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meditation
#1
meditation
Meditation...

I suffered for many years trying CPAP, unable to do it, getting back on CPAP, again not following through. 

I chanced upon meditation. I never knew how it happened but after 2-3 months of 20min meditation every day in the morning, I started sleeping better and woke up fresh. No more need for CPAP. I do mindful meditation and there are many free sites that do guided meditation. Just do breathing meditation. And if you suffer from acute apnea, you can try to do at night instead of morning. 

After this worked, I made a promise that I will try and help as many people as I can. I have helped at least 2 other people. One of them was so fed up of CPAP, he tried the dental method. It still didn't work for him. Meditation really helped him. another lady had personal issues which were aggravating her sleep issues. She mentioned it was just an eye opener for her.

Frankly I think CPAP may not be the best answer for many people esp if you struggle to comply. Give meditation a try.

Peace !
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#2
RE: meditation
While I am also a believer in mediation, there is no way meditation before bed would do anything for sleep apnea. Sleep, yes. Apnea, no.

The level of meditation needed (as in skill, desire, training, space, etc) to maintain the body during sleep is only achieved by dedicated monks. And I am sure you are sleeping better-ish, but you still have Sleep Apnea. Don't ignore it. If you choose to ignore it, make sure you have money saved up (to pay for medical bills due to the conditions/illnesses caused by untreated sleep apnea), a living will, and have your funeral plans made and paid for.

If you want to give it a try, use an oximeter for about a week, downloading the data each morning. See how your blood oxygen saturation goes while not using a CPAP. Then use your CPAP for about ten days and compare. Blood O2 levels for folks vary but you should see a difference.

But, seriously, you are fooling yourself.
PaulaO

Take a deep breath and count to zen.




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#3
RE: meditation
Stop endangering other peoples lifes with false promises. Meditation is neither a cure nor treatment for sleep apnae.
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#4
RE: meditation
If you struggle to comply to the treatment, then you have a patience and discipline problem.
Adjust the xPAP to the right setting and allow the body and mind to get used to it.

Can mods lock and dump this thread to the basement or something.
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#5
RE: meditation
No need to “dump” or lock a thread just because we disagree.  You can have opinions and discuss with civility.

If the OP has the discipline to do meditation, then there should be no problem to adapt to Cpap.  
My 2 cents!   Smile   Why can’t you use meditation and Cpap?

Now, I personally think Paula’s advice is sound and hopefully the OP will take it seriously.

Think....Carrie Fisher, Reggie White, Anton Scalia.... and a host of others who choose not to use Cpap.
Yes, they had other health conditions, but untreated Apnea only aggravates existing health issues.
OpalRose
Apnea Board Administrator
www.apneaboard.com

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INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE.  ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA.  INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#6
RE: meditation
The mind is a powerful thing.  God's handiwork (our body) is an amazing machine, and I have no doubt that our state of mind can help to a great degree as a contributor to healing.  That said, there are some things that these types of mind-exercises cannot do.  For instance, if you get an arm amputated, no amount of meditation is going to grow you a new arm.  It's just physically impossible (at least with today's medical knowledge).

So while there can be helpful mental exercises which may help in the healing process, Sleep Apnea is not simply a matter of the mind alone - it's a physical problem primarily, and physical problems usually need physical solutions.  Supplement that physical treatment (CPAP) with mental exercises and that would likely help you adjust to the physical treatment - but discounting the physical and pretending that most physical problems can be overcome with the mind... well, good luck with that.   Cool
SuperSleeper
Apnea Board Administrator
www.ApneaBoard.com


INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.


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#7
RE: meditation
(06-28-2018, 06:09 AM)OpalRose Wrote: No need to “dump” or lock a thread just because we disagree.  You can have opinions and discuss with civility.

This is a big reason Apnea Board is the best on the net. Even though some topics aren't important or dismissed by some, the topic is important to someone or else it wouldn't show up here. Whether wrong or right, the topic should come to a conclusion with each member drawing his or her own opinion. The fact is there is no cookie cutter approach and every member is ultimately responsible for their own treatment. I can't recall a single post that directly berated anyone for sharing an idea or asking a question, unlike other forums I've seen, and everyone should be grateful that this forum has near zero tolerance for such behavior. 

On meditation, I agree with PaulaO2 and Super Sleeper. Physically a person has limitation that would be incredible to overcome with mental exercise, however I tend to believe that attitude makes a big difference in therapy and if one can achieve a positive attitude through meditation, I refer to what Mister Darling said to Andy Taylor, "more power to ya." Smile
Jesse


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#8
RE: meditation
I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit it on a public forum, but the truth is I learned 'systems-thinking' late in life.  Those who make it a practice to use systems-thinking when assessing an apparent problem or defect often learn what they ought to change and what to leave alone, but just as often they learn that they must adjust or correct more than one function that seems independent if they want to maintain the interrelatedness and harmony of the system.

Why do I mention this?  Because the body is a system.  It's constituent parts and functions amount to a much greater whole than those parts and functions amount to on their own.  Tweaking just one component's function will not often result in the salutary effect envisioned at the outset.

Meditation might offer substantial benefits, but it is almost certainly not going to correct a deviated septum, allergic responses of the nasal tissue swelling kind,  chin tucking, the propensity to sleep on one's back, and any of the other contributors to the greater problem of 'sleep apnea', of which there are several kinds.  I could see meditation helping with the onset of sleep, with its extension for those who have trouble staying asleep, even with the onset and duration of REM sleep.  So does CPAP therapy, as has been substantiated with volumes of empirical data.  I could see meditation helping to put thorny and intractable emotional issues into better perspective which might help with sleep.  It might also help with apnea that way in that it might result in a slight modification of the parameters of the individual's therapy.  I don't see it supplanting the therapy....ever.

It's a complementary tool, surely, and should probably be tried by all of us.  My wife tried it and found it marginally useful.  I haven't yet, but maybe I should and keep an open mind.  I might find that I benefit greatly from it.  I don't see it allowing me to push aside my PAP machine; my apnea was undetected in an otherwise healthy man who has no emotional baggage or other apparent defects in cognition, intellect, brain chemistry, or structure.  In fact, others have remarked how contended and balanced a person I am.

I acknowledge that I am but an n of "1".  I do not comprise a healthy data set all by myself.
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#9
RE: meditation
I think mesenteria has a good point in saying "It's a complementary tool". If meditation helps, and it's what you choose to partake in, certainly go with it. However, I do not believe that can replace CPAP treatment, much like I do not think most other optional treatments can replace CPAP type treatment alone.

I am for myself going where known results reside. I will stick with the ASV therapy where I have verified apnea improvements. FWIW not including the meditation option, but almost all other options were looked into by me before I took on BPAP then ASV therapy treatments. No other option looked into were going to be a viable result-driven choice, even though I still partook of the bariatric sleeve to reduce weight. The sleeve was a viable action due to apnea AND overall health concerns not just apnea.
INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEBSITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#10
RE: meditation
Meditation, I couldn't concentrate long enough for that!!!
I am NOT a doctor.  I try to help, but do not take what I say as medical advice.


Every journey, however large or small starts with the first step.

Sleep-well
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