Sleep deprivation/Sleep Apnea is not the joke many of us think…it can be deadly, not least, if a person falls asleep at the wheel.

Steven Gardner mentioned sleep deprivation recently in his blog, Kitsap Caucus, http://pugetsoundblogs.com/kitsap-caucus/2009/04/25/sleep-deprivation-2/#comments

Until I went through the UW sleep center and found I had Sleep Apnea, I slept in a chair for a couple years. I could not breathe lying down.

I don’t know if other patients are hesitant to use the mask, but I was afraid the machine would stop working and I’d smother in my sleep.
I didn’t use the Bi-Pap almost a year until a friend came over and intended to talk me through the instruction book.
By the time she read page 2, I felt silly but relaxed and took a couple deep breaths through the mask. That night, breathing easy, I slept in a bed again.

More recently, Harrison Medical Center began their own sleep disorder center. Their support group meetings are outstanding – well worth the effort to get there. (Harrison Annex, by Harrison, Bremerton. The support group meetings I attended were filled with timely, good information.

Harrison Medical Center Sleep Disorders Center Bremerton WA (360) 792-6812 www.harrisonmedical.org
For more info: Susan McInturff, CPAP Educator, Harrison Sleep Disorders Center

University of Washington Harborview Medical Center Sleep Disorders Center
Seattle (206)
731-3251

http://www.sleepfoundation.org/site/c.huIXKjM0IxF/b.2480283/k.50A0/Find_a_Sleep_Care_Center.htm?msource=nae042809&tr=y&auid=4798631
Anyone care to share his or her experience with Sleep Apnea?
Sleep Deprivation can be deadly.

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/sleep-apnea/sleep-apnea

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/SleepApnea/SleepApnea_WhatIs.html

Check out more reasons to attend the exciting
First COPD International Conference Program Agenda:
http://www.internationalcopd.org/conference/2009/Program_Agenda.pdf