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I've developed a sleep phobia.
#11
RE: I've developed a sleep phobia.
Most of us are middle-aged, but we do have a few young people on the forum.

My colleague has a little girl, three years old, with Type I diabetes. She will be having needle pricks and insulin injections for the rest of her life. If a little girl can face that, then you can face using a machine at night.

It's time to stop all this whinging and whining. Grow a pair, get the machine and use it.
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#12
RE: I've developed a sleep phobia.
(12-26-2015, 07:25 PM)Gogetah Wrote: I'm just wondering if any of you are in your 20s I feel like I'm the only one my age with apnea and I'm worried about spending the rest of ky life on the machine. If surgery I'd recommended should I do it
Keep in mind that "the rest of your life" will be a lot longer and happier with the machine.

Surgery with its risks and the likelihood that you will need it again at some point vs. a completely non-invasive therapy that has been proven to work time-after-time. It's a no-brainer to me.

I really hate that I will have to brush and floss my teeth every day for the rest of my life, but the alternative is much worse. I also hate that I need to take a shower every day, get a haircut every few weeks, etc. CPAP is just one more thing to do, and certainly the most important of them all. Your life-your choice.

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#13
RE: I've developed a sleep phobia.
First off, it's great that you know you have sleep apnea. It's also great that modern medicine can treat it very effectively with a CPAP. That's something to be thankful for.

Second, and I say this with nothing but your own well being in mind, it seems to me you may need to get professional help to deal with your anxiety.

What you are dealing with is perfectly normal. My dad and sister both deal with tremendously crippling anxiety attacks during stressful times. Thousands of others live every day scared and fixated on negative things in their life.

I'm not a doctor. But I do know, just by reading your short post, that you should NOT be having the issues you are having.

You owe it to yourself to start living without these worries bogging you down so much. I don't know how you will achieve that. That's your decision. But I'm thinking your problem is a mindset issue as much as it's a physical health issue.

Good luck to you.


(12-25-2015, 08:36 PM)Weird Tolkienish Figure Wrote: Sounds to me that your biggest problem is anxiety, and then maybe sleep apnea.

I would seek treatment for that?

Wish I saw this before I posted. Hit the nail on the head.
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#14
RE: I've developed a sleep phobia.
(12-26-2015, 07:25 PM)Gogetah Wrote: I'm just wondering if any of you are in your 20s I feel like I'm the only one my age with apnea and I'm worried about spending the rest of ky life on the machine. If surgery I'd recommended should I do it

I definitely wish I saw this before I posted.

Dude I'm 26. Diagnosed at 21. How do you think I felt when I first realized I had to use a CPAP? I didn't like the thought one bit. And I've never been overweight! I thought that was unfair. To make matter worse, I blew my knee out 6 months later (torn ACL). I was in a terrible state of mind at the time. Woe is me.

However, 5 years later and I'm still using the machine and I can't imagine not using it. I feel so much better. It has given me the opportunity to actually feel rested and alive during the day.

I wrote a post that you, as a young person, might find useful. Unfortunately, I can't post links in this thread. It's on my website, titled "7 reasons why you aren't too young for a CPAP".

Surgery? I never considered it. I'm not having a scalpel anywhere near my throat or vocal chords. Screw that. I don't know how safe (or effective) it is either. Like everything, I've heard the horror stories and that was enough for me.

But back to my original reply, you need to fix the anxiety that ails you.
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#15
RE: I've developed a sleep phobia.
(12-26-2015, 07:35 PM)DeepBreathing Wrote: Most of us are middle-aged, but we do have a few young people on the forum.

My colleague has a little girl, three years old, with Type I diabetes. She will be having needle pricks and insulin injections for the rest of her life. If a little girl can face that, then you can face using a machine at night.

It's time to stop all this whinging and whining. Grow a pair, get the machine and use it.

I'd honestly prefer diabetes over sleep apnea... it's not using the machine thay bothers me it's becoming dependant on it and then not haVing it and then dying from it that'll bothers me.
(12-27-2015, 10:56 PM)Jim Bronson Wrote:
(12-26-2015, 07:25 PM)Gogetah Wrote: I'm just wondering if any of you are in your 20s I feel like I'm the only one my age with apnea and I'm worried about spending the rest of ky life on the machine. If surgery I'd recommended should I do it
Keep in mind that "the rest of your life" will be a lot longer and happier with the machine.

Surgery with its risks and the likelihood that you will need it again at some point vs. a completely non-invasive therapy that has been proven to work time-after-time. It's a no-brainer to me.

I really hate that I will have to brush and floss my teeth every day for the rest of my life, but the alternative is much worse. I also hate that I need to take a shower every day, get a haircut every few weeks, etc. CPAP is just one more thing to do, and certainly the most important of them all. Your life-your choice.

I wouldn't consider cpap non invasive considering you have to wear a mask every night you sleep whether you like it or not. And alot of the things you just named that you hated is something everyone has to do deal with and it won't kill you if you don't not a good comparison to cpap.
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#16
RE: I've developed a sleep phobia.
(12-28-2015, 12:50 AM)Journey to Sleep Wrote:
(12-26-2015, 07:25 PM)Gogetah Wrote: I'm just wondering if any of you are in your 20s I feel like I'm the only one my age with apnea and I'm worried about spending the rest of ky life on the machine. If surgery I'd recommended should I do it

I definitely wish I saw this before I posted.

Dude I'm 26. Diagnosed at 21. How do you think I felt when I first realized I had to use a CPAP? I didn't like the thought one bit. And I've never been overweight! I thought that was unfair. To make matter worse, I blew my knee out 6 months later (torn ACL). I was in a terrible state of mind at the time. Woe is me.

