sleep apnea

Feb. 6th, 2005 10:06 pm
vuzh: seven (anima)
[personal profile] vuzh
gimme info.

who here has got it?
what do you do about it?
what's it like if you skip out on whatever treatment you take for it?
did you go to a doctor for it?
what did that cost?

the scoop is what i am asking for you to give me.
give me the scoop.

Date: 2005-02-07 05:17 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] chaizzilla.livejournal.com
fibromyalgia and multiple chemical sensitivity are common fellow travellers to it. no fucking idea re treatment, i live in a third-world shithole.

Date: 2005-02-07 05:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] chaizzilla.livejournal.com
oo oo i forgot: restless leg syndrome, too.

Date: 2005-02-07 05:23 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] chaizzilla.livejournal.com
oh oh oh i forgot something else: i know someone who got their tonsils & adenoids out & like, the snoring, the aches, the allergies, all of it, cleared right the fuck up. and their voice improved to boot. i've been thinking about breast reduction/cencer prevention since i was in high school (gettin gboobs pissed me off severely), and when i learned that having one's tonsils & adenoids removed could improve one's singing voice, boom, my surgical fantasies totally switched track. i actually like the boobs a lot, the whole ticking time bomb cancer statistics thing scares the shit out of me tho.

Date: 2005-02-07 05:31 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] psymonetta.livejournal.com
I had my adenoids removed when I was 10, because of sleep apnea, and just a general inability to breathe through my nose.

I also have a fabulous signing voice. Hmmmm....I always attributed it to the fact that my palate has a higher arch and is pushed up into my nasal cavity, but the adenoid removal may have something to do with it too.


Date: 2005-02-07 06:06 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] chaizzilla.livejournal.com
oo oo you wouldn't happen to like to share vocal samples would you?

Date: 2005-02-08 12:29 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vuzh.livejournal.com
i've had my tonsils out.
snoring and lack of breathing at night runs in my family. my uncle had his upper pallette removed.

(gettin gboobs pissed me off severely)

ha ha!

the whole ticking time bomb cancer statistics thing scares the shit out of me tho.

does it run in your family, or is it more common with large boobs?

Date: 2005-02-08 12:33 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] chaizzilla.livejournal.com
it doesn't run in my family, but the more boob you've got, the more cells you've got in your boobs to mutate.

Date: 2005-02-08 12:46 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vuzh.livejournal.com
that makes sense.

Date: 2005-02-08 02:12 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vuzh.livejournal.com
i wonder if that extends to the body as a whole,
so little mini-midget people like myself have a major advantage over gigantic tall heavyweight humans.

i have tall person prejudice, so sue me.

Date: 2005-02-08 02:41 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] chaizzilla.livejournal.com
i'm not tall, i'm about as average as it gets for my subtype. i'm pretty sure it's healthier to be smaller given nothing else, less wear and tear on things in general, less mph if you fall over and hit something with yr skull, etc

Date: 2005-02-07 09:18 am (UTC)
wolvy: (Default)
From: [personal profile] wolvy
Hello - I saw this on my friendsfriends list and therefore must respond!

I went to an allergist just over a year ago, and he started poking around asking questions about me being tired and everything, and we decided that I should be tested for sleep apnea. I dutifully went to the testing place, twice, unaware of what it was going to cost and whether my insurance would pay for it. Two sleep studies later, I got the bill - 4200 for both. It was determined that I do have sleep apnea, and I was given a prescription for a CPAP machine.

A year later, I still struggle with wearing it each night - even with a heated humidifier, it dries out my sinuses and when the pressure peaks it keeps me awake, but I still try to wear it because of the possible complications caused by the apnea.

I've heard worst-case scenarios that involve surgery where they remove a big chunk of the back of your tongue (the part that's down in your throat) - because the main cause of apnea is your tongue relaxing back and cutting off airflow.

Date: 2005-02-07 09:19 am (UTC)
wolvy: (Default)
From: [personal profile] wolvy
The CPAP machine itself cost around $1500.

Date: 2005-02-08 12:37 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vuzh.livejournal.com
hey, thanks for chiming in with the info.

Two sleep studies later, I got the bill - 4200 for both.

JEEBUS McJEEBUS!!

that article you linked to is interesting.
i don't think i have any kind of obstruction, i just fail to breathe.
i guess i'd self-diagnose as having the "central" variant.

Untreated, sleep apnea can cause high blood pressure and other cardiovascular disease, memory problems, weight gain, impotency, and headaches.

memory problems and headaches like crazy.

Date: 2005-02-07 01:22 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] twistedzen.livejournal.com
Looks like you got the scoop from someone on the cost (which I don't remember because my insurance covered the machine at the time (but not all of the sleep study-so I'm still payin' for that shit).

My doctor referred me to a sleep clinic. At first they were worried that it was narcolepsy (since i would seem to doze out every afternoon regardless of the activity), but after the sleep study, they determined it was sleep apnea.

The study itself was interesting. One was just one day 8-5, the other was 5PM-5PM the next day. They hooked a bunch of wires to my head and every hour they made me lie down and take a 30 minute nap. It was weird. Definitely felt like a lab rat, but it was kinda cool.

I have a CPAP (Continuous Positive Air Pressure) machine and to be honest, it's annoying sometimes, but mostly it's OK. It keeps me breathing through the night and sleep quality is generally better (seeing's how my breathing stopped an average of 300+ times a night prior to the CPAP).

When i don't wear the machine, i snore loud enough to hear it in the house next door (no, seriously). And that's really not good since the snoring is actually your body catching it's breathe and trying to start breathing again.

I actually need to have the sleep study re-done to make sure that the pressure and everything on the machine is still accurate.

I guess that's not entirely helpful for you, though, eh?

Date: 2005-02-08 12:42 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vuzh.livejournal.com
Looks like you got the scoop from someone on the cost (which I don't remember because my insurance covered the machine at the time (but not all of the sleep study-so I'm still payin' for that shit

i'm one of the lucky millions in this country with no health insurance.

hey hooked a bunch of wires to my head and every hour they made me lie down and take a 30 minute nap. It was weird.

i could never do that. i can't sleep on cue.
i was always weirded out when i was young by other kids, when their parents would tell them to take a nap, they'd just suddenly be out cold. not me. telling me to sleep makes me want to be awake even more.

sleep on cue

Date: 2005-02-08 01:55 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] twistedzen.livejournal.com
I thought the same thing. But you'd be surprised what its like...there's no clocks or anything and as soon as you go in the room it's all dark-no windows or anything. It's like a hotel room.

Re: sleep on cue

Date: 2005-02-08 02:09 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vuzh.livejournal.com
it's also five fucking grand.

Re: sleep on cue

Date: 2005-02-08 02:12 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] twistedzen.livejournal.com
well, yeah. there is that.

the one I went to is letting us pay them a little (very little) bit each month. I should be done paying them by the time I'm ready for a new hip or something.

Re: sleep on cue

Date: 2005-02-08 02:25 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vuzh.livejournal.com
so insurance didn't pay for it all?

Re: sleep on cue

Date: 2005-02-08 02:32 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] twistedzen.livejournal.com
No. it maxed out my yearly cap, so we're paying the rest, bit by bit.

Re: sleep on cue

Date: 2005-02-08 02:45 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] chaizzilla.livejournal.com
yeha, try sleeping through thinking about that

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