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Sleep Apnoea Forum Bringing Help + Support to the Patient
Advice needed please!
I need help ---(sorry long and rambling post - I will try and stick to the basics)
I was diagnosed with OSA 4 years ago. I was having 35 apneas an hour. Took a while to get used to my cpap machine but eventually was using it most nights with an average usage of 5.7 hours per night. My pressure was set at 9.
Had no problems for 3 years - lost 10 stone in weight and life (and sleep) was brilliant! However last august I started having various problems. Firstly my head gear started to rub huge sore patches on my chin and side of face (which it had never done before). They patches have never really healed and really put me off using my machine for months ( I eventually got some chin straps from Cath and this has helped a little). At the same time I started to wake up in the night with not only leaks around my mask but also incredible pains in my chest/tummy which felt like trapped wind! Before that if I ever woke in the night I would just turn the ramp down on my machine and drift back off quite happily but the pain now had me ripping off my mask and rolling round the bed in agony.
Went back to GP who didn't have a clue and refereed me back to hospital where I had my sleep study. Saw a doc in the respiratory clinic who really didn't have a clue at all about sleep apnea and just referred me to see the sleep clinic nurse. Whilst this nurse was very willing to try and sort out the problem (gave me different masks to try, reset my pressure to 6, eventually gave me a new cpap machine) nothing has really worked. I haven't used my cpap for the best part of 4 months now. Every time I try I still end up waking up after about 4 hours with leaks coming out of everywhere on my mask, and incredible pains in my chest and tummy. I tried again last night but still the same. Ended up in tears of pain & frustration and awake since 4 am!! I know I need to use my cpap every night as all the signs are my sleep apnea is getting worse again. I don't know if its stress and or something else but I actually got quite frightened when I woke this morning as it took nearly an hour to try and slow my heart beat down to something that felt normal and to get rid of the wind that had built up in my tummy..... this can't be normal??????????
Any idea's as to what I can do/try next? I'll try anything!!!!! I'm loathed to go back to the sleep clinic nurse - as good as she is I don't feel she is actually qualified in sorting out this problem. She is great for handing out masks, machines etc but anything technical seems beyond her. I did have a pulse ox text done a couple fo weeks ago which she said was fine - no details given even though I had ripped my mask off half way through the night.
Thanks in advance
Suzie xxx
Views: 638
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Julie on
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Hi Kath
Well I'm glad to say that I don't have any of these symptoms, my head hits that pillow and within about 30 seconds I'm a goner, dead to the world until my hubby switches on the light in the morning after he has had his breakfast. I don't even wake up when he gets up for his shower. He plays in a band and comes in late some nights carrying all this heavy bass gear and if I go to bed before he comes home I don't even hear him coming in. Must admit I do wake up when he comes to bed...but only for a spilt second then I'm gone again.
Anyway going to watch some tv now and relax....away to watch Lord Sugar fire somebody.
Thanks for all your hard work on here Kath, much appreciated.
Julie
xx
Kath Hope said:So pleased to hear from you Suzie and your first paragraph sounded positive, and once you are over the unfortunate problem abscess, you'll be able to carry on back on the CPAP and start to feel better again. It would be so beneficial if you could build up from 4 hours on the CPAP to a full 7 or 8. Just think, there'd be no stopping you LOL.
There is a lot of evidence of how a menopausal woman has a far greater chance of developing sleep apnoea, which stands to reason that those of us who are already diagnosed with it, possibly get worse, and need our treatment adjusted. This is why I'm a great believer of people having software for their machines. Then at least we have the proof that if we're struggling with tiredness and our AHI is high then we need to address it, but if the AHI is low then we need to look elsewhere for the cause.
If you do a quick Google on "menopause and sleep apnoea" lots of info will come up. Here's a good article I came across which explains why the menopause causes these problems:-
Causes of Sleep Disorders
The primary reason why a woman may develop sleep disorders during menopause relates to the hormonal fluctuations that are taking place within her body. Declining levels of hormones, specifically of estrogen and progesterone, affect a woman in myriad ways, one being sleep disorders.
Estrogen and progesterone´s effects on sleep
As mentioned above, estrogen and progesterone affect sleep. Dropping levels of either hormone can cause sleep disorders, although each one affects in different ways. The information below specifies how estrogen and progesterone affect sleep, so please continue reading to understand better how hormonal fluctuations causes sleep disorders.
How a decline in estrogen affects sleep:
- Slows down the intake and secondary production of magnesium, a mineral that helps muscles to relax.
