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Permalink Reply by steve Archer on February 9, 2010 at 2:38am

Hi, have you ever had a full polysomnography to see if you have central sleep apnea? If you have central apnea the cpap or bipap wont do the job. you may need a macine that actually gives you breaths when you stop breathing . The machines are call servo ventilators. resmed and respironics makes them.. a specialty item..expensive but they do work if you need it. I work in canada for a sleep apnea company.. just started a patient today on one. auto bipap sv unit... hope you get some answers..... steve

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Permalink Reply by Chase Smith, RPSGT on February 9, 2010 at 3:14am

Steve is right. You need to talk to your doctors about trying a machine with some type of auto servo controller. It will likely require another full night polysomnogram with titration. I have seen these machines work wonders on pt's in the past.

Chase Smith, RPSGT

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Permalink Reply by RockRpsgt on February 9, 2010 at 8:02am

I agree. If CPAP and BPAP have both failed then some sort of servo ventilator is the next step.

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Permalink Reply by Guy Brown on February 9, 2010 at 3:39pm

Thank you everyone for the advice. I have had several sleep studies done while using severval types of machines. Nothing works because when I stop breathing for minutes at a time, I wake up swinging, like I am drowning in my sleep, and I rip off the mask. The last study performed, the attendant had to wake me over 20 times to put the mask back on my face! The last resort that a surgeon has offered me is a tracheotomy.

Another note of frustration, Social Security denied my benefits for the forth time. I guess I should be greatful that I lived another day. Some many times I have died in my sleep and spoke with the Angels of God. I have not been able to use the machines since day one, and it has been 15 years since diagnosed with Apnea. In the past 5 years, I have had 12 heart attacks, several motor vehicle accidents (fell asleep while driving), and halucinate all of the time.

Still alive for Today!

Thanks for all of your support!!!!

Guy Brown,
Topock, Arizona

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Permalink Reply by Guy Brown on February 9, 2010 at 4:11pm

I no longer drive, thinking about getting a horse!

j n k said:

Trache ain't such a bad operation these days.

Get it done, find a way to make something else work eventually once the rest of you heals, then get the trache operation undone, since it is totally reversible.

The angels should be just fine without you for a while.

And your continuing to drive without effective treatment may not be the most loving thing to do for your fellowman, my man.

jeff

Guy Brown said:

Thank you everyone for the advice. I have had several sleep studies done while using severval types of machines. Nothing works because when I stop breathing for minutes at a time, I wake up swinging, like I am drowning in my sleep, and I rip off the mask. The last study performed, the attendant had to wake me over 20 times to put the mask back on my face! The last resort that a surgeon has offered me is a tracheotomy.

Another note of frustration, Social Security denied my benefits for the forth time. I guess I should be greatful that I lived another day. Some many times I have died in my sleep and spoke with the Angels of God. I have not been able to use the machines since day one, and it has been 15 years since diagnosed with Apnea. In the past 5 years, I have had 12 heart attacks, several motor vehicle accidents (fell asleep while driving), and halucinate all of the time.

Still alive for Today!

Thanks for all of your support!!!!

Guy Brown,
Topock, Arizona

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Permalink Reply by sleepycarol on February 9, 2010 at 4:24pm

I have no experience with central sleep apnea, but do know it is not something to be taken lightly.

I am surprised that your doctor hasn't prescribed one of the more sophisticated machines. It would appear from what you have told us you are a candidate for one.

Do you have insurance as that maybe the contributing factor? These types of machines range into the $$$$$$ costing several thousand dollars.

I know a couple of my brothers and my son-in-law and daughter do not have insurance and it is a struggle to get them medical care when needed. Yep, our hospital has the motto if you can't pay you won't be turned away "while they stabalize you" for transport. What in the world does that mean? Around here that means sorry your out of luck getting help without insurance. If by chance they do treat you, beware of the brow beating you get making payments on the bill. Please no lectures on Obama's health care as I don't feel that is the answer either.

You probably do not need to be driving. Although I know it is a real hassle to get others to drive you. Think about what could happen if you hit some innocent carload of passengers and one of them were to die.

We have resources in our area for those that have suffered severe head trauma. I am going to assume you suffered severe head trauma when you hit the pole without a helmet -- probably lucky you are still here after that!!! Have you contacted them for help? They have staff that maybe able to help you get past the flailing about you do with some biofeedback or something similar.

You indicate you have had problems in all of your sleep studies. Have these been performed in only one setting or have you tried additional places. Not all techs are the same and some are better than others. If they are aware of your background they maybe of assistance if you can find a good one.

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Permalink Reply by RL on February 9, 2010 at 5:34pm

One more consideration - did you have on your team of doctors one who is either a Pulmonologist or a Neurologist, either one being certified in Sleep Medicine? Those are the types of M.D.s that would know about the servo ventilator xPAPs. Some of these machines are fairly new, like within the last year, so if it has been a while, you should check again with the docs. Show them the info on the links previously noted.

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Permalink Reply by RockRpsgt on February 9, 2010 at 6:05pm

Can you be more specific on you hallucinations? When and how often are they happening? What types of visuals are you having? This could have some bearing on your case.

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Permalink Reply by Chris on February 9, 2010 at 10:43pm

If insurance is a problem you might want to look into medicaid. My brother got it in a short time because of unemployment. If you have medical problems you should be able to get it fast if you qualifiy. The only problem with medicaid is you have to look at it as a loan and the state might try to get there money back by going after your assets some day. If you own a house they might place a lein on it so look into things very carefully before you go for medicade.

Guy Brown said:

Thank you everyone for the advice. I have had several sleep studies done while using severval types of machines. Nothing works because when I stop breathing for minutes at a time, I wake up swinging, like I am drowning in my sleep, and I rip off the mask. The last study performed, the attendant had to wake me over 20 times to put the mask back on my face! The last resort that a surgeon has offered me is a tracheotomy.

Another note of frustration, Social Security denied my benefits for the forth time. I guess I should be greatful that I lived another day. Some many times I have died in my sleep and spoke with the Angels of God. I have not been able to use the machines since day one, and it has been 15 years since diagnosed with Apnea. In the past 5 years, I have had 12 heart attacks, several motor vehicle accidents (fell asleep while driving), and halucinate all of the time.

Still alive for Today!

Thanks for all of your support!!!!

Guy Brown,
Topock, Arizona

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Permalink Reply by Guy Brown on February 10, 2010 at 4:28am

All of my Doc's are certified with sleeping disoders. One of them has fully recovered from his sleeping disorder. Money is not an issue, my father is very wealthy and wise. One item that I didn't mention about the accident is that I was dead for 15 minutes. I am studing pshycology at the University of Phoenix (online courses) and I just finished a paper on sleeping disorders. What I had learned tonight is that the part of the brain that controls sleeping is the Anterior hypothalamus, located in the basal-forebrain area. I am considering having another MRI performed specifically on that area of the brain.

Rock, the halucinations are pretty cool at times. From full bodied shadows to flying scorpions... And I don't take any meds or illegal drugs or alcohol. The brain, as I am studying, is the most complex organ of the human body that we tend to take for granted by destroying it!

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