Apnoea and stuff?

[Valiant]

I had a test recently and I scored 21.9, which apparently isn't high enough to warrant a machine so the advice was to sleep on my side and loose weight.

Trouble is AS makes it difficult to exercise and a recent biomechanics test found that I have short but huge calf muscles which also contributing to my issues with walking/knee problems.

In terms of food intake, I now eat the same as my gf, who is a bit of a fitness freak. I hardly drink, on average I might have maybe a can/glass of wine a week. I've also replaced smoking with ecigs. And will once in a while do sweets/desert etc. However my great downfall is eating at work, which should be remedied soon by having a kitchen at work, rather than having to pop out and find something at midnight to eat.

So anyway I think I'm on the right track in general, but can I buy one of those apnoea machines privately and use it? What should I google for? Are there any that are better than others? Lyn's mum came over a while back and have a Philips one that was silent and didn't look like industrial kit but hers is from Aus.

[why1040]

The word you're looking for is CPAP, but I doubt very much you'd be able to just buy one.  You have to set the pressures right and it's all quite technical.  You don't experiment with your breathing...

That said, you're within your rights to get a second opinion if you're not happy with the results...I'd be tempted to go back and tell them you're still suffering symptoms and you want more information.

[Valiant]

You can get automatic ones that I have seen.

[arabella]

I presume you've tried taking in sandwiches and umpteen bits of fruit to work for when you need a snack.  Otherwise good luck.

[pcolbeck]

You can buy CPAP machines if you want. They aren't that technical it's just a about applying a low pressure to your airway to keep it open. I have fiddled with mine a fair bit. Plenty of info online about the range of pressures to use and ramp up time etc.
They do help a lot. I got mine on the NHS though. I need to start using it again at the moment or loose half a stone as my apnea is directly related to my weight (collar size particularly) and a loosing two stone got rid of it almost completely.

[LindaG]

Why would you want one, if you don't need it?  Desperately uncomfortable with a tight mask strapped to your head all night. 

[Valiant]

21.9 sounds like a lot and the tought of struggling to breathe scares me.

[pcolbeck]

If the apnoea is making you too tired to exercise and loose weigh CPAP would help you get better rest and thus able to exercise loose weight and then you might not need the machine any more. It depends on what's causing the apnoea. It is a right faff though - but it works.

[Ham]

Was the test an overnight monitor? If it was described as borderline, I would certainly go for another opinion, there may be a range of conditions causing the sleep disturbance and the CPAP machine may not be right for you - an expensive and uncomfortable mistake.

In my case I was referred to an ENT specialist who diagnosed a problem with my nasal passages, and I had a septoplasty (reamed out a nostril) which transformed my life.

Hope it works out for you whichever way

[pcolbeck]

Wish that had been option for me. I'm a mouth breather due to a nose that's been busted twice quite badly and inherited sinus issues. The nose surgeon described the internal architecture of my nose as "interesting" and whist he thought they could do a nice cosmetic job it wouldn't improve my breathing so I didn't bother getting it fixed.

[Valiant]

Aye test was a monitor at home. Also I'd not slept for 2 days before since not being able to sleep properly just leaves me frustrated.

[clarion]

I used to suffer very badly from apnoea and reflux.  My sleep and my breathing were all over the place.

Things I did to change the situation:

1.  Reduced (or at least changed) the stress.  Divorce isn't an option you'd want, i guess, but it sorted a few things out for me

2.  Lost weight.  Sorry, no two ways around it, but apnoea is linked to weight.  OK, so I was still overweight, but the more I lost, the better it got.  The better it got, the less tired I was.  The less tired I was, the better I could manage it.  The better I could manage it, the more I felt like doing something about losing weight.

3.  Broke the cycle of being up in the night.  Hard to do, but it is important that habit does not reinforce clinical need.

[Valiant]

Loosing weight is hard to do when you're limited to a few mins of exercise before agony kicks in. Sadly just eating healthy isn't enough.

But I am hoping that that deep sleep will make me less tired, feel better and more energetic which in turn will help with pain management and weight loss.

[Ham]

Have you tried the "Breathe Easy" nasal strips? I wouldn't say they are a panacea, but they can have a minor improving effect which may make them worth having.

[clarion]

Loosing weight is hard to do when you're limited to a few mins of exercise before agony kicks in.

I know, Sam.  I wasn't meaning to give you a hard time.

[Valiant]

It's cool. I tried the strips and they don't work Infact the only thing that seems to make a difference is if I use the vicks nasal stuff combined with the vaporub rub on my noise.