Mike. Am flatted and humbled and glad/hope it was helpful. You are more than welcome to download as many cartoons as you like from my Londons Times Cartoons website. I cannot remember how many I have regarding sleep, (or if I have many as there are about 8000 or so toons there), but if you go to archives and look in "cats" thread, I believe you will find a few. Here is one. when i get more time I will look for others and post. Meantime, feel free to look around and post whatever you like. Sincerely, Rick

Thanks Mike. That's one of the kittens we rescued last year. There were 2 left in a cat post in Petco when they were only 2 days old. We raised them and found them a good home.

About the apnea. I was diagnosed in late 2007. I was tired and grumpy, snapping at my kids etc. I didn't know what was wrong with me. I would fall asleep while reading to my little one. I remember reading the words in the book in a state of sleep slurring the words like a drunk. I finally went in for help and was diagnose with severe OSA. I have a bi-pap with a titration of 18/14. I could blow dry my hair with the thing. I nicknamed it Beelzebub, you know, the devil.

I have been wearing that thing dutifully through all the miserable side effects, problems, because I don't want to die. It's been a hard road and there are still some problems that I am working on. I'll tell my whole story on the forum sometime. I sleep fairly well with it now but I still don't feel rested in the morning. I'm not as tired as I was before so I know it has helped some. This forum has helped me realize that I need to be more aggressive with my therapy and learn how to get the detailed information from my machine.

My husband also suffers from OSA and central apnea. He has an A-pap. He is not very good about using it. I quite often hear him snoring. We love each other but have shared separate rooms for some years now because of the snoring. It's sad, I don't want to loose him.

Janet

How do I find the report? I'll do what I can.

I have the Resmed VPAP Auto that came out in January 2008. The VPAP Auto 25 came out in July 2008 and I don't know all the differences but do know there are some as the info and access to the Efficacy Data for one thing is quite different. It just might be that "the first, the newest, isn't always the best if they have some bugs that are just starting to show up. *sigh* That sure happened to Respironics w/their early M Series!

Hi Mike:

Nice to hear from you. I did not go last night for many reasons...and I haven't contributed lately to your forum because of challenges left and right. The biggest is that my son, 18, had to go to the hospital and was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. So we've been on a steep learning curve. I'm also attending to my elderly parents needs. So my sleep apnea has been pushed down the list for now! I did go back to Sleep Quest several times after the meeting I met you at, and tried several more masks and found one that seems better. Still problems with my nose bridge and some leaking, but I am sleeping better. I do look at the posts to this website often and hope to contribute more soon.

Heather

Hi!

I am a newcomer to your site, and have a husband with SA. He has not been professionally diagnosed, but after being married for 28 years, and literally shoving him around at night so that he can breathe, or roll onto his side, I am pretty sure he suffers from Sleep Apnea.

We do not have health insurance, or would have gotten him into a sleep study program long ago. I checked into a couple of programs, and found that they are quite expensive.

What would be your advice to us? Try to get him some sort of CPAP on our own? Try different treatments? He frequently wakes with severe headaches, which I believe is a symptom of SA.

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

thanks,

Charlotte R. Ft. Worth, Texas

Thanks for your suggestions, I will look into it.

charlotte

Thank you that is Zoey. she is my one year old. I also have kylie she is 8. i will probably show case her next. like to change up the profile look every now and then.

Hi Mike...Thanks for your response. I have not heard of the AVS machine but I will definitely look into it. Yes of course it is also the pressure, it sometimes leaks and I can't sleep with that going on. Thanks.

Congatulations!!! Fatherhood is a wonderful thing. Not only do I think that it save me from the abyss, but it was also the first thing that I ever tried to do right. Happy Easter

Ha! Beat you to it! But his Resmed is certainly more up to date or more sophisticated than any I've had any experience with! We need Duane McDade or Rock Hinkle or the like to interpret some of that data.

Thanks for sharing your life and your stories about sleep apnea. It really helps to have a place to go for answers and support. MUCH THANKS!

