Sleep Apnea Treatment

Question by scoot: Any sleep tips for me? Tonsils are huge and cause me to snore and stop breathing, surgery soon…?
I am in college and I have huge tonsils that basically cause me to have sleep apnea. I had a sleep study and I stopped breathing and woke up 12 times within 5 hours and never went into stage 4 sleep. I don’t sleep well at all, and when I wake up I feel like I didn’t get any sleep. I have slept through my 8 am class for 4 weeks now! I’m blessed that it doesn’t have an attendance requirement! But it is still a problem. My doctor prescribed me Lunesta which is helping a little bit but still not getting me out of bed in the morning. I am literally so tired I can’t move and feel like a dead person when I wake up. Any suggestions?

and by the way I go to bed around 9:30-10 every night so im not staying up late….

thank you!
forgot to add this, i am getting my tonsils out on november 24th… what can i do until then to get adequate rest and be able to get up in the morning?

Best answer:

Answer by jojo rose
basically what you should do is get them removed. this is what happened to me. it took me 2 weeks to recover so you would have to think about that.

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Question by Michael R: What diagnostic tests should I ask my doctor to do to determine cause of my tiredness and sleep difficulties?
I am 43 year old male, and am feeling overall poorly. I am strong and all that, but I just feel weak and tired, and I have difficulty getting good sleep. I recently was diagnosed with sleep apnea and am using the CPAP machine, but I still wake up tired and cant maintain my sleep through the night. I still drag through the day with tiredness, weakness, and depression. A friend suggested a series of tests his naturepathic doctor took him through including hormone levels check, hair, and spittle test…but he didnt know what the other tests available to determine chemistry and nutritional deficiencys might be. Wondering if anyone could advise me on what tests to have my doctor adminster.

Best answer:

Answer by justbeingher
Sleeping 02 sats – your blood oxygen level while sleeping. It needs to be mid-to-high 90s or you wake fatigued, have anaerobic metab and are setting yourself up for cancer.

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Question by Kehaulani: What could cause seizures in my sleep?
I have been experiencing seizures in my sleep for the past year now. I lived alone, so I only knew because I had woken up to my tongue being very badly bitten, but ever since I moved in with my boyfriend, he has actually seen me seizure 3 times. So we know for sure it is a seizure. There isn’t a consistent pattern as to when they happen and I can’t figure out anything that would cause it to happen. I’ve had blood tests and an MRI done and everything has shown normal. I exercise normally and try to eat balanced meals most of the time. Does anyone know what could cause these? And how to prevent it? It’s a pretty scary thing.

I have read something about sleep apnea causing this and I am wondering what are other symptoms of seizure sleep apnea? Because I can sleep and sleep and never feel well rested. Isn’t that a symptom of sleep apnea?. And I’m not kidding…. I can sleep for litterally 20 hrs and continue sleeping becauase I still feel tired.

And I know this sounds funny, but my boyfriend also told me that this last time, right before I seizured, I said “no, not the midget” What the heck does that mean?! Are ailens controlling me in my sleep? LOL… But really, could it be possible that I am having very intense, stressful dreams and it is causing me to seizure?

If anyone has any real insight on this, I would very much appreciate it.
I am 22 years old female. I am about 5 foot 2 and weigh about 130 lbs and have consistently been that weight for years. I do not snore, but my boyfriend has told me that there was a time that it sounded like I stopped breathing and kind of got choked up. I do not have anyone else in my family with this sleep seizure condition that I know of. I also do not remember falling or hitting my head at all. I have not noticed any trouble with my vision either. I rarely drink alcohol and hardly ever take prescription drugs as I believe in taking natural medicine when available. All I have been told is that I should do a sleep study since they cannot find anything else yet. Since I do not have health insurance right now, I am just trying to find out more info until I can get the sleep study done.

I appreciate everyone’s inputs.