- Linked to hot flashes and night sweats which interrupt sleep cycle.
- Linked to sleep apnea, disturbing breathing during the night.
It's from this website..... http://www.34-menopause symptoms.com/sleep-disorders.htm
How a decline in progesterone affects sleep:
- Progesterone has a sleep-inducing effect. When levels decline, the ability to fall asleep soundly does as well.
- Linked to insomnia, and inability to fall asleep promptly.
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Permalink Reply by Kath Hope on
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Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news Julie, but yesterday I read somewhere that if people fall asleep as soon as their head hits the pillow, it's a sure sign of sleep deprivation LOL. Or is it the booze...... yes Big Brother's watching you LOL
Julie said:
Hi Kath
Well I'm glad to say that I don't have any of these symptoms, my head hits that pillow and within about 30 seconds I'm a goner, dead to the world until my hubby switches on the light in the morning after he has had his breakfast. I don't even wake up when he gets up for his shower. He plays in a band and comes in late some nights carrying all this heavy bass gear and if I go to bed before he comes home I don't even hear him coming in. Must admit I do wake up when he comes to bed...but only for a spilt second then I'm gone again.
Anyway going to watch some tv now and relax....away to watch Lord Sugar fire somebody.
Thanks for all your hard work on here Kath, much appreciated.
Julie
xx
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Permalink Reply by RockRpsgt on
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It can also be a sign of good sleep hygeine. All depends on how you feel in the morning. The average sleep time is between 5 and 15 minutes.
Kath Hope said:Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news Julie, but yesterday I read somewhere that if people fall asleep as soon as their head hits the pillow, it's a sure sign of sleep deprivation LOL. Or is it the booze...... yes Big Brother's watching you LOL
Julie said:
Hi Kath
Well I'm glad to say that I don't have any of these symptoms, my head hits that pillow and within about 30 seconds I'm a goner, dead to the world until my hubby switches on the light in the morning after he has had his breakfast. I don't even wake up when he gets up for his shower. He plays in a band and comes in late some nights carrying all this heavy bass gear and if I go to bed before he comes home I don't even hear him coming in. Must admit I do wake up when he comes to bed...but only for a spilt second then I'm gone again.
Anyway going to watch some tv now and relax....away to watch Lord Sugar fire somebody.
Thanks for all your hard work on here Kath, much appreciated.
Julie
xx
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Hi Rock,
Now when I read "good sleep hygeine" I started to think...washed my face, brushed my teeth, changed my bed, etc,etc but I know you mean something else LOL Must admit that I feel tired most mornings but to be honest that may be down to not getting to bed early enough. I always plan to get there for 10pm but it's normally between 11:30 and midnight getting back up at 7am each morning. I get to 10pm and I think I'll just watch the rest of this program then off to bed. Then on the way to bed I stop by the PC to switch it off and think I'll just have a quick look at my emails and facebook and before I know it another hour has passed then I start rushing about like a headless chicken trying to get to bed quickly and get some zzzzs. I still manage to drop off within about a minute or so and this sort of runs in the family. My Dad who doesn't have sleep apnoea can do this too.
Thanks so much for your comments Rock, I'm always interested in reading your posts although I don't always have the energy to read everything on here.
Kind regards
Julie
Rock said:It can also be a sign of good sleep hygeine. All depends on how you feel in the morning. The average sleep time is between 5 and 15 minutes.
Kath Hope said:Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news Julie, but yesterday I read somewhere that if people fall asleep as soon as their head hits the pillow, it's a sure sign of sleep deprivation LOL. Or is it the booze...... yes Big Brother's watching you LOL
Julie said:
Hi Kath
Well I'm glad to say that I don't have any of these symptoms, my head hits that pillow and within about 30 seconds I'm a goner, dead to the world until my hubby switches on the light in the morning after he has had his breakfast. I don't even wake up when he gets up for his shower. He plays in a band and comes in late some nights carrying all this heavy bass gear and if I go to bed before he comes home I don't even hear him coming in. Must admit I do wake up when he comes to bed...but only for a spilt second then I'm gone again.
Anyway going to watch some tv now and relax....away to watch Lord Sugar fire somebody.
Thanks for all your hard work on here Kath, much appreciated.
Julie
xx
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Permalink Reply by suzie Stiles on
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Just thought I would drop in and catch up on whats been happening and let you know how things are going with my cpap.
