OSA (Obstructive Sleep Apnea)
Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2021 11:40 am
I didn't know whether to write this in Bicycle Touring Overseas or under the Cycling Health, but because it was more health oriented, I decided to write it here even though bike touring is mentioned too.
So why am I writing about experiences with Obstructive Sleep Apnea on a bicycle forum?
It'll become more apparent further down when I learnt this morning that a long time Bicycle Tourer and Bikepacker Adventurer Iohan Gueorguiev (1988-2021) only in his early 30's lost his life due to OSA.
I have suffered from OSA for about 15 years now and have rigorously used a CPAP machine to help me sleep well and I do sleep well with it on most nights and can function like a normal person on most occasions but there are those out there who either don't know they have OSA, deny they have it as I had done in the early days as I seen having to rely on wearing a mask to sleep being a total turn off in the early days of my Marriage but it wasn't as bad as my wife getting up to sleep in another bedroom because of my constant snoring and gasping.
I never heard about Sleep Apnea prior to my condition but I've always been on the chubby side except when a young child or around 16 years of age and learnt that it was usually associated with people with too much weight on, but as it turns out, it's not really true, anyone can develope OSA, even those who are pretty fit and normal weight and the stories to come will explain this.
One of the events that spurred me into seeking help was around the time when Ansett Airlines was just about to go belly up, One of our major Union leaders had to go to Adelaide due to Transport Strikes I think around the time that Adelaide's Buses were privatised by the SA Government. Ron was a big man, actually a huge man mountain, he had to wear braces to keep his trousers up, but he was such a friendly bloke and a bloody good Photographer and he was the President of the St George Camera Club in Sydney.
Anyway, he was supposed to fly to Adelaide the Morning that Ansett collapsed and all flights were cancelled so he drove down instead, he stayed overnight in Parkes, got up early in the morning and continued on his journey, he didn't get far, fell asleep behind the wheel and head on into a Semi-trailer, he was killed instantly.
When I learnt of this, I quickly got checked by sleep studies and learnt how to live with a CPAP. My early experiences were quite negative not only with the sleep specialist at the time but with the full face mask and a machine that only blew constant pressure into me, it took only a week and I told them to shove it where the sun don't shine, then my Dad called me out of the blue and told me of a mate of his using a new Resmed Auto Pap which detected an apnea then ramped up the pressure till the breathing normalised and lowered the pressure automatically, so I tried one of those and I was hooked....it was so much better than the CPAP I had used before. Mine is an APAP with the A = Auto.
I've been using them ever since...they arn't cheap, i'm on my 3rd one now and they cost over $2K plus masks every 2 years at $300 each.
So why am I writing about this in a Cycling and Bicycle Forum?
Well this morning I had notification from a Youtuber 'Cycling About', and they put up an Obituary video of a Travelling Bicyclist and Adventurer Iohan Gueorguiev (1988-2021) Iohan had OSA, so he had developed a severe case of insomnia due to not being able to sleep well, so bad he couldn't take it anymore and ended his own life. This is a guy who lived his life to the fullest in his travels but he was fit, not overweight at all and it's likely his OSA was undetected or if it was, he did nothing about it as it's not easy to travel with a CPAP type device. Going without sleep is not a good thing and OSA is a large contributor of stroke or Heart failure.
https://youtu.be/9QGPBTf1Yys
This is the Obituary Video about Iohan Gueorguiev. The video didn't actually state he committed suicide but it said it in a different way for respect purposes. So you don't have to be a fatty to have OSA and I highly suggest that if you're constantly feeling groggy or your throat is often dry of a morning, it could be a fair indication that you have a degree of Sleep Apnea.
As many of you might know I've often talked about bike touring and camping but I've been too afraid to do it due to my OSA condition and so therefore have grown a lot older never having this experience. I still dream about bike touring even though my fitness level is pretty crap these days and I know it's my own fault. These days battery operated portable mini apap machines are available with Battery and are about $1200 -$1500 plus and I'm looking to invest in one just for camping but the battery is only good for 2 nights of about 7 hours max per night and take a long time to charge, probably up to 6 to 8 hours. Not sure if a Solar set up would be adequate.
Anyway, probably everyone here knows of someone who has OSA and is using a CPAP or APAP device or if they arn't using it, kick them up the kyber pass and get them to use one because it could cause stroke or a massive heart failure and that can be prevented.
