husband needs help

[melissap918]

My husband refuses to go to doctor for sleep test. When he sleeps it scares me! it will seem as is he's not breathing then he'll GASP as if he remembered to breath again. The volume of his snoring wakes our kids up at times. Can you recommend any product I can get for him to try other than the CPAP machine? Thank you for the suggestions.[/font]

[Tez62]

Welcome melissap918, I think most of us would only recommend a CPAP as we know how much it has changed our lives. You need to explain to your husband what Sleep Apnea will do to him long term if he has it and does not treat it.
It causes illness's like Heart Attack, Stroke, High Blood Pressure, Diabeties, Depression etc, etc, etc and some even think Cancer.
If he wants to live a long life and a good quality life with you and your kids, if you have any, then should see a GP and get a referral to a Sleep Specialist ASAP.
I never recommend any other treatment as CPAP is the gold standard treatment for Sleep Apnea.

If you want I could point you to website where people have lost their loved ones either by not being diagnosed or by being diagnosed and not doing anything about it.
It is quite confronting, good luck.

[Peter_C]

What about a sleep test at home? Many companies have those.

The big issue, is without a 'study' being done, we are simply assuming what is wrong is sleep apnea, while it might be something else.

Another though is to setup a video camera and tape him while he stops breathing, and then as he gasps for air but doesn't quite wake up, and then show it to him.

FYI? I am one of those people that was on my way to dying by destroying my heart (resting heart rate was 122 when they discovered my severe life threatening sleep apnea), and it has taken roughly 12yrs for my body to recover.

For some folks, it really does come down to a simple choice, do this or plan on dying sooner rather than later. It is simply a matter of degree (how bad is it) and without testing, there is no real way to know.

[Cicero]

This is how it works here in NZ.
Trip to the GP, he decided I might have sleep apnia, was referred to sleep unit in hospital.The sent me home with a gadget
that had one of those things you slip onto your finger.
Spent the night with this on finger, it reads your oxygen level and other info that tells the Sleep Physiologist what the situation is with your body.
In my case they said I needed a CPAP machine.
Nothing frightening.
All this must be available to you.

[zonk]

My husband refuses to go to doctor for sleep test. When he sleeps it scares me! it will seem as is he's not breathing then he'll GASP as if he remembered to breath again. The volume of his snoring wakes our kids up at times. Can you recommend any product I can get for him to try other than the CPAP machine? Thank you for the suggestions.[/font]

Hi melissap918
If he sleep on his back, ask him try sleep on his side. A tennis ball placed inside a sock and attached to the back pajama tops would help prevent him rolling on his back or stuffed inside a bum back would the trick as well

This video presentation would help him understand what occurs while he sleep and hopefully prompt him to seek help (may or may not have sleep apnea) http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php..._%28SDB%29

[me50]

Cicero, all your doc did was monitor your SP02 overnight and determined you had OSA? no sleep study, in home or in the hospital? That wouldn't make me feel very comfortable. How did they determine what type of OSA you had, what pressure you needed, etc.? Do you look at your data in ResScan or SleepyHead? What is your pressure?

[ImaSurvivor]

Hi melissap918, I too was obstinate about going to a doctor and facing up to the idea I had a problem that had to be dealt with. I tried the home remedies. Sprays, nasal strips, oral device, chin strap, different sleeping positions. None of them worked. My family pushed me for a long time to have it looked at. It caused problems because I was not facing up to it. My body was suffering from it and my family was suffering both from the fact that the snoring affected their sleep and they feared for me. Don't stop pushing to have him get checked out. I was diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea. I went into it thinking it was just a snoring issue and nothing else. I was wrong and astonished when I had my followup and given a copy of my sleep study. Sleep Apnea can be dealt with. Severe and dangerous health issues resulting from sleep apnea may not be dealt with as easily and successfully.

I am thankful now that my family did the right thing and pushed me. And I will say I was completely clueless about many symptoms related to sleep apnea. As I read this forum I kept thinking to myself "I have that!" "I have that too!" "Wow, I didn't know that was from sleep apnea!" I read this forum for a month between my sleep study and receiving my machine. If you can get him to read about it or read testaments on this site it might help him see and realize he is not alone with this. I started out reading the entire "Personal CPAP Success Story" thread ... all 30+ pages of it. There are a lot of us that have it from all walks of life. And we can help encourage, give advice, provide tips. There are really great people on this forum and many that are very knowledgeable. And downright funny people too. Very entertaining. I laugh a lot!

Good Luck!

[Nozzelnut]

You could ask him if he is tired of being tired. Ask if he'd like to see his children grow up and not die young of a heart attack or have a stroke that won't let him hug you or his kids.

I've learned quite a bit over the last couple months reading apnea message boards. Having sleep apnea is no joke and adds a lot of stress on the body when it should be healing itself.

I just wish I had known about and taken care of mine sooner. I thought it was just the way I slept. Unlike most other folks I wasn't exhausted during the day; I didn't get tired. I never felt rested when I woke up either. On a scale of 1 - 10 for energy and I was a 3 or 4, I felt like that for years. It's been a couple months on APAP; I actually feel tired now and I'm not apprehensive about going to sleep. I wake up and finally feel rested instead of the same way I went to bed.

[trish6hundred]

Hi melissap918,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
I agree with what has been said so far. Untreated sleep apnea can have bad effects on the body over time.
Good luck to you and hang in there for more suggestions.

[chezdan9]

Is your husband a football fan? Does he remember Reggie White of the Green Bay Packers? From Wikipedia: "On the morning of December 26, 2004, White was rushed from his home in Cornelius, North Carolina, to a nearby hospital in Huntersville, North Carolina, where he was pronounced dead. White had suffered a fatal cardiac arrhythmia. It was also stated that sleep apnea, which White was known to suffer from may have contributed to his death." Reggie White was only 43 years old.

The only advice I can give you, is that your husband will do something only when he is ready to do it. It's like Step 1 of the 12 Steps: You have to admit you have a problem before you can fix it.

I suffered from a host of medical problems: untreatable high blood pressure (unresponsive to meds), day-long tiredness, falling asleep at inappropriate times (like during movies or meetings at work), impaired kidney function, waking to go to the bathroom 3 times a night, restless leg syndrome, and erectile dysfunction. My doctor took a "micro" approach and treated each problem separately and I was taking 6 different pills until my wife told me that she was tired of my snoring/gasping at night. When I started to investigate sleep apnea and its treatment - I put all the puzzle pieces together! Every single disorder I had is a symptom of sleep apnea. Eureka! I called a sleep specialist in my area and asked for the fastest appointment possible. I went for my overnight study, got my CPAP and I feel like I am on my way to recovery. I've only been on my CPAP for two weeks, but I already feel better - I'm sleeping through the night, my bp is going down (and "other" things are going UP in the morning!!). I'm still tired through the day, but I do notice a slight improvement. Most people say it is a long journey, but I am grateful that I found this information before my next disorder was a heart attack or stroke.

Please encourage your husband to get help. Show him these messages. But know that he will not budge until he is ready admit that he has a problem. (pssst - I like the video idea!)

Good luck!