I’m a teen and I have mild sleep apnea. Is a CPAP machine effective and is it really loud? I share I room and I don’t want it disturbing anyone. Is there anything I can do that will help me?
Do you feel restless, have morning headaches, feel irritated, is forgetful, sweat at night, frequently go to the toilet etc? If yes, then you are probably suffering from sleep apnea.
This is a type of sleep disorder in which the patient suffers from pauses in breathing while asleep. In layman terms, the person while asleep forgets to breathe, which causes restless sleep and consequent problems associated with lack of sleep. Its most serious consequence is to the heart and may lead to congestive heart failure.
Symptoms:
The main symptoms are restless sleep, loud snoring with silent periods in between followed by gasping, morning headaches, forgetfulness, mood changes, anxiety, depression, frequently urinating, sweating at night, bedwetting, increased heart rate etc. However the individual suffering from sleep apnea does not feel difficulty in breathing. A spouse is the best person to indicate whether the individual has breathing problems.
Diagnosis:
A definite diagnosis is obtained by polysomnography. Polysomnography is a multi parametric test for studying sleep. It monitors brain function (EEG), eye function (EOG), muscle function (EMG), heart function (ECG), breathing function etc.
Types:
There are two types of sleep apnea Central sleep apnea and Obstructive sleep apnea. In central sleep apnea, the breathing is paused due to lack of effort. In obstructive sleep apnea the breathing is blocked even though there is an effort to breathe.
People With High Risk:
Sleeping problems affects both children and adults. Obese people, individuals with flabby muscles, increased soft tissue near the airway, heavy face and neck etc are more at risk compared to normal individuals. Children mostly suffer from obstructive sleep apnea and are usually over tired or hyper. Due to this condition the children tend to be thin and not grow properly.
Treatment:
The treatment deals with removing the obstruction from breathing. In children the obstruction is usually due to tonsils or adenoids and are cured by tonsillectomy or adenoidectomy. In adults if the obstruction is due to enlarged lymphoid tissues, then steroids are prescribed to reduce the swelling. Medicines like methylxanthine theophylline and amphetamines are also used in the treatment.
Life style changes are also advised such as avoiding alcohol, medicines like muscle relaxants and sedatives, losing weight, quitting smoking etc. Some times, changing the pillow or changing the direction (sideways, on back, on chest) also helps. Avoiding sleeping on the back is very effective. For this keep a tennis ball in the back pocket of your trouser, this way it will be uncomfortable to sleep on the back and you will unknowingly shift to sleep sideways.
Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is a strong method used when other methods are not working. In this method an oxygen mask with positive air pressure is attached to the patient while sleeping. Many people have found relief from using CPAP. Neurostimulation is under study to treat the disorder from a neurological angle.
Keith George always writes about valuable news & reviews.
A related resource is Insomnia – Free Tips!
Further information can be found at Phobia, Quit Smoking…
Did you ahver to have an overnight sleep test done at the hospital-and did your dr. of neurologist have to order it. Did Insurance give you a hassel. I am newely diagnosed but am on an oxygen converter and it does not help me sleep. I understand a CPAP does and would like to hear of your experience and if possible, the brand you use for the base unit and mask.
this would be of such help to me in my old age.
thank you for taking time to share with me.
The Birth of the CPAP Supply Industry
The leading cause of death in the hospital is infection usually caused by staff, patients, and visitors not washing their hands. Respiratory supplies were changed every forty-eight hours to help prevent respiratory infections. When I got into home
health I recognized that patients were not changing their CPAP supplies. I discovered that a lot of patients did not know that most insurance companies would pay for these new supplies. They were very thankful; some of them had never received a new CPAP mask or supplies. Thus the Supply Program was born! My hope in this article is that you will find out how to recognize symptoms associated with Sleep Apnea, learn some new terms, and discover the proper treatment to help you
sleep better.
