sleep disorders

[ericpasansai]

do any hospitals in chiang mai have a sleep disorder department

[narkeddiver]

I believe Chiang Mai Ram does

[Sparkles]

I believe Chiang Mai Ram does

Yes they do. Suggest you go to their web site ,it falls under SNORE CLINIC

[circusman]

I believe Chiang Mai Ram does

Yes they do. Suggest you go to their web site ,it falls under SNORE CLINIC

If it is just a sleeping disorder and not a medical problem there are many effective medications available. And most do not leave you sleepy in the day.

[Ulysses G.]

The private hospital at Suan Doc has one too.

[northernjohn]

^{I highly recommend a night in the hospital. I have sleep Apnea and had a machine for it. In Canada the waiting list took me a year to get the proper sleep test. Not only did it tell me that I needed more pressure (this was before the automatic ones) but it told me that I had RLM Rapid Leg Movement and needed 6 more liters of oxygen at night.}

^{The wife had told me about my RLM but I didn't believe her and there is no way in the world with out the proper sleep test you would know how much oxygen you were short of while sleeping. During the day it is fine.}

[ThaiFraiGai]

I might be selling a US-made CPAP machine, relatively new, in the near future. Let me know via PM if you are interested. I've not made the decision for sure, nor have I priced it. I've tried it a few times only (3-4), but seem to sleep worse, if possible, with it...which is pretty bad, having severe sleep apnea. I'm only hesitating, as I might give it a longer try, one more time 1st, b4 I sell.

[jij]

when i was at ram they told me that the hospital in mae rim has one, sorry i have no more specific information than that.

[northernjohn]

I might be selling a US-made CPAP machine, relatively new, in the near future. Let me know via PM if you are interested. I've not made the decision for sure, nor have I priced it. I've tried it a few times only (3-4), but seem to sleep worse, if possible, with it...which is pretty bad, having severe sleep apnea. I'm only hesitating, as I might give it a longer try, one more time 1st, b4 I sell.

It took me a month to get used to it. When I first started with it I was lucky to get one hour sleep with it before I took it off. I know where you are coming from.

Now it is like second nature to me.

[andreandre]

I believe Chiang Mai Ram does

Yes they do. Suggest you go to their web site ,it falls under SNORE CLINIC

If it is just a sleeping disorder and not a medical problem there are many effective medications available. And most do not leave you sleepy in the day.

I've got a hunch that this ''sleep problem'' may have been caused a while back when you had that terrible accident when you were sent flying 200 mters after that click ran into you.

You said that you had no injuries then, but some long term effects may be now surfacing...Just my take on it.

[Ulysses G.]

I might be selling a US-made CPAP machine, relatively new, in the near future. Let me know via PM if you are interested. I've not made the decision for sure, nor have I priced it. I've tried it a few times only (3-4), but seem to sleep worse, if possible, with it...which is pretty bad, having severe sleep apnea. I'm only hesitating, as I might give it a longer try, one more time 1st, b4 I sell.

It took me a month to get used to it. When I first started with it I was lucky to get one hour sleep with it before I took it off. I know where you are coming from.

Now it is like second nature to me.

I can't sleep without one any more. I had been falling asleep all day long, without wanting to. I always felt tired and I was very skeptical about what a CPAP could do for me. However, after the very first night of using one, my sleep pattern went back to normal and has stayed the same ever since.

It is well worth getting used to.

Edited August 27, 2014 by Ulysses G.

[bamboozled]

Is there anyway to know you have sleep apnea without going to a clinic? Are there any clues?

[Ulysses G.]

There are a lot of cues, but it affects different people in different ways. I used to sleep all the time. Other people have trouble sleeping at all. Snoring is one of the most common signs, but some people that don't have sleep Apnea snore too. IMO, you really need to go to a sleep clinic to be sure and you can't use a CPAP effectively without being tested.

Edited August 27, 2014 by Ulysses G.

