"please keep me updated about oximeters "
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Can't take it anymore. Cpap has not helped at all !
I have not posted in here for over year. I've been so disillusioned with cpap. I owned my cpap for about 18 months. After numerous adjustments, breathers, which nothing has ever helped. I decided to lose weight starting this past January. Ok. I'm down to 200 pounds from 254. This did not help. I gave up on the cpap machine because that did not help after fighting with it for a year. My sleep Doctor would give me something to get me to sleep( which did not work) and I still felt bad after I was up for 4 or 5 hours. Then my sleep Doctor gave me some provigil to take in the afternoon, but this just made me feel not good at all. Well, I just started on the cpap machine again and of course it's not doing a thing..
My family Doctor put me on Ambien which does help me get to sleep, but I still feel very very tired at around noon every day.
So now, I'm just on the Ambien but this is having side affects. Trying to wean my self off of it.
My question here is, can one get permanent disability from having sleep apnea? I just don't know what else to do. I get off of work at 3:30 pm and hope I can drive home ok. I have to schedule anything I do around the house before 1pm or I'm just to exhausted to do any thing.
Like I say, I'm trying the cpap machine again but one of the main problems is, I wake up from breathing out of my mouth from the noise. I have the nasal pillows. I was going to put duck tape over my mouth but my wife started to yell at me.
Another thing that bothers me is I'll find different articles on line about cpap machine being a buch of crock. It has not helped me even though I would get 5 to 6 hours of sleep a night with it before. Now I'm trying to get use to it all over again.
I guess I've said enough and you all get the point. I just don't want to live like this.
Mitch
Views: 10403
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mark Douglas on
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Mitch I've meet a number of fine doctors -- but so far, I can't say the same for sleep doctors. My hunch is, they went into this about 15 years ago because they thought they would get rich quick in an emerging field, and get weekends off. They don't seem to like their patients complaining that their standard answer is not working for them.
If yours is not aggressively seeking solutions - then you have to direct your own care..
Consider such doctors as an assistant who carries your tools, they get you the things you want. A test result, a meter, an answer to a specific question.
Did your MD ever find out your oxygen level overnight with the CPAP -- at home? I hope he did. To me, is the most basic thing imaginable. Your own GP should have asked for that.
Your ongoing fatigue might be from something else entirely. But if you do get your overnight oxygen checked, and its low -- your doctor, in my opinion, has been guilty of malpractice. Your health was compromised by his neglect.
It seems they are not eager to do the easy 25 dollar pulsox test. They want a $ 2200 complete "sleep study". And guess what main thing they will look at in that $2200 study - oxygen.
If they did the 25 dollar test, they might not need the 2200 test, and they would be out 2175 dollars. You just cost them a trip to Vegas with their new receptionist!
Folks with health issues -- and certainly apnea -- should know their overnight oxygen numbers like they know their blood pressure and weight. It's that basic. It may be MORE basic
Mitch Haman said:Thank you all for the reply's It's so appreciated. The machine is working properly. It has one of the cards in it that can be read. The one time I had it read after being on the cpap for like I guess 6 months, my not berating episodes were only like two or 3 as opposed to 100 and some. Of course I still felt tired all the time. I'm due to see my sleep Doctor next month. I'll mention the full face mask to him..( I wonder why he did not mention this to me?) Funny thing, the last time I saw him, which was in January, after nothing was working, he told me to see a Psychologists, which I did not. Don't know if I need to find another sleep Doctor or not, but I did not like that fact he told me to see a Psychologists. I'm not one of these people that had a bad child hood and hated my parents.
Oh, I did try the duck tape last night and I could not sleep at all. I pretty sure I'm addicted to my ambien and don't take it on the weekends. I think that was more my problem then the duck tape ( I know, I should not be using the duck tape).
Thanks to all and I'll keep in touch..
Mitch
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Permalink Reply by Gloria Williams on
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I'm glad you posted this, Mitch. As a new CPAP user, this feed has helped answer a lot of my questions. I do have one question directed at Mark Douglas, however. How does one know if the machine is not working properly? I have air coming out of the nasal pillows, it doesn't seem to be leaking and although the machine is surprisingly quiet, I hear air coming out of the cannulas if I move them. Also, when I turn the machine on at optimal pressure, I can't seem to catch up so I switch to the ramp. I just want to be sure that my continues fatigue is not partially due to a malfunctioning machine. Thanks
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Permalink Reply by 99 on
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sorry you have to wait for an accident
that is what happened to me
someone got scolded and it was my fault and she could have lost her life because of it
i think i was micro sleeping that caused the accident
i did not think i was asleep as that is the only answer i can come up with microsleep
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I discovered by accident that I also have nasal problems and my air exchange is not good. Try closing each nostril separately and breathe, especially lying down. You'll find out immediately. I now also use nasal strips (Breathe Rite seems the best for me). The 2nd thing I started doing, after reading an article about fatigue, is no more sugar stuff for breakfast and always some protein when I eat anything. It seems to help. Good luck, and keep trying.
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Permalink Reply by Rooster on
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Gloria Williams said:I'm glad you posted this, Mitch. As a new CPAP user, this feed has helped answer a lot of my questions. I do have one question directed at Mark Douglas, however. How does one know if the machine is not working properly? I have air coming out of the nasal pillows, it doesn't seem to be leaking and although the machine is surprisingly quiet, I hear air coming out of the cannulas if I move them. Also, when I turn the machine on at optimal pressure, I can't seem to catch up so I switch to the ramp. I just want to be sure that my continues fatigue is not partially due to a malfunctioning machine. Thanks
Get a machine that has software for the patient to measure the efficacy of the treatment - a must have in my book. It gives you a detailed time line of the night showing apneas, hypopneas, snores, mask leak, pressure, and other information.
I won't be without it.
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I'm new here, but I totally feel your pain, Mitch. Tomorrow (September 27) will be 8 weeks using my CPAP and I feel no change. The doctor sent me for a daytime sleep study a few weeks ago and it didn't show anything. I am so sleepy in the morning on the way to work and sleepy in the afternoon. Sleepy in the evening until I fall into bed. I see my doctor tomorrow because he wanted to talk to me face-to-face to see what's going on.
My Apnea is mild but my oxygen drops low. I am 100% compliant with my mask. I just don't feel any better. I hope you get some relief.
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