Guest guest Posted January 16, 2010 Report Share Posted January 16, 2010 Arianne, Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is a treatment for those of us with sleep apnea. A CPAP machine uses a mask that fits over your mouth and nose, or just over your nose. The machine gently blows air into your throat. The air presses on the wall of your airway. The air pressure is adjusted so that it's just enough to stop the airways from becoming narrowed or blocked during sleep. CPAP treatment restores regular breathing at night, relieving the loud snoring symptoms and daytime sleepiness and can also reduce risk for heart disease and stroke, but it has to be used every night or the sleep apnea will return. Sleep apnea is a disorder in which you have one or more pauses in breathing while you sleep. Obstructive sleep apnea means that the airway has collapsed or is blocked during sleep. The blockage causes you to stop breathing. When you try to breathe, any air that squeezes past the blockage can cause you to gasp or snore. Breathing pauses can last from a few seconds to minutes. They often occur 5 to 30 times or more an hour. Typically, normal breathing then starts again, sometimes with a loud snort or choking sound. Sleep apnea disrupts your sleep. You move out of deep sleep and into light sleep when your breathing pauses or becomes shallow. This results in poor sleep quality that makes you tired during the day. C_53_Familial IPF_5/09, Washington HOPE doesn't disappoint! > > > > > Ariann Your situation is very much like mine. I am 71 had both hips replaced and one shoulder. I now have a knee that is acting up. I became very short of breathe about a year ago and after going through test they diagnosed IPF in June. I had been on a c pap for two years and am now on it with oxygen at night. My situation is a lot like yours. My level is good when I am setting or doing light work but falls during exertion ( 70 and 80's) I have a unit that works well for me and might you too. The machine is capable of filling my oxygen tanks (portable) which I use when shopping, walking, and heavy cleaning. The machine is hooked up to my c pap at night. I have two tanks, one I use at home and one I carry in my car for shopping.> I just had a pulmonary function test and a cat scan but dont have the results yet. I am anxious to see if they have changed since my test in June. My sister has IPF and Copd and goes to the same Dr. He told her that this condition IPF is an inherited disease which is good to know for family. Barb barbara jean > > > > From: arianne377 <Arianne377 (AT) comcast (DOT) net>> To: Breathe-Support@ yahoogroups. com> Sent: Thu, January 14, 2010 5:26:27 PM> Subject: My first post> > > Hello everyone. I signed on a week or so ago, have read most of the files and all of the messages since then.> My name is Ann, I reside in Massachusetts and am 70 years old. I have had 2 hip replacements, one in August of 2006 and the other in January of 2007. Other than that I have only had gall bladder surgery and a radical mastoidectomy.> In November of 2009 I was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrsis. I had never heard of this before my dx.> I really thought I had COPD, but the pulmonary doc said no. It's when he told me that he has a patient who had had it for five years and is doing well, that I began to see the seriousness of it all. He also said there is no cure, but suggested that I try NAC as his long-term patient uses it and says it works well for her. Needless to say I got it and am on my first refill.> I saw this pulmonary doc on November 7 and again on December 28. At my first visit he took me for a walk with an oxometer and I dropped to 75. In December I dropped to 82. I'm sorry but I don't know all of the medical terms as of yet, but sure I will learn. At my first visit he told me I need oxygen when walking. When the Oxygen Company visited my home, they brought the whole store with them. I panicked. They told me that the doctor had ordered oxygen 24/7 at level 2. The doctor also told me that I could get a small container that would fit on my belt. The company told me there was nothing like that. On my second doctor visit, I asked him about it and he said that he would find a company that would supply me with one. That company turned out to be the very same company that I first dealt with.> This past Monday, a therapist from this company came to my home to test me for an oxygen system that would only provide oxygen as needed. She took me for several walks around my house and up and down the stairs, and I failed on every level. It was only as she was about to leave the house that she noticed that the doctor had written a script for liquid oxygen. I don't want, nor will I use it. > My husband and I travel often and the liquid would not work, yet the other so-called portable tanks only supply 45 minutes of oxygen. The therapist also told me that the doctor wrote the script for level 2 oxygen at rest, and level 3 with strenuous activity. He mentioned nothing about this to me.> My oxygen is at 96% at rest and the therapist said that although it dropped when walking and climbing stairs, I have an immediate recovery when I sit. > Needless to say I have not been myself since November. The more I find out about this disease, the more depressed I become. I have to talk myself out of bed every morning and force myself to do simple chores around the house.> I am glad I found this group as you all seem so positive, and I need that. I know I have rambled and perhaps don't make sense, but I just needed to finally introduce myself and hope some of you can help me through your experiences. Thanks> > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 16, 2010 Report Share Posted January 16, 2010 I have heard of sleep apnea but didn't know the particulars of it. I understand it better now that you explained. Thank you.