Looking for first-hand accounts of sleep apnea from people who live with it (or did)

My BMI was 40.0 throughout this whole story. It began when I answered a question on a survey at a Dr's office: "do you snore? Yes". I was given a dataloging PulseOx meter to take home. My O2 was frequently dropping to 80%.

The following year I finally went through with the sleep study. The at-home type. A wearable datalogger in a chest rig, along with pads, wires and such. That's what confirmed the apnea.

I was given an APAP, which is somewhat like a CPAP but it auto adjusts. It's 5G connected so my Dr can look over my results. I've now been using it for roughly 1.5 years.

Wearing that definitely required some adjustment at first. But since my sleep got so much better, I kept at it, and the improved sleep is still with me today.

My BMI is now around 29, and every so often I've forgotten to put the mask on and still slept pretty good. So I'm curious what the Dr will say about the data he's seeing when we have our next follow-up.

A few years before any of this I also had all the nasal surgeries done, though not as part of the apnea diagnosis, and they made no difference to the apnea. Septoplasty, Turbinate Reduction, etc. They were done only because one nostril was about 90% obstructed. A huge waste of time and effort, they perhaps improved the airflow in that nostril by 10%.

The health risks tied to bad sleep are significant, from heart disease to dementia, all are being linked to it. Going after ways to mitigate the effects of apnea is definitely worthwhile!
 
deluge said:

My BMI was 40.0 throughout this whole story. It began when I answered a question on a survey at a Dr's office: "do you snore? Yes". I was given a dataloging PulseOx meter to take home. My O2 was frequently dropping to 80%.

The following year I finally went through with the sleep study. The at-home type. A wearable datalogger in a chest rig, along with pads, wires and such. That's what confirmed the apnea.

I was given an APAP, which is somewhat like a CPAP but it auto adjusts. It's 5G connected so my Dr can look over my results. I've now been using it for roughly 1.5 years.

Wearing that definitely required some adjustment at first. But since my sleep got so much better, I kept at it, and the improved sleep is still with me today.

My BMI is now around 29, and every so often I've forgotten to put the mask on and still slept pretty good. So I'm curious what the Dr will say about the data he's seeing when we have our next follow-up.

A few years before any of this I also had all the nasal surgeries done, though not as part of the apnea diagnosis, and they made no difference to the apnea. Septoplasty, Turbinate Reduction, etc. They were done only because one nostril was about 90% obstructed. A huge waste of time and effort, they perhaps improved the airflow in that nostril by 10%.

The health risks tied to bad sleep are significant, from heart disease to dementia, all are being linked to it. Going after ways to mitigate the effects of apnea is definitely worthwhile!
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Appreciate it — my BMI is essentially 40, right around 39.5 if I remember correctly.

Until now I hadn't really understood how serious apnea and bad sleep can be. It's honestly wild, and that's why I've suddenly got this drive to actually sort it out. After I put up this thread, I went ahead and paid for one of those watch devices that got mentioned further up, so I can run the test myself and have an answer fast. The company is NHS recognised, and even though the NHS might still insist on their own test, a bad result from this one could push them along and get things moving faster!

Fingers crossed it turns up tomorrow.
 
My situation may not match yours since I'm in the USA, but I went through a sleep study at a facility, and they attached a whole set of wires to me. The result, as they put it, was the worst case they'd ever come across lol. Once I got a CPAP, everything changed. The constant tiredness went away, and I stopped nodding off during the day. More recently I moved to a newer CPAP that varies the pressure according to my breathing rather than running at the maximum setting the entire night, and I think that has given me even better sleep as well.
 
I talked over sleep apnea symptoms with my doctor in the US. He sent me to a specialist, but a sleep study never actually happened. It stayed in my medical records anyway, so now blue shield refuses to cover my testosterone, saying it brings on sleep apnea. (thankfully, ABC pharmacy here in SoCal provides me a cupon, so my monthly cost is still just 30 bucks).

Anyway, I dropped 35 lbs (thanks grey reta) and at last got a sleep study done, and I'm now a 2 of 10 on the sleep apnea scale. Shedding weight (your tongue carries visceral fat too) basically eliminated my sleep apnea.

My guess is that losing weight would likely work wonders for your sleep apnea as well.
 