I'm half way through my root canal/crown treatment so wearing the cpap has been a bit hit and miss. However, I did pluck up the courage to go back to my GP and REALLY insist on some help with the wind/bloated problem and I also asked to be referred back to the sleep clinic. Think my tears & tantrum worked and the doc finally took my issues seriously. However before referring me back to the sleep clinic she wanted to investigate the wind/bloated. Anyway to cut a long story short it would seem I have acid reflux and since being prescribed a drug and these has REALLY helped the wind (thankfully)!! Hopefully this will help get me back on track using my cpap again.
One final question for everyone, does anyone ever faint in the night if they wake up and get up? This has happened to me a couple of times lately. I've woken up and needed a drink, so got out of bed and promptly fainted and ended up on the floor ....scary!
Hope everyone is well and sleeping well --- off to read the other threads now xxx
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Great news that you've been helped re the awful bloated feeling :) However, not so great on hearing about the fainting episodes, and hope that someone on here can throw some light on this. My first thoughts are is your blood pressure ok? So pleased you're being referred back to the sleep clinic too and they'll hopefully give you another sleep study after all that weight loss.
Thanks for keeping us informed, and look forward to the next chapter......... meanwhile, keep well!
suzie Stiles said:Just thought I would drop in and catch up on whats been happening and let you know how things are going with my cpap.
I'm half way through my root canal/crown treatment so wearing the cpap has been a bit hit and miss. However, I did pluck up the courage to go back to my GP and REALLY insist on some help with the wind/bloated problem and I also asked to be referred back to the sleep clinic. Think my tears & tantrum worked and the doc finally took my issues seriously. However before referring me back to the sleep clinic she wanted to investigate the wind/bloated. Anyway to cut a long story short it would seem I have acid reflux and since being prescribed a drug and these has REALLY helped the wind (thankfully)!! Hopefully this will help get me back on track using my cpap again.
One final question for everyone, does anyone ever faint in the night if they wake up and get up? This has happened to me a couple of times lately. I've woken up and needed a drink, so got out of bed and promptly fainted and ended up on the floor ....scary!
Hope everyone is well and sleeping well --- off to read the other threads now xxx
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Permalink Reply by carol murphy on
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Hi Suzie
Just read this thread with interest and wondered how is your sleep now your reflux is being treated?
The reason I ask is I noticed my 3yr old Travis quality of sleep has improved since upping his omeprazole doze and wondered how you had got on
carol
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Hi Carol
Im taking 40mgs omeprazole a day and the first few weeks were great sleep wise but Ive noticed Im burping (and other things)a bit more now and the sleep is not quite so good as at first BUT I am still having a few problems with my cpap so maybe its not related. How much is Travis taking? xxx
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Hi Suzie
Travis is on 20mg ...it is weight dependant in children and dose is based on mg/kg not sure if thats also the case for adults and maybe you have room to shift the dose ..... there is other meds omeprazole is a proton pump inhibitor it reduces acid production ranitidine or zantac is a histamine H2 receptor antagonist that inhibits stomach acid production...... so maybe you could add something else to the mix if its less effective ...... also with GERD (reflux) certain foods can aggrevate it
Sorry to hear you are still having issues with the CPAP have no noticed any improvements ? xx
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Suzie's improvement on CPAP was losing 10 stones - wow! Can you believe it? Didn't she do well?
carol murphy said:
Hi Suzie
Travis is on 20mg ...it is weight dependant in children and dose is based on mg/kg not sure if thats also the case for adults and maybe you have room to shift the dose ..... there is other meds omeprazole is a proton pump inhibitor it reduces acid production ranitidine or zantac is a histamine H2 receptor antagonist that inhibits stomach acid production...... so maybe you could add something else to the mix if its less effective ...... also with GERD (reflux) certain foods can aggrevate it
Sorry to hear you are still having issues with the CPAP have no noticed any improvements ? xx
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WOW that truely is an accomplishment well done Suzie :)
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Hey Suzie
Great that you've sorted out the wind problem sorted but not so good re the fainting. I can honestly say that if I get up during the night I have never felt faint or dizzy and I've never passed out in my life. On occassions I have visual disturbance but I'm sure that's not related to sleep apnoea. I do know that blood pressure can play a part as my mother in law passes out now and again and it's down to her blood pressue dropping quickly. Did the doc check your blood pressure when you visited? It is important to have this checked regularly whether you have sleep apnoea or not. Hope your root canal work is nearly complete.....I would struggle with that as I have a fear of the dentist brought on by brutal school dentist.
Take care
Julie
xx
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