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Sleeping in a recliner
This may have been brought up before, but I don't get on here very often. Because I have been fighting an upper respiratory virus for several months, I can't lay flat without bringing on a coughing fit. Therefore, I have been sleeping in my husband's oversized recliner. I haven't used my CPAP since I started this, but I haven't seemed to need it either. My husband says he's never seen me sleep so soundly, and I wake up feeling better than I ever have before! Could it be that my head is reclined enough to keep the OSA from being an issue?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mike on
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Short answer: yes. Sleeping at an incline is positional therapy for sleep apnea, and can work for some people. Now don't all you go out and throw away your CPAP machines. very limited population that this will work for, and I would insist on some hard data to support the claim that the positional therapy is working -- perhaps a home test run while sleeping at an incline. But no doubt -- getting gravity less in the picture can help prevent collapse of tissue in the airway.
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Permalink Reply by White Beard on
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I slept in a recliner for more than ten years because of my back! (I can not lay flat) Eventually I got an adjustable bed about 3 or so years ago and I sleep in roughly the same position as the recliner. All of my six in house sleep studies was done in an adjustible bed in that position, except for one study, and that study I actually slept in a oversized recliner, it was heaven the most comfortable recliner I had ever sat in or shall I say slept in. But even in a recliner sleeping in a "Fowlers" position, I still had severe complex sleep apnea with extremely low O2 saturations! When I worked in the hospital ( I was an RN on an Oncology unit, I am now on disability) many times patients with respiratory problems would sleep in a Fowlers position, it was much more comfortable for them to breath and be able to get to sleep! And although it can help some people with OSA, it will not necessarily prevent it, nor stop it completely! But for some it can help, for me sleeping like that is a necessity, because of my back and yet I still have sleep apnea, and I use the ResMed VPAP ASV machine with 3LPM of supplemental oxygen, using the Respironics Fit Life full face mask.
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Permalink Reply by Laurie Gales on
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So I guess my question is, should I contact my pulmonologist about this? He released me for a year since I was doing well on my CPAP. I have a sinking feeling that the "virus" I can't shake is really asthma. Do I see my primary care to get the asthma diagnosed or go straight to my pulmonologist?
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Either one, but if you do have asthma and you go to your PCP, you are most likely going to be referred to a Pulmonologist anyway, so why not got to the pulmonologist in the first place? Might save a step or two and definitely save some time and possible so grief depending on what your PCP does! But you should definitely see one or the other and the sooner the better!
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Permalink Reply by Jan on
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Hi Laurie--
My suggestion is also to go to pulmonologist. If you have asthma or a respiratory infection, he is the one you want.
I have asthma which has been very under control for the last 10 years but just flared up. Before even being diagnosed with OSA (a few months ago) I intuitively knew that sleeping on a little of an incline was more comfortable for me-- so I have one of those adjustable beds in my primary residence.
There were/are a few things going on simultaneously and I am oversimplifying this but....when I went down to my place in FL about a month ago, both my breathing and apneas numbers deteriorated. I have a flat bed there and just purchased an adjustable bed to see if that would help. Immediately, my AHI numbers started coming down again and the sleep portion of my program started feeling a lot better.
For me, the adjustable bed is an additional tool in my arsenal, and not a substitute for my XPAP. It was striking though, to see how immediately there was an improvement in my AHI and how I felt after one day in the new adjustable bed. The XPAP in conjunction with a slight incline in my sleeping seems to work best for me. It makes sense to me given the little I understand about the physical aspects of OSA...
Hope this helps.
Jan
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Rock Hinkle said: Are you on any blood pressure medication?
I'm not sure whether this is a question for me or not, but yes, I am. My BP is under control.
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Permalink Reply by CaptSleep73! on
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It is rumored that some blood pressure meds might cause a chronic cough or other respiratory issues. Could be a bad rumor though as I have not found anything that gave it any merit. Search cough and blood pressure medication.
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White Beard said:I slept in a recliner for more than ten years because of my back! (I can not lay flat) Eventually I got an adjustable bed about 3 or so years ago and I sleep in roughly the same position as the recliner. All of my six in house sleep studies was done in an adjustible bed in that position, except for one study, and that study I actually slept in a oversized recliner, it was heaven the most comfortable recliner I had ever sat in or shall I say slept in. But even in a recliner sleeping in a "Fowlers" position, I still had severe complex sleep apnea with extremely low O2 saturations! When I worked in the hospital ( I was an RN on an Oncology unit, I am now on disability) many times patients with respiratory problems would sleep in a Fowlers position, it was much more comfortable for them to breath and be able to get to sleep! And although it can help some people with OSA, it will not necessarily prevent it, nor stop it completely! But for some it can help, for me sleeping like that is a necessity, because of my back and yet I still have sleep apnea, and I use the ResMed VPAP ASV machine with 3LPM of supplemental oxygen, using the Respironics Fit Life full face mask.
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Permalink Reply by Mary Z on
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Some BP medicines do cause a chronic cough. I learned this while working in hemodialysis. The prescribing doc should know about the cough as there should be an alternate medicine.
Mary Z.
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am new here but do have a sleeping problem, have not slept in a bed in about 6 months and have high blood pressure as well as diabetes, am overweight. i have to sleep in a recliner to be able to get any sleep at all and have not had a sleep study done yet. talked to my doctor about giving me something to help me sleep but she refuses to do that. i have tried to sleep in my bed but am unable to sleep in it, lay there for hours without going to sleep, i do have arthiritis of the knee and when i lay down for a few minutes my knee gets stiff and starts to hurt so i have to get up after a short period of time.
have thought about getting an adjustable bed but they are so exspensive . the recliner is in the living room and that makes it hard to get to sleep when my husband is not ready to go to bed and wants to watch the tv. or get up in the midde of the night wanting something to drink and i am in the recliner in the living room and the kitchen is just in the next room and it is a open floor plan so i am waking up when he comes in the kitchen to get something to drink. i do not think i would be able to sleep in a sleep study because i cannot sleep in a place where i am not used to being unless they would have a recliner. would love to be able to get back in my bed and get a good nights sleep.
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Permalink Reply by D. W. Conn on
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The main culprit can be Lisinopril, even after a couple of does some patients have the "Lisinopril cough" for a month.
Mary Z said:Some BP medicines do cause a chronic cough. I learned this while working in hemodialysis. The prescribing doc should know about the cough as there should be an alternate medicine.
Mary Z.
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