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by abraham_s 2511 days ago
>>>I used to snore like crazy, probably had sleep apnea but was too afraid to go get tested since my grandmother died from becoming dependent on the machine and her lungs failed

I would like to hear more details on this. Being a CPAP machine user I have never heard of this (lungs failing) before.
3 comments
yurishimo 2511 days ago
My grandmother had lost her job and was forced into retirement a bit early and spent a lot of time at home. Since she was single, there wasn’t much for her to do except eat and sleep until others got home from work in the evening.

Well, she knew that she wasn’t supposed to sleep without her machine, so every time she got in bed, she’d put it on. This meant she was maybe spending 16 hours a day with this thing pumping air into her lungs. Now compound that with a sedentary lifestyle and a poor diet over a couple of years and it makes sense.

Her last days were spent in a hospital on a ventilator and every time the doctors tried to remove it for her to breathe on her own, her lungs just could not keep up.

Obviously this is a special case. Many people use these machines with no ill side effects, but for me, since it’s so personal, I have an admittedly irrational fear of them. For me though, I’d rather not need it in the first place if I can avoid it.

This also only happened a few years ago so it’s still fresh for me.

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yurishimo 2511 days ago
My grandmother had lost her job and was forced into retirement a bit early and spent a lot of time at home. Since she was single, there wasn’t much for her to do except eat and sleep until others got home from work in the evening.

Well, she knew that she wasn’t supposed to sleep without her machine, so every time she got in bed, she’d put it on. This meant she was maybe spending 16 hours a day with this thing pumping air into her lungs. Now compound that with a sedentary lifestyle and a poor diet over a couple of years and it makes sense.

Her last days were spent in a hospital on a ventilator and every time the doctors tried to remove it for her to breathe on her own, her lungs just could not keep up.

Obviously this is a special case. Many people use these machines with no ill side effects, but for me, since it’s so personal, I have an admitently irrational fear of them.

link
erik_seaberg 2511 days ago
CPAP just splints the airway open, but BiPAP actually has an inhale/exhale cycle, so maybe they use it for people who have trouble breathing on their own?
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