Is Sleep Apnea Robbing You of Restful Sleep and Destroying Your Health?
October 29, 2008 by Carrie Tucker
Filed under COPD- Lung Disease, Disease Management, Heart, Sleep Apnea
Your family will probably notice your sleep issue before you do. It they are worried, you should be.
If you live alone, you may not be aware that you stop breathing while you sleep.
Do you feel tired all the time?
Do you fall asleep easily during the day?
Sleep apnea victims often fall asleep while standing up or driving. To avoid serious injury or death, time is of the essence.
Beyond these obvious signs of sleep apnea, the condition may go unnoticed and untreated.
Over the 10 years that I spent advocating for patients that I suspected had sleep apnea, the length of time that it took for those patients to schedule a sleep study, and to get those results read by a doctor shocked and alarmed me.
Often patients had to schedule a second sleep study to evaluate which equipment would treat the condition best, before any treatment was provided.
It was not unusual for patients to wait an entire year for treatment of dangerous sleep apnea!
An entire year from the time they got the order for the study, to the time they got equipment in their homes!
I had worried about many of these people for 3–4 years before the attending physicians did any type of evaluation.
I don’t know if this is typical, as the area is very rural, but I was very disappointed that sleep apnea was not taken more seriously.
These patients were often discharged from the hospital without sleep apnea equipment, even though there was documented sleep apnea during their hospitalization.
You can’t put all the blame on overwhelmed physicians. I think we should hold the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology accountable as well.
A joint statement from the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology, called for large-scale studies to determine the mechanism for the link between sleep apnea, and the increased risk for dying from cardiovascular disease.
Come on now. They acknowledge that “desaturation of blood oxygen levels is a stressor”, but I’d say that dangerously low blood oxygen level is a MORE than a stressor!
If dangerously low blood oxygen levels are not responsible, then maybe not breathing until your carbon dioxide climbs is.
High level carbon dioxide will cause your blood pH level to rise which effectively fries your body with acidity. (Check out the ruler, your pH drops when you stop breathing!)
Image via Wikipedia
So why the hell do we need to research further?
What I saw with my patients concerned me SO much that I was always compelled to DO SOMETHING, anything to try and get people the help they need TODAY.
Why is the American Heart Association choosing to fund further research instead of spending those dollars on solutions for the individual.
After all the lead researcher, Terry Young, PhD, professor of epidemiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison said,
“In epidemiology you rarely get such strong, robust findings. This strong association between sleep apnea and increased risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular risk was striking.”
I say enough spending on endless research. Finances are only a valuable resource when put to good use.
The increasing obese population will make sleep apnea even more prevalent in the near future, and weight gain is also a side effect of sleep apnea. The time to evaluate and act is AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!
Protect your health! You are worth it.
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Many blessings,
Carrie
PS– Remember everyday:
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Relax and Release tension
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Take deeep breaths
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Be active in a way that adds joy to your life
Plus pure water ~whole foods~sunshine~and laughter
I have sleep apnea and apparently have had it for years and years and didn’t know it. An off handed comment to my dr. led me to sleep studies and first a CPAP machine and now a BIPAP machine. My oxygen levels are much better. In January, I developed pnuemonia and my oxygen levels were so low, I didn’t know what time of day it was or where I was. Very scary to saw the least. That was the beginning of a 5 month oxygen use. I’ve read millions have signs of sleep apnea and many realize but do nothing about it. Most people don’t realize how important oxygen is. I am so grateful to the dr. that put me on the right track. There is much information on this site that is very helpful. Thank you, Carrie.
Hello Linda,
Thank God you got help! CPAP is used to keep the airway open. BIPAP is used when the problem is more than just your airway. You actually need your sleep apnea machine to breathe for you, when you don’t.
I’m sure your doctor explained this to you. I review it here, as a reminder that the equipment is critically important. Many patients tire of using the equipment, and of course it doesn’t help if you don’t use it!
Be well,
Many blessings,
Carrie
I use it every night without fail. The only problem is that I wake up and there’s no pressurized air sometimes, which scares the hell out of me. I have a respironics auto biflex machine, so I don’t understand why the dr. won’t prescribe it to be on automatic. Drs. can be so frustrating at times. I was tested for COPD and thank god I don’t have that. I also use inhalers as I have chronic bronchial asthma.
Glad to hear you are using it nightly. Drs. can definitely be frustrating, just remember, the squeaky wheel gets the grease! Try to explain what it is that scares you when you wake at night, and ask if there isn’t another setting you might experiment with to see if it solves your issue. I have learned that being vague and allowing them to be the hero, is the best way to get your Dr. to “save the day”. Most seem to love being the hero. Let it be his/her idea and you might get some where. Hate to sound cynical, but hey whatever works!
Take care, and many blessings,
Carrie