Question:
Misc sleep apnea questions

I am told I have severe sleep apnea. My pulse oxygen fell to 70 while I slept...What little I got:( Odd thing is I have NO symptoms, not tired, dont nap, get about 8 hours of sleep a night. The only time I fall asleep is during BORING movies. My pressure is 17 which is very uncomfortable. I am getting the #$%^ machine friday and dont know how I will ever sleep with that on my face. Questions. Is 17 a high number? Anyone higher? Does this mean I am likely to wake up on a vent? Scared to death of that because I am claustrophic. How was pain control for you folks? Any ressurance would be greatly appreciated.    — bob-haller (posted on May 31, 2001)

May 30, 2001
Bob, I've been using a CPAP for sleep apnea for about 8 years now, and honestly would have trouble falling asleep without it. I've grown that accustomed to it. First advise is don't fight it. I recall feeling like superwoman the first few mornings after I started using it because of really sleeping through the night. Most modern machines have a ramp up feature that starts a lower pressure making it easier to fall asleep before the full setting kicks in. I also find the hum to be a white noise, which is helpful. It also allowed my husband to resume sleeping in the same bed, as he had had to relocate due to my excessively loud snoring. My only issue is that even with a humidifier, I wake up stuffed up, but it's a small price to pay. My setting is 10, which was important to know before surgery. At the hospital, and during consultation, I made sure to emphasize the need to have a CPAP to everyone, as I was afraid the morphine pump would cause me to not wake up if I stopped breathing. I know you are claustrophobic, and it will be an adjustment, but try to look at it as a necessary tool for improved sleep and health.
   — danirat

May 31, 2001
I had knee surgery a couple years ago and quit breathing in recovery a bunch of times, it was very scary and fear created a panic attack. Lots of drugs helped that and narcam was used to counteract the long acting moriphine they had given me in my spine. Needless to say I am very frightened. I have heard about them reducing the pressure used for apnea to prevent intestines inflating and leaking. What scares me about that was the pulmonary doc saying it wasnt possible. Yet its mentioned in a book and I have read that it actually occured to someone.
   — bob-haller

May 31, 2001
I've been using the CPAP for about 6 months now, mine is set at 12. Once I got used to it (about a month), I really don't mind using it. The hose gets in the way once in awhile, and I don't care for the nose peice, but overall it really doesn't bother me. I do think I would have a problem getting to sleep without it now, the noise the machine makes blocks out a lot of other sounds. The thing is, I think it's better to use the machine, even if it bothers you, than take the risk with irregular breathing.
   — Angela T.

May 31, 2001
My pressure is set at 14. When you get your machine, the fitting of your face mask is the most important thing, I had to try three before i found one that fit and sealed. I would wake up dry and now i have a little plastic bowl like thing that has water in it that the air goes through first. It helps some. At first I would wake up in the middle of the night and rip the thing off my face and as time went by, I would last longer. Part of it was the mask didn't fit, but i did get used to it and now it's very hard to sleep without it. Just work with it. Now, I had surgery on the 14th on May. Yes i told them about the Cpap and took my own with me. The anethesiologist said that it was likely that he would wake me up on a vent and put the C pap on me. I vaguely remember waking up and not being able to breath because of the tube. And all of that is a blur. But, what i wanted to tell you was, that i'm a smoker also and i had trouble breathing the 2nd day after surgery and couldn't catch my breath even while laying in bed, so I had to have breathing treatments and they sent me home on oxygen. That was a little frightening. They kept me two days extra because of it. I did call my pulmonary doc and he sent me to get a lung scan and another chest x-ray to make sure there were no clots. There wasn't and he put me on Advair and now a week later my lungs are much better and I HAVEN"T HAD A CIGARETTE SINCE THE SURGERY> I think I'm in mourning for food and the smokes. In fact, I remember the first night I had a dream about someone serving me a cigarette on a bed of lettuce already lit. What was that all about???? I have a high tolerance for pain meds. So they were kind of surprised how much morphine I needed. But, they gave me what i needed to get comfortable. It really only hurt when i moved. But they always want you to move! The surgery hurt but the pain started getting better after the 3rd day. and by the 5th it was tolerable and two weeks later, I did use pain meds before sleep just to sleep comfortably. . My RNY was laproscopic and I am amazed at how fast the sites are healing. I hope I haven't scared you off. For the most part, I remember it hurt when i moved, but most of the first couple days are a blur. My husband stayed with me, so I suggest that you have someone you trust there with you. If for nothing else, just to hold you hand.
   — Sue H.

