Author Topic: anybody else on C-PAP? (Read 636 times)

culero · « **on:** March 02, 2005, 12:22:43 AM »

I started last week. Tough to get used to, but undeniably good results.

culero

Sandman · « **Reply #1 on:** March 02, 2005, 12:24:01 AM »

Never heard of it... what does it do?

culero · « **Reply #2 on:** March 02, 2005, 12:28:17 AM »

Continous Powered Airway Pressure. Its the preferred treatment for severe sleep apnea.

CLICK HERE for some detail.

Pain in the bellybutton to wear a mask while sleeping, but I haven't rested this well in a LONG time, the reduction in fatigue during waking hours is profound.

culero

Nash · « **Reply #3 on:** March 02, 2005, 12:35:22 AM »

In the last coupla days, we've had posts about heel spurs, high cholesteral, sleep apnea, blackouts.... hell, even nosehairs.

At this point it is beyond any shadow of a doubt....

One day, boys and girls, we are going to be comparing hip replacement notes.

ChickenHawk · « **Reply #4 on:** March 02, 2005, 12:50:19 AM »

Yeah, about three years now. Took a while to get used to but I sleep much better with it. My wife loves it because it stops the snoring.

Both kids are on it too.

culero · « **Reply #5 on:** March 02, 2005, 12:56:59 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by ChickenHawk
Yeah, about three years now. Took a while to get used to but I sleep much better with it. My wife loves it because it stops the snoring.

Both kids are on it too.

Ya'll humidify?

Mask or nose pillows?

culero

GRUNHERZ · « **Reply #6 on:** March 02, 2005, 01:09:10 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Nash
In the last coupla days, we've had posts about heel spurs, high cholesteral, sleep apnea, blackouts.... hell, even nosehairs.

At this point it is beyond any shadow of a doubt....

One day, boys and girls, we are going to be comparing hip replacement notes.

Now, now, young whippersnapper, lets not skip past dentures.. What are ya, in a hurry or something?

GRUNHERZ · « **Reply #7 on:** March 02, 2005, 01:09:57 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by ChickenHawk

Both kids are on it too.

Why?

ChickenHawk · « **Reply #8 on:** March 02, 2005, 01:11:47 AM »

The kids humidify. I don't only because they didn't have any that did when I got mine.

We all use the mask but I've been considering trying the pillows. I'm kinda curious to know if anyone here likes the pillows better.

GRUNHERZ · « **Reply #9 on:** March 02, 2005, 01:12:57 AM »

Why do your kids need it?

Raubvogel · « **Reply #10 on:** March 02, 2005, 01:23:02 AM »

I use Maker's Mark. Sleep like a log.

SOB · « **Reply #11 on:** March 02, 2005, 01:23:18 AM »

Been using one for about a year now with a nasal mask (not pillows). No humidifier, but I live in Oregon, and we've got plenty of humidity.

Quote

Originally posted by Sandman
Never heard of it... what does it do?

For OSA (Obstructive Sleep Apnea), it pressurizes your airway to keep the tissue from collapsing when the muscles around your throat relax while sleeping. Generally, the cause of this is being a big fat fatty, and the result is that you don't ever really get enough uninterrupted REM, and you don't go through the sleep states like normal people. Basically, an Apnea is when you stop breathing. When this happens, your brain gets uppity and forces you to wake up...generally not fully concious, just enough to conciously take a breath. Then you go back to sleep and the whole cycle repeats itself. When I was tested, I had an apnea an average of every 45 seconds while sleeping. The machine is a wonder, I'd actually be getting full nights of sleep were it not for school, and I get to look like a fighter pilot while I am sleeping (I just need to get myself a helmet)!

-edit- Oh, and it eliminates the snoring too, which is a side effect of OSA. And by snoring, I mean snarling and grunting like an angry bear fighting a cougar.

ChickenHawk · « **Reply #12 on:** March 02, 2005, 01:24:21 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by GRUNHERZ
Why do your kids need it?

They have both been diagnosed with sleep disturbances. My daughter sleep walks when she forgets to wear it. She sleeps just fine if she does wear it.

Sleep apnea and sleep disturbances have very little to do with age, weight or environment. Unfortunatly it's genetic.

LePaul · « **Reply #13 on:** March 02, 2005, 01:41:34 AM »

Yea, friend had sleep apnea pretty bad. He'll sit down on the couch and then be out. He'll go thru the who sound effect routine and then semi-wake up and resume the breathing. Scared the **** out of the dog. He'd start with that snarling and my cattledog would growl and bark, causing him to wake up...breathing, but pissed at the dog. Cycle would repeat a few times an hour. Man he hated that dog

Suave · « **Reply #14 on:** March 02, 2005, 02:30:46 AM »

Most people with sleep apnea don't die from it, they die from the heart dysrhythmias and hypertension that arise from having sleep apnea. And one could speculate that they slowly grow stupid from the brain damage incurred from the nightly hypoxic episodes. As SOB says, in normal people it's a direct result from being obese. That means if you're an able bodied person it's completely curable.

To stay healthy you're blood oxygen saturation level needs to remain above 92%. You do anything you can including respirators and entubation to keep an otherwise healthy persons o2 sats higher than 90%. I've had patients who have untreated, sleep apnea. And you can watch their o2 saturation drop down very low. At about 78% (15 second period of apnea) I don't watch it drop anymore, I go and wake them. Imagine what it's like for them at home where nobody is monitoring their blood o2 saturation.