Sleep Apnea Diagnosis
Sleep Apnea can be best defined as someone who stops breathing while sleeping. According to the American Sleep Apnea Association this affects more than twelve million Americans alone! There are three types of Sleep Apnea: Central,
Mixed, and Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). The most common form of Sleep Apnea is OSA, which is caused by an obstruction or collapse of the airway. For example, the tongue, palate, orepiglottis can obstruct the airway. Central Sleep Apnea is
caused when the brain fails to tell the muscles to breathe. Mixed Sleep Apnea is a mixture of both Central and Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Untreated Sleep Apnea can cause Congestive Heart Failure, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Headaches, Weight
Gain, and Motor Vehicle Accidents. Since most people are not familiar with the symptoms of Sleep Apnea it is most often overlooked and undiagnosed.
Testing for Sleep Apnea with the Edgeworth Sleep Test
A Sleep Test is the most common tool used to diagnose Sleep Apnea. During the sleep test usually half the night will be spent diagnosing whether the patient does have Sleep Apnea. The second portion of the test will be spent using CPAP
equipment to document any improvement and measure its effectiveness. The most common test for symptoms is the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. This is not a diagnosis but simply a guideline to indicateto your physician that you may have Sleep
Apnea and may require a sleep study. If you suspect that you or a loved one may suffer from Sleep Apnea try answering the following questions:
How likely are you to doze off or fall asleep in the situations described below, in contrast to feeling just tired?
This refers to your usual way of life in recent times. Even if you haven’t done some of these things recently try to work out how they would have affected you. Use the following scale to choose the most appropriate number for each situation:
0 = would never doze
1 = Slight chance of dozing
2 = Moderate chance of dozing
3 = High chance of dozing
Situation Chance of dozing
Sitting and reading
Watching TV
Sitting, inactive in a public place (e.g. a theatre or a meeting)
As a passenger in a car for an hour without a break
Lying down to rest in the afternoon when circumstances permit
Sitting and talking to someone
Sitting quietly after a lunch without alcohol
In a car, while stopped for a few minutes in the traffic
Total
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
Score:
0-10 NORMAL RANGE
10-12 BORDERLINE
12-24 ABNORMAL
Treatment With CPAP Equipment
CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) is the most common treatment for patients who have been diagnosed for Sleep Apnea. The amount of pressure being delivered with a CPAP machine is usually determined by your sleep study
and varies for each person. This equipment is only available through an order written by your physician. The biggest problem associated with CPAP is the patient’s inability to tolerate air pressure, the type of cpap mask used, or poor cpap mask fitting. Over a period of time many patients do get used to the pressure from CPAP with practice. I
have found that an excellent way to alleviate the discomfort especially during this learning phase is to use the “ramp” feature. The patient can use this feature anytime they are having difficulty tolerating the pressure from CPAP. The
“ramp” feature reduces the pressure dramatically and within 30-45 minutes the pressure slowly builds up until optimal pressure has been reached again. The patient will usually fall asleep during this period and not notice the increased air
pressure.
BiLevel or BiPAP (Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure) is designed for patients who have a high pressure prescribed or who have trouble tolerating the pressure associated with CPAP. BiPap has two pressures. Inspiratory (inhalation) and
Expiratory (exhalation) The Expiratory pressure is dramatically reduced so the patient can tolerate BiPAP. Although this equipment is much more expensive than CPAP most insurance companies will pay for it with the proper documentation.
In conclusion, there are many types of equipment and supplies to treat Sleep Apnea. Selecting the right equipment to handle your personal pressure settings along with a comfortable mask and the right filters and cushions can be quite
confusing. Therefore, it is important that you select a company that can not only provide you with quality CPAP machines and CPAP supplies but also with personal service customized for your particular needs. The very best durable medical
equipment companies are awarded the Gold Seal of Approval by the Joint Commission so that is also something to look for when selecting a company. Lastly, select a company that specializes in Sleep Apnea equipment and service for your best
chance at achieving your goal to sleep better now!
About The Author:
Lloyd Mote is a licensed Respiratory Therapist with over twenty years of experience. He is also the Chief Executive
Officer and founder of Americare Respiratory Services, Inc., which has been awarded the Gold Seal of Approval from the Joint Commission.
Lloyd Mote
licensed Respiratory Therapist
Americare CPAP
Sleep apnea (or apnoea) is a surprisingly common sleep disorder characterized by a person’s breathing periodically ceasing temporarily during sleep. It can happen dozens or hundreds of times during a night, when weak muscles supporting the back of the throat allow the airway to become blocked.
