5 ms·

For me, the issue is I have severe sleep apnea. I was recently at the Hawaii airport and my layover got delayed 12 hrs. None of the power outlets worked. I w

by diob 3y ago

For me, the issue is I have severe sleep apnea. I was recently at the Hawaii airport and my layover got delayed 12 hrs. None of the power outlets worked. I was like, guess I'm not allowed to sleep. I was awake almost 48 hrs by the end of the trip.

elcomet 3y ago
Do you mean you need a device to sleep ?
- diob 3y ago
  Yep, keeps me alive.
  - arrowsmith 3y ago
    What happens if you fall asleep without the device? Are you able to go camping?
    - prawn 3y ago
      I’ve read of people taking large batteries with them to power machines while camping, RVing, etc.
    - ChuckNorris89 3y ago
      OP probably has the risk of slowly dying in his sleep without the machine as the brain is not getting enough oxygen.
    - zikduruqe 3y ago
      People usually bring power banks/batteries/generators with them. Look up most reviews on various "solar generators" and a vast majority of them are about keeping CPAP machines powered during outages, camping or off the grid situations.
    - klik99 3y ago
      As some with ~120 AHI (> 30 is considered severe) I often go camping with a battery. I can only do long stays at places with a charging station. Also I've found that hammock camping helps a lot since position affects how bad it is. Edit I was measured 120 AHI in the lab (hooked up with a ton of sensors and monitored by someone in the next room) originally - I suspect it's gone down since then as I've lost weight. But for nearly a year before getting tested I was a walking zombie.
  - aziaziazi 3y ago
    Would you die of apnea in while sleeping ? IMHO the biggest risk is increase of cardiovascular problems (in the long run). Some may die from ventilation reflex deficiency but that not necessarily linked to sleep apnea, and don’t even if this trouble exist and its frequency.
    - theshrike79 3y ago
      It's not really sleeping if you take like one good breath every minute and your O2 saturation is around 80% max. You wake up more tired than you started, plus you're sweating and your throat is sore. Source: have sleep apnea, tried sleeping without my CPAP for two nights (forgot it at home, noticed when I was 200km away and already late). Haven't forgotten it ever since.
      - diob 3y ago
        My issue is I can't even sleep without it anymore. I used to be accustomed to the constant waking (since you have low O2 you typically forget), but I've had it for over 10 years now, so if I try to sleep without it I wake up constantly with my heart racing / gasping.
    - diob 3y ago
      It's something that gets riskier the older you get. Folks don't understand how much of a killer it is since it's just reported as so and so had a heart attack and died in their sleep. Basically just rolling the dice as to whether you'll wake up.
- andreareina 3y ago
  Probably a cpap machine https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_positive_airway_pressure https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_positive_airway_p...
detaro 3y ago
And no help from airport staff? One would think "passenger with medical device that needs charging" would be a common-enough scenario to handle somehow :/
- culopatin 3y ago
  Airport staff and help are metaphorical antonyms in my experience.
- giraffe_lady 3y ago
  They are notoriously unhelpful bordering on openly hostile to any sort of disability accommodation. It depends on the individuals you run into but it's widely known in disability communities that when flying you need to prepare to fight to even keep your medical devices with you, and then have a backup plan for if they don't allow it and then negligently break your device.
- diob 3y ago
  The particular airport I was at was something else. Looked like it hadn't been changed / updated in 40 or more years, and had nothing more than skeleton crews working. I vowed to never fly Hawaiian airlines again, a nightmare all around.
  - fignews 3y ago
    Delta was having issues so they moved me over to a Hawaiian flight (they aren’t really partners) The flight attendants where so rude (and other problems) I’ve vowed the same.
brandall10 3y ago
Why not bring something like this? https://shop.thesleepdoctor.com/products/medistrom-pilot-24-lite-battery-and-backup-power-supply?utm_source=referrals&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=sleepfoundation.org_best-cpap-battery_x_018-cid-00002244-cid-00002244 https://shop.thesleepdoctor.com/products/medistrom-pilot-24-...
- diob 3y ago
  Yeah, I have something like this, but wasn't thinking I'd be needing it this trip. Learned the hard way.
theshrike79 3y ago
There are portable devices: https://www.resmed.com/en-us/sleep-apnea/cpap-parts-support/sleep-apnea-full-products-list/cpap-machines/airmini-portable-cpap/ https://www.resmed.com/en-us/sleep-apnea/cpap-parts-support/...

