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[Lo0p]

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220 doesn't sound awful big at 6'0". Sleep apnea can almost always be treated (IMO) by losing body fat (though that's just a hunch and not based on much). Do you know what you're bf% is?

Alcohol, I believe, is also a big culprit.

[Dosage0]

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Lo0p;1199220 wrote: 220 doesn't sound awful big at 6'0". Sleep apnea can almost always be treated (IMO) by losing body fat (though that's just a hunch and not based on much). Do you know what you're bf% is?

Alcohol, I believe, is also a big culprit.

I have been at the same bf% for a long time (too high low-mid 20s), but I never have had ANYTHING near what I have had in terms of trouble breathing as to when I went to 240 a day bac. The back of my throat literally just closes due to relaxation and I wake myself up every few seconds choking. I could lose a few pounds im sure, but it is no coincidence here. I went almost a full 60 hours being so tired I wanted nothing but to sleep and waking myself up choking every minute after falling asleep. Oh and I was drinking at most a beer and a half both nights and into the next day at that dosage.

Like I said, I really don't even care if it causes apnea as long as I know that is what it is. I am still working on sleeping / napping with a cpap mask and seeing if that helps. There is no reason it shouldn't. I would rather sleep with a mask than die getting drunk everyday.

Rob

[ifulovelife2]

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Hi Rob

Yes, bac can cause apnea, there are tons of reports of it. When I used to get apnea (not because of bac but because I was a fat bastard) I would do 2 things to stop it. I haven't read the whole of this thread so I don't know if you've tried them yet.

1. Sleep on my side with my head tilted back and with my lower hand under my cheek to keep my head in position. This keeps the throat open and stops the epiglottis closing.
2. Wear a nasal strip, which keeps the nasal passages open.

Not sleeping is hell. I once spent 3 nights in hospital without more than 1 minutes sleep because they put some plastic rods down my nostrils following an 'incident'. As soon as I fell asleep, my mouth closed and I suffocated. It was a freaking nightmare.

Feel for you bud.

[Isolde]

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Dose, I feel for you. I've also recently gone through a lot of serious upheavals in my life that made me so depressed I had no will to live. Not having a coping mechanism is tough too. After hitting the switch, my coping mechanism was working out. But with the depression, I had no energy or desire to move at all. I spent a lot of time just lying in bed. I started taking 5-HTP and that seems to have helped (I tried tryptophan but it just didn't agree with me).

As far as I'm concerned, insomnia is the WORST SE of bac. I was going to suggest getting a xanax Rx and take it at night to help you sleep (you're a patient of Dr. L's, aren't you? He's a big proponent of bac and xanax together and you'd have no problem getting him to prescribe it for you). But with your throat closing up, the relaxing effect of xanax might not be the best idea. However, if the cpap machine helps you w/regards to the apnea, and you find that you're still not sleeping great because of the bac (I wake up every 1-2 hours usually), then the xanax would be a good addition, IMO.

If you think it would help you to go talk to someone, then by all means go for it. I was considering doing the same recently.

Let us know how you get on w/the cpap machine.

Hang in there, things WILL get better. :l

[Cassander]

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Hey Dose

No disagreement from me on what Is, Lo0p and If are saying.

A few additions, FWTW.

I'm about your size (height) and before I became a fitness convert weighed about 225 and had body fat in the 30s. I had serious sleep apnea which was clearly exacerbated by my nightly alcohol intake. My wife said my snoring was unbearable. At one point I developed a pretty bad disc/lower back problem with excruciating pain which I tried to treat with percocets (and beer). The result was exactly what you report: I would repeatedly wake with a suffocating feeling. One night I had to run outside to gulp fresh air in the middle of the night. It was terrifying.

Eventually, back surgery resolved the back pain problem, but I still had bad apnea. The good news is that I went on to both (a) discover fitness and (b) quit drinking and my apnea problem has totally disappeared. I now weigh about 185, but with way more muscle and way less fat than 10 years ago. Bfp is in the low 20s (which is not bad for an old dude). My wife reports that I simply do not snore any more.

All this good stuff awaits you!

Cass

[Dosage0]

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I borrowed a buddies old cpap machine and threw it on at setting 11. I put the thing on, closed my eyes, and woke up 6 hours later. HOLY CRAP. I need to go get a sleep study done so I can get my own and continue at the same level of Bac -- 240.

Edit: Thanks for all the tips on weight, but this is from a guy going with ZERO sleep problems to a guy who cannot sleep more than a minute without choking himself awake. I havent recently gone up in weight, and am 6'0 220 lbs and 33 years old. From what I have heard, most people don't realize they have sleep apnea -- they aren't choking themselves awake. I have a hard time not believing this is completely a Bac SE.

Rob

[RudyB]

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on itouch. cannot wait to reply. had same stuff. check my thread: sleep apnoea. effin sucked and was scary!

