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Reminder of how serious sleep apnea can be
The brother of one of my daughter's best friends passed away last week. He had severe sleep apnea and was sleeping without his equipment. He went without oxygen to his brain for almost 30 minutes. The EMTs did all they could and the ER put him on a respirator, but the family finally called it on Friday. He was 45 years old.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mark in Idaho on
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My condolences to all who have lost a loved one to sleep apnea.
My father suffered a slow agonizing death after 30 years of Central Sleep Apnea. His problems started during his mid-40's. He suffered slow cognitive decline until he had to retire early at 58. His decline continued into serious dementia and Parkinson's. He passed away at 78 with a healthy body but a damaged brain . The stubbornness that comes with dementia lead to him never getting a sleep test. Everyone said he did not have OSA so he did not have sleep apnea. I would watch him cycle into sleep apnea for up to three minutes of no breathing many times per hour with him restarting breathing with huffing and puffing.
I have CSA due to a upper cervical injury. I manage it by preventing my neck/head from flopping into the wrong position by positioning a pillow around my head. My wife has watched me cycle up to twelve times per hour. Now, she knows to waken me to correct my sleeping position.
I hope to get a pulse/ox monitor with alert some day. Medicare/Secure Horizons is not a easy system for getting help with a sporadic apnea problem. Maybe even a Avery breathing pacemaker when they get it to be an on-demand system.
Sleeping can be such a chore. The breathing world have no idea how fortunate they are.
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Permalink Reply by Gail Woodbury on
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I am so sorry for your loss. By sharing your story you will surely be saving lives. Thank you for that. I will now be using my CPAP for naps too.
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Permalink Reply by Kinderhook on
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What happened in the 6 years that allowed you to adjust to cpap? I have problems w/ insomnia anyway but when I put on the cpap it seems to aggravate it. I am wide awake! So I'm not using it at all.
Charlie Rodgers said:What a tragedy, I have had OSA apparently since my 20's or earlier. I never sensed the amount of brainpower I was losing until other symptoms led me to medical help. After diagnosis(over 10 years ago) I tried cpap but couldnt adjust to it so I spent another 6 years without treatment. I finally borrowed a unit and began to notice the benefits of better sleep. I use my machine even when I take a nap. Always. It is a shame that, like myself, so many dont realize what this condition does to them over time. I have health losses that are not likely to ever be recovered from-at least not completely. Thanks for reminding us that, no matter what treatment one uses, it is necessary if one wants the life they were born to have. This is or is a major contributor to the health crisis both here and around the world. Thanks so much for sharing.
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Permalink Reply by bonesigh on
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It's very sad and I'm sorry for their loss. I'm glad I stubbornly stuck with the very hard adjustment to the machine. I use it every time I sleep. If only my husband did! Please anyone out there struggling to use your machine keep working with it. Make it work and do it until you get it as perfect as possible and stick with it! Good luck to all.
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Thank you for the encouragement of sticking with the machine. I always pull it off when I am sleeping and I have sinus pain every day as it is and when I use my machine it gets so bad and I even get nose bleeds from the dryness and irritation. I wake up gasping for air and am so tired during the day. I have not even tried to use it in months but will try again tonight. I just turned 46 and have my whole life ahead of me. My cat Angel wakes me up when it is really bad...which is a miracle.
bonesigh said:It's very sad and I'm sorry for their loss. I'm glad I stubbornly stuck with the very hard adjustment to the machine. I use it every time I sleep. If only my husband did! Please anyone out there struggling to use your machine keep working with it. Make it work and do it until you get it as perfect as possible and stick with it! Good luck to all.
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I understand. Im not using mine. im so depressed i dont care. If i had a purpose and a reason for living i might think otherwise.
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Permalink Reply by David Bruskin on
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MAria -- do you use a CPAP with a heating unit to humidify the air before it reaches your mask? That would help a lot.
Maria said:Thank you for the encouragement of sticking with the machine. I always pull it off when I am sleeping and I have sinus pain every day as it is and when I use my machine it gets so bad and I even get nose bleeds from the dryness and irritation. I wake up gasping for air and am so tired during the day. I have not even tried to use it in months but will try again tonight. I just turned 46 and have my whole life ahead of me. My cat Angel wakes me up when it is really bad...which is a miracle.
bonesigh said:It's very sad and I'm sorry for their loss. I'm glad I stubbornly stuck with the very hard adjustment to the machine. I use it every time I sleep. If only my husband did! Please anyone out there struggling to use your machine keep working with it. Make it work and do it until you get it as perfect as possible and stick with it! Good luck to all.
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Permalink Reply by Mary Z on
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Oh, Eugene, what a sad situation. Having suffered from lifelong depression, I understand just not caring. Please get treatment for your depression if you are not already (though if you are it doesn't seem to be working) Maybe working with CPAP to see if it helps your depression can be your purpose in life for a little while. Good luck,
Mary Z.
eugene flowers said:I understand. Im not using mine. im so depressed i dont care. If i had a purpose and a reason for living i might think otherwise.
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Condolences to his grieving family and friends. Death at the age of 45 from severe sleep apnea is tragic and very sad, indeed.
There have been far too many premature deaths and blighted lives caused by this devastating and insidious condition.
We MUST find a way to muster the public recognition of the serious consequences of OSA and the support to find improved treatments and compliance modalities.
The time has come for broad based screening and testing! If policy makers understood both how very common and how very serious OSA is, there might be more attention paid to research for improved treatments and implementation of universal screening.
Sarah Gorman
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You just scared me to my core. I am 46 years old and I have not been as yet diagnosed with sleep aepna.But I know i have memory problems irritability and many up and down days as well as all the symptoms. I know that i need to be diagnosed get the equipment and finally adress this issue. You are in my prayers for your loss. But if this is any consolation your loss could save my life and many others who this will scare into getting help.
God Bless You
Douglas
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Permalink Reply by Bob Schwartz on
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45 years old, what a tragedy. Thank you for sharing. We need all the wake up calls we can get. Condolences, Bob
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I am so sorry for your loss and keepthe family in my prayers. I too was very stubborn when it came to wearing the mask and using the C-Pap. I hadn't been using he first one I got, but after Katrina the Dr insisted I had to get a new machine, which I did and used it for a little while. I had a sleep study done in March and then went baqck for their C-Pap Clinic they hold, where they check your compliance on the machine. On my old machine he didn't know how to do it, and I told him to be honest I hadn,t used it in over a year, I had to use it in the hosp last May when I had surgery and hadn't used it since then. He ordere4d a new C-Pap machine and I got a new mask and so far I'm being 100% compliant, especially since if you're not compliant Medicare won't pay for it. I am going to a Sleep Apnea Clinic tomorrow night. There will be reps from ResMed and Respironics there to show us ther latest products and masks. Oh, another reason I am staying compliant is my Dr's have told me over and over and over that if I don't use the machine I'm just cutting years off my life, just depends if you want to die earlier in life. So, I finally listened to them. I can't tell it has made any difference in the way I feel, I still feel tired and have headaches every morning., but this time I'm goin to stick it out.
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