I was recently diagnosed with Severe Obstructive sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. If you snore loudly and feel tired even after a full night's sleep, I think it is worth getting checked out. After years of bad sleep, what finally led me to finally getting a sleep study done was waking up gasping for air and finally the fear of sleeping. High blood pressure, weight gain, lowered metabolism and heart problems are just some of the issues sleep apnea can cause if left untreated. It did in fact cause my SVT, to come back which led to a catheter ablation a couple years ago.

I was actually impressed on how quickly TriCare and Army Medical Personnel scheduled the consultation and study. A win for the Army in my books. After receiving a sleep study, the results were a lot worst than I predicted, while the threshold for Severe Sleep Apnea was 30 AHI, mine was 34. Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI) measures sleep apnea severity. The AHI is the sum of the number of apneas (pauses in breathing) plus the number of hypopneas (periods of shallow breathing) that occur, on average, each hour.

No bueno. So my sleep doctor suggested CPAP therapy, unfortunately you have to use it for the rest of your life, but these last few weeks have been incredible utilizing the device. I fall asleep a decent hour of the night now, don't have to have multiple alcoholic drinks to fall asleep, no more anxiety, energy levels are restoring and being a lot more helpful around the house. Getting back to my old self.

I encourage anyone that has had years of bad sleep to go get a sleep study done. I can't believe I didn't do this sooner. We forget how much the body needs a SOLID night of sleep for a healthy lifestyle.

Anyone else feel comfortable sharing their Sleep Apnea related stories. Anyone out there have any tips or advice on using their CPAP? Once in a while I notice that I somehow removed my mask and wake up with it lying next to me.

Thank you for posting this - great post. It is an underdiagnosed condition as well as an underappreciated cause of morbidity and mortality.
I am double Board Certified in ENT and Sleep Medicine, so I see a ton of patients with this condition. Continue to use your CPAP machine. It can take a long time to get used to it, but in the end it really is the best therapy. If you do not find that you tolerate CPAP, take a look at the Inspire implant system. It works really well, if you are the appropriate candidate (based on AHI, BMI, and an airway examination under sedation). Keep up the good work and thanks for bringing your condition into people's awareness.
At work and my firewall is preventing me from posting a link to the Inspire system. Ugh.

Just posted this on the Austin forum but will ask here as well.

Anyone have a good rec for an Austin Sleep doctor to get a study done?

Awesome post. My brother's good friend had his wife pass away earlier this year in her sleep. Left behind young kids, pretty sad deal. Please get treatment if you have this.

My dad sufferred a fatal stroke with untreated sleep apnea which we all knew he had but not understand the consequences associated with it. This was in the early 70s before sleep treatments were available. I have the same condition but use a CPAP that keeps my AHI under 5 incidents per hour and has significantly improved day to day living. Unfortunately I know several people who have been diagnosed with the condition but have never been able to adjust tp the routine of CPAP use. I could not at first but now could not go to sleep without it.

TL;DR: Do it.

I've talked about this before, but here it is again.

I have always been a loud snorer and it was a running joke in my family that I could fall asleep anywhere anytime because with was always tired. My sister one time thought I was asleep in the passenger seat because I was snoring. She was shocked when she looked over and I was awake reading.

I had my sleep study done back in 2015. It was easily one of the worst nights of sleep I have ever had. Trying to sleep with all that crap on you is terrible. If you get it done, try to make it so you don't have to go into work the next morning.

Turns out I had moderate sleep apnea (shocker). They fitted me for a cpap and I went home for my first night of wonderful sleep. Just kidding. I hated that damn thing. I typically sleep nude, or just in a pair of boxers. I just could not get used to trying to sleep with something strapped to my head. They ended up prescribing me ambien, which worked to an extent. At some point in the night I would always remove the cpap. And the ambien left my all groggy the next morning.

So, they set me up on an oral appliance. I have a slight overbite and cross bite. The appliance (lovingly called my torture device) would pull my bottom jaw into a position where my throat wouldn't close during the night. For once I woke up feeling rested and not exhausted. But, in the two years I wore it I came across a couple issues. Every night while I was sleeping my jaw was fighting the appliance. It led to a lot of jaw pain. I even sprained it one day just from yawning! Also, the fighting of it led to muscles in my jaw getting bigger. My face actually looks a lot different now because my jaw line has changed. Also, my dog was obsessed with my appliance, and actually ended up eating one of them. Those are not cheap to replace.

