Sleep Apnea

Types of Sleep Apnea

There are two types of sleep apnea, Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Central Sleep Apnea. CPAP is used in when a person has Obstructive Sleep Apnea. This page is devoted to general Sleep Apnea facts - syptoms, risk factors and getting diagnosed. For information on the two specific types visit Obstructive Sleep Apnea or the page Central Sleep Apnea by clicking on the word.

Sleep Apnea Symptoms

Do I have Sleep Apnea? What are the symptoms and risk factors for Sleep Apnea? See the CPAP Wiki page dedicated to these issues here.

The Boiled Frog Analogy

Maybe you’ve heard this story. If you put a healthy frog into a pot of hot water, it will quickly jump out. If you put a frog into a pot of lukewarm water, and very gradually increase the temperature, it will stay in the pot until boiled. In the hot water, the frog noticed instant discomfort and danger and took action. In the tepid water, it was lulled into complacency until unaware or unable to take action. How does this translate to sleep apnea? Have you unconsciously adapted to fatigue and eventually daytime sleepiness because its progression was so long and gradual? Have you found other reasons for fatigue, while making the best of circumstances? Are those reasons valid? You can find out by consulting a physician, taking informal sleep quizzes and, if indicated, getting a sleep study in a sleep lab. When you find the real reason for your fatigue, you can crawl out of the pot to change, improve, or reverse the condition.

Diagnosing Sleep Apnea

Who can Diagnose Sleep Apnea?

Sleep doctor, Ear/Nose/Throat doctor, pulmonologist, cardiologist, eye specialist, allergist, surgeon, dentist, other specialist

Who makes the best sleep Doctor?

A CPAPtalk thread discusses this issue here.

Visiting the Sleep Lab

For information on Sleep Study options and advice visit the page devoted to Sleep Studies.
(Click the term 'Sleep Studies' in the proceeding sentence.)

Working with Physicians, Insurance and DMEs

See the page devoted to working with Physicians, Insurace and DMEs [here].

Treating Sleep Apnea

To learn more about Treating Sleep Apnea, visit the page devoted to CPAP newbies, found on the CPAP Wiki sidebar or here.

The ABCD's of Treating Sleep Apnea

by sleepguide submitted by ozji

Here's a simple way to remember what I wish I had known at the very beginning of my own Sleep Apnea treatment: my ABCD's of Sleep Apnea treatment. The hope is that you will not have to stumble over or run into as many obstacles as I did.

A is for Attitude

The key is that oft-repeated phrase: "whether you think you can, or you think you can't, either way you're right." Sleep Apnea treatment has much to do with attitude. What got me over the hump is realizing that even if it doesn't kill me as fast as cancer or a heart attack would, it slowly would undermine my body and accelerate my path to death, all the while eating away at my quality of life. It's also 100% treatable if the proper treatment is used. Given those two facts, I choose to get serious about treatment. It was as easy as that.

B is for Buying

Tough to hear, but yes, having Sleep Apnea means you will at one point or another have to shell out dough out of your own pocket. We Americans have an attitude that when it comes to maintaining our cars or our lawns, it's normal to pay something to keep these things in good order, but that when it comes to our own bodies and health, someone else, whether it be insurance companies or Medicare, has to foot the bill. Granted, we pay taxes and insurance premiums to cover this stuff, but the hard cold truth is that it won't foot the entire bill. We can agitate for better health care, but in the meantime, we need to take ownership over our lives and pay the difference between what insurance and Medicare will pay and what it will not.

Once we have this consumer mindset toward our own health, we gain more control and can be more proactive. Data capable machines are better to get than dumb black boxes. Auto-adjusting machines give you more options than "straight" machines. The latest mask on the market represents the latest technology in making these things comfortable to use, and will most likely be easier to use than the one that's in your closet not being used because it makes the bridge of your nose sore. You can get all this stuff online, if you're willing and able to fork over the cash.