[northernjohn]

Is there anyway to know you have sleep apnea without going to a clinic? Are there any clues?

Yes there is but I do not recommend it.

Long before I got my machine I was tested. They gave me some sensors to connect to my body at certain spots at home. Then I took the machine in and they analyzed it and said I had sleep apnea. I ignored it until I had an accident and was in the hospital and once again they diagnosed it and brought in a machine for me to use as I said earlier it took me a while to adjust to it.

I recommend the proper test because a year later when they were able to give me a proper sleep test they found out that the machine had to pump more air than it was. I had insurance that paid for it.

To the best of my understanding when you have sleep apnea your throat closes down and you can not breath it never closes down for long but long enough that you do not get into a deep sleep the REM state I believe it is called. You do not dream either I have been told. One friend of mine was told that he had stopped breathing 600 times in one night.

Also because you do not go into the deep sleep you do not get as much rest and are often tired during the day.

A little off topic but not much this has been kicked around before and one member said when the machine gets old it is not doing it's job because of wear on the internal parts. So even though it is running it is not doing the job.

Does any one have information on that? I have an automatic machine that adjusts it's self so seems to me that it would not be missing out on doing it's job.

[BillyBobThai]

I had this sleep test in the states almost 20 years ago. I was stopping breathing like 70 to 80 times an hour. The Dr did surgery on that little dangly part in the back of your throat. He pierced it with a red hot needle several times. He said that once it heals, it will be hard and not vibrate, which he said was causing my snoring. It helped quite a bit, but I still snore, just not as loud.

A side note, the Dr was arrested a year or so later for mfg. some sort of speed. Got 20 years for it.

[enuff said]

.

Apnea.

A real problem that can cause people to not only be sleepy during the day, but also irritable, combative and reactionary.

Do you have a phone that records audio? Put it beside the bed and record yourself sleeping. On playback, if you hear yourself choke up, stop breathing for a time, and then suddenly gasp for breath, you should seek further advice from a sleep expert.

I was surprised to find that it only happened when I slept on my back. Once I realized how disrupted my sleep was I was convinced I needed some help.

Another symptom I noticed was waking up dazed and fuzzy headed in the morning. After sleep testing, it was found that after 6 hours of tossing and turning, I finally went into deep sleep, only to be awakened by the alarm clock dazed and confused a half-hour later.

best wishes to all who suffer from sleep disorders

~

[ericpasansai]

Follow up;

Went to Ram and asked for sleep clinic. They sent me to 4th floor room 5. The doctor saw me and asked if I had sleep apnea of snoring, I said that I didn't. He then sent me to a neurologist. I asked the ENT doctor why there wasn't a screening process so I could have avoided this ENT leg of my examination, he shrugged his shoulders.

At the neurologist a young doctor said "nobody ever died from lack of sleep" and I replied that I'm not so sure of that however somebodies quality of life could certainly be diminished for lack of sleep. I asked for and received melatonin.

Waste of the morning and 2,200 Baht.

At Ram the doctors are getting younger, speak better English, prices going through the roof and results (for me) getting worse

[Oscar2]

Follow up;

Went to Ram and asked for sleep clinic. They sent me to 4th floor room 5. The doctor saw me and asked if I had sleep apnea of snoring, I said that I didn't. He then sent me to a neurologist. I asked the ENT doctor why there wasn't a screening process so I could have avoided this ENT leg of my examination, he shrugged his shoulders.

At the neurologist a young doctor said "nobody ever died from lack of sleep" and I replied that I'm not so sure of that however somebodies quality of life could certainly be diminished for lack of sleep. I asked for and received melatonin.

Waste of the morning and 2,200 Baht.

At Ram the doctors are getting younger, speak better English, prices going through the roof and results (for me) getting worse

sounds like a complete waste of time and money for a scrip of Melatonin.

[haybilly]

That certainly sounds like a waste of time--but, I still intend to try to find somewhere with a proper Sleep Disorder Clinic--maybe I should try Suan Dok--can't believe that Ram was so unhelpful.

