Sleep apnea, more fun than a barrel of monkeys!

[gubbar924]

Hey guys, are there anybody else here with sleep apnea? I was wondering if you could share your story/results/progress.

For those who do not know, sleep apnea, basically, is when you stop breathing in your sleep and your body keeps waking you up from it. The thing is, everytime your body wakes you up, your heart starts beating faster as if you just ran. Sleep apnea can cause many other health problems such as heart disease, stroke, and even diabetes.

To my understanding, blood oxygen saturation (SaO2) can drop down to 95% and still be considered "normal", and anything below 90% needs medical attention. People suffering from sleep apnea go lower than 90% during sleep.

As for myself, I've had sleep apnea for years and didnt even know it. I am now 27 years old, I am 5'10" tall, and weigh 194 lbs at the moment. I found out I have SA a little over a year ago. My doctor was actually surprised by how low my SaO2 was getting considering my age (26) and weight (~186) at the time. According to the 2 sleep studies (PSG's), My SaO2 level was dropping down to 62% and I was waking up on average of 13 times per hour!! As I stated before, your body waking you up due to lack of oxygen really gets the heart beating, and doing that 13 times an hour really does a number on you! From the blood work, they also told me I am prediabetic.

I found out by chance that I have SA. I went to the dr's complaining about chest pains (lack of sleep and oxygen really put stress on the ol' ticker) and not being able to think straight or concentrate anymore, i mean it got REALLY bad. According to my dr, what he told me before we even found out I have SA, is that things get pretty serious once you go sub 60% SaO2, thats where the strokes and heart disease kick in. Obviously, there is no absolute threshold, but 60% is the general consensus.

Since my diagnosis, I have been put on a CPAP machine and have had septoplasty (deviated septum) and turbinectomy (reduce the size of turbinates so that air flows more easily through the nasal passages) surgeries. Since then, my weight has actually gone up (which concerns my dr), but I think its from my working out. I have put on almost 10 lbs and reduced my bf%. My chest pains are almost completely gone and I am actually able to think clearly again. I have also noticed that I look and feel healthier, I no longer am a zombie 24/7 where i was not fully asleep, not fully awake. I am also starting to see actual results from all this working out, as opposed to before, where I was working out hoping to not get any fatter.

The only thing that I think is weird is that once in a blue moon I get this sudden surge of testosterone, as if I am on steroids or something. Its happened twice since my surgeries, and both times its lasted about a month each time, and both times I put on quite a few lbs and saw sudden increase in strength. Also similar in both cases is that whatever weight I gained, I lost again within the following month or 2, so that I'm right back to where I started off ... only this time Im leaner.

well this is my sleep apnea story, I'll keep you guys posted (if theres anything worth mentioning). But in the meantime, is there anybody else here with a similar situation? Perhaps something else thats been hindering your workouts?

[BiggerGuns=LongerDrives]

I have SA, but not bad, well at least I dont think it's that bad.

My father and grandfather both have it alot worse.
I used to think they were going to die when I was little as during their sleep they stop breathing for at least 4-5 seconds...pretty scary

My wife says I do it too, but to a much lesser degree
But I have all the symptoms such as always being tired, etc..

It's funny you posted this as I had just stumpled on a forum just like this one that is dedicated strictly to sleep apnea..Go run some searches under forums and SA and I bet you can find it. There was tons of good info and others with SA

Also, I dont think it's necessasarily being heavy, but more so being heavy and fat and out of shape thats the problem.

[ktinspired]

my husband has SA too. It is less when he's got his weight undercontrol and he gets his cardio in.

It freaky stuff.......some night I lay there and wonder if he'll ever start breathing again.

[ktinspired]

my husband has SA too. It is less when he's got his weight undercontrol and he gets his cardio in.

It freaky stuff.......some night I lay there and wonder if he'll ever start breathing again.