My Sleep Apnea/CPAP Journey

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Join me as I recount the personal challenges and triumphs of living with sleep apnea, sharing insights that will hopefully illuminate the path for others trudging through similar struggles. This episode peels back the curtain on the daily reality of this condition, debunking the myths and addressing the hesitations surrounding treatments such as CPAP machines. It’s a transformative journey from diagnosis to finding modern, less intrusive solutions that have reshaped my life and could potentially do the same for yours.
 
I invite you to become part of our community. Whether you're someone living with sleep apnea or just curious about it, your stories and experiences are invaluable.

Reach out, connect, and find solace in shared experiences as we explore the power of kindness in the face of health challenges. Remember to LIKE, SUBSCRIBE and SHARE and join us in two weeks for more engaging discussions to enrich the lives of all Young People Who Have Lived a Long Time.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
If it's warm outside but you're feeling colder, not
sure what to do without afriendly shoulder, you're not
alone, so start feeling bolder.
Welcome to Bill Monty's Guidefor Getting Older.

(00:21):
There are millions of peoplewho suffer from sleep apnea.
I'm one of them, and I inviteyou on this episode, to come
along with me on my sleep apneajourney, and hopefully you can
learn something from this thatwill help you if you or if a

(00:44):
loved one of yours has the sameissue.
So what is sleep apnea?
Sleep apnea is a condition thatcauses you to stop breathing
while you're sleeping.
This is not a good thing, folks.
The word apnea comes from theGreek word for breathless, which
is what happens to you.
Sleep apnea happens because youstop breathing in your sleep.
This is according to theCleveland Clinic.

(01:05):
This happens either because ofa blockage of your airway or
because your brain doesn'tcorrectly control your breathing
.
So the blockage of your airwayis that, literally, if you have
obstructive sleep apnea, yourairway shuts down while you're
sleeping.
The only method you have oftrying to cure this, without
going into the detail we'regoing to talk about in a few

(01:27):
minutes, is sleeping on yourside.
That might help.
Chances are it's not going tohelp a lot, though.
The resulting lack of oxygenfrom stopping breathing while
you're sleeping activates asurvival reflex that wakes you
up just enough to resumebreathing.
Problem is with that.
While that reflex keeps youalive, it also interrupts your
sleep cycle.

(01:48):
This prevents restful sleep andcan have other effects,
including putting stress on yourheart, that can have other
potentially deadly consequences,such as a heart attack, a
stroke, blood pressure problems.
The list goes on and on.
Fatigue is one of the bigproblems.
I can tell you that Sleep apneacan happen to anyone, ranging

(02:10):
from infants and children toolder adults.
It is more common, though, incertain circumstances and groups
of people.
Before age 50, it's more commonin men.
After age 50, it's a littlemore common in women.
But make no mistake about it,men, this is a race more common
in women.
But make no mistake about it,men, this is a race that we're
winning.
We don't really want to bewinning it.
There are many more men whosuffer from sleep apnea than

(02:32):
women.
You're more likely to developit as you get older, and if you
have excess weight or obesity,it strongly increases the risk
of developing it.
Most common adults over 60years old.
This is where I fall into thecategory.
After all, this is Bill Monty'sguide for getting older.
I have gotten older in the lastfew years, so how did this all

(02:57):
come about?
Several months ago, I went to mydoctor for my checkup and when
he asked me how I was feeling, Isaid I don't feel well.
I'm tired all the time.
I'm trying to lose weight.
I'm dieting, but I'm gainingweight, literally two to three
pounds every week.
I'm gaining weight.
I'm depressed because I'm tiredand it's just nothing seems to

(03:22):
be going right for me.
And he looked at me and saidwell, have we ever done a sleep
study on you?
I love when doctors ask youthis.
Don't you have the notes infront of you?
So I have to remember for you.
Okay, do I get a discount forthis?
I'm kidding, he's a greatdoctor.
But I said yeah, we have talkedabout this before.
You gave me a list of fivequestions.
I asked my wife because, sinceI'm sleeping, I'm not aware of

(03:43):
what goes on and she confirmedthat, yes, I do all five, which
is snoring, snoring really loudand stop breathing during the
night and gasping for air duringthe night and a couple of other
things.
So, yes, I have sleep apnea.
We don't have to do a test.
I have it and he says well, wehave to do a test or else your
insurance won't pay for the CPAPmachine.