C is for Collaboration

Getting well with Sleep Apnea is tough to do on your own. The reason is that there's a lot to know, and that there's no "one-size-fits-all" answer to how to make it all work. So you will need to rely on others. The doctor should be your primary collaborator, but for that to be the case you will need a rare type of doctor -- one who's not defensive about what he/she doesn't know, and who will treat someone like yourself (assuming you don't have a medical degree) with an ounce of respect and an open mind. Often doctors can learn a lot about this stuff from their patients, but it's a rare doctor indeed who will try.

Which is why you'll also need to research all you can online, and reach out through forums like this to others who have Sleep Apnea. Even though we don't have medical degrees, the kind of day-to-day stuff you need to know about Sleep Apnea can often be discovered by interacting with other regular people in similar circumstances.

D is for Documentation

Get a copy of your full sleep study and titration reports. Then ask your doctor for, and obtain, as open-ended a prescription for a PAP device and mask as possible -- doctors can write a script for, say, a "ResMed Mirage Micro Nasal Face Mask" (specific), or they can simply write a script for "a mask according to patient's comfort and choice" (open-ended). Make sure they write the latter. Armed with your full sleep report and open-ended prescriptions (which you should keep in a safe place, by the way), you'll give yourself the ability to double check on things and get advice from everyone in the world you trust, including the people on this forum. In other words, you'll give yourself options and control.

Selecting your CPAP Equipment

For information regarding specific PAP equipment and choices see the page devoted to CPAP.

Relevant CPAPtalk Posts

Symptom Posts

Is it you or sleep apnea? http://www.cpaptalk.com/viewtopic/t17785/I-am-not-sure-everyone-understands.html?sid=2226cb049bfe94a360773a79e7d9ac78

Awareness for doctors and patients http://www.cpaptalk.com/viewtopic/t25205/Waking-Up-to-the-Problem-of-OSA--Improved-Recognition.html

What took you so long to seek diagnosis http://www.cpaptalk.com/viewtopic/t22134/What-took-you-so-long.html

What led to diagnosis http://www.cpaptalk.com/viewtopic/t23161/What-led-you-to-your-diagnosis-of-apnea.html

All ages http://www.cpaptalk.com/viewtopic/t27149/Can-young-people-have-Sleep-Apnea.html

Sleep apnea symptoms http://www.sleepdisordersguide.com/sleep-apnea-symptoms.html

More consequences, scroll down for the post from neversleeps: http://www.cpaptalk.com/viewtopic.php?t=16134&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15

Non-snorers with sleep apnea http://www.cpaptalk.com/viewtopic/t13698/Any-non-snorers-with-obstructive-sleep-apnea.html

Sleep apnea but not tired http://www.cpaptalk.com/viewtopic/t24108/I-have-severe-sleep-apnea-but-Im-not-tired-anyone-else.html

Weird symptoms http://www.cpaptalk.com/viewtopic/t24642/so-what-was-you-wierd-not-listed-symptom.html

How long have you had sleep apnea http://www.cpaptalk.com/viewtopic.php?t=21675&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=

How SA affects life and health, scroll down for the post by countrygent http://www.cpaptalk.com/viewtopic/t26485/Well-Here-Goes.html

Dad refuses to see doctor http://www.cpaptalk.com/viewtopic.php?t=15831&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Trucker headed to court http://www.cpaptalk.com/viewtopic.php?t=16490&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Lucky to be treated http://www.cpaptalk.com/viewtopic/t16484/Im-SOOOOO-Lucky.html

See the peer coaching articles at http://smart-sleep-apnea.blogspot.com on Sleep Study Tests, Introduction to Sleep Apnea, More Sleep-Related Web Sites, and CPAP Machine Choices.

Sleep Lab Posts

Discussion threads:

http://www.cpaptalk.com/viewtopic/t14035/Cheap-Sleep-Apnea-Screening-Diagnosis-and-Auto-CPAP-Rx.html

http://www.cpaptalk.com/viewtopic/t14578/At-Home-Obstructive-Sleep-Apnea-Screener-Now-Available.html

Comments from a SleepStrip engineer: http://www.cpaptalk.com/viewtopic.php?t=14035&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15=Sleep Symptoms=