How is everyone tonight?

[mvd]

I'm better than yesterday at least. Have ups and downs. Still suffering from my weird fatigue/malaise/sleepiness and stomach/constipation problems. I went to my doctor again (the one who said I was fine,) and this time she gave me another blood test. Everything is ok except for the liver function being further off on both markers - 99 instead of the upper number of 70 and 54 instead of the upper number of 40. She attributed the change to my weight gain, and having a fatty liver. Her diagnosis is still sleep apnea + anxiety. She is an internist, so I'm putting trust in this. She wants to check the blood again in three months. Still very frustrating feeling this way.

[mvd]

1. So anyway..

Her suggestions were to go on a 2000-calorie diet (and I've lost some weight already - yea!) For the fatigue, she thinks the sleep doctor can still be of help, but I didn't like what he did. He suggested Requip for restless legs (I don't want to take it) and more sleep studies. No other plan. I think I'll get another sleep doctor.

At least my doctor (GP) said I'm in no danger.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. My dear mvd!

Oh, what a mess, sweetie...

Suddenly my problems, such as they are, fade nearly into insignificance...

I hope you can get to the bottom of this and fast...


I'm still dealing with Khash's death. It is better than it was Tuesday, which is when I found out.

I've started writing a poem about him and the loss, and I'm thinking this will be therapeutic...

Well, I think so until I realize that he won't get to read it...

And he always loved my poetry and always encouraged me so much.

Damn.

This too shall pass...

[mvd]

5. Oh, I'm so sorry about his death

It shows that many people have worse things to deal with.. I just wish I could find an answer. :hug:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

10. Thanks, sweetie...

I wish that too...

:hug:

[mvd]

14. You're welcome!

Have a good night, Peggy. :hug:

[UrbScotty]

18. My dear CaliforniaPeggy...

Even though he's not here to celebrate your poetry, please keep in mind that we all love it very much.

:hug:

[SPKrazy]

3. Fatty Liver

lose some weight

stay away from alcohol

CPAP or whatever treatment for sleep apnea

3 months you'll be better I bet.

Sleep apnea can make you very tired

ya either trust your internist, or ya get a new one...

I'd give it the watchful waiting and try whatever she suggests

I'm doing pretty fair tonight, tired as heck, sinuses messed up, but hey, its summertime, and I'm in the mountains for two more nights!

:hi:

[mvd]

7. For some reason..

I've been on C-PAP for a few months now, and I sleep better, but wake up totally unrefreshed and foggy. The fog and drowsiness stay the whole day. The lack of improvement was what made her re-evaluate things again. But I guess some with sleep apnea remain this way. I might try a dental apnea guard.

[SPKrazy]

9. Maybe a different mask?

Without getting too strange sounding, there are full face masks for some people if they tend towards mouth breathing, there are also chin straps.

One thing that I HATE is that I use an awful lot of decongestants to open my head up enough to use CPAP. I use the humidfier for it.

There may be some other factor involved? I've certainly read and been told over and over by different practitioners, that CPAP is the most reliable thing for apnea.

It still isn't 100%.

Good luck with other things.

I hope hepatitis tests have been done.

[mvd]

13. Full face mask didn't change anything

But I do have an unnaturally stuffed nose that doesn't seem to respond to sprays. Hope that doesn't affect my sleep very much. Anything to try?

I tested negative for hepatitis, Lyme, and mono, but all of this did balloon after a virus last November.

Thanks for your suggestions. :hi:

[SPKrazy]

15. I've found that if I can get my head open, it will stay open

glad you are negative for all those things

Viruses are strange things. I've heard of people getting the flu and not really recuperating for 6 months, that's rare, but sometimes the body just doesn't bounce back.

I have used Afrin no drip, followed by a steroid spray 20 min later after clearing and opening the nose. If you can do this 3 days oftentimes the sinuses will open up better.

Unfortunately I take freaking Mucinex D, which tends to have a mixed bag, it opens my nose, it doesn't keep me awake, but I don't sleep as soundly as I should.

