Sleep Studies / Sleep Apnea

You've already made your (correct) decision, but to add to it, I got tested a little over a year ago. I carry a lot of my weight in my face, and I need to lose some weight, so it is almost certainly fat related for me. I was snoring whether I was on my side or back, it didn't matter. When I went in for the test they hooked up a bunch of electrodes all over my head (made easier by the fact that I shave my head) and then had me go to sleep without anything hooked up except those. After it was obvious to them that I was, indeed, snoring, they hooked me up with a CPAP and then did additional monitoring throughout the night. No nostril tube or anything like that. (It should be mentioned that a couple of my coworkers that have Kaiser only had to do the wrist band thing at home.)

I use the "nasal pillows" and fall asleep on my side 100% of the time, and it isn't a big deal for me. I got used to it within a couple of days, although they didn't supply me with the additional humidifier at first and it dried me the fuck out and I'd have a runny nose all day from it, so specifically ask for a humidifier. Even if you end up not using it, better to have it right from the start instead of having a bad experience at first.

One of the Kaiser coworkers says he tries to use it but ends up tearing it off in the middle of the night, and not even using it 5 days out of the week. To me he might as well have just flushed his money down the toilet. If you get prescribed one, use the fucking thing, it really does work. Granted, I have terrible sleep habits in terms of staying up too late, but that's a separate issue. Hell, I use the damn thing even if I take a short nap, because it doesn't bother me and it stops the snoring. Make the effort to get used to it and then stick with it, you'll be happy you did.

I disagree about your co worker. The value of good sleep is a lot higher than you give it. Even if he's using it 1 hour a night, 1 hour of good sleep is better than 0. If he keeps doing that, he should eventually get used to it.

But I agree about the humidifier. I went without for a long time, then I got one for free one day and I'm often glad I have it. I have water in it less than half the time, but it's good to have the option when my nose starts to get dried out.

Hoss_sl said:

I disagree about your co worker. The value of good sleep is a lot higher than you give it. Even if he's using it 1 hour a night, 1 hour of good sleep is better than 0. If he keeps doing that, he should eventually get used to it.

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While I agree in general, he admitted he probably doesn't use it more than once a week for an hour or two. That's not enough to even make a difference, and I doubt he's ever going to get used to it with that kind of discipline.

Himeo_sl said:

I've lived with sleep apnea for about ten years. CPAP machines work. Sleep on your side or stomach not on your back.

I was morbidly obese and lost a bunch of weight. The sleep apnea has gotten better now that I'm at a normal weight but it's still there. Some people lose their apnea with weight loss. Mine didn't go away. I'm thinking of picking up a didgeridoo as their was a study showing it helped strengthen the muscles that cause apnea.

Honestly, it's not a big deal. Just have to sleep with a machine and face mask.

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I found I have to sleep on my back. If I sleep on my side the mask gets knocked loose by the pillow. Sleeping on my stomach has the same problem unless I press my face into the pillow, but it also makes my back hurt if I do it more than 1 night. Also, I'm afraid to block those vents on the front of the mask. I am told they are there to keep you from breathing in the air you just exhaled and suffocating.

Strengthening my tongue helped a lot with the apnea. I bought a book called "The low down on going down". It was written by a speech therapist and she was of the opinion that speech therapists were the best with oral sex because their lips and mouths were trained. So I started doing some of the exercises and trained my tongue to go to the rest position at the roof of my mouth (she even mentioned that this would help with snoring). The next time I did a sleep study, I went from having severe apnea to moderate apnea. It was enough of a difference that my pressure setting was cut nearly in half.

Full disclosure, I never finished that book. I put it down when the lady said you must breath through your nose because when you breath through your mouth the air goes into your stomach instead of your lungs. One off these days I'll get back to it. Some of the exercises looked kind of fun.

But I'm probably going to look into those didgeridoo's too. Even if they're stupid and suck, the name sure is fun to say.

Khane_sl said:

Now I gotta have humidity control and a chin strap?!

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Nah, I have a full beard too. The chin strap doesn't really have anything to do with a beard except that a beard makes it hard to have a full face mask. Very few people are comfortable with a full face mask whether they have a beard or not. The chin strap keeps your mouth shut, but you can learn to do that without one. Most people do it naturally. I learned how to do it by using a mouthguard. I treated it like a mouthpiece in football, where I bit down and sucked out all the air. Now that I'm resting my tongue on the roof of my mouth, I do the same thing except I'm using my tongue as the sealing surface. That little bit of pressure is plenty to keep your mouth shut, especially with the jet of air being shot down your nostrils.