Hi Mike. I am sorry, but I am not familiar with this type of irrigation system. I should check it out.

Hi, Mike, I'd have the family members join, except my kid won't, and my mom doesn't have a computer. I sure would otherwise!

Hi Mike, very quick response and helpful. Many thanks for your input....tom

Thanks so much for the info after the titration study, I am going to follow up with my doctor so I can get set up with the machine! I am sure getting the sleep apnea under control will stop my dependency on Hypertension meds also..I have "unexplained" hypertsion that comes and goes...been on meds since I was 25 without any ryme or reason..probably caused from the sleep apnea! Thanks!

Sorry it took so long for me to reply. Got it done though.. Felt like I had to rush to get all the info out of my head and into hers:) What are your thoughts on maybe having a section for issues that involve children as seperate than that of adults. This might make it easier for the casual/infrequent visitor to find it if that is the help they need.

Thank you very much for the link regarding sleep apnea and heart issues. It was an interesting read. Sometimes I get forced awake right in the middle of my REM sleep and then I feel really tired the next day. I wish family members would not wake me during REM as I get little to very little sleep as it is.

sleep apnea may just have been the cause of my arteries to need stents.
sleep apnea may just have been the cause of my having been diagnosed with PAH.
I WISH I HAD KNOW MUCH SOONER., !!

thanks, Mike, for your reply. I do feel that sleep techs are alot like pharmacists in that they know their product better than the doctors! Doctors know what to order, and some know how to read the written reports, but most rely on the techs records, much like doctors rely on meds they prescribe to do what they were told they would - pharmacists, however, will sometimes 'redflag' something that may interfere with what you are already taking - something doctors seem to miss all too often.

Regarding the central sleep apnea, thanks for the full name of the machine. I know it works a little differently. I am now scheduled for next week, however have to again drive to GA because we don't have anyone qualified any closer. Want to make sure I get the right info and right adjustments to my machine. Even if I have to go back and forth for awhile, at least I feel like it will be right. Anyone have a camper for sale? :)

Yes mike that would be nice,real nice.But how are we going to do that??It just make's me upset that I had to lose my bipap.Sorry if I put down cpap??At $200.00 a mo and no money coming in that hurt's.If you can do anything for me that would be GREAT!!!

Thank's Paul

Thanks :) The site seems pretty cool... informative. Feel free to email me anytime if you need any help with anything. You seem to really know a great deal about sleep and apnea! Kudos!

~Kristi~
aka Sleepy Girl

Mike, I am happy to hear that treatment is working so well for you. I am from Wisconsin, my husband is on cpap and would be lost with out it. I have two dogs and a cat. I am a registerd sleep technologist, so I just wanted you to know your story was very inspirational.

Mike, thankyou. It is nice to be here. This is a very nice site. I hope I can contribute some good information and advice. Iam learning alot from all of you as well.

Hope all is well in the Big Apple.

Hi MIke, DId you say that you had a special pillow that you like to use that works good with a mask? The Oxygen Pillow? Are there others as well? Why do you like the one you use? thanks,bee

hey the messages part on your site reads "block messages" so what do i do now.

You need to make cards and distribute them to people on here to place at their respective doctors offices to give new sleep ap patients a way to get support and help about their condition. You could have 100,000 members in no time.

Mike, What you have done here is great! I am an RT with a couple of decades worth of experience in Durable Medical Equiptment. 13 of those years were spent setting up Cpap machines and fitting masks for LINCARE Inc. I now work as an independant sales rep, but still keep my cpap knoledge up to date by doing mask reviews. My blog http://cpapcritic.com is all about helping patients. Please visit my blog and tell me what you think. Maybe we can help each other, I would love to have you do a guest post on my blog! Let me know.

Hi Mike--I left a message for Rock just now regarding a message I sent to Sleepy Carol re: her welcome today. I think it may have been better-directed to you. When you have time, could you review it and see if you're the person who may be able to respond to my request? It's about re-locating my response to the Discussion board. Thanks! -Susan McCord :-)

REGIS/THE VIEW/POSTED ON DISCUSSIONS

Thanks for the birthday wishes.

