Advice on sleep apnoea.....
Discussion
For a number of years I have had problems sleeping, generally getting to sleep within a reasonable timescale, but frequently waking up multiple times during the night, seldom feeling I've had a quality night's sleep.
The main symptoms were:
- disturbed sleep
- dry mouth
- heartburn / acid taste in the back of my throat etc
I did attend a specialist sleep clinic and stayed overnight, connected to a variety of machines, but nothing untoward was found.
More recently I have been precribed Lansoprazole which has greatly improved the heartburn / acid taste etc, but I still am having restless nights and waking up with a very dry throat. The dosage has been reduced recently from 30mg to 15mg and is still working, but as soon as i stopped taking it the problem reoccured immediately. I am still taking it at the moment, but hope to have some further investigations to find out what the stomach problem is, as clearly I don't want to be taking this every day for the rest of my life.
I am slightly overweight (15 stone, 6'2") and am trying to lose a couple of stone which may help a bit, but I was hoping that someone on here may be able to suggest some other things to try.
Ocassionally I take a Nytol tablet which normally improves thinsg (although not always) but as with the Lansoprazole, I want to avoid having to take these types of drugs on a regular basis.
All advice gratefully received - I'll try anything (within reason)!!
Sidicks
The main symptoms were:
- disturbed sleep
- dry mouth
- heartburn / acid taste in the back of my throat etc
I did attend a specialist sleep clinic and stayed overnight, connected to a variety of machines, but nothing untoward was found.
More recently I have been precribed Lansoprazole which has greatly improved the heartburn / acid taste etc, but I still am having restless nights and waking up with a very dry throat. The dosage has been reduced recently from 30mg to 15mg and is still working, but as soon as i stopped taking it the problem reoccured immediately. I am still taking it at the moment, but hope to have some further investigations to find out what the stomach problem is, as clearly I don't want to be taking this every day for the rest of my life.
I am slightly overweight (15 stone, 6'2") and am trying to lose a couple of stone which may help a bit, but I was hoping that someone on here may be able to suggest some other things to try.
Ocassionally I take a Nytol tablet which normally improves thinsg (although not always) but as with the Lansoprazole, I want to avoid having to take these types of drugs on a regular basis.
All advice gratefully received - I'll try anything (within reason)!!
Sidicks
Edited by sidicks on Thursday 30th December 22:37
bernhund said:
I take it you've been down the diet route? No caffiene a few hours before bedtime etc.
Have you ever broken your nose or possibly have a deviation of the septum? This could block your nose and leave you breathing through your mouth all night.Sure that could lead to the dry mouth.
Difficulty breathing through the nose could also be allergy related (dust mites/other??). That, along with lardiness has caused the sleeping issues I've had.Have you ever broken your nose or possibly have a deviation of the septum? This could block your nose and leave you breathing through your mouth all night.Sure that could lead to the dry mouth.
Might be worth trying some anti-histamines (or at least speaking to the quack about it) and/or try Breathe Right strips as a temporary aid. The latter have provided some relief at times when I was struggling.
The others things to try are shedding the pounds and, if applicable, ditching the tabs. Getting rid of one of my chins did me an awful lot of good (well, until insomnia came to town instead
).Thanks for the comments!
Interestingly, for the last 5 days or so I've slept better than I can remember for a number of years, and not had any problem with waking up with a dry mouth and needing to drink huge amounts of water. This coincides with a conscious decision to change my diet to lose some weight.
Although my basic meals were never too bad - a fair amount of fresh fruit and vegetables and reasonably low fat - I did used to eat a lot of snacks in between meal, particularly chocolate and sweets.
I've tried to cut these out entirely, have avoided any diet cola drinks and stopped having an afternoon expresso. Additionally I've been trying to drink more water during the day and 2 or 3 cups of green tea.
I've added a small amount of nuts or a banana as a snack to keep hunger at bay.
Meal wise I've gone for a can of tuna with a bean salad for lunch and continued with my usual evening meals - often things like salmon and vegetables etc - but with no potatoes and no desert.
Finally, in addition to my karate training 2 or 3 days a week, I'm been trying to do some additional exercise, mainly press-ups, sit-ups and chin-ups in the morning before work. I'm also hoping to do some high intensity interval training tomorrow (Sunday).
