Sleep Apnea – A Sleeping Epidemic

I have Sleep Apnea (both obstructive and central -700-900 episodes a nite) 02/09. I use both an oxygenation(4.0) and bipap machine. 2 weeks ago I was diagnosed with T2 diabetes (taking Metformin 500mg 4 a day). I’m testing my glucose level several times a day to establish a pattern. I’m watching my diet, but my readings are all over the place, anywhere from 178 to HIGH (over 499). understandable since I am testing frequently; after waking, eating, before/after naps, before sleeping,etc. I use the ‘testing solution" occassionally to make sure I’m doing it correctly and to insure the strips and lancets are still OK. I should mention I also have very low testost (Androgel), chronic pain (arthritis & back pain (Oxycontin) acid reflux (Omeprazole) enlarged prostate (terazosin) severe (Suprise!) depression (Fluoxetine)ADHD (Adderall) to top it off – possible contact w/ "Agent Orange" insurance & VA BAD! HELP!!
I’m sorry – the above is soooo long – and now I’m adding to it! LOL – I forgot to mention, I’m a 61 year old male, 5’9" and weigh 158 – so I’m not over weight.

Thanks for any help you are able to offer
Bob

It looks like your main question is related to you high blood sugars even though you are on Metformin for your Type 2 Diabetes. Sometimes it takes weeks to months to regulate your blood sugar with medicines after being diagnosed because medications are started one at a time and dosages are increased slowly over time as well to reach maximum effect without causing side effects or causing your blood sugar to drop too low. Basically, you are at the very beginning of type 2 diabetes treatment so continue to check and chart your blood sugar regularly and continue to eat right and exercise. You should have another doctor’s visit coming up soon so that they can see how you are doing with your high blood sugar. At that time, they could change your diabetes medication or add another one. It is common to need more than one diabetes medication to control high blood sugars. Just continue to take your meds and keep up with recording your blood sugars and they will eventually get you on the right medications with the right dosages to treat your diabetes.
I am also posting a informative website that may help you understand why it can be difficult to find the perfect diabetes medication right at the beginning. It goes over all of the meds.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/diabetes-treatment/DA00089

Ok so my aunt is always tired she’s always yawning everytime i see her and she always has dark circles under her eyes. She has put on some weight in the recent 2 years but isnt overweight really,Shes from out of town and is a teacher. She doesnt snore loud or sometimes never at all so maybe it could be central sleep apnea but highly unlikely or maybe she does have obstructive sleep apnea and justs gasps for breath and doesnt snore I dont know.

that is classic sleep apnea.

Central sleep apnea…sounds like that’s neurological. If so, then CPAP wouldn’t help. You have to be trying to breath for CPAP to help by keeping open the passages. If the brain is failing to send a signal to breathe, then CPAP won’t get air in.

If your doc said you have central sleep apnea (and if I’m not wrong about it being neurological), and he wants you on CPAP, he might think you have *both* types of apnea. Certainly possible.

Rather than give you a brief answer, here is a search page on Treatments For Central Sleep Apnea.
Click & read whatever websites interest you
http://www.ask.com/web?qsrc=2352&o=101881&l=dis&dm=&q=central%20sleep%20apnea%20treatments

I think a lot of the other posters are talking about obstructive sleep apnea, not central sleep apnea. With central sleep apnea, treat the underlying cause, if possible (such as treating congestive heart failure, if that is causing the apneic periods). If the person’s oxygen saturation drops from the apnea, it might be a good idea to be on oxygen while asleep. Take a look at the sources below, which have some more information about treatments. Hope this helps.