Mike, I'm sorry to be a pain in the neck, but I did it again. I wrote 2 somewhat lengthy questions to Dr. Park in the middle of your conversation "Is Apnea the Leading Cause of Death". He's never gonna find them there, 'cause there's really a lot of good dialogue going on. They ARE on my page but, per last time, I need to transfer them to somewhere he'll see them. I SHOULD have written a discussion about this stuff, but I got caught up in all the info he was providing and just started writing. TWICE! Oy vey...anyway, when you have time, can those two questions get transferred somehow? Whoever's doing all this extra work because I'm loopy should get a raise!!
Susan McCord :-)

Mike--Phil Tireman, a new guy, invited me as a friend. I accepted. He got the message but the standard message "so and so are now friends" isn't showing up on our sites. Can you fix that? If not, should we just do the process again or what? Thanks!

Susan McCor

Sleep1.rtfMike, I'm Back. Sorry I was gone for so long. You didn't miss me? Well that is OK. I got good news. Here is my last report just for GPs. I changed Doctors and I'm getting better treatment. Stress-test,aa Sceen,CAT scan.G

Mike, someone from SleepGuide team (not ID'd) left me a message earlier today (Thurs. 8/20) and left me a link. I pretty much knew what it was about but I wasn't prepared to reply at that moment and just came back online while ago. The message has now disappeared. Do you know anything about that? If so, how do I respond now? I didn't know who else to ask about it, so again, lucky you gets the long straw!!

Susan McCord :-)

Mike, thank you for the link for that O2 pillow you're talking about. I'm gonna check it out. Yours must make a + difference or you wouldn't be recommending it on SG.
Susan McCord

That's okay, Mike. I knew it was buried at the time I asked you. Thank you for taking the time to look for it.

Hey, I think I got a notice that you sent me a comment last night (Tues. night), but I can't seem to pull it up. Was this "search" comment the only one that you sent?

McCord :-)

What happened to your wife, Mike? Is she okay now?

McCord

Wow!! Congratulations, Mike! I didn't know you guys were expecting. Is this your first child?

I'm excited for you! Glad she's okay. What's her due date?

McCord :-)

Hey Mike, check out Edward Grandi's info re: ASAA's portal into Amazon--they donate part of book proceeds to apnea research!! I put a message to you in there in my response, but was afraid you might miss it. Can we put that permanently on Book Club???

McCord :-)

Mike, thank you for the warm welcome. I have heard that there are surgeries that can be performed with only an 80% cure rate. Now, I find out there is no cure? Then what are the surgeries for? To lessen the severity of Sleep Apnea? Let me say this...the diagnosis was Obstructive Sleep Apnea. So what are the Dr's going to do, get rid of the obstruction?

No better gift in the world..........and she's ALL YOURS!!!!

Fondly, Susan

Congratulations on the birth of your daughter!

Congratulations on the birth of your baby girl - Sugar and spice and everything nice!!

Comment re: how should we refer to ourselves? - since everything seems to be some kind of acronym these days - how about PSAs (People with Sleep Apnea).

new here as well to using CPAP. Good to see people DO get results. Grapping finding right mask yet, PLUS, resMed shipped a bunch of machines out which were faulty. So, hasnt been much fun. Just looking forward to getting some ENERGY and doing what I need and want to do.
:)

Thank you for the welcome.
Ahh...and you are a lawyer. Law is fascinating. WONDERFUL you are educating others as well with your journalism.
I am in medicine and even this is new to me. ZZZZ.

Wanted to remind veterans who are PSAs (People with Sleep Apnea) that your local VA is a great place to seek out CPAP equipment and guidance with properly fitting your CPAP mask. Luckily being in the Philly area, I can take full advantage of all their assistance.

Hey Mike, the icon for sending a PM has disappeared from my Page. (?) Can you fix it? If so, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

Susan McCord :-)