Sleep apnea

[Thaiyotakamli]

Sleep apnea is when u sleep have irregular breathing. If i remember correctly u will have restless night and always feel tired, often woken up due to short breathing. This is bad for long term and need treatment. Can go to respiratory doctors and maybe they will recommend u to use bipap or cpap during sleep.

Thanks. Reason I've asked is because my wife who's asthmatic exhibits those symptoms... she knows they are not related though and I'm the one ignorant one.

 

She needs constant wind from the fan in her face in order to sleep well. Otherwise, she could wake up several times a night feeling breathless. She's tried beclomethasone dipropionate inhaler but disliked the dry mouth side effect.

That could be the symptom of sleep apnea. The cpap will help her to breath and push the lung to take deeper breath, of course need medication as well enlarge her 'breathing pipe' (sorry i layman dunno doctor term hehe).

 

For breathing problem, Maybe will need nebulizer using ventolin and also may need few medication such as prednisolone and flutiform. Of cos breathing problem can be caused by many things best to consult with specialist

Edited April 1, 2017 by Thaiyotakamli

[Fcw75]

Any ENT Doctor to recommend?

[mersaylee]

Any ENT Doctor to recommend?

+1.

 

There's one ENT doc at CGH who cured my regularly swollen membrane many many years ago was pretty good and effective. No recurrence ever since. Can't remember the name though.

[Lala81]

For those interested, u can pm me.

Disclaimer. I have not gone under his scalpel before lol.

Edited April 2, 2017 by Lala81

[Still2016]

Any ENT Doctor to recommend?

Why don't you guys go and consult our very own resident docs first?

 

I think they are best to sort out your issues before deciding whether to seek specialise help.

 

Please remember that any thing you do with the specialist will always be more expensive and not necessary better.

[Lala81]

How do you treat sleep apnoea?

 

1. Lose weight for overweight individuals

 

2. CPAP which stands for continuous positive airway pressure. Basically it forces you to breathe with a mask giving you positive air pressure. This positive air pressure reduces the collapse of the soft tissue in your upper airway. Hence improving your breathing.

There's no getting around it. It's not comfortable period. It takes a long while to get used to it. There will be good and bad nights especially if you are a side sleeper.

Though there are minimalistic masks. But there are pros and cons. I'll talk more about the equipment later on.

 

3. Surgery may benefit some people.

As some people have attested it has helped them. Generally speaking, the less overweight you are, the more likely you will benefit. If u are really 165kg like someone claims, then surgery has low chance of success.

ENT surgeons are the best suited to discuss with you. But sometimes it's like asking the fruit seller whether his fruits are good. Well... The most important are the first two. I'm thinking of seeing an ENT for no. 3 but it's still a big maybe whether I want to do surgery even if its suitable for me.

Edited April 2, 2017 by Lala81

[Fcw75]

Why don't you guys go and consult our very own resident docs first?

 

I think they are best to sort out your issues before deciding whether to seek specialise help.

 

Please remember that any thing you do with the specialist will always be more expensive and not necessary better.

 

I don't even know where they are.

 

Have seen GP but didn't cure so I guess it's time for specialist. 

[mersaylee]

Why don't you guys go and consult our very own resident docs first?

 

I think they are best to sort out your issues before deciding whether to seek specialise help.

 

Please remember that any thing you do with the specialist will always be more expensive and not necessary better.

One of the resident docs going to see a specialist...

[Friendstar]

 

im not sure when

 

a little history of myself

 

back in 1996 after ns my weight is 55kg

 

in 1999 just before enter my current job my weight is 65kg

 

in 2000 i quit smoking, only pick it up back a year later due to stress

 

in that year alone from 65 kg jump to 85 kg

 

i guess thats when i start my sleep apnea when people around me start to notice by my snoring

 

its only confirm in 2009 in cgh after i was diagnose with hbp and cholestrol

 

they insist on cpap where my skin was so sensitive it broke out all over the face, so i stop the follow up and the sleep test shows about 30 over second of stop breathing

 

this year i was refer to nuerology because of the pain in my neck. doctor was puzzle cause every medication he gave does not seems to work until i brought up the subject sleep apnea.