At my heaviest, 350lb, my sleep apnea was severe — the sleep analyses showed more than 150 episodes per hour when I was on my back, and around 47 per hour on my sides. After I dropped weight and went below 300lb, it fell to moderate, though the analyses also showed that a portion of my events were central rather than obstructive.

Neither the CPAP nor the BiPAP worked for me. I stuck with each one for 4 weeks, determined to adapt, but in the end I had to stop because I was only sleeping 2-3 hours a night. Honestly, it was driving me insane.

Dynamic PAP machines exist, and in my case they might have made more of a difference — though it's possible they wouldn't have.

I ultimately chose double jaw surgery, since my Orthodontist helped me learn that most of my sleep apnea problems were probably caused by my extremely narrow palate and high arch.

The procedure I had is known as MMA, maxillomandibular advancement. Genioglossus advancement and inferior turbinate removal were also part of it.

It changed my life, but it wasn't an overnight miracle, and the recovery was absolutely awful.

One thing my sleep apnea journey has taught me is that nasal airway problems are common, and they can create downstream effects by pushing you to breathe through your mouth more often during sleep and at rest.

Read up on the Cottle test. You can do it yourself and quickly learn whether your nasal airway may need attention. It can reveal whether you have ventral collapse issues and where in your nose they occur. In some cases this can be corrected without surgery — for example, with an injection into the nose that gradually becomes fibrous collagen over time, stiffening the walls so they don't collapse during nasal breathing. (This is the same thing nasal strips target to improve nose breathing, along with all those other similar devices such as the one Alex Hormozi always wears.)
 
My son, who is 6 years old, has sleep apnea and recently completed an in-lab sleep study. (We're in the USA) I've also had an at-home study done on myself, which came back negative for sleep apnea. For that at-home test, I drove over to my local hospital that handles the studies, they attached a few wires to me, and I went back home with the wires still on. When bedtime came, I just made sure the small machine they'd given me was switched on and running. There was also a nasal canula to check my breathing, plus a finger pulse/oxygen thingy.

My son's study last week was comparable, except with far more wires. Forehead, behind ears, top of head, chest, legs, sides. Around 16 leads in total, along with a nasal canula and the finger thing. After that, they leave and you're meant to fall asleep as soon as you're able. My son was quite wiggly while sleeping, and he did manage to fall asleep easily considering the circumstances. I'd forgotten to bring a melatonin gummy for him, so he ended up with only about 5 hours of sleep, but they told us that was sufficient for the study. The worst part (both for us and the sleep technician) was that whenever he'd roll or scoot in his sleep, one or two leads would always come loose, so they'd have to come in, switch a lamp on, and reattach it. That never woke him up, but it kept me awake the whole night lol.

Now we're waiting for a doctor to review the study and prescribe a pediatric cpap machine at our next appointment.
 
Morgoth said:

My situation may not match yours since I'm in the USA, but I went through a sleep study at a facility, and they attached a whole set of wires to me. The result, as they put it, was the worst case they'd ever come across lol. Once I got a CPAP, everything changed. The constant tiredness went away, and I stopped nodding off during the day. More recently I moved to a newer CPAP that varies the pressure according to my breathing rather than running at the maximum setting the entire night, and I think that has given me even better sleep as well.
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Yeah, I came across some folks getting them done at a clinic. Honestly I doubt I could fall asleep at all lol.

My device arrived today (I ordered it myself), so tonight's the night I'm going to try it out! Fingers crossed that if I turn out to be bad, this will move things along faster.

MFGamesta said:

I talked over sleep apnea symptoms with my doctor in the US. He sent me to a specialist, but a sleep study never actually happened. It stayed in my medical records anyway, so now blue shield refuses to cover my testosterone, saying it brings on sleep apnea. (thankfully, ABC pharmacy here in SoCal provides me a cupon, so my monthly cost is still just 30 bucks).

Anyway, I dropped 35 lbs (thanks grey reta) and at last got a sleep study done, and I'm now a 2 of 10 on the sleep apnea scale. Shedding weight (your tongue carries visceral fat too) basically eliminated my sleep apnea.

