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  1. #1
    Senior Member nwmanitou's Avatar
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    Question Hammocks and Sleep Apnea

    I'm a bigger (fat) guy. I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. I'd quit breathing for up to 30 seconds. Often dozens of times an hour. I've been working on it though. Joined a gym, been working out consistently since January and I'm now significantly healthier and leaner.

    Granted my apnea is nowhere near as bad as it was before I really started hitting the gym, but it is still an issue. I like to joke that I don't worry about bears when camping. My snoring convinces most bears that a much larger, angrier bear is already in my camp and they move along.

    I've been experimenting a bit as of late with ways to lessen my snoring while in my hammock with some surprising success. I'd love to share this with the forum and hear any ideas you've tried out.

    First of all I want to say that the BEST thing I've done for my Apnea is loosing weight. But until I'm lean enough that my Apnea goes away I'm still employing everything I can to get a good night's rest.

    What I've been doing is using a rolled up bath towel behind my neck when I sleep. I roll it up and keep it tight with some shock cord. I like the width of the towel because there is less chance of me sliding off of it at night. The rolled up towel forces my head back opening my airways. Tilting the head back is one of the steps to opening an airway for CPR btw. I've had nights were my friends say I've snored little or not at all. And when I have been snoring it was light and consistent... meaning though there was some obstruction, I never stopped breathing. I plan to sew together something like one of those travel neck pillows to see how that works.

    I'd take a picture of my towel pillow but my wife just informed me that she used it yesterday to clean up a spill....

    But in any case... I'd love to hear how others have addressed any issues with snoring or apnea.
    Last edited by nwmanitou; 08-10-2015 at 01:11. Reason: typos

  2. #2
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    Just getting started with sleeping in a hammock so I don't have much in the way of suggestions yet for that specific application-- but I am curious, about what diameter would you say your rolled up towel ends up being? Sounds like you sleep on your back? I'm intrigued. I do try to avoid sleeping on my back because that is when I snore the loudest and end up feeling the least rested, so in addition to learning to get comfortable in a hammock in general, I'm learning how to side sleep in them. (Actually took a nap the other day on my side and slept very soundly, so I think it'll be a matter of just dialing that in to where I know exactly how to get comfortable each time I get in the hammock.)

    I haven't been formally diagnosed with sleep apnea, but I'm know to snore pretty loud and occasionally stop breathing for brief periods. Definitely need to get back on the gym wagon. Thanks for the reminder and for the inspiration-- I could definitely stand to lose 25% of my body weight.

    Oh, I had one more thought that came to mind. Over the last few years, I've experienced less of that sleepiness I used to get during the day due to poor sleep. I did 2 things back in fall of 2012-- one for sure has helped, the other never even occurred to me to possibly have anything to do with it until just now.

    1) I had a pretty bad deviated septum. Which meant half the time I couldn't breath through my nose at all. I had that corrected with surgery and can breath so much better. My observation is that it's easier to force open that airway breathing through the nose than it is breathing through the mouth (don't know if there's any substance to this observation, but I have been sleeping better since the surgery when I don't have a cold or allergies.)

    2) I started seeing a NUCCA (upper cervical) chiropractor around the same time. My x-ray showed significant degeneration of the curvature of that upper part of my spine (the ligament running through the center of the spine there had apparently been broken at some point early in my life, and those discs were just sliding forward.) I hadn't considered it, but it's possible that correcting this part of the spine played a role in reducing apnea. Just a thought. If nothing else, optimizing the function of the nervous system should certainly help, be it through a physical therapy such as NUCCA or just proper nutrition.

    Other than that, sleeping with my head elevated seems to help-- hammocks seem like they would easily allow that. (Use a foam wedge when in a bed. Makes it easier to sleep for me, for sure.)

    Thanks for starting this thread. Looks like there are a couple other threads about apnea that I'll check out now… Hadn't even considered others had brought this up before.

  3. #3
    Senior Member nwmanitou's Avatar
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    Thanks Sloanie,

    BTW, looks like we may be neighbors.. My shop is in Sandy. The towel is about 5 or 6 inches in diameter. I am normally a side sleeper, but in my hammock I seem to always end up on my back. I've been told that I do have a deviated septum.. I think I'll look into that more fully.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by nwmanitou View Post
    BTW, looks like we may be neighbors.. My shop is in Sandy.
    No kidding! Had no idea you were based in Utah. From what I've gathered, that's a fairly popular stove you've created (I'm still getting in to all this ultralight / backpacking stuff.) I'm not far-- grew up in Sandy, live in the Murray area right now.

    Quote Originally Posted by nwmanitou View Post
    The towel is about 5 or 6 inches in diameter. I am normally a side sleeper, but in my hammock I seem to always end up on my back. I've been told that I do have a deviated septum.. I think I'll look into that more fully.
    Yeah, my limited experience suggests the same-- hammocks seem most conducive to back sleeping. I usually try to get some support via a pillow… may have to just see what happens with a roll as you've described. Thanks for the info!

