How serious is sleep apnea?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My father had life long sleep apnea, all night long. He did have a heart attack at 55, had a pacemaker put in at 70, but never had a CPAP machine. Lived to 92.

I'm very jealous. My dad had it and died of a massive heart attack at 51. He had lost any extra weight he was carrying by mid 40s, but obviously the lack of oxygen took its toll. Wish we had more awareness back then (1993).

[Anonymous]

It means your throat is closing (among other mechsnisms) and no oxygen is going to your brain. So you wake up to not die. Are you drowsy during the day (due to those sleep interruptions).

That is an oversimplification, but you should go to a specialist (probably a neurologist) who will ask you some questions and then likely order a sleep study.

[Anonymous]

What is stopping you from getting a CPAP machine?

Fwiw, I had it (my dad did as well), and I had a surgery at 18 (more than 20 years ago) to fix it. The surgeon fixed the problem permanently. I never snored again, I sleep through the night, no complications. I think it's one of the best things I've ever done for myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband has sleep apnea. He had a sleep study and got a cpap which changed our quality of life. You are never going to lose the weight, let’s be honest.

One potential benefit of using a cpap is weight loss because once you’re getting better sleep you have more energy in the daytime, cortisol levels go down, etc.

[Anonymous]

A neighbor of mine also died of sleep apnea. He died in his sleep at 39. He had a CPAP, but didn't always use it. My understanding is that sleep apnea can directly cause death by a person’s breathing being infrequent enough to create tissue death leading to a fatal heart attack or stroke.

[Anonymous]

Very seriously. Can be deadly

[Anonymous]

Please take it seriously! It really raises your risk for some severe heart issues like stroke and a-fib! You can get it under control with a CPAP!!

[Anonymous]

Not OP but a snorer. Snoring isn’t always apnea though, right? I snore but it’s very regular. My concern about sleep studies is I’m skeptical they ever find that someone doesn’t need a cpap device. There’s a lot of $$$ to be made in this area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not OP but a snorer. Snoring isn’t always apnea though, right? I snore but it’s very regular. My concern about sleep studies is I’m skeptical they ever find that someone doesn’t need a cpap device. There’s a lot of $$$ to be made in this area.

Snoring doesn't always mean sleep apnea, no. I know snorers who've had sleep studies and did not go home to CPAPs. Some just got mouth guards, some got nothing.

I'm not a snorer, but did get a sleep study because I was having constant fatigue. I'm apparently just an active sleeper. I did not get a CPAP, or anything, for that matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not OP but a snorer. Snoring isn’t always apnea though, right? I snore but it’s very regular. My concern about sleep studies is I’m skeptical they ever find that someone doesn’t need a cpap device. There’s a lot of $$$ to be made in this area.

you are avoiding a sleep study because you believe there is a cpap conspiracy?

[Anonymous]

I posted recently because I just got an Apple Watch that tracks sleep and I think I may have sleep apnea. I'm honestly freaked out about the idea of a sleep study more than the idea of a CPAP. Has anyone gotten a diagnosis without a lab sleep study?

[Anonymous]

Definitely get a sleep study! My DH has had a CPAP machine for several years now. During the sleep study they discovered that he was stopping breathing several times per minute all night long. His blood oxygen was dipping into the 60s. He was also so tired all day he could barely function. Granted, you may not have apnea this severe (or at all) but you definitely want to rule this out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My father had life long sleep apnea, all night long. He did have a heart attack at 55, had a pacemaker put in at 70, but never had a CPAP machine. Lived to 92.

I'm very jealous. My dad had it and died of a massive heart attack at 51. He had lost any extra weight he was carrying by mid 40s, but obviously the lack of oxygen took its toll. Wish we had more awareness back then (1993).

I'll never know if he had heart disease from the apnea. All of my friend's fathers had heart attacks in the age range from 49 to 65, and a good portion of them died. They all had bypasses at some point, sometimes 2 or more. This was before statins. Before sleep studies, before stents.

My Dad did absolutely have apnea, though. I think I have sleep issues literally from hearing him snore, stop, choke, and snore all night longcfor the whole time I lived with them . This continued his whole life, and one thing he could do is fall asleep in a chair anywhere for minutes to hours at anytime. He was sleep deprived.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is speep apnea tested?

With a sleep study

Yes, but how is it conducted? If I'm in a lab, wired up, I can tell you right now I'm not going to be asleep really.

At home wired up- better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is speep apnea tested?

With a sleep study

Yes, but how is it conducted? If I'm in a lab, wired up, I can tell you right now I'm not going to be asleep really.

At home wired up- better.

The lab is essentially a hotel room but at a sleep center. They’ll have snacks and a tv too. I thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep but I did.