 

they did a sleep study again and this time round almost 2 minute of stop breathing

 

doctor warn its quite critical

 

i tried to lose weight, sadly fail

 

i bite the bullet and ask for the ops

 

initially after ops, i really feel regret because of the pain all this but Friendstar wrote in my pm seems to lift up y spirit.

he said to look forward to quality sleep and yes thats whats im having now. quality sleep which i dont have even if i sleep 24 hrs. now i sleep like 4-6 hours (pain that keep me awake) i feel refresh.

 

if people ask me for my opinion

well i just say try cpap and lose weight for a year.

or else go for the ops if you can endure the pain, the lack of food, the strange tingling taste at the tongue and the back of the throat.

seriously 1 bowl of porridge can last me whole day because of the pain when swallowing. every hour i ate 3-4 scoop.

Thank you for mentioning me

 

I'm glad I helped.

 

Yes me and you are beneficiaries of the OP. Short term pain no doubt.

 

But long term? Quality sleep. Better mood. Less health problems.

[Still2016]

One of the resident docs going to see a specialist...

That is because after his assessment that he needs a specialist confirmation or opinion.

[Lala81]

That is because after his assessment that he needs a specialist confirmation or opinion.

Essentially sleep apnea needs to be confirmed on a sleep study. Which is almost always ordered by a specialist.

 

For me, I skipped the sleep study cos I obviously have it and ive known for many years, just whether I have moderate to severe apnea. And I have the relevant knowledge to know what I don't know.

 

To me, use the stop bang questionnaire link I posted earlier.

If you score high enough on that, just get a referral to the hospital or pte ent for a sleep study referral. There isn't much a regular gp can do for unless you aren't sure whether u may have sleep apnea in the first place.

Edited April 2, 2017 by Lala81

[Heartlander]

Usually the thing measured at sleep studies is this index called AHI. The higher, the worse it is.[/size][/font][/color]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apnea%E2%80%93hypopnea_index

So doctor, what do you have to recommend for someone with assessed AHI of 78?

[Lala81]

So doctor, what do you have to recommend for someone with assessed AHI of 78?

Definitely as I explained earlier, weight loss if possible and also cpap plus minus surgery depending on whether the surgeon thinks u will benefit. 78 is really high. Edited April 2, 2017 by Lala81

[Heartlander]

Definitely as I explained earlier, weight loss if possible and also cpap plus minus surgery depending on whether the surgeon thinks u will benefit. 78 is really high.

What I was told by the specialist, surgery not an option as it is effective only against mild cases of OSA. Not severely overweight as just 8x kg. Definitely got room for weight loss but don't feel will help significantly.

 

Left only the CPAP machine option. Still thinking as very troublesome.

[Lala81]

What I was told by the specialist, surgery not an option as it is effective only against mild cases of OSA. Not severely overweight as just 8x kg. Definitely got room for weight loss but don't feel will help significantly.

 

Left only the CPAP machine option. Still thinking as very troublesome.

Why don't u think of the cpap machine as a way to reduce your chance of having a stroke or heart attack.

 

Think of your sleep apnea the same way you think of high blood pressure and diabetes. It's no different. It's a chronic disease.

[Heartlander]

Why don't u think of the cpap machine as a way to reduce your chance of having a stroke or heart attack.

 

Think of your sleep apnea the same way you think of high blood pressure and diabetes. It's no different. It's a chronic disease.

That is cruel way of saying it, but not as bad as my specialist. He just commented more bluntly that i will simply die earlier if left untreated.

 

Points noted. Looking forward to you sharing your success story and be inspired to do something now.

[Lala81]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4828426/

 

 

 

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are highly prevalent, chronic conditions with intriguing, yet poorly understood epidemiological overlap. To date, the amount of OSA syndrome present in patients with AD across literature remains unknown. To address this question, we collected all available published clinical data and analyzed them through a quantitative meta-analytical approach. The results of our quantitative meta-analysis suggest that the aggregate odds ratio for OSA in AD vs. healthy control was 5.05 and homogeneous. This reflects that patients with AD have a five times higher chance of presenting with OSA than cognitively non-impaired individuals of similar age. Moreover, these data suggest that around half of patients with AD have experienced OSA at some point after their initial diagnosis. The additive impact of progressive changes in sleep quality and structure, changes in cerebral blood flow and the cellular redox status in OSA patients may all be contributing factors to cognitive decline and may further aggravate AD progression.

 

[Drive]

Which CPAP machines recommended, doc?