On the scales I've gone from 95.5Kg to 93.5Kg in just one week (although I suspect that there may be some rounding error and probably some 'timing error' so I don't think I've genuinely lost 2kg (4.5lbs) in just 5 days, but I have probably lost a couple of pounds.
In summary, although continued weight loss will be helpful for my general health, I'm not sure that it will have a significant effect on my sleep apnoea (not that surprising, as at 6'2" I'm slightly overweight rather than obese!).
However, I'm keen to keep up this new diet regime and continue to lose 1-2 stone in total, and I'm really hoping that the sleep situation continues to improve, which will then give me every incentive to keep up this new regime!
Having said that, having written this post, I'm probably destined for a bad night tonight!!
Cheers
Sidicks
Interestingly, for the last 5 days or so I've slept better than I can remember for a number of years, and not had any problem with waking up with a dry mouth and needing to drink huge amounts of water. This coincides with a conscious decision to change my diet to lose some weight.
Although my basic meals were never too bad - a fair amount of fresh fruit and vegetables and reasonably low fat - I did used to eat a lot of snacks in between meal, particularly chocolate and sweets.
I've tried to cut these out entirely, have avoided any diet cola drinks and stopped having an afternoon expresso. Additionally I've been trying to drink more water during the day and 2 or 3 cups of green tea.
I've added a small amount of nuts or a banana as a snack to keep hunger at bay.
Meal wise I've gone for a can of tuna with a bean salad for lunch and continued with my usual evening meals - often things like salmon and vegetables etc - but with no potatoes and no desert.
Finally, in addition to my karate training 2 or 3 days a week, I'm been trying to do some additional exercise, mainly press-ups, sit-ups and chin-ups in the morning before work. I'm also hoping to do some high intensity interval training tomorrow (Sunday).
On the scales I've gone from 95.5Kg to 93.5Kg in just one week (although I suspect that there may be some rounding error and probably some 'timing error' so I don't think I've genuinely lost 2kg (4.5lbs) in just 5 days, but I have probably lost a couple of pounds.
In summary, although continued weight loss will be helpful for my general health, I'm not sure that it will have a significant effect on my sleep apnoea (not that surprising, as at 6'2" I'm slightly overweight rather than obese!).
However, I'm keen to keep up this new diet regime and continue to lose 1-2 stone in total, and I'm really hoping that the sleep situation continues to improve, which will then give me every incentive to keep up this new regime!
Having said that, having written this post, I'm probably destined for a bad night tonight!!
Cheers
Sidicks
Edited by sidicks on Sunday 9th January 00:43
Haha, I've not snored in ages, only if I drink!
You said you were at a sleep clinic and nothing untoward was found? Does that mean you dont have sleep apnoea?
UVPP is quite extreme surgery but due to my age it was the first option rather than being connected to a breathing machine for the rest of my sleeping life.
Weight didn't affect mine (when I was 10st I had it...)
I gave up smoking and it didn't help, are you a smoker?
You said you were at a sleep clinic and nothing untoward was found? Does that mean you dont have sleep apnoea?
UVPP is quite extreme surgery but due to my age it was the first option rather than being connected to a breathing machine for the rest of my sleeping life.
Weight didn't affect mine (when I was 10st I had it...)
I gave up smoking and it didn't help, are you a smoker?
T84 said:
You said you were at a sleep clinic and nothing untoward was found? Does that mean you dont have sleep apnoea?
What i meant was that i spent a night at a sleep clinic for them to investigate my unexplained sleep problems, but nothing obvious was identified.T84 said:
UVPP is quite extreme surgery but due to my age it was the first option rather than being connected to a breathing machine for the rest of my sleeping life.
We tried a gum shield to see if that would bring my jaw forward to keep my airway open, but that was so uncomfortable that there was no way I could have slept in it!They also mentioned about the possibility of using a breathing machine but i didn't fancy this, not least as i felt it was unlikely to assist in my wife and trying to start a family!
T84 said:
Weight didn't affect mine (when I was 10st I had it...)
I gave up smoking and it didn't help, are you a smoker?
I've never smoked, so can rule this out!I gave up smoking and it didn't help, are you a smoker?
Sidicks
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