My guess is that losing weight would likely work wonders for your sleep apnea as well.
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Appreciate it, man. The TRT angle is intriguing, since I'm running grey TRT, nothing major, but it's enough that I feel better! All the signs were there long before I started pinning Test-C, though whether it's worsened things is anyone's guess??

DC_143C said:

At my heaviest, 350lb, my sleep apnea was severe — the sleep analyses showed more than 150 episodes per hour when I was on my back, and around 47 per hour on my sides. After I dropped weight and went below 300lb, it fell to moderate, though the analyses also showed that a portion of my events were central rather than obstructive.

Neither the CPAP nor the BiPAP worked for me. I stuck with each one for 4 weeks, determined to adapt, but in the end I had to stop because I was only sleeping 2-3 hours a night. Honestly, it was driving me insane.

Dynamic PAP machines exist, and in my case they might have made more of a difference — though it's possible they wouldn't have.

I ultimately chose double jaw surgery, since my Orthodontist helped me learn that most of my sleep apnea problems were probably caused by my extremely narrow palate and high arch.

The procedure I had is known as MMA, maxillomandibular advancement. Genioglossus advancement and inferior turbinate removal were also part of it.

It changed my life, but it wasn't an overnight miracle, and the recovery was absolutely awful.

One thing my sleep apnea journey has taught me is that nasal airway problems are common, and they can create downstream effects by pushing you to breathe through your mouth more often during sleep and at rest.

Read up on the Cottle test. You can do it yourself and quickly learn whether your nasal airway may need attention. It can reveal whether you have ventral collapse issues and where in your nose they occur. In some cases this can be corrected without surgery — for example, with an injection into the nose that gradually becomes fibrous collagen over time, stiffening the walls so they don't collapse during nasal breathing. (This is the same thing nasal strips target to improve nose breathing, along with all those other similar devices such as the one Alex Hormozi always wears.)
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Cheers! I gave the Cottle thing a go just now. Airflow seemed maybe a touch better, but honestly I can't say for certain.

As for what kind of PAP machine the NHS would hand over (assuming I end up needing one), I've no idea, but if I can tolerate using one then I suppose I wouldn't be against upgrading it down the line, though I'd prefer to avoid that.

I've come across plenty of accounts about the surgeries you're referring to, but almost always from the US/Canada. Sounds like they take it more seriously on that side.

amosmylove said:

My son, who is 6 years old, has sleep apnea and recently completed an in-lab sleep study. (We're in the USA) I've also had an at-home study done on myself, which came back negative for sleep apnea. For that at-home test, I drove over to my local hospital that handles the studies, they attached a few wires to me, and I went back home with the wires still on. When bedtime came, I just made sure the small machine they'd given me was switched on and running. There was also a nasal canula to check my breathing, plus a finger pulse/oxygen thingy.

My son's study last week was comparable, except with far more wires. Forehead, behind ears, top of head, chest, legs, sides. Around 16 leads in total, along with a nasal canula and the finger thing. After that, they leave and you're meant to fall asleep as soon as you're able. My son was quite wiggly while sleeping, and he did manage to fall asleep easily considering the circumstances. I'd forgotten to bring a melatonin gummy for him, so he ended up with only about 5 hours of sleep, but they told us that was sufficient for the study. The worst part (both for us and the sleep technician) was that whenever he'd roll or scoot in his sleep, one or two leads would always come loose, so they'd have to come in, switch a lamp on, and reattach it. That never woke him up, but it kept me awake the whole night lol.

Now we're waiting for a doctor to review the study and prescribe a pediatric cpap machine at our next appointment.
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Poor little guy!

I suppose with a child they're extra thorough, since I'd imagine things can deteriorate a lot while their body's still growing.

The item that showed up in today's post (privately ordered, but since it's NHS recognised the results will go to my GP) goes by the name WatchPAT One!


https://www.intushealthcare.com/product/in-home-sleep-test/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20973050798&gbraid=0AAAAABin7pHyoDl2ezLq9g_LEkDVKxGL3&gclid=Cj0KCQjwt9jVBhDXARIsAFSP-6dj4gPzZNmgmZKHEa8k-WYf9ztSfmCYHtTzl35Cvp-0H4aUy8fSDZsaAhz0EALw_wcB


There's a good chance the NHS will still insist on doing its own study too, but my hope is that if this comes back showing I'm bad, it'll get me seen quicker!

