211–220 of 334 posts
I get what feels like twice the amount of air, with zero effort.
It was very uncomfortable the first couple of nights, but now I don’t even feel it, and I now always use them to sleep.
Anyone got any other experiences with things that cause brain fog? I don't think I have sleep apnea (my wife often falls asleep after I do and she doesn't report any kind of weird breathing issues for me, nor snoring). But even though I generally sleep 8 hours a night, I am quite tired during the day and I often have trouble focusing. At night, I fall asleep like a log and I don't wake up during the night.
Allergies and Food sensitivities.
These are often incredibly hard to diagnose because there are foods that we eat so commonly, we don't have a good control/variable separation for experimentation. In addition, allergies and food sensitivities don't develop all at once. They increase over time. This makes discovery even more difficult.
But it's almost always this.
As for myself, I had severe brain fog and fatigue. It turns out I was allergic to coffee. Looking back, I now see that it was something that became more and more severe over about 10 years.
It took me quitting coffee for several weeks for an unrelated reason to discover that it was the problem. When I started again, the stark difference in how I was felt made it much easier to diagnose. I got lucky really.
CPAP works great for many people who have severe sleep apnea. It’s much more difficult to help people who have mild OSA / UARS. They don’t benefit from CPAP to the same degree.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wait, people aren't breathing through noses?
I'm not sure if it started this way, but I mostly breathe through my mouth at night due to significant congestion in my nasal passage. If I use a nasal rinse or flonase it helps but if I'm not diligent it regresses immediately.
I have a chance of having sleep apnea since my sleep is atrocious and extremely light, but I'm not overweight and I also can't sleep on my back or side, meaning a machine with mask ain't gonna cut it. Thus I've not even bothered. Also I wouldn't fall asleep in a sleep study location (I can't sleep outside of my bed, with any noise, lights, etc)
Anyone got any other experiences with things that cause brain fog? I don't think I have sleep apnea (my wife often falls asleep after I do and she doesn't report any kind of weird breathing issues for me, nor snoring). But even though I generally sleep 8 hours a night, I am quite tired during the day and I often have trouble focusing. At night, I fall asleep like a log and I don't wake up during the night.
Usually after an hour or two (and a few big gurgles from the gut later) it resolves itself.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's hyperbole, but the comparison isn't without some merit. My grandma stopped using it because it's troublesome, and I've heard many people voice the same. Getting into an iron lung each night would also be ... troublesome.
You don't climb in and out of an iron lung. If you're using one you're in it 24x7.
Iron lungs use negative pressure so they don't suffer from this
1. Sleeprider deserves to be raised to knighthood or some kind of medal or something. The man is a hero and a living legend, who has helped untold number of people with their apnea. I'm not kidding. Thank you, Sleeprider, for all that you do.
2. OP really should pursue the NHS route. Maybe it'll take a while, but once the gears are in motion he'll at least get access to a steady supply of ASV machines, for free. There will also be a paper trail of effective treatment, which might be important for insurance purposes further down the line (mortgages or life insurance or whatever which might require a medical checkup).
3. If you have a bed partner who tells you that you're not breathing, or that you snore loudly: get tested and get treated. Don't shrug it off. Deal with it. The sooner, the better.
4. CPAP doesn't have to be unsexy. I really don't understand why virtually all CPAP pictures include full-face masks with bulky headgear. The vast majority of CPAP users can get by with nasal pillows with minimalist headgear. Using those pictures instead would reduce the anxiety people feel about getting on CPAP. [1]
5. AHI is a largely meaningless number. "Mild" apnea can be just as devastating as "severe" apnea. AHI only looks at events/hour, it doesn't look at when the events occur (e.g. during REM), how many are back-to-back, and how much your sleep is actually disrupted. You can have a "normal" AHI of 5 and still get absolutely trash sleep because of un(der)treated sleep apnea.
[1] Nasal pillow mask: https://www.resmed.com.au/healthcare-professionals/products/...
I sleep with a short silicone tube jammed into each nostril, and I highly recommend it to everyone!! I get what feels like twice the amount of air, with zero effort. It was very uncomfortable the first couple of nights, but now I don’t even feel it, and I now always use them to sleep. https://a.co/d/18eLtdw