Thanks for reading
Cheers
brumby33
So why am I writing about experiences with Obstructive Sleep Apnea on a bicycle forum?
It'll become more apparent further down when I learnt this morning that a long time Bicycle Tourer and Bikepacker Adventurer Iohan Gueorguiev (1988-2021) only in his early 30's lost his life due to OSA.
I have suffered from OSA for about 15 years now and have rigorously used a CPAP machine to help me sleep well and I do sleep well with it on most nights and can function like a normal person on most occasions but there are those out there who either don't know they have OSA, deny they have it as I had done in the early days as I seen having to rely on wearing a mask to sleep being a total turn off in the early days of my Marriage but it wasn't as bad as my wife getting up to sleep in another bedroom because of my constant snoring and gasping.
I never heard about Sleep Apnea prior to my condition but I've always been on the chubby side except when a young child or around 16 years of age and learnt that it was usually associated with people with too much weight on, but as it turns out, it's not really true, anyone can develope OSA, even those who are pretty fit and normal weight and the stories to come will explain this.
One of the events that spurred me into seeking help was around the time when Ansett Airlines was just about to go belly up, One of our major Union leaders had to go to Adelaide due to Transport Strikes I think around the time that Adelaide's Buses were privatised by the SA Government. Ron was a big man, actually a huge man mountain, he had to wear braces to keep his trousers up, but he was such a friendly bloke and a bloody good Photographer and he was the President of the St George Camera Club in Sydney.
Anyway, he was supposed to fly to Adelaide the Morning that Ansett collapsed and all flights were cancelled so he drove down instead, he stayed overnight in Parkes, got up early in the morning and continued on his journey, he didn't get far, fell asleep behind the wheel and head on into a Semi-trailer, he was killed instantly.
When I learnt of this, I quickly got checked by sleep studies and learnt how to live with a CPAP. My early experiences were quite negative not only with the sleep specialist at the time but with the full face mask and a machine that only blew constant pressure into me, it took only a week and I told them to shove it where the sun don't shine, then my Dad called me out of the blue and told me of a mate of his using a new Resmed Auto Pap which detected an apnea then ramped up the pressure till the breathing normalised and lowered the pressure automatically, so I tried one of those and I was hooked....it was so much better than the CPAP I had used before. Mine is an APAP with the A = Auto.
I've been using them ever since...they arn't cheap, i'm on my 3rd one now and they cost over $2K plus masks every 2 years at $300 each.
So why am I writing about this in a Cycling and Bicycle Forum?
Well this morning I had notification from a Youtuber 'Cycling About', and they put up an Obituary video of a Travelling Bicyclist and Adventurer Iohan Gueorguiev (1988-2021) Iohan had OSA, so he had developed a severe case of insomnia due to not being able to sleep well, so bad he couldn't take it anymore and ended his own life. This is a guy who lived his life to the fullest in his travels but he was fit, not overweight at all and it's likely his OSA was undetected or if it was, he did nothing about it as it's not easy to travel with a CPAP type device. Going without sleep is not a good thing and OSA is a large contributor of stroke or Heart failure.
https://youtu.be/9QGPBTf1Yys
This is the Obituary Video about Iohan Gueorguiev. The video didn't actually state he committed suicide but it said it in a different way for respect purposes. So you don't have to be a fatty to have OSA and I highly suggest that if you're constantly feeling groggy or your throat is often dry of a morning, it could be a fair indication that you have a degree of Sleep Apnea.
As many of you might know I've often talked about bike touring and camping but I've been too afraid to do it due to my OSA condition and so therefore have grown a lot older never having this experience. I still dream about bike touring even though my fitness level is pretty crap these days and I know it's my own fault. These days battery operated portable mini apap machines are available with Battery and are about $1200 -$1500 plus and I'm looking to invest in one just for camping but the battery is only good for 2 nights of about 7 hours max per night and take a long time to charge, probably up to 6 to 8 hours. Not sure if a Solar set up would be adequate.
Anyway, probably everyone here knows of someone who has OSA and is using a CPAP or APAP device or if they arn't using it, kick them up the kyber pass and get them to use one because it could cause stroke or a massive heart failure and that can be prevented.
Thanks for reading
Cheers
brumby33