[RudyB]

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hi dose!

reading about your sleep stuff brought back all kindsa scary memories. just now i went searching for my thread on it ('help! sleep apnoea' or somesuch), which i started when i was in a panic from going through exactly what you seem to be experiencing right now, but, my shortcomings being as they are, i could not find it. anywhoot, the long and short of it is that i freaked out for a few days from losing sleep 'cause every time i went into it i stopped breathing. i think it was somewhere around 120 mg/day, i dunno. most important: it passed. and sounds like you found some relief from your friend's machine, which is great! when it was happening to me, murph suggested that nose-separator otc thingy, but it didn't help a bit, 'cause it wasn't in my nasal passages. it was most decidedly in my inner-muscular mechanisms, and seemed to have much to do with their over-relaxed state, just as you describe.

so glad to hear about your indifference as of 10/22/11! so good to be living life at 33 years of age, isn't it? hooray for you!

what was that expression you used, something about being able to 'put a wounded soldier down'? i've never heard that before! from whence does that come, and what does it mean? (i mean, i get your drift, but wow! elaborate if you would.)

just 'cause you ticked off a few aa members, does that really mean you can't go back? i am curious to hear more about that. did your outspokenness to them really mean they wanted you to shut up? eee ghads!

why does your side hurt? what did i miss?

depression - lack of sleep. i am sure there is a direct link. i was what seems like one of the few who didn't suffer from depression after quitting the drink, though i can understand why it would happen to the majority. sorry to hear you're down, rob. tell the blues to bugger off. spit at them and bid them adieu. i don't have much better'n that at the mo'.

keep the news coming. good to hear about you.

xo rudy

[redhead77]

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Dosage0;1199529 wrote:

Edit: Thanks for all the tips on weight, but this is from a guy going with ZERO sleep problems to a guy who cannot sleep more than a minute without choking himself awake. I havent recently gone up in weight, and am 6'0 220 lbs and 33 years old. From what I have heard, most people don't realize they have sleep apnea -- they aren't choking themselves awake. I have a hard time not believing this is completely a Bac SE.

Rob

I, one hundred percent agree with you. You wouldn't just start getting sleep apnea when you didn't have it before, at the same weight and age. It's the bac. I hope you can get it squared away, I would hate for this to end up a deal breaker for you. You could also try to go up a bit more. I know it sounds counter productive, but some have found going up eradicates these types of SEs.

[Dosage0]

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my side hurts because there is a 8mm kidney stone traveling down my kidney tube. OUCH. Worst part is that the doc says after 5mm there is only a 50% chance I can pass it without it getting stuck. This means they would have to put in a stent... only one way in... and they better knock me out.

I think it is definitely a bac side effect, but I am sure I could lose a few lbs. I'll probably try to cut down on weight, but for now I have my cpap which lets me sleep.

I had a major scare tonight. I could not find my bottle of BAC and the local prescription place said they wouldn't refill my script even though I told them I lost my medication. I about flipped but luckily Dr. L helped me out and called in another script for me. The pharm then told me he wouldn't give me the medication Dr. L prescribed because he didn't feel that it was safe. I about took his head off, but I kept my calm since I wanted the medication. I explained my situation and he looked a few things up online. After about 45 minutes I left with my baclofen as prescribed by Dr. L. I wanted to scream at him that a medical doctor prescribed this medication and where he got his phd, since Dr. L was a psychiatrist at Northwestern University. I didn't though, since getting kicked out of Walgreens wouldn't have helped me any. In the end I left with 360 pills in the biggest single pill bottle I've ever seen.

[ifulovelife2]

Shotgun Opera Lock and Load

Ahhhhhhhhh kidney stone!

They're gonna stick something up your old chap? Dude! DUDE!

Can't they do the ultrasonic thing to break it up? Or is it too close to the bladder?

DUDE!!!!!

[Dosage0]

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Hey Brenda,

Yah they are going to shoot me with futuristic lasers on Tuesday and that is supposed to break the stone apart into a shitload of smaller easy to shoot out pieces? Either way it sounds like it is going to suck. The Dr. said though that my stone was about the size of a dime and that it will feel worse than childbirth to pass it. I think I'll take his word for it.

[RudyB]

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oh god, what a drag! so sorry about the stone(s) ~ praying they don't break your bone!

good your cpap is helping. sorry the apnea hasn't passed yet, what a drag. mine only lasted a few days, was hoping same would be true for you.

chin up, stay strong!
rudy

[redhead77]

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Hi Dose,

I have a hx of kidney stones. I had to have a stent (it was so bad I had to have surgery when I was 7 months pregnant), and I've also passed them on my own. It's kind of true that the pain is worse than childbirth, but some I've passed and I didn't even know it. They were seen on ultrasound and IVP, and later they were gone. I haven't gotten a kidney stone on bac. I've had some intermittent flank pain that alarmed me that maybe I'd developed one. I would think it possible on as much bac as I take, as I'm predisposed to them. I pushed fluids like crazy and avoided anything that may have been brewing.

I haven't had a stone in 5 years or so. I now make sure to eat plenty of magnesium rich foods (green leafies) and I try to drink enough H2O (especially on HDB). Not that any of this will help you now. :upset: What may help you, and what helped me, was a heating pad and lots of norco. :H

If heaven forbid, you do have to get a stent and require surgery, make sure to tell the anesthesiologist how much bac you're taking. I've read that certain types of anesthesia can cause seizures when combined with bac. He or she will choose a safer alternative.

Good luck and feel better. I'm now going to go knock on wood, since I said I haven't had one in 5 years, cause just my luck.....

[ifulovelife2]

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Dosage0;1202333 wrote: it sounds like it is going to suck.

RudyB;1202345 wrote: so sorry about the stone(s) ~ praying they don't break your bone!

redhead77;1202390 wrote: I'm now going to go knock on wood,

Is it just me?