Anybody wanna make a diagnosis?

Prior to the more expensive sleep study I recommend (and I am a Dr) a blood pressure check, blood testing for low thyroid and diabetes, no offense but liver tests and HIV if there is any possibility of hepatitis or HIV (and if you have ever had sex or surgery there is still some very small possibility and for tattoos a much larger one for hepatitis), and since you usually need a Dr's recommendation to get those tests their exam and history and more specific advice. Diabetes and hypertension (high blood pressure) causes fatigue sometimes with no otehr symptoms in some folks- including someone I just diagnosed last week who was as surprised as I was. Diabetes can kill as can low thyroid, even sleep apnea leads to early heart attacks and death as well as death from falling asleep at the wheel as you ahve already gotten close to.

If you have the obstruction in your nasal passages, you can try some breathe right strips for a week or so, while waiting for your doctor's appointment. Mild allergies can also play a part, as they can interefere with lung function.

In short, get thee to the doc, okay?

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A glimpse into my life and thoughts up here in Southcentral Alaska-visit my blog www.suvalley.blogspot.com

Terri, I tried your suggestion. It seems I can breath a little easier that way. Now all I have to do is figure out a way not to toss and turn while sleeping. As far as the diabetes goes last year I checked my blood sugar using someone's tester. It was high so I did go into the doc and a bunch of test and 450 bucks poorer they said my blood work looked good and not to worry about it. My blood pressure is slightly above normal. Never had any surgery, no tattoos, or sex (don't believe in sex before marriage). I agree this is really something I should see a doc for but getting more hours in isn't possible right now at work. I do have allergies so my nose has been plugged up lately. Been getting plenty of nose bleeds as of late. Not getting enough oxygen would make sense to me. Maybe after I sell a few things around here I'll go in to the doc. Just wish they weren't so danged expensive.

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http://www.xanga.com/shackman A blog about whatever

Ask around beforehand if the cost of the visit can be reduced if you pay in full at the time of the visit. Suggest the amount that social security would normally pay as what you would be willing to accept. Many offices will accommodate because it requires no hours in billing and is a sure payment. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Some advice from a fellow allergy sufferer?

Wash your hair at bed time to rinse out the pollen that the hair traps. You do NOT need pollen or mold spores against your face all night long!

Get some generic claritin: the 24 hour kind. I buy it as Loratadine 10 mg, a bottle of 60 costs me $8. That is $4 a month *IF* you need it for that long.

Lastly, the nasal strips do help a bit. And, they are better than falling asleep at odd intervals!

So, as a fellow allergy sufferer and sleep apnea person, I would ALSO try the bedtime shower, loratadine, and nasal strips.

Good luck!

Another trick to keep you from sleeping on your back is to sew a tennis ball into the back of your PJs or tee shirt. Or, put a bra on backwards with a tennis ball in one of the cups, if you have a bra handy. This keeps you off your back and on your side because it's uncomfortable. If you absolutely can't get to a doctor this kind of stuff can help a little, but really, if you have sleep apnea you don't want to fool around too much--this needs to be attended to.


Jennifer

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-Northern NYS

Gonna jump in here in favor of the C-Pap machine. After not sleeping with my husband for 7 years(!!!) he finally got the machine and his life and mine have changed for the better!

For one thing, we sleep together again. He wakes up rested instead of tired. He doesn't snore, twitch and flip around anymore while he's asleep. In fact, I have to check to see if he's still there.

He doesn't have headaches or sore (dry) throat problems anymore either.

He's about 30lbs overweight, but is active at his job walking several miles a day. He's on his feet most of the day and works 50 hours/week.

Your symptoms could be something else, but you should probably check into the sleep apnea thing. Hopefully, if that's what it is, with treatment you could be a new person overnight!

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~Carla~

Yes! I have found that if you just go to your doc and tell them up front that you don't have insurance ( or have a really high deductible ) and that you will pay cash, but need the lowest possible rate, they are VERY willing to cut you a break. No fuss, no muss, no insurance billing hassles. My family doc is considering opening a "cash" only clinic. She said she could charge half and make more if not for the man power and hours spent putting insurance claims thru.

It sounds like you may have sleep apnea. Go to Sleepnet and take the test. I have it so I've spent a lot of time researching it and possible cures.

There are lots of reasons for apnea and being overweight is one but not the only one. I'm about 10 lbs above my ideal and I still have it.

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"Do you believe in the devil? You know, a supreme evil being dedicated to the temptation, corruption, and destruction of man?" Hobbs
"I'm not sure that man needs the help." Calvin

Mono, hypothyroid, sleep apnea, chronic fatigue syndrome, narcalepsy, anemia, lukemia, and I am sure many more fit with the lack of feeling rested.

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Give Blood it saves lives.

Phil, if your blood sugar was 'high,' you may have diabetes EVEN THOUGH THE TESTS AT THE DR. OFFICE SHOWED NEGATIVE!! You may have some of these other problems ALSO -- I strongly agree that you should see a Dr. and get some more tests done, especially the thyroid test. But your symptoms could be diabetes, and you can have diabetes even if your blood sugar is in the high end of the supposedly normal range! Case in point: I have symptoms of diabetes if I eat carbs. My blood sugar was supposedly normal, high end. Symptoms abate when I stop eating carbs. Obviously, I have diabetes, no matter what the glucose test at the Dr. office said. Go by your symptoms as well as the tests. The tests are helpful, but normal isn't the same for everyone. So, if you can't get to the Dr. right now, and you have symptoms that could be diabetes, the way to test yourself for that is to stop eating carbs for at least a week or two. If you want some assistance in what to eat, go to the Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes forum: http://www.diabetes-book.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl . In addition to controlling diabetes, the diet will help you lose weight, which will probably help with the sleep apnea.

