what would you do?I love my husband

pbach wrote:After my cpap therapy and feeling better, I was able to notice my husband sleeping. He showed signs of apnea. Even during the daytime he would fall asleep and anytime out of need.

I finally told him, making him roll over at night was worthless. I would stop that, but I was getting a hose attached to his face.

He is on day three of his prescribed therapy. Each day is a bit better. Now he is trying to find a good mask. It is nice I have a little supply of them for him to try out.

Hi, yes,it is good to have several masks that he can use.However, after 2 nights my husband loved the comfortgel nasal mask and sleeps very good with no problem.......unreal!!!
He says he never wakes up and he has not done that since I"ve known him, probably his whole lifetime. Good luck to you and your husband.

xenablue wrote:
All I want to add is.... MEN!!!!

Hey!!!

I'm sorry if you've had trouble with the men in your life, but


You're insulting a number of particularly fine specimens on this board.

Hi, here's an update,my husband asked me if he could try my comfortlite 2 nasal mask,he liked the idea of nothing on the face,which is why I use it.Of course I said yes and he fell in love with it from the first night!
No heavy mask at all,(the CL2 is very light and no straps or anything touching the face) no pressure points at all .
The thing we both like about it the most is you just pull it over the top of your head and go to sleep.
No getting prepared at all! I think he paid attention to all my trials and errors for the last 4 years and now that he's starting out he's having no trouble at all.
He sleeps great(8hrs), no getting up to the bathroom anymore at all,no more restless leg syndrone,
and he's out walking again for the first time in years!!
GOD BLESS YOU!!!

Wow! Great news!

Good for you and your hubby!

That is great news! My wife notices a great improvement in my health and particularly my mood after 6 weeks on APAP. I'm on my 7th straight day exercising and I lost 6 lbs over the last 14 days as I am back on the low carb diet with no cheating as I was doing over the last six months to comfort my depressed mood (gained 5 lbs). I'm at my lowest weight in 15 years and moving down as I ramp up my exercising. I wish you and your husband great success!

Hey, great news,that's a lot of weight in a very short time!
Keep up the good work,you'll feel so much better.
My husband and I have been on a strict low cholesterol diet for 3 months now. It's hard,but we really do feel much better.
He had been on cholesterol medicine for a couple of years but never did really clamp down and stick to it until I was diagnosed 3 months ago,then I said,'ok,that's it.
We have done good though and hoping it's coming down.
Good luck with your low carb diet and may you continue to lose weight.
GOD BLESS YOU!

Hi , well, you won't believe this! I went with my husband today to his regular dr.for his yearly physical. He mentioned to the dr. that he thought he had sleep apnea and had an appointment on Jan 31st.with the sleep dr. He asked him why he thought he had sleep apnea and the conversation got to the fact that he is using my old machine until he can be seen by the sleep dr.
He looked at me and said loudly,"DON"T DO THAT", seriously,you can ruin a person's lungs,C-pap is a very individual thing,please do not let him use your machine until he has a sleep study done!

Well,needless to say,now my husband does not trust what I've been trying to do. I guess I"ve lost the battle until he can get a sleep study scheduled.I hate it! He has been doing so very good!
He's only on a pressure of 9 and most every day it reads 8.4 or 8.6.

You all know how long it takes to get through the appointment waiting,even though I have a friend at the sleep center who will help me out,then you have to wait for a return appointment with the dr.,then wait for the dme to set up equipment.

So.I need your prayers that my husband will be allright until then,cause I know that he's not going to do anything except what his dr. told him to do.
Thanks for all your help.

sister wrote: He looked at me and said loudly,"DON"T DO THAT", seriously,you can ruin a person's lungs,C-pap is a very individual thing,please do not let him use your machine until he has a sleep study done!