I feel when I dream for a long time I wake up feeling heavy and weak with a weak pulse but not like I have to breath rapidly but feel abit winded and well I’m not overweight.. completely lack the double chin they say a normal sleep apnea person usually has(or any slack inside or ourside your neck) I’ve had the sleep test waited 7 months. they said nothing happened, but they hooked me up with so many probes that I couldn’t possibly sleep deeply enough and it took me many hours to even get close to sleeping. had no dreams and woke up feeling really refreshed oddly more than normal.like all those stupid discomfort causing things attached to me caused a light sleep so that my sleep problem never occurred. ironically during the test to find out if I had it or not ugh. so noow I either have to reinroll into a test that doesn’t have the p roper environment to cause it or I keep suffering(its not every night but when I enter dream sleep) or sleep for more than 2 hours in darkness.
—>anyone know about central or other types of sleep apnea that don’t involve obstruction? <——–
or if you have another idea what could be obstructing it(I sleep on my back most times) but on my side lately so I haven’t been suffering from it as much. (ps I don’t have asthma)

Everyone has the same problem with the sleep test – they are bothered by the strange and different environment and so on. So the people doing the test know that and it is common. So in that sense, your situation is not that different from other people.

In central sleep apnea the brain does not send the correct signals to the muscles that control your breathing. Central sleep apnea is less common than obstructive sleep apnea, accounting for less than 5 percent of sleep apneas.

You don’t say how old you are, but many people who suffer from night terrors as children grow up to continue to have sleep problems as adults, so you might want to do a little investigating about your sleep history. Consider the possibility that you may be having night terrors or even sleep walking, both of which would mean disrupted sleep.

There are several different types of central sleep apnea. Check here.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/central-sleep-apnea/DS00995/DSECTION=causes
http://sleep.lovetoknow.com/Night_Terrors_in_Adults
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/sleepwalking/article_em.htm

last night for the first time as i was falling asleep i would awake not realizing i wasn’t breathing but feeling a burst adrenaline for about 2 seconds and feel really light headed. After this was happening repeatedly i realized my breathing slowed as i tried to sleep and i guess i would wake myself up because of the lack of oxygen to my head. the morning after i felt really foggy and couldn’tt really think at all.

Some people stop breathing periodically while they sleep. This condition is called sleep apnea. It is commonly caused by a blockage or obstruction in the patients airway that occurs when the patients falls asleep and the muscles relax. Patients with sleep apnea may stop breathing hundreds of times at night., and snore loudly when they start to breath again. This interrupts their sleep, and they often very tired during the day.

Treatment in many cases consist of the use of a device that delivers pressure to the airway while the patient sleeps; this pressure holds the air way open. This device is called a CPAP ( Pronounced see-pap which stands for Continuous positive airway pressure. A mask is placed on the patients face and held in place with a head strap.Then the doctor can adjust oxygen levels with the mask.

I’ve just been diagnosed with central, obstructive and complex sleep apnea, as well as hypopnea. Does anyone have any info on these afflictions? Maybe I’m being a bit of a hypochondriac, but what I’ve read so far sounds kind of scary.

It can be scary if untreated. There is a respirator type mask you can be fitted wiyh to relieve the symptoms.

Can anyone with central sleep apnea or experience with central sleep apnea tell me if a common symptom is being startled out of sleep? For instance if someone wakes you up, rather than you waking up on your own, if you wake up panicked and gasping for air? Any input would be GREATLY appreciated =)

Thanks!
-Brittan

P.S. I currently have massive pressure in my head, wake up very startled, am exhausted all day, never feel rested and have a brain tumor in the Pons of my brain.
Actually I haven’t been to a doctor for regular sleep apnea yet. I’m trying to set up an appointment with my oncologist to see if she can refer me.

Panicked and gasping for air, falling asleep during the day, being tired all the time are symptoms of sleep apnea. Get yourself evaluated by a pulmonologist at a sleep center.

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Sometimes when I’m falling asleep I forget to breathe. I know this because some part of my body jerks and I wake up feeling light headed and as if I hadn’t breathed for too long a time. Usually I can just roll over and force myself to think of random stuff to get my mind off of it and the problem goes away. However, it occasionally does not go away and I have to occupy myself with something for a while until I try to sleep again. Is this central sleep apnea and could this be caused (at least in part) by some sort of anxiety disorder?

It is called obstructive sleep apnea. You are not forgetting to breathe. As you are falling asleep the tissues in the back of your throat relax and fall back blocking your airway. Your body realizes that you are not breathing and wakes you up long enough to breathe 4-5 times then you fall back asleep and the cycle repeats throughout the night. You need a sleep study before you have a stroke or heart attack due to lack of oxygen during the times you are not breathing and the increased stress put on your heart.