Kathleen

Thanks everyone for the replies. I usually breath through my mouth since my nose is plugged up about 70 percent of the time. Someone from work said perhaps the sore throat in the morning is from breathing through my mouth all night. Also I have been working around a bit of dust lately since I have been tearing bits and pieces off my house so perhaps maybe it is some of this is allergy related.

Diabetes does run in my family. Have been drinking a lot of pop lately to keep me awake in the morning (I hate the taste of coffee). Seems like it'll get me wound up for maybe an hour and then I'll have an energy crash. Also seems like eating a lot of carbs gets me very thirsty. Could go carbless but it would be tough since carbs are so danged cheap. Usually the boss keeps everyone at work well fed (instead of laying a bunch of people off he has everyone working less hours hoping that milk prices pick up) and usually the meals are full of carbs.

I have always been a low energy kind of guy but I know I wasn't always quite this tired. I have been leery of spending money at the doc's since they always seem to tell me I am fine and my wallet usually is a bit lighter. I always tell them I don't have insurance but they charge me the same rate anyway, and they usually want the bill paid in under six months whether it is 200 bucks or 2000.

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http://www.xanga.com/shackman A blog about whatever

Phil, do whatever you have to do to stop eating the carbs for a while, and see if you feel better. I strongly suspect that you will. Diabetes is NOTHING to play around with! It can (and eventually will) kill you, having damaged nearly every organ of your body in the meantime. I can tell you a lot of horror stories about people who didn't take diabetes seriously. Lose their toes/feet/legs; sores that won't heal; kidney failure; strokes; heart attacks (and at a fairly young age, too). Yes, it might cost you a bit more to eat low-carb, although it might not cost as much more as you think. Basically, all I've done is dumped the carbs I was eating, without increasing the protein/fat segment of my diet much if any, and I can go much longer without getting hungry. Carbs stimulate your appetite, and make you crave stuff -- if you cut them out, you may be just fine on the protein already in your diet (unless you've been eating very little protein or fat). And, if you are only working 20 hours a week, you have time to go fishing, or set snares, or go hunting for small game, and add some free/cheap protein to your diet, while also getting some outdoor exercise.

I should add that I do eat oatmeal with raisins two or three times a week, simply for the fiber. I've been working on replacing at least half of the oatmeal with flax-seed meal, though, as it's lower in carbs. And I really ought to cut out the raisins.

And for pete's sake, cut out the soda!!! I hate the taste of coffee, too, and used to hate tea, but am getting used to it (and I sweeten it with stevia or splenda, not sugar). Try an herbal tea, or bouillon, rather than the soda.

You might also check around and see if there's a clinic in your area that charges on a sliding scale according to your income. I get Dr. visits for $20 at the one in town. It's the only way I can afford to go to the Dr. at all (and usually manage to only go for a once-a-year check-up, although at my last visit I realized it had been THREE years!), as I have no insurance, and only work twelve hours a week (and can't up that, because I have a handicapped daughter to care for).

Kathleen

Cut the soda! I am addicted to the stuff But yeah I have a few great aunts and uncles that lost their feet. They are mostly on my Grampa's side (who has diabetes too). I went right to the doc the last time after that blood sugar test showed I had high blood sugar last year. Thought it was odd that nothing showed up since I figured I had a few of the symptoms (mostly being tired, thirsty, hungry all the time). I don't eat much meat since it is expensive but there is plenty of small game in the area (I can walk to the county woods in like 10 minutes).

Thanks for the suggestions I'll try them and see how I feel in a few weeks.

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http://www.xanga.com/shackman A blog about whatever

Good. Ever since we lost a friend who was only 43, to a heart attack because of his uncontrolled diabetes, I've taken it very VERY seriously!

Kathleen

Phil, before I became a diabetic I had some swings in my blood sugar.

I wish that I had been told to eat more lean protien and salads to stabilize my blood sugar better and to give my system a rest, but I was not told this.

Hind sight is 20-20: you can be having trouble with your blood sugar but not be a diabetic yet. Eggs are good to stabilize things, salads, meats, and between meal snacks even if you are not hungry.

When your pancreas is doing a borderline job, you can support it by giving it a slow, steady amount of food with the snacks, the eggs, and the salads or greens. That way your pancreas does not have to work too hard at any point in time.

Sounds like you need to find a way to get health insurance. You need a sleep study with an MSLT (nap test). How old are you? Blood work to check for anemia, thyroid issues, and B-12 levels would probably also be in order.

As far as sleep...I'd be concerned about obstructive sleep apnea, upper airway resistance syndrome (UARS), narcolepsy, and some sort of hypersomnolence (fancy word for sleepiness disorders).

It would cost a couple thousand for the sleep study itself. People often need two of them---one for diagnosis and one for cPAP titration if apnea is found. Also, if you have a history of polyps I'd suspect that you've got polyps again and they're blocking your airway. You NEED to see the doc! What diabetes testing did you have? Hemoglobin A1C and a glucose tolerance test? You need both of them, especially if diabetes runs in the family.

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Moms don't look at things like normal people.
-----DD

My diagnosis would include vit D and iron deficiency..... Both inexpensive supplements - do you take vitamins??

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Be a fountain, not a drain!

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http://tubbsfarmstead.com/

Cheap things to try.

Learn about a netti pot and clean your sinus. Buy some breathe right strips and try using them when you sleep. Don't buy the imitations, they don't work and come off in the middle of the night. Buy a bottle of saline nasal spray, about $1 or so.

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"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self confidence"
Robert Frost

I agree diabetes can start slow and not show up the year or two before the docs can finally diagnose it. You are likley to develop diabetes sometime in your life with your family hisotry- warding it off with low carb diet (and see if that helps you feel better) is a good plan. And why not check on your friend's glucometer again?