How Can I Help?

nobody wrote:Then he turns around and says he doesn't want a noisy CPAP in the bedroom

Well, I can guarantee that my CPAP is a lot quieter than my snoring was!

Planting the seed - that' the best I could do too... haven't seen any blooms yet

O.

HeirloomGardener wrote:

nobody wrote:Then he turns around and says he doesn't want a noisy CPAP in the bedroom

Well, I can guarantee that my CPAP is a lot quieter than my snoring was!

The kids were joking the other day about before I got my CPAP machine. At the time they were getting ready to turn 7 and said they could not sleep because of my snoring in the other room and they were afraid I was going to shake the pictures off the wall.

They thought that was really funny now.

Wulfman wrote:Actually, out here, there seems to be a LOT of people who are becoming hoseheads. I keep finding out more and more people where I work have gotten machines within the last year or so.....and from what I'm hearing, some got data-capable machines from one of the local DMEs (M Series Pro).
Other people that my wife knows are getting them, too.
For a couple of years, the hospitals and sleep clinics around here have been doing lots of advertising about sleep apnea and urging people to get tested.....along with describing the symptoms and serious effects of it. It seems to be working.

Den

I remember one of the sleep doctors writing about the "tipping point". That is when awareness of SDB reaches a critical mass of health professionals and the public. Then it will become common knowledge what a huge problem SDB is and diagnosis and treatment will spread rapidly.

We can only do so much without support from our medical system. It seems like there is a major difference in how our medical system perceives and responds to sleep apnea compared to other equivalent serious health conditions. I know with my primary care physician, when I complained repeatedly about severe fatigue, apnea didn't cross his radar. (That will change.) He told me he was tired too, as though that's normal. (Maybe he has apnea.) If more people were diagnosed and sent to a sleep specialist, like they would be for other conditions, more would get on the road to recovery.

For me, and for many others here from my reading, I had to get just so tired and desperate, I thought I was dying, and I insisted on a sleep study, and as they say here, took control of my health. I sent this video to someone, hoping it might make a difference:

http://www.resmed.com/en-us/clinicians/ ... 40x380.swf

Rooster, hasn't the sleep field and sleep labs been around for over 20 years? How could it take so long?

Georgio

Yeah that's the really amazing thing too, my mom's snoring could raise the roof.

HeirloomGardener wrote:

nobody wrote:Then he turns around and says he doesn't want a noisy CPAP in the bedroom

Well, I can guarantee that my CPAP is a lot quieter than my snoring was!

Georgio wrote:.......
Rooster, hasn't the sleep field and sleep labs been around for over 20 years? How could it take so long?

Georgio

Yep. I believe 1982 (27 years) was the first patient who received a CPAP from Dr. Sullivan. Amazing that something so big takes so long to reach the tipping point.

I believe part of the problem is the media focus on other "health" subjects like diet, exercise, supplements and chemophobia and carcinogenphobia.

My husband was also in denial and I have been trying to get him to go for a sleep study for several years. I bought a recording oximeter and tested his oxygen levels 3 different nights. The results scared him enough to go for a sleep study. He was prescribed an auto cpap and also supplemental oxygen. We haven't gotten the oxygen set up yet, but he has been on a machine for 2 weeks and says he can't believe how much better he feels already.

Gale Hawkins wrote:I think more would be interested if they did not have to appear on a Reality TV show to get an RX but that is covered in the RX thread.

That very thing creeped me out and kept me away for over 2 years.

The denial was in the form of I've had this for over 20 years and ain't dead yet, so what's the big deal? However had I known 20 years ago that it was depriving my brain of oxygen and rotting my brain I'm sure I would have gone. I was concerned about becoming forgetful even then. Wish I could say it's better now, but I think the train has already left the station.

BTW, my 37yr old son has seen my memory decline over the years and knowing about OSA he has been diagnosed and getting titration done soon. He knows it's a long term deal but like me will do what it takes to remain successful in his career. I suppose lots of people out there are like that.

