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A story and request for advice from someone recovering from possibly 15 years of Slee - Slapnoea - 04-13-2015
It has been about a month of using a CPAP and my AHI has gone down from 31 to less than 1. I am 36. I have had symptoms such as severe morning headaches headaches for 15 years, and have heard remarks on my weird, incredibly loud snoring for about 4. I have also suffered from depression, lack of motivation, constant hunger, muscle tightness and anxiety for as long as I can remember. I have also smoked Marijuana for 20 years. I take a low dose of Duloxetine (for depression etc) and Pramipexole (for restless legs) Physically now, and probably for the past 2 years I have put on some excessive weight, but I am not obese. Before that my weight a fluctuated a bit but nothing excessive. There were even times when I was very fit! I do have a very thick neck which is probably the cause of these problems.
The first thing I noticed after my first good night on the CPAP machine was that my eyes felt more open and alert. I was happier and more energetic. After a few weeks I started noticing more subtle changes like a more "can do" attitude and the ability to disregard unnecessary and painful thoughts more easily. Now I am starting to see something of a sea change in my frame of mind and general philosophy. I find it easier to go without Marijuana and am hoping to get off the Duloxetine ASAP. This is all rather beautiful
It is not all good though and I think this is the part where I would appreciate you thoughts and advice. It is very difficult for me to differentiate between the effects of not having sleep apnoea, and the other the other afflictions I have mentioned .... not to mention the damage I have done to myself with marijuana and the consequences of not smoking anymore. I am still quite lazy, and lack motivation. My mind also tends to drift onto thinking about what could have been if I hadnt suffered from it which is especially painful for someone who has always felt like they were a chronic underperformer.
I also have started talking A LOT, and my filter is becoming a lot less effective ... by which I mean that I say things that I normally just wouldnt say. I have always been that way ... people have always been a little concerned that I might embarrass them, but now it is getting a bit too much for me. This is especially awkward for me when I am jokingly offensive to some or sexually suggestive. Sometimes I walk away from social engagements wondering if I said too much ... again this has always been the case, but now there is more social interaction it is happening more often.
Id like to hear from anyone else who had difficulties separating their symptoms, and fitting in socially with all the changes to their character.
I dont want to sound ungrateful ... this is quite a lovely problem to have ... Im just a little concerned that I might lose track of the things I still need to improve, and also I dont want my new energy to become mania.
To all those of use recovering I share your joy, and to those looking to fix the problem, I wish you the best of luck and can assure you that you will not regret dealing with it.
Thanks for reading
P.S. I have posted this story in a few places ... sorry if you have seen it in more than one place.
RE: A story and request for advice from someone recovering from possibly 15 years of Slee - Peter_C - 04-13-2015
/waves hand in the air...
First, food for thought? My untreated OSA created heart issues before I was put on my CPAP (now on an ASV machine). It's taken some 13+ years of both my 'dream machine' and seeing the heart doc+meds to get to the point that I no longer need to see the heart Doc, and instead of seven heart-only meds, I now take only one. My point here is there are both quick changes possible, and long-term use changes possible.
On top of that, some issues could simply be 'habits' - to some degree we are all creatures of habit (try putting pants on with the other leg first to see). So, body habits, brain habits, etc - regardless of which, effort+time is needed to change most of these.
In my case, for the last 2+ years I have either been having joint surgery, recovering from joint surgery, or been going through long-term rehab from joint surgery, and before being completely done, I have yet another part replaced/repaired/rebuilt - So, I have become very lazy. Sleeping 10-12hrs per day is normal for me now, and I have lousy cardio at this point. As you can see, this isn't so much an OSA issue, as it is a habit issue. The "laziness" won't change on it's own - you will need to change your "daily patterns" to break this habit...my opinion only.
When was the last time you had a full medical work-up done? Complete blood work done? Stuff to ponder?
RE: A story and request for advice from someone recovering from possibly 15 years of Slee - Slapnoea - 04-13-2015
I am tempted to get a full check up, but I think I might wait a few more months until everything has calmed down. Im not sure I have ever had a full check up to be honest!
I guess what I am really hoping for is that the cpap treatment will reduce the excuses I always used to justify laziness .... but that being said I still havent been to the gym even though every night I go to bed thinking ... tomorrow will be the day!
RE: A story and request for advice from someone recovering from possibly 15 years of Slee - DeepBreathing - 04-13-2015
Laziness gets to be a habit, whether you're on the hose or not. I'm the same - I have a nice gym set in my house - I walk past it on the way in and out of my bedroom, but for some reason there's always a reason not to use it. This is nothing to do with apnea - it's just a lazy habit I've got into and it sounds like you have too.
I'd strongly suggest having the full medical now, and not putting it off (otherwise you'll never do it). There are a lot of morbidities associated with apnea, and it's tempting to blame everything on it. But there's likely to be other stuff happening which is nothing to do with apnea. See the doc, get the bloods done. If nothing else it will reassure you that there's nothing nasty happening in the background.
RE: A story and request for advice from someone recovering from possibly 15 years of Slee - trish6hundred - 04-13-2015
Hi Slapnoea,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Much success to you with your CPAP therapy and working through your problems and hang in there for more responses to your post.
