3 ms·
My father has a very severe form of obstructive sleep apnea, resulting in really loud snoring. In my home country, snoring generally isn't seen as a symptom for
by yati 7y ago
My father has a very severe form of obstructive sleep apnea, resulting in really loud snoring. In my home country, snoring generally isn't seen as a symptom for a deeper problem, and is just accepted as an annoyance, sometimes even associated with sound sleep.
During a recent visit, I was sitting next to his bed as he fell asleep, and I could literally see him choking for 4 out of 5 attempts at breathing. When I asked about his sleep quality, he said he tends to nod off when he has not much to pay attention to, and sometimes also while riding his scooter (!). We arranged for a sleep study, and there it was, pretty clear. Since then, he's been using a CPAP[1] machine when sleeping, and his life hasn't been better. He reports much less fatigue, better digestion, and an overall positive feeling.
If you have a family member who snores loudly, please pay attention.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_positive_airway_pressure https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_positive_airway_p...
- diob 7y agoI can't emphasize what you're saying enough. Please watch your loved ones and take snoring seriously. If a girlfriend of mine hadn't spoken up and helped me, I'd likely be dead by now. Family members and friends saw it as more of an annoyance or something funny. She saw that I was choking. Also, you don't have to be overweight to have it, it can affect anyone.
- fragmede 7y agoIf you lack a significant other I recommend a sleep recorder app on your phone, of which there are several. keep the phone near you when you sleep, hit record, and it'll record your sleep noises. (I'm also not overweight at all, yet have sleep apnea. Finding out I have sleep apnea and working on it changed my life.)
- ilaksh 7y agoI have heard that APAP is better than CPAP.
- yati 7y agoYes, indeed we have APAP, but they might be significantly costlier than CPAP. But CPAP is already a lifesaver. Our doctor was totally cool with CPAP, and suggested APAP if we could afford it solely because of its added comfort.
- repolfx 7y agoI have a modern CPAP machine that can do both. At first I found it quite hard to stay asleep with my initial prescription. Altering the machine to use APAP mode with a lower max pressure fixed things right up (with the doctor's approval of course). APAP, for readers who are blissfully able to sleep without issue, automatically alters pressure depending on whether you're breathing in or out, so you aren't breathing against high pressure. It's a lot more comfortable. CPAP machines are quite interesting from a computing perspective. They record a ton of data that can be visualised with an open source tool, and they use a lot of predictive algorithms to figure out how you breath and when to increase/decrease the pressure.