Sleep Apnea Treatment

Question by sheep torture in progress: Why is mis-diagnosis so common when treated by doctors in US?
Most doctors do not care to investigate the patient’s symptoms in big detail. They just try to give a “blanket term” diagnosis. I was awfully tired and exhausted so badly. After hearing my symptoms doctor tell me to eat vitamins. It didn’t help. Then he told me to exercise and that didn’t help too. When I kept pressing him more, he said I have chronic fatigue syndrome and said the only treatment is to rest and have positive attitude. The actual diagnosis was sleep apnea. It took 2 years to find this out after changing numerous doctors. One doctor finally told me to get sleep study and sleep apnea was diagnosed. It takes years to come up with correct diagnosis and many times this can be disastrous. A friend of mine died of stomach cancer at age 36. He was told he had IBS. When it was discovered that he actually had stomach cancer, it was too advanced and too late to save him.
so this means just because you have health insurance you really aren’t safe?

Best answer:

Answer by Malignant Narcissist
I had this happen back when I was 17. I was having extremely painful sensations in my lower abdomen. I kept going into Kaiser and they were sending me home with vicodins to treat my back spasms. Eventually, my skin turned yellow and they checked me in and found out that I had pancreatitis and gall stones that were trying to pass. If I didn’t seek treatment, I would have apparently died.

Doctors and medical systems are just as lazy as the rest of us. All you can really do is find a doctor that you trust. There are good doctors out there.

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Question by Great Brittan: Is this a common symptom of central sleep apnea?
Can anyone with central sleep apnea or experience with central sleep apnea tell me if a common symptom is being startled out of sleep? For instance if someone wakes you up, rather than you waking up on your own, if you wake up panicked and gasping for air? Any input would be GREATLY appreciated =)

Thanks!
-Brittan

P.S. I currently have massive pressure in my head, wake up very startled, am exhausted all day, never feel rested and have a brain tumor in the Pons of my brain.
Actually I haven’t been to a doctor for regular sleep apnea yet. I’m trying to set up an appointment with my oncologist to see if she can refer me.

Best answer:

Answer by kadel
Panicked and gasping for air, falling asleep during the day, being tired all the time are symptoms of sleep apnea. Get yourself evaluated by a pulmonologist at a sleep center.

What do you think? Answer below!

I have been diagnosed with sleep apnea. My doctor says I’m not getting up to urinate, I’m awake because of sleep apnea. Is this a common problem?

I’ve woken up 3 times in my life because I have stopped breathing in my sleep (not recently) which was scary. The first time was when I was around 16, and the other two times were two years apart after that. I was just wondering if its normal for everyone to have this happen to them once or twice in their lives, since I’m not overweight or have any normal risk factors to have this happen. Thanks!

My son-in-law recently began treatment for sleep apnea. He’s 38 and has suffered from it his entire adult life, apparently. Now that he’s getting proper sleep, he has started being verbally abusive. What’s scarey is that he often can’t remember saying things he has recently said! Is there any way to get him back to normal? Is his brain having trouble making connections after all this time? We are concerned for our daughter and grandson.