not report much snoring on my part, mostly just when I have a cold. He did say it seemed like I stopped breathing for a little bit when I had a cold, but not any other time. During the sleep study, the 2 hour part, my O2 levels got down to 71, but mostly due to hypopneas, very few apneas. Those hypopneas must be dangerous too if they last long enough and limit breathing enough to lower the oxygen saturation that much.


I want to be able to undo the damage of the 25 years. I want those years back to enjoy in good health and energy, but no such luck. I know it is hard to be glad you have the diagnosis, but maybe you can be glad you can prevent the damage to your health and increase the enjoyment of your life. Those of us who suffered the consequences of untreated OSA would like to trade places with you.

I sound like a grumpy old woman, don't I? Maybe I didn't sleep well last night.

Catnapper

I will be the speed limit 55 in August of this year, diagnosed in November of last year with OSA which my Doc said i might have had for up to ten years before. It caused me to pick up thirty extra pounds in the last five years and also caused me to get high blood pressure.

Dale

I'm 39, have been on CPAP for 4 nights (so just beginning this process...) I originally went to the sleep clinic w/ insomnia, but I mentioned daytime sleepiness, so the dr. suspected apnea. Sleep test showed an AHI of 15.4, all hypopneas, with no oxygen desaturation - and yet, my sleep is fragmented to the point that it affects me during the day, hence CPAP.

I'm thin, fit, non-smoker, female.

I am 26 and am certain I have had OSA all of my life. Even at 5 years old my Dr. told me I had a problem.

Sooo, I am even younger than you! EICK?!

Hurricane wrote:Sharon, That is wonderful smile, and a pretty face, stay focused on your health issues, and feeling well shall return. Peace be yours.
Ed

thank you , Ed

you made my day!

sharon1965

Wow, this thread is cool to read.

I'm 48 and I was diagnosed 4 years ago after my doctor figured we'd give it a try since I was also falling apart. I had constant pain everywhere, could easily pass a fibromyalgia test but my doctor was convinced it wasn't fibromyalgia but rather a sleep problem.

I'm fat now but like most others, I've easily had this for years, perhaps 25 years. Back then, I snored louder than anyone else and that's when I started gaining weight. At that time, I was average weight. I wish I had been diagnosed back then so that I could have avoided the weight gain, constant tiredness, diabetes, high bloodpressure, etc.

France

Just within the last two months have I develped high blood pressure (along with my PVCs). My blood pressure is running 155/85 usually. I guess that's not dangerously high, but it's high for me.

Those of you with high blood pressure -- are you having to take medicines?

Ioannispolo, There are skinny 20 year olds who have apnea (a couple are on this discussion board!). The classic view that overweight = apnea just isn't born out by statistics and research. For a good many patients, perhaps as many as half, the weight gain came after the apnea. But for many, the extra weight and the apnea are coincident.

I am 58, and was diagnosed last year. I don't smoke, I exercise regularly, but have always been 'round'... I'm 5'11" and weigh 215#. As a teen, I was a 'chunk', not a 'hunk'.

The important thing is that you were diagnosed. As you know by now, apnea causes a host of other problems for the body. The constant jolts of adrenaline are very damaging to the heart and it's arteries, as well as to the mechanisms that control blood pressure and blood sugar, among (many) other things.

Good luck with your treatment!

Ioannispolo, I had the same thought when I was diagnosed!
I'm 30 and of a healthy weight. It's only be a few months (and only a couple of weeks with the CPAP) but thanks to this forum, I've learned that there are no stereotypes. Although I'm frustrated that it looks like I'm going to have to deal with this for 50 years, I'm hopeful that they might be fuller years... I'm still struggling though - I'm not feeling better yet.

I'm 37 and overweight. I was diagnosed last year, though I've probably had it for close to 10 years if not more if I had to guess. At my worst I would sleep a couple of hours then wake up coughing and go fall asleep on the couch for a couple of hours same thing but this time go back to bed.

My father has some form of it as well... has a lot of medical problems as well so the sleep apnea's untreated.

Linda3032 wrote:Just within the last two months have I develped high blood pressure (along with my PVCs). My blood pressure is running 155/85 usually. I guess that's not dangerously high, but it's high for me.

Those of you with high blood pressure -- are you having to take medicines?

I took blood pressure meds for over 20 years, not only did they not control my blood pressure, the side effects of one almost killed me. After years of taking one blood pressure pill, it took it upon itself to put me to sleep, at 60 mph on a GoldWing Honda in a curve, that was the day I took my last dose of it.

Today my Blood pressure is just a little above normal, one would think, goody, but that's not correct. The pressure is lower because most of the pump died, I don't recommend that as a cure for high blood pressure. It's got a lot of downsides. Jim

I'm 41 and 362days old,,, yea 42 is right around the corner,,, I was diagnosed almost 2 years ago,,, (snored most of my life, according to family and friends) used a machine for maybe 8 months,,, trying to get back on it. Doc put me on an APAP for a couple of weeks,,, just couldn't get back on the CPAP. I have a collection of four masks,, just ordered two more. I have an appointment set-up for 4-30-07,,, going to INSIST on an APAP.

Wish me luck.

Tom

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I was diagnosed at 54, but like HeatherN's children, I probably had osa as at a very early age. I was allergy tested as a preschooler, slept on 2 thick foam pillows because of gasping for air. I remember how all the wool carpet, feathers, curtains etc. had to be thrown away. Stripping the house of all possible allergins didn't help. I bet it was osa, my whole life I got by on about 4 hours sleep and never felt tired or energy depleted. Last year it all caught up with me, you just can't function forever without sleep!
Good Luck with your treatment.........Ellen:roll: