Sleep Apnia?

[Johmarjr]

Hi,

Good day!
Everyday when i woke up i have this feeling of fatigue, my head aches until i took a paracetamol. i have been reading some artciles and i leads me to l\think this is sleep apnia.... can yuo advice what are remedies that i need to do to stop this? Thank you and Gobless.

[Jerry_NJ]

I agree, someone sleep with or near you may hear signs of sleep apnea.

In my case it is "mild" obstructive sleep apnea that was cured by losing about 10% of my body weight.

The low cost way to start is to ask someone who knows how you sleep.  Then to think if you ever feel short-of-breath when you wake up in the middle of the night.  In my case I felt like I was suffocating.  

I next purchased a $25 Oximeter and took a reading of my Oxygen saturation level when I woke up feeling as noted above.  I found some saturation levels in the mid 80% range, way too low.

I discussed my symptoms and Oximeter findings with my Primary Care during an annual physical. He prescribed an over night at home recording Oximeter test - this was a very low cost test (a sleep study is not low cost).  The results showed I had several episodes of low oxygen saturation during the night.  This was firm enough evidence to invest in a full sleep study at my local hospital.. done over one night at the hospital.  That resulted in the diagnosis of "mild" OSA, which as I said, I have beaten by losing some weight... and only 10% that is I was not much overweight.  I am 75 years old too which adds to the problem of weight, I had too much fat in my throat area.  A CPAP breathing aid may be in my future, but not yet.

[tom_h]

A sleep partner is very helpful if you think you may have sleep apnea.  My horrific snoring tortured my wife nightly for a number of years. She'd observe periods where I would stop breathing altogether, followed by a loud gasp and occasionally bolt upright in bed with a loud gasp.

My physician ordered a sleep study done where it was revealed that I had very severe OSA.  CPAP was prescribed.  Interestingly while my condition was severe, I only needed a very low pressure to correct it.  The range of pressures vary from 6.0cm of H2O up to around 21.  a pressure of only 7 totally corrected my OSA, and I was able to immediately adapt to the head gear.  I use a small "pillow" mask which is nothing more than two gel pad which gently press up against they nostrils.  If you can sleep with your mouth closed, a pillow system is preferred to a nose mask or a complete face mask.  Unfortunately as the pressures rise, pillow systems become less effective.  The only positive way to tell is to get the sleep study done.  You life may depend on it!

[AKC_75]

If you do have sleep apnea, the treatment is that you will sleep with a CPAP machine. It stands for Continuos Positive Air Pressure. You wear a mask that blows air down your passages to keep them from closing when you sleep. Cause when they close is when you stop breathing.
Id it is determined you have sleep apnea it is vital that you wear the cpap eveytime!! You can die from sleep apnea just as easily as a baby can die from sids. Im not gonna lie it took me a good six weeks before I got use to it and could actually get a good nights sleep....but it is worth it so, stick with it!!

[bobdylan1958]

Hi you can ask your Doctor to set you up for a Sleep Study , it only takes a night , you can do it in your own home now , That will tell you everything if you have Sleep Apnea , Take care ,