RE: Sleep apnea is massively undertreated and costs billions in health problems
(12-29-2019, 02:25 PM)Sleepster Wrote: It seems that almost everyone who is referred for a sleep study ends up getting a CPAP machine. The doctor who sent me for my sleep study did so because I went to him with the specific complaints of snoring and insomnia. After I was diagnosed with a AHI of 23 he told me I didn't "look" like someone with sleep apnea.
This is basically me in a nutshell. I think the public could use some/a LOT of PSAs about SA. I have suffered from insomnia most of my life. Many drs. over the yrs. have suggested a sleep study "to rule sleep apnea/narcoplepsy out" and since I typically don't sleep at home, I figured there's no way I would sleep in a sleep clinic and it would be a waste of everyone's time. Besides, I am a fit female and only overweight men have SA. I can't be alone in this assumption. Thankfully I was allowed to take Lunesta and actually slept at the clinic and when I went back for the results I seriously expected them to tell me that my brain was improperly wired to wake me every 90 mins. and maybe I needed shock treatments or something. The LAST thing I expected to hear was that I had moderate SA and needed to use a CPAP. I was honestly shocked. No one had ever told me that I snore (of course, both exes snored loudly, and probably slept through mine), never dozed off while driving, etc. No problems with energy - I trained for and ran a marathon a few yrs. ago! Brain fog - YES - I attributed it to hormones and underactive thyroid. I guess what I'm getting at is not everyone has "classic" symptoms. With the prevalence of under-diagnoses and the resulting health-care costs, I'm wondering if sleep studies should become standard, like colonoscopies and mammograms are.
RE: Sleep apnea is massively undertreated and costs billions in health problems
In Resmeds 10k, they say that about 90% of people with sleep apnea are undiagnosed. I also see how many people you talk to are on a cpap.
RE: Sleep apnea is massively undertreated and costs billions in health problems
When a family member mentioned extreme tiredness, I suggested getting a sleep study done. Their response was "I don't get overly excited about health issues".
My impression was they felt they were taking the moral highroad by not addressing health issues.
RE: Sleep apnea is massively undertreated and costs billions in health problems
I've mentioned sleep apnea and lots of loud snoring to a family member and they got angry, as if I said they were evil for possibly having apnea.
INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEBSITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
RE: Sleep apnea is massively undertreated and costs billions in health problems
I suspect that over the next few years widespread awareness of sleep apnea will be one of the biggest changes in the medical profession. It's amazing they are so slow to "wake up" to the prevalance of the problem.
RE: Sleep apnea is massively undertreated and costs billions in health problems
You should see the amount of fighting it takes for a servicemember to get diagnosed with it. I know of atleast 6 guys from LtCol down I work with that are getting their butts handed to them by sleep disorders and the Military simply refuses to send them to studies that last more than 6 hours...Blows my mind first off how many of us actually have problems with it!
RE: Sleep apnea is massively undertreated and costs billions in health problems
(01-01-2020, 06:12 PM)MarineCorpsNerd1 Wrote: You should see the amount of fighting it takes for a servicemember to get diagnosed with it. I know of atleast 6 guys from LtCol down I work with that are getting their butts handed to them by sleep disorders and the Military simply refuses to send them to studies that last more than 6 hours...Blows my mind first off how many of us actually have problems with it!
I'm not surprised. The attitude is probably "tough it out."
There are non-CPAP solutions that work for many people that they could try. For some people it's as simple as taping a tennis ball to your back so you sleep on your side, or an off-the-shelf dental appliance, cervical collar, or chin strap. My son (he's young, thin and healthy and doesn't fit the normal profile) has sleep apnea due to sleeping with his mouth open so his tongue slides down and back and blocks his throat, and uses a chin strap and a nasal dilator. (If you're going the chin strap route, get the Knightsbridge Dual Band chin strap. It lifts from below the jaw and is very smartly designed, so it works and is comfortable. The cheap neoprene ones you find on Amazon wrap around the tip of the chin and push the jaw directly into the jaw joint, and are uncomfortable and don't work for most people.) Also, I'm hearing more and more about people who use one of the devices that grips your tongue and pulls it outwards (although that sounds terribly uncomfortable to me).
Anyway, I'd encourage the guys you know who suffer from it to take matters into their own hands as much as possible.
