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Living With and Managing Sleep Apnea

May 18, 2011

This video—presented by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health—shows how Jim, the father of two young girls, has coped with having sleep apnea. Symptoms such as waking up tired and falling asleep while driving long distances made Jim concerned about his health. While Jim was sleeping, his wife noticed snoring and long periods of silence followed by gasps.

Wanting a better quality of life, Jim sought the advice of his doctor, who recommended a sleep study. As a result of the sleep study, Jim was diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnea and prescribed treatment with a CPAP machine. CPAP provides mild air pressure to keep the airways open during sleep.

Jim explains that adjusting to CPAP treatment was hard at first, and his inability to stick with the treatment led to more symptoms. However, after using the CPAP machine regularly, Jim feels better and has more energy to do activities with his children.

For more information about living with and managing sleep apnea, go to the Health Topics Sleep Apnea article.

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