More rarely what happens is the breathing signal is not sent from the brain to the diaphragm.
It is a treatable condition, with several options open to patients. The simplest and most common treatment is the use of a sleep apnea machine known as a CPAP sleep apnea machine. (CPAP is an abbreviation for Constant Positive Airway Pressure.)
Although not directly life-threatening, sleep apnea is a serious condition which has the potential to significantly affect a sufferer’s quality of life.
In normal human sleeping patterns, a person progresses through five stages of sleep, eventually going into “deep sleep.” Deep sleep is when dreaming and REM (rapid eye movement) occur and when most restorative functions happen. And you return to almost wakefulness approximately every ninety minutes. Thus, people who wake two or three times in a night are probably actually getting good quality sleep.
In cases of sleep apnea, the sufferer effectively falls unconscious in their sleep, immediately before the brain rouses the body in response to the blocked airway. One with this condition without realizing it could be going through a cycle of passing out and waking every few minutes all night long. This affects the quality of sleep in two ways.
First, oxygen deprivation is harmful to the brain at any time and makes it impossible for sleep to be restful.
Second, because the sufferer may be going through a cycle of waking and going back to sleep every few minutes, they have little opportunity for the most restful, deep sleep.
Symptoms can include snoring, a tendency to fall asleep during the day during any idle period, feeling very tired upon waking, possibly in conjunction with a morning headache, and secondary effects from the reduced quality of sleep, such as depression and anxiety, along with the associated symptoms of those conditions.
Diagnosis for sleep apnea used to be complicated, requiring a specialist’s attention, and possibly a night or two in a sleep laboratory. Fortunately, as awareness of this somewhat common condition becomes more widespread, so too have diagnosis and treatment options.
Upon consultation with a physician, you can get a sleep apnea machine that monitors your body’s vital signs during sleep by use of simple apparatus worn on the arm, allowing you to sleep in your own bed.
Because you are probably more comfortable in familiar surroundings, and the monitoring is done in the same environment you normally sleep in, the results obtained from such analysis can be more valuable to your sleep specialist or doctor.
If sleep apnea is diagnosed, there are a number of treatment options available. The most basic, if applicable, is to lose weight, as obesity is a known cause of this condition. Unfortunately, this may only lower the severity of the problem in many patients, and is not the only cause.
In any acute case, further intervention is required. One option is surgery, but again, this will not work for everyone and is an expensive and undesirable option for many people.
This leaves the most common treatment, which is the use of a sleep apnea machine known as a CPAP. A CPAP sleep apnea machine (Constant Positive Airway Pressure) is a device which has a tube worn in the mouth during sleep which provides a slight positive pressure but otherwise, allows the wearer to breathe normally.
This has the effect of keeping the airway open at all times during sleep, making for more restful, better quality sleep, and better quality of life.
There are various models of CPAP machines available. Some offer more advanced features, such as a reduction of pressure while exhaling, so you are not breathing against the flow of air so much.
Also, offered are more advanced monitoring of use, options for upgradeable firmware to keep the device current with the latest technology, and the ability to link the sleep apnea machine to your PC.
Obviously, less expensive, more basic models are available, and can be completely autonomous, requiring little further configuration by the user.
The most common treatment for this condition is the use of a sleep apnea machine or CPAP machine. Visit Kelly’s Medical Equipment & Supply at http://www.kellysmedical.com/ for more information and to see the great prices available on our wide variety of sleep apnea machines.
You know the feeling you get when you see an attractive person? It feels like your heart stops beating for a few seconds and you can’t seem to breathe, let alone find a way to put together a sentence and speak to that person.
Now think about this: what if the same thing happened to you in your sleep? You probably wouldn’t believe that it could happen. However, it can, and it happens to millions of people each night. It’s called sleep apnea.
What is sleep apnea? Well, sleep apnea is a serious sleeping disorder that often causes you to stop breathing for several seconds. When you stop breathing, it causes a sharp drop in oxygen in your blood and interrupts your sleep. Sleep apnea can signal a more serious health problem that can be dangerous if not treated.
So now that you know the answer to ‘what is sleep apnea’, how do you know if you suffer from it? Well, if you wake up in the middle of the night with a strong urge to go to the bathroom, you may have it. Or, if you snore, feel tired all day or wake up gasping for air, you may suffer from sleep apnea as well.
