didgeridoo

[me50]

At first I thought you were joking. My response was going to be, "Not lately, I gave up drinking years ago". Then I read this:

Researchers reporting in the British Medical Journal evaluated 25 people with sleep apnea—a breath-stealing condition caused by flabby throat muscles—and found that those who took 4 months of didgeridoo (DIH-jeh-ree-doo) lessons had about 31/2 times less daytime sleepiness than the folks who didn't blow their own horns. The newly minted musicians also snored significantly less.

I wouldn't even know where to get one. Time to hear from one of our Aussie friends maybe.

[Sleepster]

In addition, age is also a factor, as the tissue in the throat becomes lax with age, and so this can be a difficult battle to win.

I suffered from chronic headaches for about 3 decades, and the only thing that finally gave me significant relief was when I started CPAP therapy at age 56. I am therefore going to take a leap and conclude that there's a correlation between the severity of my OSA and my headaches.

At age 22 or so the headaches started when I had a cold or sinus infection. I figured the headaches were caused by my frontal sinuses being infected and swollen. At age 24 my throat was swollen from an injury in a car accident. The headaches returned and then went away when a doctor diagnosed me with a sinus infection and treated me with an antibiotic, a decongestant, and an antihistamine.

I was always a tall skinny geek, but at age 28 I started gaining weight when I stopped working as a carpenter and enrolled in grad school. The headaches returned. Then at age 30 I went back to work as a carpenter, lost some weight, and the headaches went away.

Shortly thereafter I started my first teaching position, gained some weight, and the headaches returned. Since that time I gradually continued to gain weight, kept teaching, and the headaches persisted.

During the intervening 25 years I had three sinus surgeries, but the headaches persisted. At age 45 I started taking amitriptyline which gave me some relief, but I still had the headaches every day.

I should mention here that the headaches are likely tension headaches. I say that because I'm the type who suffers from muscle tension in other parts of my body such as the jaw, neck, and back brought on by stress.

I now take the smallest dose of amitriptyline (25 mg) and the headaches have finally gone away. When I first started CPAP therapy I had days with no headaches. Now, two years later, it's rare that I ever have a headache.

By losing about 50 lb I can return to the weight I had 3 decades ago, but I cannot turn the clock back to the muscle tone I had 3 decades ago.

There are many benefits I could realize by losing that 50 lb (23 kg) but getting rid of the CPAP machine may not be one of them. There is only one way to find out!

[me50]

one may or may not get their muscle tone back but sometimes it can be fun trying to! It won't happen unless we try!

[Sleepster]

So, is there a connection between getting "stressed out" and having OSA? I think there is. I think a good night's sleep helps us deal better with the events in our lives that cause stress.

That "fight or flight" response means our muscles tense up when we anticipate danger. When sleep-deprived we have difficulty dealing with situations that we typically label as "problems". When we do manage to get better sleep we are better able to do deal with these "problems".

[me50]

So, is there a connection between getting "stressed out" and having OSA? I think there is. I think a good night's sleep helps us deal better with the events in our lives that cause stress.

That "fight or flight" response means our muscles tense up when we anticipate danger. When sleep-deprived we have difficulty dealing with situations that we typically label as "problems". When we do manage to get better sleep we are better able to do deal with these "problems".

I do think stress has a lot to do with OSA. When stressed, a lot of times our health suffers drastically. Some eat too much; some don't eat right; some do a combination of both. Some have nightmares and a lot with stress are sleep deprived or have insomnia or disjointed sleep among other issues. Prolonged stress is a killer!