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| I'm not a medical professional, but I do have sleep apnea. This is what
happened to me.
My doc referred me to a sleep specialist. This sleep specialist examined me
and asked me some sleep related questions. I displayed the synptoms of
sleep apnea, so they did a sleep study on me. I spent 2 nights in the sleep
disorder center wired up to diagnostics equipment that measures the
frequency and severity of my apnea events. From there, the doc prescribed a
CPAP machine.
The sleep apnea prevents a person from achieving the deep levels of sleep
that the body needs. Throughout the night, you stop breathing, and when you
restart, you are roused from deep sleep, even though you may not fully
awaken. This prevents you from acheiving the deep levels of sleep the body
needs. In addition, when you start breathing, the heart rate increases
dramatically. This may happen hundreds of times during the night. The long
term-affects of this are bad for the heart and can cause elevated blood
pressure.
The CPAP machine is a small air pump that applies pressure to your nose by
the use of a maks that fits over your nose. This pressure forces the airway
open all night and prevents apnea. The machine can take some getting used
to, though. It was a month before I was comfortable with mine. Now, I
literally can't fall asleep without it.
Check out the group: alt.support.sleep-disorder
Lots of sleep apnea discussed there.
Good luck.
"ChrisC" <no@spam.com> wrote in message
news:4glf22p41j4smh1ctmffpuvj9tqf7rgu0d@4ax.com...
>I just made an appointment with my GP. I suspect that I have Sleep
> Apnea. My wife says I sometimes stop breathing in my sleep, I snore
> loudly and I'm tired all the time. What action will my GP take in
> reguards to this. I read up on it and apparantly it's got something to
> do with ab-normal heart rhythm. Which is a little worrying!
> --
> "We are what we think.
> All that we are arises
> with our thoughts."
>
> - Buddha in the Dhammapada -
>
> ChrisC
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