    And yeah-- I was told I had a deviated septum in 2005-ish when I was having an ENT check my ears out. Kinda mentioned it in passing. Dragged my feet for a long time until I spoke with a co-worker about his experience, so I went to his ENT (in 2012, finally) and got it corrected-- significant difference for me. But you might have an idea how much it's affecting your ability to breath through your nose if you pay attention. Can't hurt to get it checked anyways!

  5. #5
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    Just for the uninformed, "www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/sleep-apnea/sleep-apnea
    WebMD
    Sep 2, 2014 - If left untreated, sleep apnea can result in a growing number of health problems, including: High blood pressure. Stroke. Heart failure, irregular heart beats, and heart attacks. Diabetes. Depression. Worsening of ADHD. Headaches".

    Research has shown a definite link between Sudden Cardiac Death and Sleep Apnea. I hope everyone who is having problems sleeping, find their way to a Sleep Clinic, it could save your life. I think I have had Sleep Apnea since I was 11 or 12 years old, I could never sleep well at night. I have centeral sleep apnea, my brain does not tell my body to breathe.

    Things like a morning headache, sleeping in inappropriate places all sorts of little clues, not everyone is a heavy snorer, not everyone who snores has apnea.

    I use a rolled up hand towel under my neck, it helps keep my spine aligned. I have had a few spinal injuries, I went from a big fluffy pillow down to a small tightly rolled towel under my neck.

  6. #6
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    Great post guys thanks for the ideas. I have the machine and was wondering how I could work on my snoring issue as i can not take the machine with me.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by NYHowie View Post
    Great post guys thanks for the ideas. I have the machine and was wondering how I could work on my snoring issue as i can not take the machine with me.
    Great post. Being a new hanger, I also wondered how I was going to help deal with it. In a tent I would just sleep on my stomach. It helped a little bit but couldn't do more than a 3 day trip without really feeling the affects.
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  8. #8
    Senior Member cjayflo's Avatar
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  9. #9
    Senior Member CoreyR's Avatar
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    I too have sleep apnea and I use a CPAP. I bring it with me. When I car camp at least. I use a deep cycle marine battery and a small folding table, in warm weather I sit the CPAP in the table, plug into an inverter and hook the inverter to the battery. A large deep cycle can run me for up to 6 nights. This set up is also my back up for power outages at home.
    In the winter, I hang the CPAP from the ridge line in my ENVY-S and run the power cord out to the inverter. If you do not do this you will be pumping frozen air into your enclosed hammock and directly into your lungs. A quick way to freeze to death.
    When I canoe/kayak camp or hike, I do without the CPAP and I use a combination of nasal strips, something under my neck and hanging my hammock with the head end higher than normal. It helps a lot. I noticed that I can doze off in my lazy boy, at home, or my office chair at work (shhhhh) no problem. Sitting up and sleeping works. I experimented and found that hanging my hammock with the head higher than normal works too. Yes, I do slide down during the night and yes, I do wake up and have to "re-adjust." Hey, it is better than no sleep at all!
    My experience, FWIW. I hope it helps someone.
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  10. #10
    Senior Member cataraftgirl's Avatar
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    I hate to be the grinch here, but losing weight it not a cure for obstructive sleep apnea. Losing weight, and sleep position can help decrease the severity of OSA, but it will not cure it. The most effective treatment for obstructive sleep apnea is CPAP. A small percentage of people with OSA can use a dental appliance to maintain their airway effectively. An even smaller percentage of folks are able to come off CPAP with weight loss. Losing weight is an awesome goal, but don't count on it for getting rid of your OSA. I use CPAP 100% of the time, whether I'm at home, traveling, river rafting, or kayak camping. I asked my sleep doctor about going without the CPAP for weekend raft & kayak trips, and she told me that I might feel fine, but the only way to know would be to try it. I figure that when I'm enjoying outdoor activities, getting quality sleep, having energy, and a clear head are super important, so I don't skip the CPAP. I have a 12V deep cycle AGM battery system that I can carry on my raft that will allow me to enjoy 8-10 day river rafting trips. I also have a lighter, more compact Li Ion battery system & solar panel that works great for 2-4 day kayak trips. After some experimentation, I've found that setting the machine on my camp chair beside the hammock works the best. On colder trips I'm in a tent. I have used the CPAP down to the upper-mid 30s without too much nose freeze. For me, the benefits of the CPAP are way too important not to use it in the outdoors. It does take some planning & some $$$ to make it happen.

    One word of advice that really helped me. If you are just starting out on CPAP and have a choice of machines, get a Phillips Respironics instead of a ResMed. The ResMed machines require an inverter to work off 12V. The inverter sucks extra power, so you won't get as much mileage out of your battery. The Respironics machines don't need an inverter. The biggest hurdle to putting together a light weight, compact system is the cost of a Li Ion battery with enough power to run a CPAP machine. I use a Qi Infinity battery that costs $220. About $100 less than the ones that are sold on the CPAP websites. It weighs 3 lb. and measures 8.5 X 3.5 X 2.5 inches. I can get 2 nights off this battery and a little more with a top off from a solar panel.
    "We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love.... and then we return home."
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