(04:06):
So a couple of things that arerunning through my mind right
now.
A I don't want to do this sleepstudy test.
I've heard about it.
You have to go to some clinicsomewhere.
One thing you should know aboutme I don't sleep well in new
places.
Even when we go away onvacation, if I go to a hotel, I
can't fall asleep until like twoor three in the morning, no
matter what time we go to bed.
So the thought of goingsomeplace where they're going to

(04:27):
attach a bunch of electrodes tome and wires and heart monitors
and everything else, and how amI supposed to fall asleep with
all of this, and it's going tolast for a couple of nights.
Part two I don't want to behooked up to a CPAP machine.
I've seen them on TV.
I have a friend who has one.
It's this large mask that goesover your face.

(04:47):
You've got these straps aroundyour head and your face and your
chin.
You've got this long hosehooked up to a machine that
produces oxygen or somethinglike that.
How am I going to sleep withall that.
So these are all the things I'mthinking as he's telling me
this.
Well, first thing, first, Idon't have to do the traditional
sleep study.
They actually now have a ringthat they give you, like you

(05:10):
wear on your finger, ring thatcan measure all of these things
happening in your body.
You don't have to go anywhereto do it, you just go home.
Once you have the ring, youhave to wear it for two nights.
Then you send it back to theplace and send it to you.
They analyze it, they get intouch with your doctor and let
them know what the results are.
So that's what happened.
Didn't have to go to a sleepstudy clinic, didn't have to
have a bunch of electrodes puton me.
I just wore this rather largering on my finger for two nights

(05:34):
.
Great, right, I'm thinkingalready.
This is already going very wellfor me.
My doctor calls me at night so Iknow this is not good and he
says you know it's usuallyindicative of sleep apnea if,

(05:54):
during these tests, five to tentimes an hour, you stop
breathing.
You're way above that.
We have to get you on a CPAPmachine immediately.
He says he'll write the order.
I should call him if there'sany trouble, but he needs me on
this machine as soon as possible.
I'm not going to go into allthe details.
It would bore you or make youlaugh hysterically, but this is
only a 15-minute podcast and itwould take much longer than that

(06:14):
to tell this story.
Needless to say, that thecompany here in South Florida
I'm not going to give the nameof it needless to say, these
people are almost impossible towork with.
After six weeks I did not havethat CPAP machine yet and it
took a phone call from my doctor.
God knows what that call waslike.

(06:35):
But the next day, immediately,I had that CPAP machine.
I bring it home.
The person who set it up for mewhen I picked it up I had to go
pick it up who met me there andwho set it up very nice man Did
a great job explaining.
However, one of the things Iwanted was not to have the mask
because I'm very claustrophobic,so I wanted the nasal cannula.

(06:58):
One Guess what.
That's not what happened, bigsurprise, based on the six weeks
of trying to get the CPAPmachine.
So I get home.
I set everything up the waythey tell me to.
I get the distilled water.
I put that into the humidifier.
I put the mask on.
You have to struggle, you haveto get it to fit.
You know, is it not right?
The air is going to leak out.

(07:18):
I'm not laying down two minutesand I can't breathe.
The claustrophobia kicks inhard.
Claustrophobia kicks in hard,really hard.
I take the mask off.
I'm totally defeated.
This isn't going to work.
I have to do this becausethere's a very good chance, if I
don't do something about thissleep apnea I could die.

(07:39):
Because, let me tell yousomething, not making light of
any of this, this is a veryserious illness, so it has to be
taken care of.
But what was I going to do?
I couldn't wear that mask, Icouldn't breathe.
So the next night I tried again.
Did it work?
I'll let you know right afterwe get back from this message.

(08:03):
Hi friends, bill Monti hereinviting you to join me at
babyboomerorg.
Babyboomerorg, that is yourone-stop shop for all things
Baby Boomer.
If you're looking for onlineclasses, if you're looking for
books, audio books, articlesabout health, articles about
today's politics, if you'relooking for more podcasts
podcasts like Bill Monty's Guidefor Getting Older or Tales from

(08:25):
South Florida this is the placeto go Babyboomerorg.
Tell them Bill Monty's Guidefor Getting Older, or Tales from
South Florida.
This is the place to go.
Babyboomerorg, tell them, billMonty sent you, I'll be looking
for you.
There we were at night numbertwo and I knew I had to try this
again.
I got a larger mask out.
So they gave me three differentsizes of masks.

