Is sleep apnea a REAL illness????

I have been diagnosed with sleep apnea, but I'm still not sure if I believe in it... I'm having a hard time believing all my problems could be from 'lack of sleep.' (I have most every problem related to apnea, except I have not had a stroke--thank goodness.) I think I have early onset Alzheimer's, to tell the truth. I am 5 days C & S (Clean & Sober). I started using my new c-pap machine 5 nights ago. So far I don't see ANY improvement with the machine, in fact I feel worse, so I feel like my fears might be justified...? Any comments?

Welcome, Underwater Babe.
Please fill in your equipment under user control panel, so we can help you better.
Swallowing air is called "aerophagia", many of us had it when we started. There are solutions.
Of the who few who continue to have it, many use BIPAP machines for some relief.
It has been only 5 days; it may take longer--it usually does.

Could you please take the time to add your equipment to your profile equipment page. This would help us help you better and faster.
Here's how.. Please use the text option...if you use pictures we can't tell model type and model type is very important.
wiki/index.php/Registering_Equipment_in_User_Profile

Swallowing of air is called aerophagia it is common and there are some things that can be done to limit it.
You can google it and find tons of reading.
5 days is way too soon to expect any marked improvement even if the therapy is optimal.
You need to figure out if therapy is optimal...how many hours a night do you use the machine? What is your pressure?
Let's figure out if you are lucky enough to have a machine that offers full data and has easy to obtain software so we can evaluate pressure and leaks.
There's a whole lot more to effective therapy than just slapping the mask on for a few hours each night.

YES YES YES...It is a real illness....why would we all be here if it were not.
I hope that you stick around and get any other questions that you might have or get help that you need answered .
Good luck on the road to better sleep.
Cheers
Nan

to me illness means like a illness that you catch and cure. this is more of a permanent medical condition, a physical defect that that you have always had. i think the word illness sends out the wrong message to those that are just learning about this.

This forum is over a thousand pages long; there are hundreds of members.
You are not alone. If you want better health, better sleep, and a chance at a better life, stick around.
Apnea has killed people for generations--you may have lost relatives to it; but you may not know it.
Mainstream medicine recognizes it, insurance companies and Medicare cover treatment.
Welcome to the party.

I am 5 days new to the c-pap process myself. I guess it should be called a condition then?? I am just wondering really if it has been hard for others to accept that such a 'simple' thing could cause SO MANY problems. IE: If I am lacking sleep I know I will be grouchy, etc. but to have ALL the things that are wrong with me-- from diabetes to memory loss??? It's really hard for me to believe BUT I WOULD LIKE to believe it!! BTW: I have been recently diagnosed with severe sleep apnea but have probably had it for 25 to 30 years.

Hello and welcome. Congrats on your last 5 days - a great start into your future. You are going in the right direction by seeking more information that can bring you to a better understanding of what is happening to you. Thinking of it as simply "lack of sleep" doesn't carry the same impact as looking at all OSA and sleep deprivation can entail. For instance, low oxygen can kill brain cells and damage other organs if severe enough. If lack of sleep means not having the right proportions of the sleep stages and you are missing deep sleep and REM sleep, there can be consequences to health and cognition. There's been all kinds of discussion about inflammatory processes, stress hormones, imbalance of appetite hormones, metabolic changes, adverse mood effect, increased risk of hypertension and diabetes... which all add up to a probable effect on both the longevity and quality of life.

While 5 days is a good start, it's probably not reasonable to expect too much too soon. You didn't get this way in a week. You are entering into a period of recovery,and that recovery is best supported by therapeutic treatment of your OSA and adequate quantity and quality sleep over time for the body and brain to experience healing. This is also a good time to make sure you are nutritionally sound and not deficient. Consistently give your body and brain what they need to recover, and watch how things improve. There's no way to predict the degree or speed of recovery. Some end up better than ever, others have varying degrees of improvement. Persistence and consistency will serve you well. Best wishes.

