weilong, I think I was, when I was a baby my parents had to drive me around in the car to get me to sleep, looking back I think it was the motion and keeping my head up. As soon as they laid me down and I heard any noise I'd be awake and around the block again we would go. Unfortunately it took 48 years t get diagnoised.

10 years ago my mother told me that they took me to the doctor twice when I was 4 or 5 to see 'bout having my adenoids removed. I was having trouble breathing while I was sleeping. What a mom, 35 years ahead of the medical community

Pretty sure I was not born with it. Slept great until about 6 or 7 years ago. Mine was definitely a case of gaining weight.

Tez62, so funny you should mention that your parents had to drive you around in the car to get you to sleep. Mine did too! And when I was a teenager, I remember it taking me HOURS to get to sleep, and I was always tired the next day at school.

Ziff, my mom also had my tonsils and adenoids taken out when I was 14, but my nose hemmoraged twice after the surgery and I would be taken back to the hospital to have my nose packed. All that blood would then drop down the back of my throat (into my stomach), and I would get extremely ill from that.

Maybe all that was the beginnings of the apnea. I never thought about it that way before!

Tez62, what did you find out that causes your sleep Apnea? I don't think my folks tried that trick.

That's one smart woman, Ziff!

Higginsp, I was the same at school.

Weilong, it wasn't really a trick because it only got me to sleep but then I would wake up because I couldn't breathe anyway. In the 60's and 70's no one knew about SA. I was only diagnosised 18 months ago wwhen I was 48, I wish they had of know when I was a baby.

Tez62, I feel that way all the time. I was born in '79, and we did not know I had it till I was 18, after I graduated high school. I remember my parents telling me they had to shake the crib to get me to breath. They talked to the doctor about it, but the doctor said I would grow out of it. Anyway... What were some problems that you had to deal with growing up and into your adult yours? And how severe was yours apnea?

weilong, although I had problems breathing at night, it slowly got worse and when the GFC hit I was under a lot of stress and it seemed to make it worse. I ended up hardly sleeping at all, was diagnosed with depression, was hospitialized and put on heaps of medications. The only problem was that the SA was not diagnosed so they were treating me for the wrong illness. After a couple of years, of medication that didn't worked, I was lucky a sleep specialist advertised for people to do studies on with SA, I didn't fit the criteria, but as soon as I walked in his door, he said I have SA and organised an emergency sleep study and found I have severe SA, 30 times an hour. He got me onto CPAP urgently and I have never looked back. I have never felt this good in my now 50 years. I lost about 20kgs (40 pounds) when I didn't sleep so I was well under weight, I have both obstructive and central SA. The obstructive is traeted with my CPAP and as I'm getting oxygen to my brain it helps the centrals, my AHI is around 3 on CPAP. What about yourself?

looking back, I had tonsils and adnoids removed at 2 years old, and a naturopath said as a child i had undiagnosed depression because I was always tired and wanting to go to sleep, not to really get out and get excited about partipating in life. But, I slept alot as a child and teen, and I still never felt well rested and energized.... I have to wonder if SA as well as depression played a part in this.

Tez62, I only got the basic information from them, but I stopped breathing over a thousand times at night, between 35-40 seconds. I found out that I have blockage in my throat, extra tissue. I did not find out I had it till I was 18, after high school graduation. The machine that I tried was not like the ones that are out now. It started up as a full force blow straight into your face :o) stick your head out when someone is driving 65 and you'll feel it! But I've had the Tracheotomy four 13 years now, so I see no need to have a CPAP. It's wonderful that you have your problem taken care of!

Seekinghealthy101, depression plays a big part with S.A.

weilong, the original CPAP was a vaccum and invented by an Australian Cilin Sullivan. Imagine it in those days compared to now but I'm sure it still would have been a relief compared to nothing. We are very lucky to have what we do now, I have the software that tells me exactly what I'm doing every minute of the night and graph it and know if anything changes, technology and the internet in particular is fantastic. The Internet has some critics but in this case it is great.
Glad to here your doing well without CPAP, can I ask if the operation was painful and worth it? Also did you have a sleep study after it to confirm that you no longer have SA.
I haven't heard of too many people that have had it and been successful, but good luck to you.

Just on the depression, I was diagnosed with depression and doped up so much because SA symptoms and depression are very similar, as soon as I was diagnosed with SA and started treatment, the depression lifted and I haven't been on meds for over 4 months.

No, I did not have a sleep study done to confirm it worked, it did work though, I'm not waking up gasping for breath! That's what mattered to me. I supposed it was up to the doctor to give me one. He actually had to call my parent's insurance up and talk them into paying for it. It was a matter of life and death. The future health, physical/mental, problems would have been enormous. The procedure was not painful and it was worth it, although it is hard trying to find a job with it and at my age. So I am looking into a field that it will be valuable for me to have, an ability to connect with others. Although I've had to relearn several things in life, it has been worth it. The depression also lifted for me, even though I have to fight against it once in a while, I think it is more situational then anything else. I was on meds for some time, now off them for a while. But I do know there's a connection b/w S.A. and depression. What software do you have that tells you about your sleep?

The software is called Sleepyhead and it's free to download over the net, you just need a card reader. It works on most new machines. You can buy software from Resmed etc at about $99, I download my data once a week and analysis.