Obstructive Sleep Apnea CPAP get smart fast

Disclaimer: These peer coaching articles describe what some savvy, successful CPAP users have done to make their treatment successful. Not written by healthcare professionals. The information and opinions may not necessarily be correct or helpful for you and your unique needs. Rely on sound, well informed medical advice from your doctors and other healthcare professionals well versed in treatment of obstructive sleep apnea.

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IF I ONLY KNEW THEN WHAT I KNOW NOW! Blog Purpose: To help you with your CPAP therapy for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). For those with OSA, family, friends, physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, sleep technicians. Why This Came to Be: I didn’t have the information I needed for successful CPAP treatment when I needed it. A kind sleep lab technician with OSA told me about a web site he had heard about from another patient, www.cpaptalk.com. The rest is history. It took me months of reading hundreds of posts to gather the information I needed while suffering through equipment struggles. Not everyone has that time or wants to struggle needlessly. I wrote up my own experience and advice from the collective wisdom of experienced CPAP users on cpaptalk.com. Thanks to them, my treatment is working. I’m not sure I could have done it without them. The online CPAP equipment store www.cpap.com created cpaptalk.com. I appreciate what they are giving back to the CPAP community through their website forum, as well as their fair prices. NOBODY IS AS SMART AS EVERYBODY! To email me, send a private message to Mile High Sleeper at www.cpaptalk.com.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Resources for Learning about Sleep Apnea


For people with Obstructive Sleep Apnea and their healthcare professionals, peer coaching article #6, updated 8 December 2011

Recommended Book
Sleep Apnea – The Phantom of the Night, by T. Scott Johnson MD, William A. Broughton MD, Jerry Halberstadt, a patient. 2003. Comprehensive, user-friendly, loaded with practical information and written with emotional intelligence. Explains types of sleep apnea syndrome and sleep study reports. Comparisons of therapies and equipment. Frequently asked questions. Sleep log form, medical information form for your wallet, doctors, and dentist. Available at www.amazon.com and other book sellers.

Web Sites for Sleep-Related General Information and Health
From the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, a very informative web site
http://yoursleep.aasmnet.org/index.aspx

A manufacturer’s web site for fast, basic information. http://www.myresmed.com/MyResMedUS/page.do

US National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health offer MEDLINE Plus Medical Encyclopedia. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000811.htm Lots of links to related information such as Obstructive Sleep Apnea, snoring, obesity and health, urination at night, nasal congestion, heart failure, stroke.
Link to NIH Senior Health
http://nihseniorhealth.gov/listoftopics.html

National Sleep Foundation, scroll down to Drowsy Driving
http://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/sleep-topics

Sleep Net, Everything you wanted to know about sleep but were too tired to ask ™,
http://www.sleepnet.com/

Online Support for People with Obstructive Sleep Apnea
www.CPAPtalk.com A forum and community for all things CPAP. Excellent site. Forum members share informative, supportive information and opinions based on their experience. Includes a CPAP Wiki and CPAP Definitions. Online resource for personalized questions and answers from CPAP users.

Local Support Groups
American Sleep Apnea Association (ASAA), Washington, DC and local support groups. Phone 202.293.3650.
http://www.sleepapnea.org/  Local AWAKE Network support groups meet in sleep centers or hospitals, with speakers, vendor fair.

Equipment Web Sites
www.cpap.com An online xPAP (CPAP, AutoPAP, BiPAP) store. Equipment descriptions are easier to navigate and read and more informative than many manufacturers’ web sites. Excellent product comparisons. Has manufacturers’ videos about equipment and fitting, printable price list, and lists best selling equipment. Low prices and good service. Has a practical Answers section.

Machine and mask manufacturers’ websites, such as Respironics http://www.healthcare.philips.com/us_en/homehealth/respironics.wpd , ResMed
http://resmed.com , Fisher and Paykel, www.fphcare.com

National Center for Sleep Disorders Research, National Institutes of Health, http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/about/ncsdr/index.htm

Stanford University Center for Human Sleep Research, Links,
http://www.med.stanford.edu/school/psychiatry/humansleep/

Professional Journal
Journal Sleep, sponsored by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society,
http://www.journalsleep.org/

Source: Based on personal experience with Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Exempla Lutheran Medical Center Sleep Disorders Lab patient information, Wheat Ridge, CO.

Want more? See the peer coaching articles at http://smart-sleep-apnea.blogspot.com , http://www.cpap.com FAQ Learning Center, or search http://www.cpaptalk.com or post a message there.

Not written by healthcare professionals. The information and opinions offered are not intended or recommended as a substitute for professional medical advice.
© Mile High Sleeper, August 2006 - 2011. All rights reserved. You may make copies of this message and distribute in any media for free educational purposes, as long as you credit the author and include this copyright notice and the web address smart-sleep-apnea dot blogspot dot com

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