After two years of the appliance I went into my ENT and told her about everything that had been going on. She took a look and said that it could actually be fixed with surgery. Well, 3 at the same time. So, about 3ish years ago I went in and got my tonsils removed, uvula removed, and a turbinate reduction (pretty much roto rooted my nose). After an AWFUL two week recovery, that first real nights sleep was glorious. I honestly was a little mad at how good I felt. This is what everyone else feels like all the time?! I've lived at a serious disadvantage my whole life! I can sleep 6 hours (I still aim for 8 nightly) and feel better than back when I slept for 11 hours pre sleep study.

Anyways, that ended up being longer than I meant, but we are slow at work and that was kind of fun to type up. Whichever one works best for you, do it. No regerts.

Great to hear these stories. It's such an under recognized and under diagnosed thing that I believe leads to a lot of quality of life and morbidity issues that people don't even realize!

I just can't get used to the mask. I've tried every kind of mask there is.

Wow. I'm really glad I posted this. I've had the device for exactly one month now. So far so good for the most part. There's nights where it drives me nuts but I try to keep the end goal in mind of waking up refreshed and energized.

7 nights in... some nights ok, some nights it's throw to the side at 2am. Will keep pushing!

MarathonAg12 said:

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I was recently diagnosed with Severe Obstructive sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. If you snore loudly and feel tired even after a full night's sleep, I think it is worth getting checked out. After years of bad sleep, what finally led me to finally getting a sleep study done was waking up gasping for air and finally the fear of sleeping. High blood pressure, weight gain, lowered metabolism and heart problems are just some of the issues sleep apnea can cause if left untreated. It did in fact cause my SVT, to come back which led to a catheter ablation a couple years ago.

I was actually impressed on how quickly TriCare and Army Medical Personnel scheduled the consultation and study. A win for the Army in my books. After receiving a sleep study, the results were a lot worst than I predicted, while the threshold for Severe Sleep Apnea was 30 AHI, mine was 34. Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI) measures sleep apnea severity. The AHI is the sum of the number of apneas (pauses in breathing) plus the number of hypopneas (periods of shallow breathing) that occur, on average, each hour.

No bueno. So my sleep doctor suggested CPAP therapy, unfortunately you have to use it for the rest of your life, but these last few weeks have been incredible utilizing the device. I fall asleep a decent hour of the night now, don't have to have multiple alcoholic drinks to fall asleep, no more anxiety, energy levels are restoring and being a lot more helpful around the house. Getting back to my old self.

I encourage anyone that has had years of bad sleep to go get a sleep study done. I can't believe I didn't do this sooner. We forget how much the body needs a SOLID night of sleep for a healthy lifestyle.

Anyone else feel comfortable sharing their Sleep Apnea related stories. Anyone out there have any tips or advice on using their CPAP? Once in a while I notice that I somehow removed my mask and wake up with it lying next to me.

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A close friend of mine is on the CPAP, young guy. Has said it has changed his life*.

My grandfather, dad and mom all sleep/slept with a CPAP. I was diagnosed in my 20s. I blame my genetic throat structure.

I STRUGGLED to adapt to it often pulling the mask off in the middle of the night and not knowing it. After a couple of months, I tried an oral appliance which was easy for me to sleep with (I wore braces and retainers growing up so felt similar) but I bought a pulse ox and monitored my oxygen overnight and was still seeing drops.

I ultimately got comfortable with my CPAP and now would never sleep without it.

Tips:
1) I bought a CPAP hose lift / hose holder which keeps the weight of the hose from pulling on your face.

2) I bought a lot of masks and tried them all. Cost of few hundred but worth it. The mask that stuck for me was the Philips Dreamwear system. After I got to where I was keeping it on all night, I went back to the doc for setting adjustments (since CPAP was set up with full face mask).

3) Tried SoClean and Lumin cleaners. I like Lumin a lot more (uses UV light to clean vs ozone which smelled bad).

4) I prefer a CPAP with a built in humidifier so I don't wake up with a dry throat or nose.

5) I started with chin strap to keep my mouth closed and breath thru my nose but was able to drop it after a few months.

6). Sit in a recliner or lay in bed with it on and learn to adapt to it while awake.

Be committed to finding what will work for you. Even if it costs you some time and money, the good sleep you will get is so worth it.

So I had a score of like 18 and started using a CPAP machine. After I lost weight, I started trying to sleep without it and have done fine. My wife says I don't snore nearly as much and I feel well rested after 6-7 hours sleep.