If you think you suffer from sleep apnea, visit your doctor as soon as possible. He will be able to answer your questions, like “what is sleep apnea” and then actually diagnose it by administering a sleep study commonly known as polysomnography and a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure.)
Your doctor will also be able to determine what form of sleep apnea you have: obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and central sleep apnea (CSA.) Obstructive sleep apnea is cause by the obstruction of the air path, usually by swelling, an enlarged uvula or fat (common in obese people.) The obstructions reduce the amount of oxygen that can go into the lungs, thus causing the person to gasp for air because there isn’t enough going in. Obstructive sleep apnea needs to be diagnosed and treated as soon as possible because it can cause other health problems like hypertension.
Central sleep apnea happens when the brain doesn’t send the appropriate signals to the respiratory muscles. When the signals aren’t there, the muscles don’t know to breathe and breathing will stop for an extended period of time-usually ten to twenty seconds. Central sleep apnea is prevalent in people who had cardiovascular problems as infants or have congenital heart defects. To treat central sleep apnea, the underlying cause (heart problems) must be treated too.
When someone tells you that they have problems sleeping, ask them if they have sleep apnea. If they ask you, “what is sleep apnea,” you can educate them and help them seek treatment. Sleep apnea is a serious condition that can cause more health problems in life. See a doctor right away if you think you may have sleep apnea. Seeking treatment early is the key to fixing the problem, getting a better night’s sleep and preventing major health problems down the line.
What can you tell your friends (who haven’t read this article) who ask you what is sleep apnea? Tell them to ask the sleep experts! We have the answer to that and information on all kinds of sleeping aids like cpap humidifiers. We also help answer your questions and concerns about the safety of melatonin. Come visit us today and get a good night’s sleep tonight!
Sleep apnea in layman’s term is described as a state of the body when the respiratory procedure stops for almost ten seconds during his sleep. This can happen up to four hundred times during the course of a single night’s sleep, and can have serious recursion son the health of the person sometimes even leading to death if it is not treated properly.
The cause of his peculiar disease varies from being hereditary to a unhealthy lifestyle system. Smoking, drinking, fatigue, stress and many other such reasons are responsible for sleep apnea. It can give rise to your blood pressure level, cause distraction in your work, make you feel irritated and even cause a accident while driving.
It’s obvious that sleep apnea is a serious problem. if you want a permanent solution then you can opt for surgery, however if you think your problem is not very critical then you can go for varioussleep apnea machines like CPAP, or BiPAP.
Both these sleep apnea machines have the same function. They help the patient to breath by forcing the air into his nostrils by means of a air tight mask that is secured severely on his face by the help of elastic bands. The two most popular machines that are used to treat this disorder is known as CPAP machine and the BiPAP machines.
The CPAP is widely recommended for people who have mild sleep disorders. It works on a one way mechanism and helps a person to inhale the air. it is cost effective and is also portable which makes it a good choice for mild sleep apnea patient.
However if you re patient of some kin d of heart disease then BiPAP is the ideal choice for you because it work s on two way mechanism. It maintains the pressure while breathing in and breathing out of the air. In case a person happens to miss his breath for a certain period of time the BiPAP forces air into hi s mouth, to reestablish the regular breathing procedure. BiPAP also give a patient much more comfort because pressure inside the face mask is controlled.
There is advanced form of CPAP machine known as ACAP which automatically adjust the amount of pressure that should be used during the respiration process, so that the patient is relieved from exerting high amount of pressure during normal breathing procedure.
The utility of the sleep apnea machine are also enhanced by the use of various machine accessories like a humidifier, breath counter, cotton face masks, mask liners etc, to make the experience more soothing for the patient.
I’m Antonio?has written a number of medical treatment that were published in diffeirent?popular article directories via internet.
A video explaining my back injury and sleeping problems. CPAP are crazy to get used to and keep clean. Plus it hurt my ears… thanks insurance for making try this before surgery!
Fitting cleaning and maintaining your new SleepWeaver soft cloth CPAP mask video. Brought to you by www.sleepweaver.com and only from Circadiance.