(08:46):
I got a larger mask out and Iput that on, went through the
whole fitting process again andthe larger mask did make a
difference.
I was able to keep the mask onfor about four hours that night.
It felt better during that time, but after four hours I took it
off, put it on the hook on thewall and said, okay, we'll try

(09:09):
again tomorrow.
I'm going to be honest with you, my friends.
It took about five days for meto get completely comfortable
with the CPAP machine.
Now, one of the nice thingsabout the CPAP machine is that
there is a readout that tellsyou you know how much air is
being circulated and it lets youknow how many incidents per
hour you had during your sleepduring that night.

(09:30):
Initially, the first couple ofnights that I was doing it, I
was still experiencing somewherearound six or seven incidents.
But after a few more nightsthat dropped down to sometimes
less than two incidents per hour, which was remarkable
considering where I'd been.

(09:51):
The CPAP machine yes.
Is it mysterious?
Yes, the CPAP machine.
Is it clunky?
Yes, is it something that youwant to do?
Is it clunky?
Yes, is it something that youwant to do?
Absolutely not.
Is it something that's going tohelp you?
I'm going to have to say yes onthis one, folks.
Does it have downsides?
Yes, well, I've mentioned someof them already the hose, but

(10:12):
you know the thrashing aboutthat I used to do.
I now, wearing the CPAP machine, can go to sleep on my back and
if I don't sleep through thenight completely, I wake up
again on my back.
So I'm not tossing and turninganymore.
The biggest side effects I wouldsay that I'm having with it are
I'm still breathing through mymouth, so my mouth gets very dry

(10:35):
.
When I wake up in the morning,my mouth is so dry I can't
believe it.
I keep water by the bed so Ican immediately drink from it.
The other thing is that nomatter how tight you make the
mask and the first night that Iwore it I woke up the next day
with a horrible bruise on myface.
That lasted about three days soit was too tight and that had
to be adjusted.

(10:55):
But the air escapes up aroundthe nose and it goes into your
eyes and it dries your eyes outand that's a huge problem.
So talk to your doctor aboutthat.
I was given some drops that Iuse.
I can let you know the name ofit.
If you want to write me atBillMonte04 at gmailcom, I'll be
happy to let you know the nameof the drops that I use.

(11:16):
They're preservative free andyou can use them quite often as
often as you like, actually.
So that helps with the problem.
But those are the two biggestside effects.
Am I feeling less tired?
Absolutely, it is helping withthat.
Do I have nights still where Ican't make it but a couple of
hours wearing the mask?
Absolutely, there are somenights that I don't make it even

(11:38):
an hour and a half with themask on.
I don't know what thedifference is.
I don't make it even an hourand a half with the mask on and
I don't know what the differenceis.
I don't know what happens.
It's just some nights it worksand some nights it doesn't.
But the nights that it doeswork, that makes it better for
everyone else?
Right, it certainly makes itbetter for anyone sleeping in
the vicinity of me and by that Imean within the same house that
hopefully the snoring hasgotten a little bit better and I

(12:00):
feel better.
I'm not as tired, I'm not asfatigued, so that's also good
and along with the diet, I'vestarted losing weight.
It's a journey, my friends, andI'll keep you updated on my
sleep apnea CPAP machine journey, if you'd like.
Do you have sleep apnea?
Have you been diagnosed with it?
If so, what has your experiencebeen like?

(12:23):
Are you using the CPAP machine?
I know there's something nowthat actually I see it
advertised on TV that if you arenot morbidly obese, they say it
can actually be implanted inyour body.
That helps sleep apnea.
That sounds a little gruesomefor me, you know.
Is that something that you'redoing?
If so, I'd love to hear aboutit.
How can you do that?
Okay, we have a new feature Ifyou go down to the show notes,

(12:46):
you actually can just click abutton and, as you're listening
to this, you can text me amessage.
No-transcript that, again, youjust slide down into the show

(13:11):
notes and click that send me amessage link.
If you don't want to do that,you can always write me at
BillMonte04 at gmailcom and Iwill get back with you Again.
This information is in the shownotes or you can call me and
leave a voicemail at754-800-3170.
And don't forget my friends tolike and share and subscribe to

(13:35):
stay up to date with the latestinformation about this show.
This is Bill Monte.
Thank you for joining us fortoday's episode of Bill Monty's
Guide for Getting Older and forwalking down this path with me
on my sleep apnea journey.
And my final note, as always,I'd like to remind you to be
kind whenever possible, becauseit's always possible.

(13:56):
We will talk to you again intwo weeks.
Take care, my friends, and besafe.
We will talk to you again intwo weeks.
Take care, my friends, and besafe.