Best answer:

Answer by Alfred
Hello- and I apologize beforehand for trying to answer such a question this way- as I live abroad… Can I ask how old are you? And what is your weight? And height? Do you snor? Do you smoke? or drink alcohol more than occasionaly? Do you take any prescription drugs regularly? During the last year or so- did you ever fall and/ or lose consciousness? during the last year or so- did you notice any troubles of your vision- I mean- double or blurred vision? did you see a neurologist about these complaints during the last year? what does your Family Doctor know and/ or think about this topic? given normal blood tests results and a normal brain MRI- which was done when?-and according to your answers to the above and other questions- a decision has to be made- in real life -about further investigations to be performed- to a larger or lesser extent to establish a diagnosis… did they performed a sleep deprivation EEG- electroencephalogram- ever? are there any known cases of similar complaints in your family- siblings, parents etc.? Did you unintentionally lose weight lastly?
You are hereby asked NOT TO NEGLECT…I am a Family Doctor- yet living and working in Israel… May God bless you… good health…

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Question by Dr. Barker: I have lone atrial fibrillation ( no known cause). I am age 34 now and have had it since I was 28.?
Now I discover through my new cardiologist that obstuctive sleep apnea is a cause of many heart ailments, including atrial fibrillation. I am about to undergo a sleep study on Wed. to see if I have it. My question is, since none of the other multitude of doctors have picked up on this potential ” cure” for atrial fibrillation ( curing the sleep apnea), will I have due cause for a malpractice lawsuit against them?
By the way, this isn’t some ‘minor’ illness. It causes strokes and heart failure and a diminished life expectancy. It also led to a very bad depression which ultimately led to me getting a divorce. Not to mention the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars I have spent on medications that can kill you too.

Best answer:

Answer by ohiofirefighter42
No you will not. The fact that you have to multitudes of doctors tells me that it is not an easy diagnosis to make, and there is no gaurantee that your present doctor is right.

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Question by Fred: Is sleep apnea a result of obesity, or is obesity a cause of sleep apnea.?
My doctor thinks I may have sleep apnea and wants me to be evaluated through a sleep test. Well, my insurance won’t pick that cost up, and it’s an expensive evaluation. Looking at the machines available, it seems a much more cost effective route to pick up a machine, and if there are no perceived benefits, then just put it away. There are several machines that are much more affordable, compared to the cost of the test.

That issue aside . . . I am in fact overweight. And my neck is thick (always has been, even when I was slender and in great physical shape). So taking into consideration the neck thickness issue. I think my most important hurdle is to get my weight down and manage it, along with a healthy diet, and an exercise regimen.

I realize sleep apnea has a detrimental effect on one’s health, and is said to lead to obesity. But from my understanding most people with sleep apnea are in fact overweight. So is weight a larger contributor to sleep apnea . . or is sleep apnea a larger contributor to being overweight?

I just feel that correcting my unhealthy life choices would be much more beneficial, reduce my chances for heart attack, and other related problems, and the lack of excess weight should relieve a lot of burden on my body including help my sleep.

I realize that it isn’t necessarily one or the other . . that a better lifestyle is what one should always shoot for. I just feel the sleep test is an unnecessary cost as I can buy the machine cheaple in comparison to the cost of the test, and also, if i were to consider taking the test . . wouldn’t it make far better sense to get my weight down to a healthy level before shelling out the $ $ for a test that will be swayed by my weight in the first place.

Any flaws in my thoughts on this subject?

Best answer:

Answer by Kath
Which came first – the chicken or the egg? This is a hard question to answer, as many people with sleep apnea are overweight, but people with undiagnosed sleep apnea feel the need to eat more due to sleep deprivation and lack of energy.
I have many many customers with sleep apnea who are not overweight, and I myself have sleep apnea and am not overweight. Most sleep apnea is caused by a small jaw. It is my opinion that obese people may be the first to be diagnosed due to being unhealthy, and possibly having other health issues.
Unfortunately, it’s not usually possible to cure sleep apnea through weight loss, as even if the weight is shed, the fat will remain in the neck.
Sleep apnea is a serious ‘condition’ so do your best to get that sleep test. Good Luck!

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