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In reply to the discussion: Here's A Horrifying Picture Of What Sleep Loss Will Do To You [View all]rppper
(2,952 posts)I've seen people stop breathing for nearly 3 minutes....seen people sleep for hours with their O2 levels dropping into the 60% range....scarey stuff....you put the same patients on cpap or bipap and they sleep in a fetal position for 6 hours when you figure out their numbers....what we shoot for with cpap is no apneas in supine position and REM sleep in supine at the end of the test. A normal rem patern is three distinct periods, an hour into sleep, midway through and at the end. Many times people have been having apneas unbeknownst to them for 20+ years. If you're heavy, diabetic, Over 30, have had heart problems or just have a big neck you probably have some degree of apnea. There are different types of apneas too, the most common being obstructive apneas and hypopneas. You also have central apneas, which tend to run in brain damaged patients, patients with Parkinson's, strokes, TIAs or dementia