However, 5 years later and I'm still using the machine and I can't imagine not using it. I feel so much better. It has given me the opportunity to actually feel rested and alive during the day.

I wrote a post that you, as a young person, might find useful. Unfortunately, I can't post links in this thread. It's on my website, titled "7 reasons why you aren't too young for a CPAP".

Surgery? I never considered it. I'm not having a scalpel anywhere near my throat or vocal chords. Screw that. I don't know how safe (or effective) it is either. Like everything, I've heard the horror stories and that was enough for me.

But back to my original reply, you need to fix the anxiety that ails you.

Good to know I'm not alone at my age man.. it's hard to shrug the anxiety when I can't feel half my face and my arm goes numb and the Dr thinks it's linked to my apnea and I gave to wait months for a machine. Apnea at this point t has ruined my life I can't even leave the house or drink anymore with my buddies like I used to because I'm worried I'm gonna die in my sleep everynight. I stay up all night dreading when I have to sleep. I heard horror stories about cpap too like people dying because power went out or falling asleep w.o it and dying I've heard of people suffocating from them and I hear they are hard to adjust to and even get working right. I just feel like I'm at a loss.
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#17
RE: I've developed a sleep phobia.
(12-29-2015, 11:57 PM)Gogetah Wrote:
(12-26-2015, 07:35 PM)DeepBreathing Wrote: Most of us are middle-aged, but we do have a few young people on the forum.

My colleague has a little girl, three years old, with Type I diabetes. She will be having needle pricks and insulin injections for the rest of her life. If a little girl can face that, then you can face using a machine at night.

It's time to stop all this whinging and whining. Grow a pair, get the machine and use it.

I'd honestly prefer diabetes over sleep apnea... it's not using the machine thay bothers me it's becoming dependant on it and then not haVing it and then dying from it that'll bothers me.
(12-27-2015, 10:56 PM)Jim Bronson Wrote:
(12-26-2015, 07:25 PM)Gogetah Wrote: I'm just wondering if any of you are in your 20s I feel like I'm the only one my age with apnea and I'm worried about spending the rest of ky life on the machine. If surgery I'd recommended should I do it
Keep in mind that "the rest of your life" will be a lot longer and happier with the machine.

Surgery with its risks and the likelihood that you will need it again at some point vs. a completely non-invasive therapy that has been proven to work time-after-time. It's a no-brainer to me.

I really hate that I will have to brush and floss my teeth every day for the rest of my life, but the alternative is much worse. I also hate that I need to take a shower every day, get a haircut every few weeks, etc. CPAP is just one more thing to do, and certainly the most important of them all. Your life-your choice.

I wouldn't consider cpap non invasive considering you have to wear a mask every night you sleep whether you like it or not. And alot of the things you just named that you hated is something everyone has to do deal with and it won't kill you if you don't not a good comparison to cpap.
First, CPAP is indeed non-invasive. It does not require the inserting of any device into any body cavity. There is no surgery required. Placing a mask over one's face is not an invasive therapy any more than placing hearing protectors over one's ears while at the shooting range to preserve one's hearing.

I think you missed the point on the comparisons. There are consequences for failing to do each one of the ones I mentioned and many others. For example, if you study the history of our ancestors, you will discover that many died young from poor dental health. Such deaths are all but unheard of today.

My point is that we all take the time and endure the inconvenience to perform tasks that we would rather avoid, but we realized long ago that they enhance our enjoyment of life, preserve our social standing and keep us healthier.

If I didn't believe CPAP therapy was significantly beneficial to my health, I'd toss it in the trash tomorrow and live a mask-free life. But my life is pretty good and I don't want it to end prematurely if I can avoid it by wearing a mask while I sleep. I'm grateful to my sleep doc and to the helpful, caring folks on this forum for helping me understand this.
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#18
RE: I've developed a sleep phobia.
Quote:I'd honestly prefer diabetes over sleep apnea... it's not using the machine thay bothers me it's becoming dependant on it and then not haVing it and then dying from it that'll bothers me.

You've obviously never lived with anyone with diabetes. You don't get "dependent" on a CPAP machine. And you won't die if you don't have it for a while.

Quote:. I heard horror stories about cpap too like people dying because power went out or falling asleep w.o it and dying I've heard of people suffocating from them and I hear they are hard to adjust to and even get working right. I just feel like I'm at a loss.

Sorry but that's just silly. You can't suffocate - the masks are expressly designed to prevent it. Case in point, from just a few nights ago - I put my mask on but somehow fell asleep without hitting the on-button on my machine (probably too much Christmas cheer). My wife woke me at 1:00 am to say the machine wasn't running - my mask was still on but the machine wasn't running. I'm still here to tell the tale. People don't suffocate. And you won't die in your sleep. But you will die of heart disease or stroke or diabetes or something equally chronic if you don't get your arse into gear.

I don't know where you got these horror stories from, but they are not true. Apnea is not sudden death syndrome. You don't just die in your sleep. It's a chronic disease which does its damage over months and years. It's true the machine can be hard to adapt to, but the first thing needed is a positive attitude. I'm sorry, but I don't think it's going to work for you because you have such a negative attitude and you're determined it won't work.
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#19
RE: I've developed a sleep phobia.
Sleep apnea will make your thinking weird.

Once you start sleeping with a machine your brain will get/make the proper chemicals it is now deprived of. Your thinking will clear up and your anxiety should get better.
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#20
RE: I've developed a sleep phobia.
I'm 71 yo. Been using CPAP since 2003. Wish to heck I'd been diagnosed at 20. Life would have been so much better had I been.
Regards,
otrpu
Love your family, treat your friend(s) well, and don't waste your time. Everything else is just so much BS. Sleep-well
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