Doctor said I really ought to have another sleep study done but that was a pain in the ass so forget it. As long a I'm not snoring too bad and feel rested, I'm gonna assume I'm fine.

Great point. I tell everyone who gets a oral appliance and same goes for CPAP to put it on about an hour before bedtime while you are winding down To get used to it so that you are not putting something brand new as soon as you lay down to sleep makes adaptation easier.

The unfortunate thing about sleep medicine in the military is that it gets clogged up with people trying to game the system and get a diagnosis of sleep apnea prior to discharge so they can get those sweet disability benefits. It makes people with actual problems have to wait in line most of the time, and sometime they get missed because they appear more subtle than the person trying to game the system.

bigtruckguy3500 said:

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The unfortunate thing about sleep medicine in the military is that it gets clogged up with people trying to game the system and get a diagnosis of sleep apnea prior to discharge so they can get those sweet disability benefits. It makes people with actual problems have to wait in line most of the time, and sometime they get missed because they appear more subtle than the person trying to game the system.

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An OSA diagnosis gets you disability benefits??? That's absolutely ridiculous. Sure, you should win a CPAP machine, but disability benefits? As if somehow being in the military caused that? What am I missing?

Kool said:

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bigtruckguy3500 said:

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The unfortunate thing about sleep medicine in the military is that it gets clogged up with people trying to game the system and get a diagnosis of sleep apnea prior to discharge so they can get those sweet disability benefits. It makes people with actual problems have to wait in line most of the time, and sometime they get missed because they appear more subtle than the person trying to game the system.

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An OSA diagnosis gets you disability benefits??? That's absolutely ridiculous. Sure, you should win a CPAP machine, but disability benefits? As if somehow being in the military caused that? What am I missing?

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Yes. It's completely ridiculous. Not only that, but it's a 50% disability rating. That means, roughly, $1000 a month, for the rest of your life.

You have no idea how many young, healthy, very active people, with skinny necks, malampati I scores, etc., suddenly start complaining of loud snoring, witnessed apneas, daytime somnolence, and constant fatigue in their last few months before they get out and demand sleep studies.

Kool said:

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bigtruckguy3500 said:

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The unfortunate thing about sleep medicine in the military is that it gets clogged up with people trying to game the system and get a diagnosis of sleep apnea prior to discharge so they can get those sweet disability benefits. It makes people with actual problems have to wait in line most of the time, and sometime they get missed because they appear more subtle than the person trying to game the system.

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An OSA diagnosis gets you disability benefits??? That's absolutely ridiculous. Sure, you should win a CPAP machine, but disability benefits? As if somehow being in the military caused that? What am I missing?

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I consider myself young (31) healthy and active. But hey man, I had to get this looked at when I started gasping for air and couldn't breath. I didn't "win" a CPAP machine. I use it so I can sleep again, instead of getting 2-3 hours of sleep a night. It's been an absolute blessing and wife has already noticed big differences. I feel back to my old self. The OSA caused my irregular heart rhythm to come back leading to a small operation.

I'm active duty and plan on staying in for a good while to serve my country. This treatment plan helps me be a better Soldier, physically and mentally.

As far as collecting 50% disability when I retire? I don't know what you want me to do about that. Ask for 10%?

100% agree with treating OSA and with taking care to make sure that those who protect us remain as fit and healthy as they can be

But as to why people "want" this problem to collect money from the government is beyond me.

Just in case it wasn't clear, I wasn't suggesting you were clogging up, or trying to game, the system.

I don't blame anyone for accepting VA disability benefits they're entitled to. I blame the system that creates those entitlements, and the people that lie about their health in an attempt to tap into those benefits.

Can you have OSA and not snore??

So, I'm in my 40s and exhibit ALL classic symptoms of sleep apnea... can/should I just skip the sleep study and buy a CPAP? I'm assuming a large driver of a Dr. prescribed study is the insurance benefit (i.e. offsetting cost of machine)... or, are there other major benefits from the study (aside from being prescribed a CPAP)? I've been toying with this for years... just never could commit to the hassle of a full on sleep study. Thinking about just buying a CPAP. Thoughts?

Well... nevermind. Looks like I need a prescription. So, anyone on here ever do a home sleep study? Or, should I just bite the bullet and go in for one?

DoubleOught-BMA said:

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Well... nevermind. Looks like I need a prescription. So, anyone on here ever do a home sleep study? Or, should I just bite the bullet and go in for one?

