gcvmom
Here we go again!
and he has SEVERE apnea.
Evidently, his brain woke him up an average of 57 times per hour and his O2 saturation dropped as low as 78%. They never did get to the diagnostic part because his apnea was so bad that they put the CPAP on him half way through the night. I guess normally they'd study him the whole night and then have him come back to see how he does on the CPAP machine.
Well, the machine eliminated the snoring completely and his O2 levels stayed a constant normal. And he felt much better rested even just on the machine for a few hours. I can't wait to see how he does on this thing for several nights in a row! He might actually have the energy to DO something around here!
The scary part about apnea is that left untreated, it causes weight gain, you can have a heart attack, develop congestive heart failure, edema in your legs, diabetes, etc., etc. My father with all his health problems is the poster boy for apnea -- and he still refuses to get tested because he's scared to death they'll yank his license (apparently that can happen, too, but I'm not certain of the criteria).
Both the GP and the sleep doctor said it is IMPERATIVE that husband loses the weight. I'm very glad they got on him about that. Now husband just needs to get a clue about healthy eating.
Anyhow, I can't change my crazy dad, but I can influence my spouse and try to help him get back on a healthier track.
Interesting question we have now about his seizure medications (which are what we thought was making him so tired). Perhaps he doesn't need to stop Trileptal afterall. Although he was still having seizures at 1200mg/day (and according to the psychiatrist, he wasn't even at therapeutic levels in his blood work). We see the neuro this afternoon and will have to figure this next piece out.
Now we're also considering having difficult child 2 tested, since he also snores and is chronically tired in the mornings, and tends to sleep A LOT when allowed. It could lead us to a solution for his attention/focus issues in school, and eliminate the need for the low dose stimulant (which barely helps any more and just seems to wire him, making me think he doesn't really have ADHD and it's all just related to the mood disorder)....
Okay, so thanks for reading if you made it this far! I'm really excited about the prospects for a healthier, happier husband
Evidently, his brain woke him up an average of 57 times per hour and his O2 saturation dropped as low as 78%. They never did get to the diagnostic part because his apnea was so bad that they put the CPAP on him half way through the night. I guess normally they'd study him the whole night and then have him come back to see how he does on the CPAP machine.
Well, the machine eliminated the snoring completely and his O2 levels stayed a constant normal. And he felt much better rested even just on the machine for a few hours. I can't wait to see how he does on this thing for several nights in a row! He might actually have the energy to DO something around here!
The scary part about apnea is that left untreated, it causes weight gain, you can have a heart attack, develop congestive heart failure, edema in your legs, diabetes, etc., etc. My father with all his health problems is the poster boy for apnea -- and he still refuses to get tested because he's scared to death they'll yank his license (apparently that can happen, too, but I'm not certain of the criteria).
Both the GP and the sleep doctor said it is IMPERATIVE that husband loses the weight. I'm very glad they got on him about that. Now husband just needs to get a clue about healthy eating.
Anyhow, I can't change my crazy dad, but I can influence my spouse and try to help him get back on a healthier track.
Interesting question we have now about his seizure medications (which are what we thought was making him so tired). Perhaps he doesn't need to stop Trileptal afterall. Although he was still having seizures at 1200mg/day (and according to the psychiatrist, he wasn't even at therapeutic levels in his blood work). We see the neuro this afternoon and will have to figure this next piece out.
Now we're also considering having difficult child 2 tested, since he also snores and is chronically tired in the mornings, and tends to sleep A LOT when allowed. It could lead us to a solution for his attention/focus issues in school, and eliminate the need for the low dose stimulant (which barely helps any more and just seems to wire him, making me think he doesn't really have ADHD and it's all just related to the mood disorder)....
Okay, so thanks for reading if you made it this far! I'm really excited about the prospects for a healthier, happier husband