Once I've got the results, I'll come back and share them!
 
My Sleep Apnea Experience.

A patient of mine underwent a Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty. He told me about everything he was dealing with due to sleep apnea (nodding off behind the wheel, napping during the day, his wife fed up). I thought to myself, wow, that sounds just like me. It's strange, because even as a nurse, it never crossed my mind that I might have sleep apnea until I was helping this patient recover from that surgery. I went for a sleep study, and it came back showing mild to moderate sleep apnea. I used a full face mask and honestly it changed my life. I gave the nasal pillow a try, but my deviated septum made it impossible to tolerate. Thanks to Grey, I've dropped 30 lbs recently. I quit using my C-Pap, though every so often I still wake up exhausted. I might string together five great nights and then have one bad one. Two days ago I had a Septoplasty with Turbinate reduction to correct my septum. I'm hoping my symptoms will improve once that heals. It would be amazing to never have to use my cpap again, since the machine itself is what wakes me up. Someone told me there are exercises that can strengthen and tone the tongue muscles that collapse during the night. That could cut symptoms by as much as 50%. The single biggest thing that's helped my sleep apnea is the weight loss. I'll give those exercises a go and check back in once my Septoplasty has fully healed. Going through a few good nights and then hitting one bad night with sleep apnea symptoms is really frustrating.
 
OzzyFit said:

My Sleep Apnea Experience.

A patient of mine underwent a Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty. He told me about everything he was dealing with due to sleep apnea (nodding off behind the wheel, napping during the day, his wife fed up). I thought to myself, wow, that sounds just like me. It's strange, because even as a nurse, it never crossed my mind that I might have sleep apnea until I was helping this patient recover from that surgery. I went for a sleep study, and it came back showing mild to moderate sleep apnea. I used a full face mask and honestly it changed my life. I gave the nasal pillow a try, but my deviated septum made it impossible to tolerate. Thanks to Grey, I've dropped 30 lbs recently. I quit using my C-Pap, though every so often I still wake up exhausted. I might string together five great nights and then have one bad one. Two days ago I had a Septoplasty with Turbinate reduction to correct my septum. I'm hoping my symptoms will improve once that heals. It would be amazing to never have to use my cpap again, since the machine itself is what wakes me up. Someone told me there are exercises that can strengthen and tone the tongue muscles that collapse during the night. That could cut symptoms by as much as 50%. The single biggest thing that's helped my sleep apnea is the weight loss. I'll give those exercises a go and check back in once my Septoplasty has fully healed. Going through a few good nights and then hitting one bad night with sleep apnea symptoms is really frustrating.
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Appreciate it, I'd really like to know how that works out for you!

My hope is that the continued weight loss (which is honestly the central focus of MANY) will deliver the most significant improvements, and from what I can tell that's the case for a lot of folks here....
 
amosmylove said:

My son, who is 6 years old, has sleep apnea and recently completed an in-lab sleep study. (We're in the USA) I've also had an at-home study done on myself, which came back negative for sleep apnea. For that at-home test, I drove over to my local hospital that handles the studies, they attached a few wires to me, and I went back home with the wires still on. When bedtime came, I just made sure the small machine they'd given me was switched on and running. There was also a nasal canula to check my breathing, plus a finger pulse/oxygen thingy.

My son's study last week was comparable, except with far more wires. Forehead, behind ears, top of head, chest, legs, sides. Around 16 leads in total, along with a nasal canula and the finger thing. After that, they leave and you're meant to fall asleep as soon as you're able. My son was quite wiggly while sleeping, and he did manage to fall asleep easily considering the circumstances. I'd forgotten to bring a melatonin gummy for him, so he ended up with only about 5 hours of sleep, but they told us that was sufficient for the study. The worst part (both for us and the sleep technician) was that whenever he'd roll or scoot in his sleep, one or two leads would always come loose, so they'd have to come in, switch a lamp on, and reattach it. That never woke him up, but it kept me awake the whole night lol.

Now we're waiting for a doctor to review the study and prescribe a pediatric cpap machine at our next appointment.
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I appreciate you telling me about this!
 
