Sleep Apnea Treatment

Question by Rvn: Anyone willing to share with me their feelings upon waking up from surgery and finding they are intubated?
I recently had surgery and apparently there was difficulty when they extubated me (bronchiospasms) and I was quickly re-intubated and placed on a ventilator. I woke up several times in recovery while intubated and had quite a traumatic experience. I now have so many awful feelings that I can’t deal with and haven’t talked to anyone about. Feelings of panic, fear of suffocation, sleep disturbances, fear of falling asleep, bouts of crying. I have asthma and possibly sleep apnea, so the breathing issue is an ongoing thing with me that I will need to follow-up with a doctor about, but these feelings of terror are invasive and I want to hear from anyone else who has exerpienced this so I don’t feel so crazy.

Best answer:

Answer by firespider
You’re not crazy. I had a very similar experience. It happened to me after two different surgeries.

Waking up on a ventilator is traumatizing. It was very frightening for me.

You are probably suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. This is a normal reaction to what you’ve experienced.

Aside from the physical pain, you are also having emotional pain. It’s being projected as pervasive fear.

It may be time for you to ask your doctor about a medication for an anxiety disorder. I personally worked these feelings out on my own, but if you feel that it’s actually taking control of your life, then you do need to seek help.

I wish you well. Just remember, if you don’t deal with it, you will not get over it.

Good luck to you.

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Question by pennypincher: Do sleep apnea treatments help someone if their sleep apnea is caused by chronic phlegm?
My husband says I snore sometimes and don’t sleep sound. Due to allergies, I have phlegm quite frequently and I think that is my problem. Will the c-pap machine do any good if that is the problem?

Best answer:

Answer by Bradley Whitehead
I think it COULD help in theory, i mean it’s a forced air system right? You’d probably be best off treating the source of the apnea, because in your specific case sleep apnea (and snoring) seem to just be a symptom of your allergies and congestion. Talk to your doctor about a nighttime decongestant for long term use.

You probably don’t want to use the over the counter nighttime decongestants for a very extended period of time because they’re made with ephedrine or pseudophedrine, which isn’t good to take every day for a long time.

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Question by aggylu: Does anyone have a happily ever after story with their bipolar parent?
My mother was diagnosed as bipolar about 5 years ago, after I had been out of her home several years. Previous diagnoses include depression, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, hypothyroidism, chronic insomnia, sleep apnea & hypoglycemia. She has visited half a dozen doctors to get these diagnoses. She continually cycles through taking medicine from 1 doctor as prescribed, to taking medicine from several docs who do not know she is doctor shopping, to all-herbal(and I mean like, 20 – 30 different supplements a day), to no medicine.
With each new diagnosis/treatment, she seems to believe that she has turned a corner. If I try to talk to her about behaviors that seem harmful, she becomes too tearful and sleepy to talk. Recently, she has done some very hurtful things. I’m beyond trying to confront her about it.
Does anyone have a similar situation that turned out well? I keep hoping for the best, but her behavior gets more erratic and hurtful as time goes by.

Best answer:

Answer by mjz321
Umm if you mean will she be cured and live happily ever after know that it WILL NOT ever happen. her syptons can be controlled but she will not be cured there will always be problems though she can certainly live a normal stable happy life

Dont confront her about her behaviors shes bipolar and probably embarrassed by her own lack of control and you are certainly not helping

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Question by ѕкує вℓυє αкα ανα’ѕ мσмму: Did your child have their adenoids and/or tonsils removed… a few questions?
My daughter is 2.8 years old. Her pediatrician referred her to a Ear, Nose and Throat specialist after seeing results of an x-ray they took of her face. Apparently the results came back saying her adenoids are enlarged and the specialist will probably want to remove them… as well as her tonsils (even though her tonsils are fine). I asked him why he would remove the tonsils if there is nothing wrong and he said that they just usually do the tonsils if they are already doing the adenoids.

My daughter has sleep apnea, snoring, repeated ear infections so I do have hope that once as her adenoids are removed… she can get some relief. Tubes in her ears would be beneficial as well. I just don’t think that I want her tonsils removed if there is nothing wrong with them.

I guess my questions are that:

If your child has had their tonsils removed… is it painful when they wake up? I know when they get their tonsils removed, the recovery can be a few weeks long. I just want to know the difference between the two recoveries.

Another question is: What was the reasons you had for your child being referred to an Ear Nose and Throat specialist. Did you see an improvement in your child after surgery?

We see the specialist on Wednesday

Best answer:

Answer by chatrbox424
I personally think you should definitely voice your opinions/concerns about the removal of her tonsils and let them know if there is nothing wrong then you don’t want them removed as they do serve the function of fighting off infections and keeping things from entering the airway/lungs that shouldn’t be there!!!! My oldest had his out at 6 and honestly he did bounce back pretty quickly, the only rough parts were the initial wake up and being disoriented and uncomfortable for a day or two, then explaining that for X amount of days no matter how fine he felt he could NOT have chicken nuggets!!!! He was referred to and ENT due to horrendous snoring and lack of sleep and his tonsils were like your daughters adenoids, HUGE, abnormally so and that is why the snoring, he couldn’t breathe, the doctor was honestly amazed that he could even swallow without choking!!! Best of luck, hope all goes well and she has a speedy recovery

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Question by Shawn Lapeyrouse: How does someone die in their sleep from sleep apnea while on a CPAP machine?
My uncle was 51 years old and died in his sleep. He was diangosed with severe sleep apnea but had his CPAP machine mask on when he died. His wife was startled awake when she heard him gasp for breath. She tried to tap him to catch his breath but he never responded. She then shook him, he was unresponsive. She tried CPR, called 911 but he didn’t make it. Initially they thought it was heart attack but we did not believe this because just two weeks prior he had gone through a physical and was declared healthy. He was slightly overweight but definitely not obese. The autopsy result stated that he died due to his sleep apnea. How is this possible? Our understanding was that the CPAP forced you to breath.

Best answer:

Answer by Someones’ Mom
My brother died at age 49, and autopsy revealed sleep apnea along with ventricular fibrillation.

The CPAP would push air into his lungs if he “forgot” to breathe, but it would need to be in the proper position and wouldn’t help if he was having a fatal cardiac event, which would not be easy to identify during autopsy.

Although it was very difficult to lose my brother, I do feel some peace knowing that he “died in his sleep.”

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