May 31, 2001
I was diagnosed with "severe, life-threatening" sleep apnea 3 years ago. But even those words didn't make me get the c-pap machine that was prescribed. I was in denial, and I am very claustraphobic. Finally after a year my PCP asked me why I wanted to kill myself. She wasn't just refering to when I stopped breathing every night , up to 100 times an hour. (You would think that would have been enough, huh?) No, she told me that my low levals of oxygen were starving my vital organs, like heart and brain, and eventually the tissue would start to die. Well,finally it sounded bad enough. I started using the c-pap, and it was wonderful. Yeah, it took time, and trying different masks to get comfortable. But I can now sleep all night long and know I'm going to wake up. And my husband can sleep without waking up to listen to me breathe, or not. And, oh yeah, I had WLS on 4/9/01, and just took it with me. It was definately one of the things that was discussed pre-op. And the respritory therapist said it was a benefit. The c-pap allowed me to do deep breathing even when I was asleep. Still, I am looking forward to retiring it to the closet. So,I hope this rambling account helps. Good Luck, and God Bless.
   — bek4901

June 1, 2001
Lots of great answers to this question already, but I'm going to go ahead and add my 2 cents. I LOVE MY CPAP!!!!!!!! When I first got it, I felt very claustrophobic. I felt as if I was having a hard time exhaling against the pressure. I felt unsexy. I didn't want to wear some old-lady mask to bed that made me feel all claustrophobic. It took me about a month to not feel really awkward about putting it on. I can NOT sleep without my CPAP now. I didn't think I had symptoms either. HA! Little did I know. I think sleep apnea happens so slowly and over such a long period of time that most people who have it have no idea how much their energy levels are really suffering. I'll bet you a dollar you'll feel like running marathons after a week of using it. 17, unfortunately, is a bit high. I don't think it goes much above 20. In fact, I think at 17, it's common for you to have two pressures: one for exhaling and one for inhaling. This makes it just a bit more comfortable. Same thing as the ramp feature mentioned by someone else. I do look forward to putting my CPAP in the closet once I've lost some more weight, but for now, the thing KICKS BUTT!!! Alisa
   — Alisa M.

June 1, 2001
I have been using CPAP for 16 months. It has been a godsend for me. In fact, when I had the followup sleep study to trial me on CPAP, I was more rested when I woke up than I had been in YEARS! I had no idea that the fatigue I felt was not normal! But it was the first time I could remember when I woke up in the morning and actually wanted to get out of bed. It took three different masks to find the right one for me but I now have a contraption that sort of clamps on back-to-front without any straps and really isn't a mask at all. There are nasal "pillows" (I swear, that is what they are called)attached that fit comfortably in the nostrils and obstruct air from going around them. I find the "white noise" to help too as it filters out other sounds. I absolutely have not skipped CPAP for a single night or NAP because I feel worse after a nap without it than without a nap at all. I even arranged to get a self-contained battery pack and adapter to power it on an airplane when I had a 10 hour overnight flight. So try it for awhile even if you initially find it problematic. It is definitely worth it in the long run. I have not had my surgery yet, and maybe I won't need CPAP forever, but if I do, so be it. It changed my life. I will take it to the hospital and hope that will mean I do not have to go to ICU. Anesthesiologists get anxious at the prospect of people not waking up if they fall asleep and are on pain meds. But it really is a non-issue, I think, if you use the CPAP in the hopsital.
   — Anndrea H.