fatigue / sleep apnea/cll

[lartington]

My husband has cll (20 years) and he was diagnosed with sleep apnea a couple of years ago and given a machine to improve restful sleep which is an air induced flow through his nose, it needs a snug fitted face mask for it to work correctly. It took sometime for him to get used to wearing it, but it has certainly improved his daytime quality of life, he is much more active and less lethargic. We always thought this was due to cll.......

He got a referral to a sleep apnea clinic where he was given a monitor to wear overnight, it showed that he was stopping breathing approx 70 times per hour........ people with sleep apnea often fall asleep during the day, it is also thought to be the cause of some vehicle accidents. I recently watched a programme on tv in which lorry drivers were being banned from driving until their sleep apnea was under control. So, cll people sufferers, give it a try, google sleep apnea and learn more about it, it could improve your quality of life..... it will certainly stop you snoring.

[geoval]

Hi and good morning. I too have sleep apnea and CLL. Fatigue has been a big problem for me, so a year ago I got sent back to the resp. clinic and got fitted up with a new machine. Like your husband, I found the mask a bit tricky to get used to, but now it allows me to sleep well, and my wife gets a quiet snore free night. I certainly feel much better when I wake up, but still get days when I could sleep for the Scottish Olympic team if we had such a thing. I agree with you that anyone who suspects that they might be affected with Sleep apnea /apnoea should get checked out and if needed, persevere with the mask. It can only be beneficial

[Kam73]

Getting use to the mask is the hardest part of CPAP use. Don't settle for the first mask you are fitted for. There are a variety of good masks out there. the Swift fx by Resmed is a very low profile type of mask. very easy to get use to. It is a nasal pillow system, say goodbye to the fighter pilot look!

[Cllcanada Top Poster CURE Hero]

I had sleep apnea in early CLL and used a CPAP for about a year...

Lost 100 lbs (7 stone) of weight and the sleep apnea totally went away...

Certainly patients with SLL and enlarged neck nodes, lymphadenopathy, should have a sleep study.

[fish61]

I had apnea before the cll and was miserable with the machine and mask.... A dentist friend of mine talked me into a piece of plastic that fits in your mouth a and pulls your lower jaw out and stops the snoring and gets me a 10 hour sleep every night ..... It took $1,700 and one night to get used to it... now I travel without the cumbersome machine and sleep a normal life...

Someone else told me about this a few years ago and I dismissed it as the source was a screwball friend of mine

now I am sorry I did not listen to him ... but he is still a screwball... fish61