How infuriating! How did you keep from slapping him, hard? You should remind your husband of any benefits he has felt while on CPAP and if he felt harmed by it. You should remind him that you love him more than the doctor does. Have him Google "CPAP harmful" ; I stopped after 20 pages and didn't find one article of where it was harmful or has harmed anyone, except for dirty humidifier water. Google "Deregulating CPAP Equipment" and you'll find arguments in favor of deregulation. The danger of not treating OSA is much more grim than the danger of misusing CPAP therapy for which I can't find any. Doctors are advisers but you are ultimately responsible for your health. Have him call the doctor and ask the doctor to provide one reference of harm caused by misusing CPAP and if he doesn't by the end of the day, he's going back on it. I bet the doctor will actually learn something from this exercise. "Individual thing" ... how many millions on CPAP? Did the doctor prescribe any pills for your husband? Vitamins? A walk down the street? If so, did he go over the side effects, including death? Did he warn him to not go home from the doctor's office in a car, in a bus, on a bike, walk, in a plane. Did he warn him about water intoxication? Did he warn him about all the diseases he could catch while waiting for his appointment in the waiting room? Look at these CPAP side effects http://www.sleepapnea.org/resources/pubs/wrong.html, all for comfort, none for any ill health effects. No one stops CPAP because it is killing them, but thousands die from sleep apnea. Appeal to his logic. I'm mad now

Has anyone been told by their sleep doctor that a possible side effect of CPAP is death? The side effect of not treating OSA IS death. It's almost like everyone should be on CPAP until they were checked out to not need it.

[Copied from another forum and not verified] CPAP usage is contraindicated in patients with the following conditions:
- pneumothorax or pneumomediastinum
- decompensated cardiac failure or hypotension, particularly if associated with intervascular volume depletion.
- Pneumoencephalus, recent trauma, or surgery (pituitary or nasal) that may have produced cranio-nasopharyngeal fistula (risk of entry of air or other material into the cranial cavity)
- Respiratory distress syndrome
- Otitis media or perforated ear drum (risk of spread of infection)
- Massive epistaxis

Your husband's doctor would know if your husband had any of this stuff.

Tell your husband that I went with my daughter to an appointment and told my daughter's doctor that I self prescribed my CPAP treatment. Did I get hollered at; NO. Did I get warned of impending death; NO. Was he happy I was being proactive and that I was feeling better; YES. Was I encouraged to stop treatment; NO. Was I encouraged to get checked out by my doctor; YES.

My opinion, I'm not a doctor. But I feel using CPAP is a non-issue. His doctor is just covering his butt. But, how would he feel if something bad happened because your husband stopped CPAP, but more important how would your husband feel if something bad happened after stopping CPAP? His doctor is not qualified to prescribe CPAP or take him off CPAP. He is presumptively liable either way. Have him write a prescription forbidding your husband to do CPAP and see how his malpractice insurance will like that. I wish I could come over and have a talk with your husband.

Great news about your hubby. At first I thought the machine was doing very little but my wife told my mood was much better, was dealing with our kids much better etc. Even if I never felt better if the wife is happy with it I would continue but after a few more days and others pointing out the improvements I began noticing them myself.

I'm mad too! I think the Dr's comments were ill-advised. My son is a very successful Internist for 20yrs and he readily admits that while he can and does often diagnose patients he suspects of having OSA and recommends sleep studies, he knows very little about the actual mechanics, equipment, therapy, pressures,etc. Our own physician who is quite prominent in our area and has been treating us for many years also claims the same lack of expertise. I've read here that a pressure of 10cms is commonly used by patients who for different reasons decide to titrate themselves and no harm has come to them that I know of. I hope your husband will reconsider since he's been doing so well.

Hey, Thanks guy's,
It is so good to have friends to understand and be there for you when you are down.I totally agree with all you are saying.
How could he say that when he is not a sleep dr.?
I mean really!!!
Thanks for your support,I really need it.
Have a great night!

