Cognitive Deterioration! (losing your mind)

Cognitive Deterioration.
Two words to remember when you are fed up with the mask(s), machine, hose, dental appliance, etc., etc...and want to chuck it all out the window and go back to simply hugging a pillow without all that gear.

The alternative is not good. CPAP is a pain, but most certainly the lesser of two evils.

A study at Stanford:
"Physicians who see people with depression shouldn’t stop at the first diagnosis, but instead look into the presence of a breathing-related sleep disorder," said Ohayon, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.

These disorders include such breathing anomalies as chronic, disruptive snoring and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, a disorder in which people stop breathing for brief periods up to hundreds of times a night. Left untreated, the disorders can lead to hypertension, stroke and cognitive deterioration. They can also affect a person’s daily routine and disrupt his or her familial, social and professional life.

"This type of disorder increases a person’s chances of feeling sleepy and irritable, having a dispute with a family member or colleague or getting into a traffic accident," said Ohayon.

http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2 ... ssion.html

I have gone without the mask for the past week because of a bad cold & cough and I feel myself falling back into the quicksand of sleep apnea... even partial compliance is better than none.

Hmmmm. Good advice to everyone. I think it'll take more than CPAP to reverse my own cognitive deterioration, but for the saner among us...

Liam, cognitively dissonant.

coffee,

Most interesting. Every physician should read that, don't you think?

There is that temptation to chuck it all and sleep, to sleep and feel like you're normal again. But "normal" can't be achieved by chucking our treatment. Some of us cheat, with no cold as an excuse. This, though, is a sober reminder of what we're doing to ourselves if we chuck it all.

Thanks.

Linda

Hmmmm. Methinks there's more than a little bit of that last post that applies directly to me. Good thing I've just purchased another machine and am going to give it another go.

Liam, who will be a hosehead again as soon as he returns from his business trip!

Liam1965 wrote:Hmmmm. Methinks there's more than a little bit of that last post that applies directly to me. Good thing I've just purchased another machine and am going to give it another go.

Liam, who will be a hosehead again as soon as he returns from his business trip!

Actually, Liam, I wasn't thinking of you when I wrote that. First, I was thinking of myself, those times when I've said "Aaw screw it!" and slept without my bipap. I was also thinking of my brother who has quit his cpap treatment altogether and there's no convincing him. He has a heart condition, and I wish he'd see that cpap treatment might be a life saver. And why tempt fate?

No, I wasn't thinking of you and your earlier remarks. But I'm sure this applies to most of us. No worries, kiddo.


Linda,
who thinks Liam is the cat's meow

coffee, that's great info. Thanks for posting it!

LDuyer wrote:coffee,

Most interesting. Every physician should read that, don't you think?

Maybe doctors want to keep you coming back to them, not a sleep disorders doctor. Maybe. Maybe the primary physicians have HMO concerns and want to keep the costs down so he makes more money? I don’t know. I think the article is right.

I am a little tired after the first night on the machine. I felt better after the sleep study. I was a little nervous on my own. I did fall asleep pretty quick though.

Great article Coffee.

I am aware of the elevated risks of stroke and heart attack from OSA but they are still a little abstract to me. Like opening a door someday and discovering an unpleasant surprise. But the exhaustion, memory loss, inability to concentrate, the Cognitive Deterioration, I have known firsthand. It IS depressing. Watching the power of my mind slipping away has not been pleasant...
This has made my difficulties with compliance all the more frustrating. It is rare when I make it through the night with my mask intact. Aerophagia and mask leakage are the main culprits and I'm still tweaking things (thank you, forum) to eventually get it right. After last week, when I went without the mask entirely; I witnessed my energy and attitude divebomb. It made me realize that even my partial compliance was definitely working and gave me renewed encouragement to keep at it. Sleeping a few hours with an open airway is better than none...
I do miss being able to entertain the concept of sleeping in a tropical hammock without worrying about extension cords or batteries.
"Normal" is sleeping with an open airway, whatever that takes...

I wish people would quit using colds as an excuse to temporarily discontinue treatment. I've used mine through 3 or 4 colds complete with congestion, coughing, runny nose. And I use only nasal pillows. This is what cold medication is for, to dry up that runny nose at night, unstuff your sinuses, and quiet the cough. I use a steroidal nasal spray most nights for normal congestion, but during a cold I sometimes also have to use one of those OTC sprays in addition to the oTC cold remedies. Nyquil works great.

The thing is you CAN use your xPAP during a cold or the flu. That humidity is GOOD for you, too. Remember when Mom ran a humidifier by your bedside when you were a kid and had a cold? Same theory. It actually HELPS open up your passages and speeds up recovery.

It is also to only naturally assume that if you are sleeping better with a cold, then you will feel better in the daytime and probably get over the major symptoms faster too.

Colds and the flu are no excuse for not using the xPAP

I use a full face mask and it's fine except when I have a bad cough. The cold medication can't seem to compete when the forced air "tickles" my throat and the resulting coughing fit blows the mask off my face...