SLEEP APNEA AND STROKE WITH FELLOW GEN X STROKE SURVIVOR KRISTEN DINGMAN

'Your life shrinks to this small circle. My goal was to walk to the end of the driveway and back…that was my big stretch goal.' -- Kristen Dingman #stroke #goals #sleepapnea

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Sleep apnea is something I talk about in many of my stroke talks. I have it pretty bad. Before my CPAP I was waking up 57 times an hour. Kristen, though, was waking up more than 100 times an hour. Her story is another one that stuck with me since I had her on the show in 2018.

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I met Kristen Dingman now lives northeast of Seattle in the small town of Arlington, WA. I  met Kristen back in the mid-90s when we opened CompUSA store 667 in Boise, ID. She had the unenviable task of keeping the front-end employees in line. Eventually our careers moved on, we lost touch, we reconnected on Facebook as you eventually do with all sorts of former colleagues.

'The brain is a slow healing thing and you have to have patience' -- Kristen Dingman #stroke #sleepapnea

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Then last summer, I had my stroke. And Kristen reached out to me to offer her support because she had had her own stroke the year before. And while our strokes are different, as all strokes are, there is a lot in common in our stories.

'I'm happier than I've ever been…I think the stroke was a good thing now if that makes sense (it's kind of morbid) but it got me to where I should have been years ago.' -- Kristen Dingman #stroke #sleepapnea

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Kristen’s story is one of sleep apnea, high blood pressure, smoking cessation, anxiety, PTSD, a supportive husband (David), and a family that knows when to insist on medical assistance.

If you don’t see the audio player below, visit http://Strokecast.com/MSN/Kristen to listen to our conversation.

'The weeks that I was stubborn and wasn't gonna do what they told me to do are the weeks I didn't do so well on my recovery. It dawned on me half way through.' -- Kristen Dingman #stroke #sleepapnea

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One thing that we touch on here which does not get talked about enough is that the FAST signs of stroke (face, arms, speech, and time to call 911) indicate that someone is having a stroke, but the lack of these signs does not mean someone isn’t having a stroke. Kristen’s stroke did not have these classic signs. It was characterized by intense headache, disorientation, inability to concentrate, vision field cuts, and a spiking blood pressure.

Sleep Apnea

When I was young, my mom said, 'I quit putting you down for naps cause if I forgot to wake you up, you'd sleep through to the next day.' And I was 3 years old. -- Kristen Dingman #stroke #sleepapnea

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Sleep Apnea is a condition where folks stop breathing throughout the night. After my stroke, I was sent for a sleep study where they attached all sorts of electrodes to my head and watched while I slept over night.

Sleep apnea is diagnosed if you stop breathing 5 times an hour. It’s severe at 30 times an hour. My score? 59 times an hour. That means every minute of the night I stopped breathing and my brain woke up a bit to start breathing again. I’ve likely been sleep deprived for decades. Kristen’s score was even more severe.

Today, I sleep with a CPAP machine. Basically, a silicon hose wraps around my face under my nose and attaches to a hose on my head. It blows air directly into my nose to keep my airway open while I sleep. I get much more restful sleep now and don’t wake up nearly as groggy as I used to. And I don’t snore anymore. That means my girlfriend sleeps better, too.

Untreated sleep apnea leads to stroke, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and general exhaustion. And many of those conditions also lead to stroke. It’s a big deal and getting it dealt with can change multiple people’s lives.

'The stories you hear is it's gonna rock your world and I'll tell you it's like a light switch one day and all of a sudden, I'm like, 'Oh, my goodness!' ' -- Kristen Dingman #stroke #sleepapnea

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Hack of the Week

Here are 5 tips to adapting to your first CPAP/BiPAP machine:

  1. If you take the mask off while sleeping, put it back on as soon as you realize it’s off.
  2. Use it while you’re awake to help your body get used to it.
  3. Put socks on your hands to make it harder to take off while you sleep.
  4. Put medical tape on the mask to adhere it to your face so you can’t take it off in your sleep.
  5. If it’s not working, talk to your doctor about a different style of mask. The can right a prescription for a refit and insurance will usually pay for it.

'They traced my apnea back to childhood. -- Kristen Dingman #stroke #sleepapnea

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Where do we go from here?

'Doctors really are not that bad. A blood draw is not the end of the world.' -- Kristen Dingman #stroke #sleepapnea

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Strokecast is the stroke podcast where a Gen X stroke survivor explores rehab, recovery, the frontiers of neuroscience and one-handed banana peeling by helping stroke survivors, caregivers, medical providers and stroke industry affiliates connect and share their stories.

Bill Monroe is not a doctor or medical professional of any sort. He’s just a marketing guy who now knows way more about neurology and neuroplasticity than any marketing guy should know.

Bill and Bill’s guests provide general information, personal stories, education starting points and entertainment. They do not provide medical advice. Do not make any changes to your treatment plan or the execution of your treatment plan without discussing it with your doctor or personal medical team.

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The post Sleep Apnea and Stroke with fellow Gen X Stroke Survivor Kristen Dingman appeared first on Strokecast.

2022-08-08T06:49:53Z dg43tfdfdgfd