Sleep apnea is something I deal with. After one night of an at-home sleep study, my AHI came back at 125. These days, with a cpap, my AHI sits below 1. On top of that, this condition left me with a lot of carbon dioxide in my blood, which I believe goes by the name hypercapnia.

In the past, exhaustion was constant for me, and a movie or anything similar would put me straight to sleep. That tiredness is gone now.

My setup is a resmed airsense 11 cpap paired with a philips dreamwear "under the nose" mask. Getting comfortable with it took a few weeks. These days, though, sleeping without it isn't possible for me.
 
Same as a lot of people on here, sleep apnea showed up for me too. The biggest clue in my case was waking up over and over needing to pee. It turned out I was having a minimum of 160 episodes each night. I went with the dreamwear full face mask, and it took a couple of weeks before I got used to it. After I began my GLP-1 I dropped 125lbs, then had another sleep study, and it came back totally normal, so the CPAP is no longer needed. Early on I had asked the ENT's about that new implantable pacemaker for the tongue (kind of similar to the ones used for the heart). It checks your oxygen while you sleep and sends stimulous to the back of the tongue so it moves forward and opens the airway. No mask required. You switch it on and off with a magnet. The problem was that at that point I was outside the approved weight range.
 
Reading through these has been really interesting. I've felt drained for as long as I can remember — honestly assumed that was just how life was. I've also been overweight and obese for my entire life, so maybe there's a link there, huh. When I was around 28years old, I finally landed a proper job with decent insurance, and that's when I managed to get an at home sleep study done. I only just barely met the criteria for a CPAP, stuck with it nightly for 6 months, and felt absolutely no change. In the end, I stopped using it. Naturally, my weight got the blame my whole life — my diet, how much I moved… I was a lifelong athlete who definitely had an eating problem, but I was very active. Mounjaro transformed my life; I dropped 90lbs in 10 months, yet my sleep and exhaustion never got any better. Then I had kids and my sleep got even worse. Currently I'm at 170lbs, 2.5 years after my youngest. I'm more exhausted than I've ever been, even though I've lost a total of 95lbs from my highest weight, and my bmi is 27… still in the overweight range but not obese by BMI for the first time ever. With the extra strain of 2 kids, the exhaustion has become unbearable… I finally convinced my insurance to approve an in lab sleep study, and I'm really hoping to discover why my smart watches never show deep sleep and why I feel nothing but exhausted no matter how much I sleep. We'll see, but I'm glad I can hear your stories too!
 
CrimsonTaco47 said:

Reading through these has been really interesting. I've felt drained for as long as I can remember — honestly assumed that was just how life was. I've also been overweight and obese for my entire life, so maybe there's a link there, huh. When I was around 28years old, I finally landed a proper job with decent insurance, and that's when I managed to get an at home sleep study done. I only just barely met the criteria for a CPAP, stuck with it nightly for 6 months, and felt absolutely no change. In the end, I stopped using it. Naturally, my weight got the blame my whole life — my diet, how much I moved… I was a lifelong athlete who definitely had an eating problem, but I was very active. Mounjaro transformed my life; I dropped 90lbs in 10 months, yet my sleep and exhaustion never got any better. Then I had kids and my sleep got even worse. Currently I'm at 170lbs, 2.5 years after my youngest. I'm more exhausted than I've ever been, even though I've lost a total of 95lbs from my highest weight, and my bmi is 27… still in the overweight range but not obese by BMI for the first time ever. With the extra strain of 2 kids, the exhaustion has become unbearable… I finally convinced my insurance to approve an in lab sleep study, and I'm really hoping to discover why my smart watches never show deep sleep and why I feel nothing but exhausted no matter how much I sleep. We'll see, but I'm glad I can hear your stories too!
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Given what you've described, it really does sound like you're dealing with some degree of apnea, so hopefully you'll get some clarity soon!

Last night I used the WatchPAT device for my private test, so a report ought to reach me within a couple of working days....
 
littlerestraint said:

Given what you've described, it really does sound like you're dealing with some degree of apnea, so hopefully you'll get some clarity soon!

Last night I used the WatchPAT device for my private test, so a report ought to reach me within a couple of working days....
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That device seems genuinely impressive. During my most recent at-home sleep study, the options presented to me were either the “old” model or a ring. Since I already own a ring, I went with the old version. WatchPAT appears to be a significant improvement. I'd appreciate hearing your results once you've tried it.
 