Lee Lee asks...Anyone else have any success helping others? What am I doing wrong?

I, as you and so many folks here have noticed many folks who have (in all likelihood) OSA.

I have imposed some questions (some a bit personal such as inquiring about snoring reports, morning headaches, and etc.) and I've done what I could to convince folks (usually otherwise reasonable folks) that they might be sitting on a health and longevity-reducing time bomb...and to talk to their doc.

I've tried to be diplomatic, authoritative, and I've used my own experience as a good bad example of what happens with untreated OSA, and a good good example of what happens when treatment is (mostly) successful.

To date, I have 3 successes. 1. A co-worker who was dying before my eyes with mental exhaustion, migraine headaches, and depression now says she would (figuratively) kill anyone who tried to take her cpap.

2. A relative who battled obesity, depression, and loss of mental acuity and hypertension now thanks me for intervening.

3. And, a nice lady with whom I talked on a transcontinental airplane ride. What I was able to tell her was what she was desperate to hear. (She has one sone with adult add, another who committed suicide, and all have (and had) most of the typical sequelae of OSA.) Further, the post mortem of her young son revealed a mal-formed hyoid process, which is one potential cause of OSA. I don't know for sure because of no further contact, but I'm betting she followed through.

Then there are well over a dozen folks who (just like I used to be) are in denial. It's human nature. I try to mention my successes without being naggy, but for these folks (including a brother who is a physician) I have to choose my openings with calculated timing and diplomacy if I ever want to talk to them again.

And there is one tweener. Another brother went to his doc, and his doc said that he does exhibit the OSA symptoms, but his weight and throat architecture argue against it. I'm still working on him, so this is my current work in progress.

Lee Lee. You are doing nothing wrong, but you are battling human nature. You can take comfort in just knowing that.

My hat's off to you and all here who risk being a social burden trying to help folks who may not want our assistance.

My few successes keep me going.

Regards all - - Capt M


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You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. But the failure to drink is no reason to stopping leading the horses to water!

I work with a guy that has the same symptoms i did, just doesnt want to spend the money. He even told me he has to sleep sitting up now or he just cant get any sleep.
He has the same insurance I do, so I told him to go to the same places I did and told him exactly what it cost me, of course his could be more or less somewhat.
Hes even seen and comented on the difference in me now versus 6 months ago.
Hes just more interested in spending money on junk he doesnt need.
Ive talked and said all I can.

On another message forum for wight loss, there are members, who after losing weight, have quiet using CPAP without a sleep study. I've not had any success with getting these former hoseheads to get verification that they no longer need the therapy. This concerns me because these people are all about getting healthy, but they just seem to be in denial about this. Maybe they don't need more therapy, but it seems dangerous to me. Anyway, as has been said, one can only hope to plant seed. People usually don't listen unless they already are interested.

I helped get my cousin to get a sleep study. I think it took more than just my input. My my two cents didn't hurt.
I remember once when I was young, the family was in the living room and my dad (her uncle) said, "I think I'll go to bed now." I jumped up and said, "No, Daddy, let me go first, give me fifteen minutes to get to sleep before you do!" My father's snoring was sooooooooo loud that it shook the walls. This was in the days before we knew anything about apnea and there was no CPAP anyway.

I've been the poster boy ( well, hardly a boy anymore) for cpap therapy ever since I got my machine. I just don't get it
what is so terrible about this treatment that you can't convince people of its benefits? I have a brother who had bypass
surgery 15 years ago and is terrified that he could have a heart attack at any time, so am I. He is having a stress test
this week. I have tried to explain to him the effects that OSA have on your heart along with it's other consequences. He
snores so bad that his wife sleeps in another room, and he is tired all the time. He knows those are the same simptoms that I had, and knows cpap has made a huge difference for me, but he won't go see a doctor for it. I quess all you can do
is make people aware when you get the chance, the rest is up to them. Sad isn't it.
Don