by diob 3y ago

elcomet 3y ago

Do you mean you need a device to sleep ?

diob 3y ago
Yep, keeps me alive.
- arrowsmith 3y ago
  What happens if you fall asleep without the device? Are you able to go camping?
  - prawn 3y ago
    I’ve read of people taking large batteries with them to power machines while camping, RVing, etc.
  - ChuckNorris89 3y ago
    OP probably has the risk of slowly dying in his sleep without the machine as the brain is not getting enough oxygen.
  - zikduruqe 3y ago
    People usually bring power banks/batteries/generators with them. Look up most reviews on various "solar generators" and a vast majority of them are about keeping CPAP machines powered during outages, camping or off the grid situations.
  - klik99 3y ago
    As some with ~120 AHI (> 30 is considered severe) I often go camping with a battery. I can only do long stays at places with a charging station. Also I've found that hammock camping helps a lot since position affects how bad it is. Edit I was measured 120 AHI in the lab (hooked up with a ton of sensors and monitored by someone in the next room) originally - I suspect it's gone down since then as I've lost weight. But for nearly a year before getting tested I was a walking zombie.
- aziaziazi 3y ago
  Would you die of apnea in while sleeping ? IMHO the biggest risk is increase of cardiovascular problems (in the long run). Some may die from ventilation reflex deficiency but that not necessarily linked to sleep apnea, and don’t even if this trouble exist and its frequency.
  - theshrike79 3y ago
    It's not really sleeping if you take like one good breath every minute and your O2 saturation is around 80% max. You wake up more tired than you started, plus you're sweating and your throat is sore. Source: have sleep apnea, tried sleeping without my CPAP for two nights (forgot it at home, noticed when I was 200km away and already late). Haven't forgotten it ever since.
    - diob 3y ago
      My issue is I can't even sleep without it anymore. I used to be accustomed to the constant waking (since you have low O2 you typically forget), but I've had it for over 10 years now, so if I try to sleep without it I wake up constantly with my heart racing / gasping.
  - diob 3y ago
    It's something that gets riskier the older you get. Folks don't understand how much of a killer it is since it's just reported as so and so had a heart attack and died in their sleep. Basically just rolling the dice as to whether you'll wake up.
andreareina 3y ago
Probably a cpap machine https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_positive_airway_pressure https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_positive_airway_p...

detaro 3y ago

And no help from airport staff? One would think "passenger with medical device that needs charging" would be a common-enough scenario to handle somehow :/

culopatin 3y ago
Airport staff and help are metaphorical antonyms in my experience.
giraffe_lady 3y ago
They are notoriously unhelpful bordering on openly hostile to any sort of disability accommodation. It depends on the individuals you run into but it's widely known in disability communities that when flying you need to prepare to fight to even keep your medical devices with you, and then have a backup plan for if they don't allow it and then negligently break your device.
diob 3y ago
The particular airport I was at was something else. Looked like it hadn't been changed / updated in 40 or more years, and had nothing more than skeleton crews working. I vowed to never fly Hawaiian airlines again, a nightmare all around.
- fignews 3y ago
  Delta was having issues so they moved me over to a Hawaiian flight (they aren’t really partners) The flight attendants where so rude (and other problems) I’ve vowed the same.

brandall10 3y ago

Why not bring something like this? https://shop.thesleepdoctor.com/products/medistrom-pilot-24-lite-battery-and-backup-power-supply?utm_source=referrals&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=sleepfoundation.org_best-cpap-battery_x_018-cid-00002244-cid-00002244 https://shop.thesleepdoctor.com/products/medistrom-pilot-24-...

diob 3y ago
Yeah, I have something like this, but wasn't thinking I'd be needing it this trip. Learned the hard way.

theshrike79 3y ago

There are portable devices: https://www.resmed.com/en-us/sleep-apnea/cpap-parts-support/sleep-apnea-full-products-list/cpap-machines/airmini-portable-cpap/ https://www.resmed.com/en-us/sleep-apnea/cpap-parts-support/...