I'd say just keep following her plan, keep a journal of how you feel each morning and what if anything is different or better or worse. Also log your energy levels throughout the day. Some docs love that and some will be annoyed. The deal is that you are the boss and they are hired to help you find healing not the other way around. So calm, persistence, along with documentation, some experimentation, etc. For instance are you sleeping on your back or side? Does this make a difference. Do you cut off caffeine at 2 pm, or are you drinking it later. If you could gain access through her office to a portable pulse/ox machine that could record the O2 sats throughout the night, then you could see if the cm/h2o pressure is adequate for your apnea, or even if it is too much. You don't want more than you need, but you don't want less pressure either. If your sats are low, then you and she can determine if raising the pressure is the answer, or adding O2 to the equation. Weight gain can change needs for the pressure just as weight loss can.

I've never been able to tolerate a face mask, or even a nasal mask. Instead I've used nasal pillows that go directly into the nostrils, they seal well enough to get the pressure adequately to my nose. With masks, I would start skin breakdown on my nose bridge. The silicone nasal pillows fit in a mask called "The Breeze, which is very lightweight and fits over the top of my head and has NO straps. Yet it stays on. I hated the straps, and that is awesome to have it that way.

The other thing is the mouth opening, that can cause apnea to not resolve if the mouth opens and the pressure releases that way.

Okay, you might talk to your respiratory therapist at your durable medical supply and see if they have any suggestions for improving the efficiency of what you are doing as well as your physician about the portable pulse/Ox as that is cheap to do.

:hi:

[mvd]

20. Thanks again

I'll look into the Afrin.

With that virus, I even lost my appetite. Took a while to get it back, and it seemed to both make my apnea worse and make my stomach/bowels never recover. The virus came with severe positional dizziness and vomiting. My head one day just felt different. My doctor says Mycoplasma was around that fall, and that's a prime cause of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Not saying that's what I have, but it made me wonder.

I'm keeping a calorie counter so I could easily log those things. Today, I felt more awake at 6 AM than when I woke up at 11 AM. That's why I wonder if anxiety and the anxiety medication I take are playing some role.

A pressure of 9 is where my apnea supposedly stopped. But my breathing still seems a little labored (maybe again because of the nose?) Without C-PAP, sometimes I can't sleep at all. In the sleep study, the O2 was ok at the current pressure, but I wish my machine recorded AHI events and other data. I do tend to mouth breathe first.

Maybe nasal pillows could also help.

May I PM you if I have more questions? :hi:

[fizzgig]

4. i'm sorry to hear you've not been feeling well

but i'm glad your doc is running some tests. i hope you can get it figured out

[I Have A Dream]

6. I'm glad that you're feeling better. I hope tomorrow's even better than today.

:hug:

[mvd]

8. Thanks

A positive attitude definitely helps.. stress really affects whatever I have. :hug:

[Lil Missy]

11. My feet are freezing.

Could I put them in your armpits? :shrug:


(Line from an old Alf show. :) )

[SPKrazy]

16. Hmm....

I'm thinking about that one Lil Missy :think: feet in armpits, let's see....:spray:

[Wetzelbill]

12. I'm not bad.

I hope you get better. That sounds like it's frustrating.

[UrbScotty]

17. I hope you find some way to feel better soon!

[Awsi Dooger]

19. Very Annoyed

Fathers don't let your daughters grow up to run your eBay business.

I had my first ebay clunker today. Bigtime. Almost laughable. I bought a used golf sand wedge last week with two very good closeup pictures of the face and sole, and a description of no dings or dents.

The club arrived Friday and it was like a Candid Camera gag. The clubface is coated with heavy thick rust, top to bottom. You basically can't see the grooves. I've never even seen a club in that type of shape. The sole also has heavy rust and it's not even the same club I bought. There is a significant stylistic difference on the back of the club.

I complained and the seller said he was out of town and his daughter is running the eBay business. She sent the wrong club. No kidding. I can't imagine anyone sticking a club in that condition into a shipping box, confident that someone knowingly bought it.

Luckily the father was sensible and didn't ask me to return the club. It would cost a sizable chunk of the total auction price to send it back. I'm receiving a full refund.

Meanwhile, I really wanted that specific wedge. And I passed on a very similar auction 3 days ago, since this one was en route. Now there's nothing similar.

LOL. For a few hours I tried to pretend WD-40 or CLR or Coke could make a dent in the rusty clubface. Not even close, no change at all. This is the Tiger Woods of rust.