You don't have to be a certain age to have sleep apnea. Did a doctor tell you take melatonin?

 

No I've read about it and its OTC and from what I've read, there are no proven side effects to worry about if you're not on any other medications and you're not pregnant. Both apply in my case

Those of you who have trouble sleeping at night, what is your usual caffeine and sugar intake?

 

I would say that it is considerably low to most. Like Blue Magic said, I don't really care for candy or sweets. You will almost never see me eating desert. I have the ocassionaly soad, but that is somewhat rare as well.

Oooh I hope not. :eek: My dad has that and has to wear a mask when he sleeps. I don't think I'm old enough to develop sleep apnea.

Yes you are! I developed it in my 20's. It may have started even earlier. I was diagnosed at around age 31. By age 35, I had been in lung, heart and kidney failure because of it. And you could probably add brain failure in there too--there were times I could not read and could not write my own name. I had spent 285 days in the hospital. Much of that time, I was on life support.

 

A couple weeks ago, I celebrated the tenth anniversary of the night they almost declared me deceased. And ten years ago this past Saturday, I had a tracheostomy put into my neck. I lived on oxygen for a while, and slept attached to a ventilator for nine years. I had the trach tube removed this past June, but still use a little oxygen at night though, for now.

 

All I'm saying is this: don't think you are immune, don't discount the possibility, and at least check into it with your family doctor if nothing else. If you let it slide, you could get into the same awful cycle that I got caught into.

It's good to hear all is getting better for you BF. I just feel like my issue is still more about falling asleep than actually the waking up constantly. I try and fall asleep at midnight to 1 o clock sometimes (which is early for me) and it takes me until 2 on a good night to finally fall asleep. Most of the time its more like 3 o clock. Thoughts race in my mind and I toss and turn for hours some nights. I just want to be able to lay in my bed and sleep within minutes like my friends do. I'm seriously jealous of them.

You may also want to consider meditation. That's something that's helped me sleep. There are plenty of books for beginners, and it's something that takes only a few minutes a day.

It's good to hear all is getting better for you BF. I just feel like my issue is still more about falling asleep than actually the waking up constantly. I try and fall asleep at midnight to 1 o clock sometimes (which is early for me) and it takes me until 2 on a good night to finally fall asleep. Most of the time its more like 3 o clock. Thoughts race in my mind and I toss and turn for hours some nights. I just want to be able to lay in my bed and sleep within minutes like my friends do. I'm seriously jealous of them.

 

BM, if you snore you probably have sleep apnea Also, the more overweight you are, the more likely you are to have sleep apnea and like BF said it WILL kill you.

Blue Magic they tested my son at age 7 for sleep apnea becuase he snored so bad. It was determined that he did not have "SA" but rather that he had some heart issues.

BM, if you snore you probably have sleep apnea Also, the more overweight you are, the more likely you are to have sleep apnea and like BF said it WILL kill you.

My father-in-law and sister-in-law both have it and both are over weight.

BM, if you snore you probably have sleep apnea Also, the more overweight you are, the more likely you are to have sleep apnea and like BF said it WILL kill you.

 

Nope, not a snorer. When I sleep I'm as quiet as a mouse. And I'm 6''0 and I weigh in the low 160s. Don't think overweight would be the issue either.

It's good to hear all is getting better for you BF. I just feel like my issue is still more about falling asleep than actually the waking up constantly. I try and fall asleep at midnight to 1 o clock sometimes (which is early for me) and it takes me until 2 on a good night to finally fall asleep. Most of the time its more like 3 o clock. Thoughts race in my mind and I toss and turn for hours some nights. I just want to be able to lay in my bed and sleep within minutes like my friends do. I'm seriously jealous of them.

I use to be the exact same way. I would go to bed at 10:00 but it never failed it would be midnight before I would finally fall asleep. There is nothing worse then looking at the clock as it ticks away and you just can't fall asleep.

 

I can't tell you what changed for me other then now I get up at 5:00 every day to workout. By 9:00 I am ready for bed. Even I weekends change my routine much. In other words I use to get up for work at 6:30 or so. And go to bed by 10:00. Then on the weekends I would stay up until 1:00 or 2:00 and sleep until 10:00 or later. Now during the week I get up at 5:00 and go to bed by 10:00 (most days in bed before). On the week ends I am in bed by 11:00 (at the latest) and up by 8:00. I think this gets your body in a routine and it knows when it's time to sleep.

 

I still have trouble from time to time if I have a lot of stress from work. On Monday I laid down at 9:00 and the last time I looked at the clock it was 10:30.

 

I feel your pain, it sucks.

I take 2 of the wal-mart brand of sleep med gel pills a night and I'm out in 30 mins and sleep like a baby, otherwise I'm up all night cause my mind never stops going.

I had the corrective surgery for SA and it has been great. A big misunderstanding with SA is that those with it "wake up" a lot. There mind wakes up. It is not like you always "wake up" and look around. It is your state of mind and your body resting that are disturbed.

 

Before and after the surgery when I go to bed I have to have the TV or radio on. The TV must be on a TV show that I am interested in. Also, if it is quite I cannot fall asleep, forever it seems.

BM, I do the same thing as you do - I get up 3, 4, 5, sometimes more times a night. I usually don't have much trouble falling asleep. This condition is called secondary insomnia. I've had it for 20+ years. I've been to two sleep clinics and know I don't have sleep apnea or any other serious sleep condition (at one time they thought possibly I had restless leg syndrome, but never officially diagnosed it).

 

I've tried Melatonin and every other herbal drug out there. None really worked for me. Ambien CR (Controlled Release) is the answer to our problems. Hate to have to recommend a prescription drug to you - especially one that does not have a generic equivalent yet - but that's truly the only thing that has worked for me. I take it in spurts - I always have insominia and have learned to deal with it for the most part. But every 2-3 months, it gets very bad. Hard to function on 3-4 hours of sleep a night for too long. So I take my Ambien CR for 2-3 weeks or so to get me through the really rough times and it helps cycle me back to my regular insomnia. I guess I could take it continuously, but again, without a generic version, it's pretty darn pricey (I pay $60 copay per 30-day bottle).