RE: A story and request for advice from someone recovering from possibly 15 years of Slee - AlanE - 04-13-2015
Good advice from DeepBreathing. Get a baseline from which you can measure successes. otherwise it really is trying to play darts in the dark. Sure you'll hit something but he may not be too happy about it.
RE: A story and request for advice from someone recovering from possibly 15 years of Slee - Mark Douglas - 04-13-2015
(04-13-2015, 02:27 AM)Slapnoea Wrote: It has been about a month of using a CPAP and my AHI has gone down from 31 to less than 1. I am 36. I have had symptoms such as severe morning headaches headaches for 15 years, and have heard remarks on my weird, incredibly loud snoring for about 4. I have also suffered from depression, lack of motivation, constant hunger, muscle tightness and anxiety for as long as I can remember. I have also smoked Marijuana for 20 years. I take a low dose of Duloxetine (for depression etc) and Pramipexole (for restless legs) Physically now, and probably for the past 2 years I have put on some excessive weight, but I am not obese. Before that my weight a fluctuated a bit but nothing excessive. There were even times when I was very fit! I do have a very thick neck which is probably the cause of these problems.
The first thing I noticed after my first good night on the CPAP machine was that my eyes felt more open and alert. I was happier and more energetic. After a few weeks I started noticing more subtle changes like a more "can do" attitude and the ability to disregard unnecessary and painful thoughts more easily. Now I am starting to see something of a sea change in my frame of mind and general philosophy. I find it easier to go without Marijuana and am hoping to get off the Duloxetine ASAP. This is all rather beautiful
It is not all good though and I think this is the part where I would appreciate you thoughts and advice. It is very difficult for me to differentiate between the effects of not having sleep apnoea, and the other the other afflictions I have mentioned .... not to mention the damage I have done to myself with marijuana and the consequences of not smoking anymore. I am still quite lazy, and lack motivation. My mind also tends to drift onto thinking about what could have been if I hadnt suffered from it which is especially painful for someone who has always felt like they were a chronic underperformer.
I also have started talking A LOT, and my filter is becoming a lot less effective ... by which I mean that I say things that I normally just wouldnt say. I have always been that way ... people have always been a little concerned that I might embarrass them, but now it is getting a bit too much for me. This is especially awkward for me when I am jokingly offensive to some or sexually suggestive. Sometimes I walk away from social engagements wondering if I said too much ... again this has always been the case, but now there is more social interaction it is happening more often.
Id like to hear from anyone else who had difficulties separating their symptoms, and fitting in socially with all the changes to their character.
I dont want to sound ungrateful ... this is quite a lovely problem to have ... Im just a little concerned that I might lose track of the things I still need to improve, and also I dont want my new energy to become mania.
To all those of use recovering I share your joy, and to those looking to fix the problem, I wish you the best of luck and can assure you that you will not regret dealing with it.
Thanks for reading
P.S. I have posted this story in a few places ... sorry if you have seen it in more than one place.
Sounds a lot like me - and I have severe ADD/HD.
RE: A story and request for advice from someone recovering from possibly 15 years of Slee - retired_guy - 04-13-2015
I'm a big fan of judicious use of Marijuana. If I didn't have emphysema, I would smoke it on occasion. I haven't gotten around to sourcing any in liquid form, and I probably never will. My son uses Marijuana because he has epilepsy and it is completely controlled by it. So much so that he hasn't had to take any of the rather nasty drugs that condition usually requires.
That said, I think most of your symptoms can be attributed to long-time over use of the grass. That's going to take considerable effort on your part to get past. The key as said, is exercise, a little at a time until you can do a lot. Lots of healthy food things. ........and honest discussion with your docs as to what's going on and how to get past it. Actually, in this case I think I'd dig up a very good Naturopathic physician for advice. Their drug regimen might be better suited to what you need to do.
RE: A story and request for advice from someone recovering from possibly 15 years of Slee - DariaVader - 04-13-2015
welcome to the forum - like your username
you are young... that is great. many years to overcome the damage to your physical being, and correct bad habits that have been formed! Laziness habit may have begun in response to physical limitation (tiredness, pain) but u will still have to break the habit. It takes some time for your brain to re-wire... you did a lot of adjusting to cope with the poor sleep, and now you need to adjust to the new circumstance - breaking bad habits may become easier shortly. be patient with yourself
RE: A story and request for advice from someone recovering from possibly 15 years of Slee - Slapnoea - 04-15-2015
Nice to meet you all
Thank you for the kind words ...I am being a little impatient I guess, and the controlling is a hangover from the sleepy days. I think I am just going to take it easy, live healthy and well, and see what happens.
A quick question though .... I currently use a Respironics Remstar Auto with A-Flex.
This is loaned to me from the health service to see if it works for me but the time is coming when I have to buy my own. I think I get a 90% discount so I guess I can get any one I want. What would you guys recommend? I am very happy with it but I dont like the the breathing noise it makes and have countered that by always having a fan blowing. Are there any models that dont have the breathing noise? The other issue is size .... I find it a little too big. If I travel it takes up half of my luggage! I have been looking at the Autoset 10. How does that compare? Any other recommendations? Is it really worth getting the really expensive biPap machines?