Sleep Apnea

[YouCallMeNighthawk]

OK, so recently my girlfriend has told me that well basically i stop breathing in my sleep (which really fucking shit me up!) So i looked it up on google and it referred me to sites saying i had sleep apnea.

So i am here to ask for your help, i am absolutely useless at researching things, so came here to ask if anyone of you lot could help me out with this.

I would go to the doctors but I'm pretty much shit scared there going to say I'm going to die or something or come out with AIDS lol

Also, does anyone else on the escapist suffer from this?

 

[Rasputin1]

So.. you stop breathing in your sleep? There's something wrong here somewhere.

 

[BlindMessiah94]

Go to the doctor. Not seeing the doctor because you are afraid he will diagnose you with an illness doesn't change the fact that you still have the illness.

 

[delet]

It's a real thing, and no, going to a doctor won't make you instantly about to die or have AIDS. Just get to a doctors.

 

[emeraldrafael]

I would go to the doctor. He's not goign to say you have AIDS or die. He'll probably just say you need some kinda surgery to fix it. It could get worse, so i would get this fixed as soon as yesterday.

 

[Jezzascmezza]

Maybe you die at night and rise from the dead every morning!
Jesus ain't got nothing on you...

 

[ultrachicken]

You're scared to go to the doctor because he's going to diagnose you with something?
You'd still have the problem, ignoring it will only make it worse.

GO SEE THE DOCTOR

 

[GrimTuesday]

Yes I do however it is a side effect of me being very overweight. It is not a big deal and easily treated with what is called a Cpap which pushes air down your throat. This is because of the fact that there is a muscle in the back of your throat that relaxes and cuts off your air supply so your body has to wake itself up, you don't remember it at all, and then go back to sleep. Mine is really bad but over and I wake up about every 30 seconds and this is what causes you to be tired, your only getting a fraction of the hours you sleep. Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[YouCallMeNighthawk]

Yes I do however it is a side effect of me being very overweight. It is not a big deal and easily treated with what is called a Cpap which pushes air down your throat. This is because of the fact that there is a muscle in the back of your throat that relaxes and cuts off your air supply so your body has to wake itself up, you don't remember it at all, and then go back to sleep. Mine is really bad but over and I wake up about every 30 seconds and this is what causes you to be tired, your only getting a fraction of the hours you sleep. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Yeah it does make you incredibly tired! especially when you work nights aswel like me.

So basically a simple operation can sort it out?
How long have you had it for?

 

[GrimTuesday]

Yes I do however it is a side effect of me being very overweight. It is not a big deal and easily treated with what is called a Cpap which pushes air down your throat. This is because of the fact that there is a muscle in the back of your throat that relaxes and cuts off your air supply so your body has to wake itself up, you don't remember it at all, and then go back to sleep. Mine is really bad but over and I wake up about every 30 seconds and this is what causes you to be tired, your only getting a fraction of the hours you sleep. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Yeah it does make you incredibly tired! especially when you work nights aswel like me.

So basically a simple operation can sort it out?
How long have you had it for?

Its not an operation it is just a mask that you put on when you sleep. Although there is a surgical option but it is rather expensive so I would go with the mask. It does take some getting used to but it isn't bad. I was diagnosed when I was 16 but It had probably been going on for longer then that. If I were you I would go in to see a Neurologist and have them set up a sleep study where you spend a night in the hospital and they monitor you breathing while you sleep. They can then gauge how serious it is and you can go from there. One way you might be able to get rid of it with out going to the the doctor is if your overweight lose some weight and there is the possibility of it getting better.

 

[Aesir23]

If it's sleep apnea then you'll either get some sort of therapy or surgery or you'll need something akin to an oxygen mask while you sleep in order to keep you breathing so you'll sleep better. I'm not an expert, but my uncle has sleep apnea and uses the mask, so I know a little.

 

[Ultrajoe]

Sleep on your side, get more exercise and consult your doctor if it persists afterward. It's not lethal, it'll just leave you feeling very tired and shitty.

 

[LongAndShort]

Dude, this is a possible serious condition. Its more of a case of if you DON'T see a doctor you might be about to die.

 

[Revolutionary]

The term "Medical consultant" springs to mind.

 

[nelsonr100]

OK, so recently my girlfriend has told me that well basically i stop breathing in my sleep (which really fucking shit me up!) So i looked it up on google and it referred me to sites saying i had sleep apnea.

So i am here to ask for your help, i am absolutely useless at researching things, so came here to ask if anyone of you lot could help me out with this.

I would go to the doctors but I'm pretty much shit scared there going to say I'm going to die or something or come out with AIDS lol

Also, does anyone else on the escapist suffer from this?

My girlfriend's dad suffers from this. It varies in severity but usually it just means sometimes you skip a breath and then your body realised and fixes itself. This can however put a strain on your heart and depending how bad it is can affect other areas of your body.

My gf's dad went to the doctor and was given a machine which is essentially a breathing monitor. He now has to wear this mask over his mouth while he sleeps (it looks like a fighter pilot mask) so that the machine starts him breathing again if he stops.

Its quite often linked to severe snoring. Go see a doctor about it

 

[deus-ex-machina]

Yeah, a lot of what I was going to say has already been said. I had to study it briefly at university and it's not something that should make you scared about seeing someone about it. It's not a terminal disease and you know what... the doctor can probably give you something to help!

When I worked in a pharmacy, I read about a device that would attach - I'm assuming around the chest - that would shock the body when it figured out you weren't breathing. I know that it wasn't the same as the mask mentioned already, but I'm not sure if it was in development or out already.

The snoring usually linked to it won't be good for your girlfriend.
If you're overweight, try and lose it in all the usual ways.
And as you said, it makes you tired because you're not getting sound undisturbed sleep. Most people who don't have kind girlfriends like yours only figure out something is wrong because of how tired they are.

I doubt it will kill you, since the body's natural reaction is to trigger breathing. It will cause you to stir, which is why you feel tired. But hey, if you dumb yourself down to the max after a night of heavy drinking - it could become more serious.

Just see a doctor and don't panic yourself. The internet is the worst medical consultant you can use. It always makes you feel like you're going to die or have cancer. Plus the internet can't prescribe rationally for you.

 

[Waif]

I've heard of Sleep Apnea, and I understand that it is quite frightening to experience this. Usually though people suffering from Sleep Apnea wake up coughing and struggling to breath, and it's very scary to hear these things. There are a lot more details than this, but I would recommend actually speaking to a doctor about this. I'm sure there are very knowledgeable people here at the escapist, but I would be inclined to recommend seeing a doctor anyway.

 

[starhaven]

my step father does he needs a machine to help him while he sleeps because for awhile your brain has no air although thats ok if u only stop for a few secs some people can stop for 20 secs multible times a night get your self checked you can get tested

 

[eggy32]

Go to the doctor. Whether you go to him or not, you're still going to have sleep apnea you know. He can at least make it better, because he's actually studied medicine and health and all that.

 

[noeggsforyou]

I'd say go check it out with your doctor, its not anything to be excessivly worried about but your doctor should be able to help with reducing the problems caused by the apnea and as the problem is presumably disrupting your sleep pattern it would be good to get it sorted

Just see a doctor and don't panic yourself. The internet is the worst medical consultant you can use. It always makes you feel like you're going to die or have cancer. Plus the internet can't prescribe rationally for you.

yeah deffinatly the internet isn't going to be able to help much on this one the doctor is the way to go.