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Mad As Heck - A Rant Like Story
Just feel the need to rant a bit. This seems a good place for it. I was diagnosed and began treatment for severe OSA a little more than a year ago. I was never given the full details as both my doctors said it would cause uneccesary worry on my part, but that it was the worst case they had ever seen and I was almost a walking corpse. Like wouldn't make me worry. I began using my CPAP a week after my study. The initial results were amazing. However, as time went on it never seemed to get better. At first I thought it had been so many years since I had a decent nights sleep that I just didn't remember how it really felt. So, I continued on awake, but not feeling wonderful. I spoke with my Pulminary specialist and the sleep clinic many times. There answer was to experiment with the pressure range that worked for me and try to adjust to it better. Well, I didn't put much stock in that as from the beginning I had no problems with adjusting to CPAP. To be honest, when using my Mirage nasal mask, I kinda like CPAP. Yes, I am weird, but I do like it. I wonder how I will get by without it if I am ever "cured". Things went on as above until late fall came around last year. I noticed I was rising earlier everyday. I was actually tired at night and looked forward to getting to bed. I had energy pouring into me like I was hardwired into the electrical box. I soon found my clothes falling off me if I didn't wear a belt, all without dieting. With my new found energy I went to my GP and inquired about dieting. Started that, joined a gym, 13 weeks later I had dropped over 60 pounds, with no starvation, no ill effects. For the first time in several years I was under 300 pounds. Life was getting to be so good I could hardly stand myself. I was painting the inside of my house, doing some remodling, making big plans for spring and summer 1999. Then it happened. Early spring in the south rolled into town like an out of control Mac truck with an extended trailor and a full load. I awoke one morning, rather late having slept through my alarm. I figured there had been a power outage as I had not slept through my alarm in months. I got out of bed and realized my head felt as if it were packed with cotton. That dreaded feeling I had lost so long ago. I stumbled sleepily to window. My once wonderful world was now yellow from the pollen. *sneeze* "Oh damn!", I exclaimed. Allergy season was upon me. To make an already long story short, my allergies I had not suffered from in years came back like gangbusters. I tried over the counter medicine, prescription medicine, keeping my sinuses flooded with saline spray. I would not give in to allergies and bring any form of OSA back into my life. What happened you ask? 3 colds, 4 sinuse infections, month and half long bout with bronchitus, OSA back almost like it was pre sleep study My GP was going nuts trying to get me well. Once I was well and my nose was open I realized my CPAP was still not producing the same results. The pollen season was over, but it didn't seem to matter. First though was I had lost so much weight my pressure was no longer correct. Went to my GP just to check with him before my newly scheduled titration study and the sleep center; my sinuses were extremly swollen, cancel the sleep study he said. I finally got a referral to an allergist. Waited a month for my appointment. This appointment was remarkable. A months wait to have some bozo tell me I needed to be tested for allergies because it was interfering with my CPAP and causing my OSA to come back and my nasal pasages and sinuses were extremely swollen lowering air flow. He went to school for this you know. So now, I sit, I wait. My allergist says he just isn't doing scratch tests for a month and a half. This after he tells me how serious this is and something must be done quickly. I am using some new fangled nasal spray and Claritin that does nothing for me while I wait. Gained back a large portion of the weight I lost even though I am desperatly trying to stick to the diet and exercise. A once again non existent metabolisim isn't helping matters much. I have called other allergists. Month wait for initial consultation, probably a month wait for a scratch test. *sigh* My question, what the hell is wrong with these people? What happened to the medical profession? The days when doctors cared more for their patients than making sure they had the biggest Mercedes in the neighborhood. Understand, these doctors have the time to do the test. They simple aren't doing them. Seems they need a break from the initial allergy season. Poor guys. All that time sitting and waiting while the nurses do all the work, gather the results, translate results, then submit a summary of the test to the doctor so he can deliver the news the patient. I am dieing here, sleeping like crap, felling like crap, gaining weight, back to being the mean, unsociable SOB OSA turns you into, and this jackass is worried about getting a full 9 holes in before he goes home to his mistress, er, wife and kiddies. What about my wife and my son when I drop dead from a stroke or a heart attack because I can't get treatment for my allergies so my treatment for my OSA will work? Did they stop taking the oath? Did the AMA outlaw doctors who care? Which brings up another point that really turns my crank. Where are the gobs of cash and research for OSA that every other "disease of the week" gets? They don't have a clue what causes OSA. They say there probably is no "cure" for OSA. Well hell, how do they know? Are they looking for one? Are they really looking for a cause? All I see is a bunch of doctors preaching on about losing weight. NEWS FLASH!!! I wasn't overweight until my OSA developed causing my metabilisom to becomenon-existent. I eat lettuce and drink water 3 meals a day and I gain weight. Look somewhere else. Just reading this forum and speaking with other apneacs I see common denominators that I have never once heard or read of that a doctor mentioned. I have also never once heard a resonable explination as to why. if apnea is caused by weight gain, so many thin people have it to. And what is with CPAP masks? Did someone resurect the inquisitors from the Spanish Inquisition and commission them to design CPAP masks? I will admit the Mirage nasal mask was a work of a truly great mind. However, it appears they fired him and hired a monkey to design the full face mask. I wonder if any of these brainiacs have ever looked at a resprirator mask like painters and furniture refinishers use. Most are comfortable, take the filter canisters off and they are lightweight. Seal up the canister holes, stick a hose swivel on it, wala a new, comfortable, usable full face mask that doesn't want to ride up your face like a stallon chasing a mare in heat. I swear if I wake up one more morning with my mask having ridden up my face so far it is half in my mouth I am going to scream. Maybe we should suggest to the tool industry that they take up CPAP mask design. The current mask design industry doesn't seem to have a single clue. So, I have stayed awake as long as I can, I have to give in and go to sleep. I can't seem to develop a full blown case of insomnia and eventually have to go off to that hell I call my bed. Strap on my full face mask so tight it feels like my nasal cavity is sinking into the back of my skull. Hope I sleep with my mouth hanging open, at least for a little while, so I will get a little bit of decent sleep and actually wake up when my alarm goes off. I will edit this in the morning and post it while I contemplate a trach tube. Wonder if I can find a doctor to do it if I decided to get one? Ones I have spoken to so far won't do it since I respond so well to CPAP, when my sinuses aren't swollen almost shut. "Be patient," they say. "You will get treated for your allergies soon. Lets just hope you are a candidate for allergy shots, and they work!" *grins* Yeah, lets just hope I don't drop dead before I get my scratch test. Only 2 more weeks to go. Wonder if a half dead, once again extremly overweight apnea sufferer can get decent life insurance? If anything doesn't make sense, ask, I will try and translate my ramblings.
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