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Sleep Apnea Poll

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.

Do you suffer from sleep apnea?

  • No

    Votes: 26 63.4%
  • Yes, it started after I began freediving.

    Votes: 4 9.8%
  • Yes, it started before I began freediving.

    Votes: 6 14.6%
  • Yes, I am unsure when it started.

    Votes: 5 12.2%

  • Total voters
    41
Well obviously the answers yes but I remember my mum telling me now when I was about 9 or 10 that I used to stop breathing at night. I dare say there's a few who would wish I stopped breathing altogether but as they say "Dont hold your breath" ;)
 
The problem with this poll is that 90% of people who have sleep apnea don't even know they have it, so they will just answer 'no' and leave it at that.


Eric Fattah
BC, Canada
 
Do people with sleep apnea have above average hematocrit levels? Just wondering :D
don
 
I know a guy that suffered from severe sleep apnea. He would only get a couple hours of sleep each night. The doctors had tried many different medicinal and mechanical solutions over the years. About a year ago he worked with a nutritionist and voila! Cured.
 
Originally posted by efattah
The problem with this poll is that 90% of people who have sleep apnea don't even know they have it, so they will just answer 'no' and leave it at that.

Maybe that's why it seems there are a few more sleep apneaics than we might expect on this board. Free divers are generally more aware of their breathing and might be more prone to noticing mild cases of sleep apnea.

Edit-
Of course, we could also say this poll is skewed because those who do suffer from sleep apnea are more likely to be interested by the thread and thus vote in the poll. So... either way it's not a very accurate poll. I was just interested in getting a bit of a snapshot of the numbers.
 
Last edited:
Tadpole
I would be interested in what that guy did to help his sleep apnea. I have it moderately bad. :waterwork When I took a sleep study at a clinic, they wired me up like a christmas tree and video taped me with a night vision camera. The data showed that I woke up 80 to 90 times a night. The doc said that mine was only a moderate case. Severe cases wake up 200+ times. The data also showed that my heartrate would rise quite a bit during these involuntary breathholds. My wife said that I would stop breathing for a least a minute and sudden jerk my head around and start gasping for air. I usally didn't remember ever waking up at all. When I watched the video of my sleep at fast forward, I seemed to jump around like a mexican jumping bean all night! No wonder I feel friggin tired all the time!!! :vangry
I tried the cpap breathing mask, but hated it. The mask would brake the seal and next thing you know you would have a blast of air blowing in your face and whistling in your ear. That thing felt like a full face scuba mask. Try wearing that for a good nights sleep! :duh
 
Originally posted by efattah
The problem with this poll is that 90% of people who have sleep apnea don't even know they have it, so they will just answer 'no' and leave it at that.
Originally posted by
commonerg


Maybe that's why it seems there are a few more sleep apneaics than we might expect on this board. Free divers are generally more aware of their breathing and might be more prone to noticing mild cases of sleep apnea.

Do you wake up in the morning tired? If you've had a good nights sleep and are still tired in the morning, you may have sleep apnea! Thats how I feel some mornings, there are mornings when I can hardly wake up, truely! I genuinely feel like death and other days I feel bright as a button. As Eric says on the other thread, "It sucks" and I'll back him up on that! Its a crap state of affairs when you have to go to bed two or three hours earlier than everyone else just to get a good nights sleep :( OK its not absolutely necessary for most people but if your job depends on how you look, its essential :(
But I still wonder if it gives some a natural advantage with self induced apnea!
 
Unfortunately every morning is like "Dawn of the Dead". People tell me all day that I look exhausted. I think most of my problem is that I have the worlds largest tonsils. They look like I have to two large walnut in my throat. When I stick out my tongue and look in the mirror, they almost touch. When I sleep my tongue relaxes against my tonsils and shuts off my breathing. I guess I should just get them taken out, but at my age...
 
I have some degree of sleep apnea as well, although it's more likely the obstructive form. I find that it is only noticeable when I sleep on my back -- so I force myself to sleep on my side.

It would be interesting to see if this "disease" has any potential silver linings when it comes to a sport like this.
 
Mine is the pretty much the obstructive kind. I have a large soft palette and relatively small jaw compared to the rest of my skull. I'm a pretty loud snorer too. Some nights I don't get any sleep at all if I forget to angle my head/body just so.

The silver lining is that I can dislocate my jaw and equalize hands free.

Don,

I just had a physical done, and my hematocrit level is 46.3% (range 40-53%) so apparently I'm normal. :)

Peter S.
 
I definitely have a degree of sleep apnea - it scares the crap out of my wife sometimes - but it has absolutely nothing to do with swimming/diving.

Also, a late friend of my wife's had sleep apnea (baaad!) to the degree where he would just fall asleep during the day (once or twice even while standing - resulted in trips to the hospital for injuries!!). It was, unfortunately, discovered relatively late in life, by which time the damage was done - massively over-strained heart.

He got more comfortable sleep in the last couple of years (before he died aged around 75), after he went to a sleep clinic, and got himself one of the forced-breathing masks for night-time.

Must get myself off to that sleep clinic ....
 
Hmm... My "doctor" told me that, as it wasn't really affecting my daytime behavior, that it's better to live with it than deal with the treatments. If it were affecting the daytime in a more substantial way (eg. dozing off), then he would have recommended doing something to address it.

However, the notion of heart strain doesn't sound particularly good! Perhaps a second opinion couldn't hurt!

But this raises a different question: if sleep apnea introduces heart strain, would this not apply to regular daily apnea practices? (or is the frequency of OSA events that makes it a non-comparison?)
 
Cal,
what's the latest with your apnea? Is it obstructive or central?

I'm in the same boat trying to get used to the mask (in houston) with central apnea. Dr's believe it is responsible for my significant arrhythmia so the mask is worth a try if it will eliminate the sleep apnea since the medications are keeping me from freediving.
 
Hi brasso -- Mine was fairly minor and more of the obstructive kind. I discovered that simply sleeping on my stomach cured it for me. Best of luck to you.
 
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