Cpap

I was put on a cpap after they discovered a significant pause in my heart beats. Now with a pacemaker will I need to continue using the cpap?

2 Comments

Yes to CPAP

by Theknotguy - 2013-11-22 06:11:03

You'll want to continue using the CPAP until cleared by a sleep doctor. I went the other way. I was on the CPAP and then got the PM. In any case, until a sleep doctor has cleared you DO NOT go off the CPAP.

The last thing you want is to have a stroke or heart attack because you're straining so hard to breath while sleeping.

Another thing is you may not be going into REM sleep without the CPAP. Obviously I don't know about your situation but if you don't go into REM sleep it will eventually kill you. There is a disease out there that keeps people from going to sleep and within 1 1/2 years it kills them because they never go into REM sleep. So while it's a slow death, it's still dying slowly. Not fun.

Additionally the CPAP will force you to take stronger and deeper breaths than you might after the PM insertion. That will aid in your healing and recovery. I had a busted rib, a collapsed lung, and a chest tube. The CPAP forced me to take deeper breaths than I would have without it, I got more air, and my recovery has been faster.

I personally hate that I'm on two machines that help keep me alive - the CPAP and the PM. However my other choice was being dead. So between the two, I'll take the machines. Sometimes you have to mentally have to accept the situation before you can move on.

And hey, if the sleep doctor says you don't need the CPAP, great!

Hope this helps.

Theknotguy

CPAP for 3+ years

by JerryG - 2013-11-23 02:11:20

I have had my Icon Auto CPAP machine for over 3 years now and my PM for just over 3 months. I have the analysis software for my Icon Auto as I live very far away from 1st world medical help and have to monitor my sleep apnoea myself.

I had bariatric surgery 11 months ago and have lost 48kg as a result and am now at my goal weight. I hoped the weight loss would cure my sleep apnoea as it often does but in my case although there was a huge improvement in the number of apnoea's each night, I still have one or two every few days. My PM implant made absolutely no difference to my sleep apnoea.

Angrysparrow rightly says stopping breathing puts even more strain on your heart and that is something we don't need to do. CPAP machines keep your airway open and the automatic ones like I have increase air pressure through your airway to keep you breathing when you breathing either stops or your breathe very shallowly (hypopnoea).

I love my CPAP machine and my PM as they not only keep me alive but allow me to have very good quality of life.

Hang in there!

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