----- " worth" wrote: > > > > > Arianne, Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is a treatment for those of us with sleep apnea. A CPAP machine uses a mask that fits over your mouth and nose, or just over your nose. The machine gently blows air into your throat. The air presses on the wall of your airway. The air pressure is adjusted so that it's just enough to stop the airways from becoming narrowed or blocked during sleep. CPAP treatment restores regular breathing at night, relieving the loud snoring symptoms and daytime sleepiness and can also reduce risk for heart disease and stroke, but it has to be used every night or the sleep apnea will return. Sleep apnea is a disorder in which you have one or more pauses in breathing while you sleep. Obstructive sleep apnea means that the airway has collapsed or is blocked during sleep. The blockage causes you to stop breathing. When you try to breathe, any air that squeezes past the blockage can cause you to gasp or snore. Breathing pauses can last from a few seconds to minutes. They often occur 5 to 30 times or more an hour. Typically, normal breathing then starts again, sometimes with a loud snort or choking sound. Sleep apnea disrupts your sleep. You move out of deep sleep and into light sleep when your breathing pauses or becomes shallow. This results in poor sleep quality that makes you tired during the day. C_53_Familial IPF_5/09, Washington HOPE doesn't disappoint!> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Ariann Your situation is very much like mine. I am 71 had both hips replaced and one shoulder. I now have a knee that is acting up. I became very short of breathe about a year ago and after going through test they diagnosed IPF in June. I had been on a c pap for two years and am now on it with oxygen at night. My situation is a lot like yours. My level is good when I am setting or doing light work but falls during exertion ( 70 and 80's) I have a unit that works well for me and might you too. The machine is capable of filling my oxygen tanks (portable) which I use when shopping, walking, and heavy cleaning. The machine is hooked up to my c pap at night. I have two tanks, one I use at home and one I carry in my car for shopping.> > I just had a pulmonary function test and a cat scan but dont have the results yet. I am anxious to see if they have changed since my test in June. My sister has IPF and Copd and goes to the same Dr. He told her that this condition IPF is an inherited disease which is good to know for family. Barb barbara jean > > > > > > > > From: arianne377 <Arianne377 (AT) comcast (DOT) net>> > To: Breathe-Support@ yahoogroups. com> > Sent: Thu, January 14, 2010 5:26:27 PM> > Subject: My first post> > > > > > Hello everyone. I signed on a week or so ago, have read most of the files and all of the messages since then.> > My name is Ann, I reside in Massachusetts and am 70 years old. I have had 2 hip replacements, one in August of 2006 and the other in January of 2007. Other than that I have only had gall bladder surgery and a radical mastoidectomy.> > In November of 2009 I was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrsis. I had never heard of this before my dx.> > I really thought I had COPD, but the pulmonary doc said no. It's when he told me that he has a patient who had had it for five years and is doing well, that I began to see the seriousness of it all. He also said there is no cure, but suggested that I try NAC as his long-term patient uses it and says it works well for her. Needless to say I got it and am on my first refill.> > I saw this pulmonary doc on November 7 and again on December 28. At my first visit he took me for a walk with an oxometer and I dropped to 75. In December I dropped to 82. I'm sorry but I don't know all of the medical terms as of yet, but sure I will learn. At my first visit he told me I need oxygen when walking. When the Oxygen Company visited my home, they brought the whole store with them. I panicked. They told me that the doctor had ordered oxygen 24/7 at level 2. The doctor also told me that I could get a small container that would fit on my belt. The company told me there was nothing like that. On my second doctor visit, I asked him about it and he said that he would find a company that would supply me with one. That company turned out to be the very same company that I first dealt with.> > This past Monday, a therapist from this company came to my home to test me for an oxygen system that would only provide oxygen as needed. She took me for several walks around my house and up and down the stairs, and I failed on every level. It was only as she was about to leave the house that she noticed that the doctor had written a script for liquid oxygen. I don't want, nor will I use it. > > My husband and I travel often and the liquid would not work, yet the other so-called portable tanks only supply 45 minutes of oxygen. The therapist also told me that the doctor wrote the script for level 2 oxygen at rest, and level 3 with strenuous activity. He mentioned nothing about this to me.> > My oxygen is at 96% at rest and the therapist said that although it dropped when walking and climbing stairs, I have an immediate recovery when I sit. > > Needless to say I have not been myself since November. The more I find out about this disease, the more depressed I become. I have to talk myself out of bed every morning and force myself to do simple chores around the house.> > I am glad I found this group as you all seem so positive, and I need that. I know I have rambled and perhaps don't make sense, but I just needed to finally introduce myself and hope some of you can help me through your experiences. Thanks> > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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