Sleep Apnea Treatment

Question by : How to tell friends about my serious health issues that I’ve kept quiet about?
Your Open Question: How to tell friends about my health problems?

I’ve been going through a hard time lately and I haven’t really filled any of my friends in on the details. They have no clue I’ve been very ill and I don’t know how to tell them. I don’t want to seem like I want attention or special treatment, because I don’t… I just want them to understand I guess

I’ve been diagnosed with severe hypothyroidism, pernicious anemia, sleep apnea, vitamin deficiencies, and I’m being sent to the cancer center for suspected Cushing’s disease caused by a brain tumor. I really just don’t know how to tell them all. I haven’t touched base with them in a while so this is why it feels awkward. It would be over facebook as they all live far away. What should I do? How should I bring it up?

I just feel like an annoyance and a bother with my health issues…. Thank you so much. Blessings.
@vikram the pituitary is in the brain. As I have not been taking steroids to cause cushings, the tumor is either in my brain (pituitary) or on my adrenals on my kidneys. Some of the others do not have a cure, but instead are managed. I could go into more detail, but it’s complicated. Unfortunately, I’m not feeling well but I’m hoping to soon. I’m keeping my head held high.

Best answer:

Answer by Kevin S
post it on facebook then the world can see

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Question by debodun: How can I tell if I have sleep apnea?
I have mentioned to my doctor that lately I have been feeling extremely fatigued during the day. I go to bed about 8 PM and usually go right to sleep and wake up about 2 AM. I 90% of the time I wake up on my right side of face down with my head to the right. However, I get the impression that I wake up for brief, but frequent episodes during the night. On weekends and holidays I usually sleep 12 to 14 hours a night and sometimes even take naps during the day. I never feel as if I get enough sleep. All routine medical tests for what could possible cause fatigue such as potassium, hemoglobin and thyroid function, have all been within normal parameters. The only other thing I though of that might be causing it is a sleep disorder. When I mentioned this to my doctor, she just phoo-phooed that idea. I live alone, so there’s no one to tell me if I snore or have episodes of apnea. How could I tell otherwise?

Best answer:

Answer by maj.beachbum
if you can sleep 12-14 hours straight then you don’t have sleep apnea

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Question by Summerly, loving life: Here is the latest treatment for snoring hope it helps out tell me what you think of it?
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/22/health/22snor.html

. It is a little bit price-y but hey if you know of someone who can’t sleep and you they have that sleep apnea and are at risk for even death then the price should be covered by insurance I think. Tell me if you find it helpful

Best answer:

Answer by xxleesa32
i wish i could afford the operation , my husband ends up sleeping on the sofa because of my snoring lol

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Question by Trazzy: can anyone tell me more about sleep apnea?
I think I might have it. How is it diagosed? What are the treatments? Thanks!

Best answer:

Answer by mlgable
Sleep apnea is diagnosed by doing a sleep study. Hubby got to do his at home with a portable machine that recorded his breathing. Often times then send you to a sleep lab to have your test done. The sleep study shows how often you stop breathing per minute if you have sleep apnea. Standard treatment is the use of a Cpap machine. You can either use a mask or nasal pillows which is what my hubby prefers. Left untreated it can cause problems. If you think you may have it see your doc and get checked out as it is a serious thing and should not go untreated.

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Question by ♥ Shōjo-ai: My father needs to see a doctor for Sleep Issues… What tests should he ask for? What should he tell them?
OK, my father has been sleep talking, sleep walking, not being able to sleep through the night, all since he was a child. We think he might have depression and were told that part of his sleep walking and talking are due to emotional issues, he has sleep apnea, and he was diagnosed as having “Comprehension Problems” back in the 1960’s, which is now called “ADD”.

He sleeps so bad at night that he is tired all day and will fall asleep if he has to sit still for more then a few min’s… He can’t get through a 12 min episode of Squidbillies, let alone watching a movie or even a normal tv show.

He has just gotten health insurance through his job and I want to set up an appointment with a doctor for a “Sleep Study” but I have no idea what that means and what we should be looking for test-wise or even doctor-wise!

What sort of things should he look for in a doctor?

What kind of tests should they do for him?

What, in general, should he expect??
Cynthia, You got it in the first go… He is ALWAYS thinking… When he can’t stop thinking, he will go into the bathroom and read and start to fall asleep and actually add PAGES of plot onto the book he is reading so when he wakes up, he can’t find where he was because he added so much story line to the book!

OK, that makes a LOT of sense…

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR ANSWERS!

Best answer:

Answer by Cynthia
The doctor thing is more or less your opinion. You want someone who is nice or kind then find one of those. If you dont really care then thats up to you too. You obviously want a doctor who care about their patient enough to listen to you. Also look for someone with good marks. Someone with more schooling than some others.

A sleep study is basically where they hook you up to a machine and you go to sleep. It reads your brain waves to show whats going on. If your dad has problems sleeping it will show up on the test and show why he is having problems. Chances are that they will give him a sleep medication to take, and possibly something for his ADD. It all depends on his apnea. They dont want to conk him out too much to where he doesnt remember to breathe but they will want to make sure he is calm enough to acutally get a good nights sleep.

I would guess the main problem with his sleeping is the ADD itself. You have a million things running through your head at night because your still and trying to go to sleep. Lists of things to do, things you forgot. Half the time you want to get up and do those things causing you to loose even more sleep.

Going to the doctor is a great idea. Sleep study is also a really good idea. Just make sure you let them know about the apnea! That can be a very serious thing to know before taking medications. Although the doctors should get a full history before treating you, sometimes they forget.

Hope I helped you.

C. Adams, RN

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