It sounds like the testing process differs between the UK and USA.

When I was fat, I underwent a sleep study. I was in desperate need of a CPAP machine. Luckily, I adapted right away and slept wonderfully for the first time in years. I stuck with it faithfully until roughly 4 or 5 yrs ago, when I dropped the weight. The one real drawback for me was a lot of dry mouth.

My partner uses one too and still - 15+ years later - has rough nights with it sometimes. He's always amazed by how great his sleep is on the nights he puts it on as soon as he gets into bed (rather than thinking he'll unwind first and then put on the mask).

Since I now weigh less than half my highest weight, I don't use it anymore. Every so often, I have a bad night. That tends to happen when I'm overly tired. 97% of the time these days, I get into bed, get into position and wake up about 7 hours later in the same position.

Good luck! If a CPAP is recommended for you, don't give up on it. The huge boost in sleep quality is 100000% worth the effort of finding the right mask style for your needs and getting used to the unit itself.
 
HereKittyKitty said:

It sounds like the testing process differs between the UK and USA.

When I was fat, I underwent a sleep study. I was in desperate need of a CPAP machine. Luckily, I adapted right away and slept wonderfully for the first time in years. I stuck with it faithfully until roughly 4 or 5 yrs ago, when I dropped the weight. The one real drawback for me was a lot of dry mouth.

My partner uses one too and still - 15+ years later - has rough nights with it sometimes. He's always amazed by how great his sleep is on the nights he puts it on as soon as he gets into bed (rather than thinking he'll unwind first and then put on the mask).

Since I now weigh less than half my highest weight, I don't use it anymore. Every so often, I have a bad night. That tends to happen when I'm overly tired. 97% of the time these days, I get into bed, get into position and wake up about 7 hours later in the same position.

Good luck! If a CPAP is recommended for you, don't give up on it. The huge boost in sleep quality is 100000% worth the effort of finding the right mask style for your needs and getting used to the unit itself.
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Thanks so much!

Honestly, I'm a bit excited to find out how it feels to actually get a full night's rest!

If they give me a machine, I'll absolutely use it.

Also, amazing job dropping half your body weight — that's seriously impressive!!
 
Just adding my two cents: for anyone like me who felt self-conscious about needing a CPAP, the device is well worth dealing with the 'inconvenience and embarrassment factor.' Also, at least in the USA, paying out of pocket for a CPAP and its parts/filters tends to be less expensive than going through insurance. In fact, ignore the insurance recommended schedule entirely - they want you to swap out parts like every few weeks/months. I've been using my CPAP for almost a year now and just clean it and change the filter weekly, and I've had absolutely no issues with it. Going by the insurance schedule would cost me 10x because they want you to replace hoses, water container, pretty much everything but the core machine like every few months.
 
ninjafatslayer said:

Just adding my two cents: for anyone like me who felt self-conscious about needing a CPAP, the device is well worth dealing with the 'inconvenience and embarrassment factor.' Also, at least in the USA, paying out of pocket for a CPAP and its parts/filters tends to be less expensive than going through insurance. In fact, ignore the insurance recommended schedule entirely - they want you to swap out parts like every few weeks/months. I've been using my CPAP for almost a year now and just clean it and change the filter weekly, and I've had absolutely no issues with it. Going by the insurance schedule would cost me 10x because they want you to replace hoses, water container, pretty much everything but the core machine like every few months.
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Because I'm in the UK, any machine I need would come to me at no cost (though I suppose you could say our yearly taxes more than cover it!). The catch is that I'd have no choice in the brand or type they give me.

That said, I don't know if there's a standard device that gets handed out across the board.
 
littlerestraint said:

Because I'm in the UK, any machine I need would come to me at no cost (though I suppose you could say our yearly taxes more than cover it!). The catch is that I'd have no choice in the brand or type they give me.

That said, I don't know if there's a standard device that gets handed out across the board.
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It varies by department. Certain ones provide Resmed devices, while others hand out Philips machines. It all comes down to which of those companies is backing them financially. Usually, they give out the least expensive device they can get away with.
 
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