UnderWaterBabe wrote:I am 5 days new to the c-pap process myself. I guess it should be called a condition then?? I am just wondering really if it has been hard for others to accept that such a 'simple' thing could cause SO MANY problems. IE: If I am lacking sleep I know I will be grouchy, etc. but to have ALL the things that are wrong with me-- from diabetes to memory loss??? It's really hard for me to believe BUT I WOULD LIKE to believe it!! BTW: I have been recently diagnosed with severe sleep apnea but have probably had it for 25 to 30 years.

Welcome. You really need to take some time here on this forum and elsewhere on the interwebs and research your new "condition". Sleep Apnea may sound sound "simple" but, untreated can inflict devastating and sometimes fatal effects on your body. It can also make other conditions worse. Keep at it and don't expect to see the effects of years of bad sleep and low o2 blood levels to dissapear in 5 days. It may take weeks or months to feel better. It's different for all of us.

The important thing to to realize you have a serious health issue and you are just starting the road to treatment and felling better. Don't give up.

Wow!

Is sleep apnea a REAL illness????

Let me use a parallel example: Is diabetes a real illness????

If you answer "no" to that one, I would tell you to have your will made out and be prepared to die young. Oh, that's right. That's what I would say if you think that sleep apnea is not real. It happens all the time. Don't believe it? Try this one on for a moment:

... over an 18-year period, people with severe, untreated sleep apnea died a rate more than three times that of those without apnea.

See: http://www.uwhealth.org/referring-physi ... rers/13986

Yikes! A 300% increase in the number of people that die is NOT a statistical fluke. Yes, sleep apnea is real. And the consequences of untreated sleep apnea are VERY real.

But go ahead and don't believe it .. just do your family the favor of having your affairs in order.

PS ... Sorry if that's the harsh approach. I've lost my grandfather and a couple friends from untreated sleep apnea. I ended up with Chronic Kidney Disease (Stage 3) due to being unable to have my central apnea taken seriously by my doctors. The good news is that if you take it seriously and use the prescribed therapy you will greatly reduce ALL of those health risks ... just like the diabetic that takes their condition seriously.

The good news is that you did find a good place to get answers on how to make the therapy work for you.

So, welcome and hope you will find answers to help you make peace with your situation.

Define "REAL"
Define "Illness"

Define "De-Nile"

The answer is among these things. Nowdays anything can be anything, and everything and is also no-ones fault unless we can place the blame on others. We are living in the Land of No Fault!

Loss of good quality sleep is REAL, but it's not catching. To date it's not got a pill or shot or a cure, just a treatment to make life better. Jim

Wearing the mask is inconvenient, the equipment expensive; waking up refreshed and clear-headed, with no headache: PRICELESS!

Hi - think about it another way, not just as a sleep problem, but as a problem which every single night, all night, for years and ?? years has stolen uncountable amounts of oxygen from effectively every part of your system... do you not think that impacts your body and life?

UnderWaterBabe wrote: I have been diagnosed with sleep apnea, but I'm still not sure if I believe in it... I'm having a hard time believing all my problems could be from 'lack of sleep.' (I have most every problem related to apnea, except I have not had a stroke--thank goodness.) I think I have early onset Alzheimer's, to tell the truth. I am 5 days C & S (Clean & Sober). I started using my new c-pap machine 5 nights ago. So far I don't see ANY improvement with the machine, in fact I feel worse, so I feel like my fears might be justified...? Any comments?

More specifically, it's a "breathing disorder"......while you sleep.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is just that.....your airway (nasal or throat) is obstructed and you're deprived of oxygen.
Central Sleep Apnea (CSA) is more neurological.....your brain fails to make your body breathe and you're deprived of oxygen.
Mixed Apnea is a combination of both.

That lack of oxygen puts great stress on your various internal organs and can/will cause many other conditions and diseases.

Believe it!

PS - Even after you get your therapy working properly, it can take weeks to months to feel the benefits and a recovery. You also have a "sleep debt" to pay back, too.


Den

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