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There is a reason you shouldn't just make the assumption you have OSA and go onto CPAP without an evaluation. Use of CPAP in someone who does not have OSA can actually suppress the brain's respiratory drive, and cause central sleep apnea. It's a somewhat complicated issue, but it relates to the "diving reflex" that all mammals have.
As to in-lab or home sleep test, unless you have severe cardiac disease, significant neurologic disease, suspicion of restless leg syndrome or narcolepsy or a few odd things like acting out dreams, there really isn't any reason to go into the sleep lab (especially in the era of The COVIDs). If you show sleep apnea on a home sleep test, you can typically be prescribed an Auto-PAP machine and then follow the data that it gives you as well as the overall response to therapy.

I did a home study... apparently the results were clear so I went directly to the prescription of a cpap. They stated at the time that if it had been marginal then the next step would have been in lap study but for me that was not a requirement.

Interesting, didn't know that. I was on the high end of mild and low end of moderate. insurance denied paying for a CPAP, so I came out of pocket. been using it about a month, mixed results so far. my goal was to stop waking up so much, and lower my blood pressure. both have been elusive. have had difficulty going to sleep and staying asleep my whole life. was prescribed low dose seroquel in 2012 which worked, but was hoping to get off it.

I've slept with a cpap for the last 15 yrs and it saved my marriage and probably my life. I was either going to die of a heart attack or my wife was gonna put a pillow over my head.

Nasal pillows have been the best mask I've found, nothing touches your face except under your nose. Also, I've found that calmly holding your breath while the cpap pressure builds up is the way to go, that way that first breath is being forced in by pressure rather than you trying to suck it in (does that make sense?)

Waltonloads08 said:

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Interesting, didn't know that. I was on the high end of mild and low end of moderate. insurance denied paying for a CPAP, so I came out of pocket. been using it about a month, mixed results so far. my goal was to stop waking up so much, and lower my blood pressure. both have been elusive. have had difficulty going to sleep and staying asleep my whole life. was prescribed low dose seroquel in 2012 which worked, but was hoping to get off it.

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That makes no sense. If you have even mild sleep apnea (AHI between 5 and 15), you probably just need another diagnosis, as easy as daytime sleepiness, memory loss, hypertension, morning headaches, should be easy. See if you can find out your insurance company's parameters

Kool said:

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Waltonloads08 said:

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Interesting, didn't know that. I was on the high end of mild and low end of moderate. insurance denied paying for a CPAP, so I came out of pocket. been using it about a month, mixed results so far. my goal was to stop waking up so much, and lower my blood pressure. both have been elusive. have had difficulty going to sleep and staying asleep my whole life. was prescribed low dose seroquel in 2012 which worked, but was hoping to get off it.

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That makes no sense. If you have even mild sleep apnea (AHI between 5 and 15), you probably just need another diagnosis, as easy as daytime sleepiness, memory loss, hypertension, morning headaches, should be easy. See if you can find out your insurance company's parameters

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I have hypertension, usually 145/95. United Healthcare. I didn't care to fight over it, i'm fortunate that i have the money. Insurance is stupid outside of catastrophic IMO. Just raises prices for everything on the lower end of of the complexity spectrum.

Waltonloads08 said:

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Kool said:

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Waltonloads08 said:

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Interesting, didn't know that. I was on the high end of mild and low end of moderate. insurance denied paying for a CPAP, so I came out of pocket. been using it about a month, mixed results so far. my goal was to stop waking up so much, and lower my blood pressure. both have been elusive. have had difficulty going to sleep and staying asleep my whole life. was prescribed low dose seroquel in 2012 which worked, but was hoping to get off it.

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That makes no sense. If you have even mild sleep apnea (AHI between 5 and 15), you probably just need another diagnosis, as easy as daytime sleepiness, memory loss, hypertension, morning headaches, should be easy. See if you can find out your insurance company's parameters

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I have hypertension, usually 145/95. United Healthcare. I didn't care to fight over it, i'm fortunate that i have the money. Insurance is stupid outside of catastrophic IMO. Just raises prices for everything on the lower end of of the complexity spectrum.

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I'm glad to hear you have the financial resources to go outside of your insurance, and that you're taking treating your apnea seriously. I do not at all disagree with you about what insurance should be versus what it has become. But I want to make sure someone else doesn't fall into the insurance issue you ran into and decide to give up. Happy New Year.