DoriC wrote:I'm mad too! I think the Dr's comments were ill-advised. My son is a very successful Internist for 20yrs and he readily admits that while he can and does often diagnose patients he suspects of having OSA and recommends sleep studies, he knows very little about the actual mechanics, equipment, therapy, pressures,etc. Our own physician who is quite prominent in our area and has been treating us for many years also claims the same lack of expertise. I've read here that a pressure of 10cms is commonly used by patients who for different reasons decide to titrate themselves and no harm has come to them that I know of. I hope your husband will reconsider since he's been doing so well.

Hi Dori,
Thanks so very much for caring,I think my hushand's Dr's comments were at the least ill-advised also.
He may not have realized it but he really hurt my feelings when he looked at me and said,'don't do that'. I was silent then as he went on about it because he had hurt my feelings.

Anyway, the good news is that after talking with my husband about how much better he's been feeling,he's decided to go back on c-pap!
He still doesn't think that he has sleep apnea,but as long as he does it to humor me,I'm happy.
I pointed out to him all the things that have gone away since he's been using my old machine:
#1. restless leg syndrone
#2.snoring
#3.falling asleep in the daytime
#4.2 or 3 bathroom trips at night
But he still doesn't think he has sleep apnea?
Oh, by way, I asked him to wear the oximeter to bed the other night since he was using the machine now and his 02 was excellent! stayed in the 90"s.
we had checked it before c-pap and it was awful,dropped several times in the 80's,averaging 83.5!
He says he's going to stay on the c-pap until his sleep study though,even though he tells me every day,'I really don't think I have it'.
SO, that's o.k.,as long as he's using it till then,I'm happy.
We have an appointment Monday to see the sleep DR. but I'm sure that will be just to set up a sleep study.
Thanks again for all your support and caring.
GOD BLESS YOU!

Excellent to hear that your husband has agreed to stay on CPAP. If he doesn't want to admit to needing it, that's fine as long as he continues this non-invasive, benign therapy. In a way he should hope that he has sleep apnea to account for all of his symptoms. The alternative to resolving some of his symptoms is pills at night to stop peeing and keep you asleep, pills in the day to keep you awake, some other pills to stop restless leg, antidepressants to elevate mood, and more pills to counteract the side effects of the other pills, something else to stop snoring (don't know what that would be, pyramids hanging from the ceiling over your bed, magnets in your pillow, playing a didgeridoo?), maybe prostate surgery for the pee issue. Thank goodness that I only have sleep apnea, pre-CPAP I had thought I was having mini heart attacks every night.
Anxious to hear about the visit on Monday and of course the sleep study results.
All my best.

sydneybird wrote:Excellent to hear that your husband has agreed to stay on CPAP. If he doesn't want to admit to needing it, that's fine as long as he continues this non-invasive, benign therapy. In a way he should hope that he has sleep apnea to account for all of his symptoms. The alternative to resolving some of his symptoms is pills at night to stop peeing and keep you asleep, pills in the day to keep you awake, some other pills to stop restless leg, antidepressants to elevate mood, and more pills to counteract the side effects of the other pills, something else to stop snoring (don't know what that would be, pyramids hanging from the ceiling over your bed, magnets in your pillow, playing a didgeridoo?), maybe prostate surgery for the pee issue. Thank goodness that I only have sleep apnea, pre-CPAP I had thought I was having mini heart attacks every night.
Anxious to hear about the visit on Monday and of course the sleep study results.
All my best.

Hey,thanks for caring,
I really do think that my husband already realizes how much better he feels on c-pap. By the way, he has been on a diet for low cholesterol since October21st.2010. We don't eat much but fruits and vegetables,and we found out last Tuesday that it has really worked for him.
His cholesterol dropped from 247 to 156 in 3 months!
Now, he is so proud of himself for doing that he seems to want to do more to improve his health.
He's been exercising for the first times in years and,OH, I forgot, he has also lost 9 lbs.
So you see, with that good report,I think I'm going to have an easier time now convincing him of all the good things about c-pap.

I read him most of the replys I get from the forum,and he wants to hear them.
I'll let you know when he has the visit Monday!
GOD BLESS YOU!