[ericpasansai]

That certainly sounds like a waste of time--but, I still intend to try to find somewhere with a proper Sleep Disorder Clinic--maybe I should try Suan Dok--can't believe that Ram was so unhelpful.

not only unhelpful bunt arrogant and "all knowing"--I'm moving on

[CaptHaddock]

If you suspect you have sleep apnea, but don't want to have a polysomnography test in a hospital, there is another option that is not equivalent, but may be useful. You can buy a pulse oximeter like this one:

http://www.clinicalguard.com/oximeters-for-sale-p-89.html

I have seen them for sale in a pharmacy in Bangkok, although not this model.

The pulse oximeter model listed will record your pulse at one-second intervals and the oxygen saturation of your blood. You clamp it on your finger before going to sleep at night. In the morning you connect it to the usb port on your (Windows) computer, upload the data file and then review the graph of the night's results. Sleep apnea is usually, but not always, associated with oxygen desaturation events. If your pulse ox reports show desats, then that is consistent with sleep apnea. However, since it is possible to have apneas without desats the pulse ox cannot rule out sleep apnea.

In my own case the pulse ox reports have been very helpful. Some nights I would have 10 to 15 desats per hour, which is within the range for sleep apnea, while other nights, almost none. By collecting data over months I was able gradually to narrow it down to a sinus reaction to the chlorine in the swimming pool. Reducing the frequency of my swims appears to control the problem, but it's too soon to be sure. A PSG provides much more data and is necessary for a definitive diagnosis.

For those with sleep apnea there are alternatives to the CPAP that can help, at least in some cases. The most important is to lose weight. Fat inside your airway reduces the airflow capacity. Reducing the fat opens it up again. Also, learning to sleep on your side may be enough to alleviate the symptoms for some people.

[mesquite]

That certainly sounds like a waste of time--but, I still intend to try to find somewhere with a proper Sleep Disorder Clinic--maybe I should try Suan Dok--can't believe that Ram was so unhelpful.

not only unhelpful bunt arrogant and "all knowing"--I'm moving on

I have recently found this to be the case at RAM also, after years of good service.

[northernjohn]

That certainly sounds like a waste of time--but, I still intend to try to find somewhere with a proper Sleep Disorder Clinic--maybe I should try Suan Dok--can't believe that Ram was so unhelpful.

not only unhelpful bunt arrogant and "all knowing"--I'm moving on

I have recently found this to be the case at RAM also, after years of good service.

Seems to me if you went in to any hospital and asked them if they had facilities for sleep testing you would get a yes or no. If they refer you to another department thank them and leave. Their is only one way the hospital can test you and that is to hook you up to a lot of electrodes and have you spend a night sleeping there.

As I have said in a previous post I was once given a machine to take home hook up a few electrodes took it back the next day and they said I had sleep apnea. No recommendations. Or as a previous poster mentioned there is another machine that while not always accurate can certainly help you at least it proved very beneficial to him.

[mesquite]

That certainly sounds like a waste of time--but, I still intend to try to find somewhere with a proper Sleep Disorder Clinic--maybe I should try Suan Dok--can't believe that Ram was so unhelpful.

not only unhelpful bunt arrogant and "all knowing"--I'm moving on

I have recently found this to be the case at RAM also, after years of good service.

Seems to me if you went in to any hospital and asked them if they had facilities for sleep testing you would get a yes or no. If they refer you to another department thank them and leave. Their is only one way the hospital can test you and that is to hook you up to a lot of electrodes and have you spend a night sleeping there.

As I have said in a previous post I was once given a machine to take home hook up a few electrodes took it back the next day and they said I had sleep apnea. No recommendations. Or as a previous poster mentioned there is another machine that while not always accurate can certainly help you at least it proved very beneficial to him.

I meant in general, the service at RAM has gone downhill.

Edited August 30, 2014 by mesquite