Oh, crap. Sleep apnea contributed to Carrie Fisher's death.

[RandySF]

Carrie Fisher’s death was caused by sleep apnea and other undetermined factors, the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office revealed on Friday, according to multiple reports.

The coroner also said Fisher suffered from atherosclerotic heart disease and “drug use,” but no specifics were given. According to the Associated Press, the report stated Fisher had taken multiple drugs prior to her death.

“The manner of death has been ruled undetermined,” the report concluded.

In an exclusive statement to People, Fisher’s only child, Billie Lourd, addressed the report.

“My mom battled drug addiction and mental illness her entire life. She ultimately died of it. She was purposefully open in all of her work about the social stigmas surrounding these diseases.

“She talked about the shame that torments people and their families confronted by these diseases. I know my Mom, she’d want her death to encourage people to be open about their struggles. Seek help, fight for government funding for mental health programs. Shame and those social stigmas are the enemies of progress to solutions and ultimately a cure. Love you Momby.”


https://www.yahoo.com/celebrity/carrie-fisher-died-sleep-apnea-used-drugs-report-reveals-daughter-billie-releases-emotional-statement-021433515.html

[Aristus]

1. ...

[Ms. Toad]

2. Why crap?

And - the article doesn't explain the link, so I'm curious about what it is.

My daughter has very mild sleep apnea - she got a CPAP only because she was borderline, they permitted her to retest and she talked herself into sleeping on her back the second time. We wanted to test the CPAP machine because she has an underlying disease that makes her extremely fatigued. But after she started using it she developed an unrealistic fear about not using her CPAP (to the extent she won't sleep in the car on a long drive without her CPAP).

[exboyfil]

16. I think you train your body with your CPAP

It is the downside. When my nose is congested I can't use it, but I am trained to close my mouth while sleeping with it. I just took it off last night again, and I woke up short of breath with an accelerated heart rate and headache.

On the flip side I am not nodding off at work anymore. I feel more rested. My blood pressure is lower. It really is a life saver.

[d_r]

26. Did she go to sleep

On the airplane without her c pap? Was she night able to use it on the flight?

[d_r]

27. Just opinion

I wonder if she took the message "you stop breathing when you are asleep" a little too much to heart. I wonder if you could frame it to her that when she stops breathing at night her body will wake her up, so the crap is there Toledo her from having to wake up, not to keep her alive

[Ms. Toad]

42. She may be focusing on the ailment she can do something about about

Rather than the one she can't.

Intellectually she knows that her sleep apnea barely crosses the threshold for treatment - and​ that the reason we had her tested at all was that others with her disease (which causes extreme fatigue), felt so much better using a CPAP, and I'd noticed during the extended wake-up routine that she would stop breathing.momentarily. We figured it couldn't hurt to try.

There's no cure for her liver disease, and no approved medical treatment. When it gets bad enough, she'll need a transplant- and between now and then she has to live with fatigue, itching that makes her feel like she's allergic to her blood, and a boatload of screening tests for the half dozen cancers her underlying disease puts her at risk for.

So I suspect that it may be a coping mechanism to focus on the thing that can be treated.

[roamer65]

3. When my cardiologist read my records and saw I had it, he started the riot act.

But I use my "dream machine" every night, so he was happy. Sleep apnea really does damage the heart significantly due to oxygen deprivation.

[RandySF]

4. I have one and absolutely hate it.

[roamer65]

6. People either love them or hate them.

It cured my laryngo-pharyngeal reflux (LPR) as well. There is a strong correlation between nighttime GERD and sleep apnea, as affirmed by my GI doc.

[Hekate]

7. When I first started using a CPAP 12+ years ago I was very determined to adjust...

My sleep test showed I was spending more time not breathing at night than breathing. That was pretty alarming. Still, in the beginning there were nights I would rip the mask off in my sleep because the humidity setting was too high and water condensed around my nostrils. That got adjusted.

I lost a bunch of weight after ditching one of my longtime meds, and ended up with only "moderate" apnea. I'm on my 3rd machine, and they seem to improve each time.

Still, I agree it would be more comfortable without it altogether.

[bresue]

21. Yes...or some simple surgery to rid the problem

I hate mine...but know I would not get anything done the next day because of being too tired.

[Hekate]

25. The surgery can fix the snoring, but I'm pretty sure there's more to my sleep disorder than that

Age and weight gain are both implicated in snoring (the upper airways get crowded and lax and fall in on themselves, but allergies can cause swelling, too) but my sleep disorder started when I was young (early 30s) and skinny, maybe earlier, when I was younger and even skinnier. I'd have to ask my husband when the snoring started, but that is what made him aware that I would stop breathing for long periods.

I have lousy sleep. I stopped wearing my FitBit to bed because the clock would attest to 7+ hours of sleep but the FitBit records every movement and subtracts it from the total: congratulations, you got 3.5 hours of sleep, enjoy your day. I'd rather not know, thank you, so I log the hours manually.

[mchill]

29. oh, tell me more

I had very mild apnea dx'd over 10 years ago. I recently stopped using my cpap on a trial basis. A few weeks go I got a fitbit and I'm definitely in the sleep deprived area, but doesn't seem like from apnea, but waking up too early and falling asleep to late. Average sleep time 5-7 hours, nothing over 7:44 and sometimes 2-3 hours (I think cats and overheating wake me up, a lot). The benchmarks show proper distribution between 4 states. Would this mean my apnea is not playing a part? I never wake up gasping for air.

[Hekate]

33. I really have no idea. I just know I am chronically not well-rested and the FB reminding me...

...doesn't help. Some of it is not paying attention to bedtime (am a lifelong night owl), toss in some insomnia, a bit of this and that. I think there's a neurological component for some of us. I'm sure there's a reason all the sleep specialists I've met have been neurologists.

The doc who did my first sleep study talked about how hard it is to reset your habits when the normal feedback loop has been destroyed. Normal is: If I go to bed at a regular time I feel fit and refreshed when I wake up, so it's easy to remember to do. Sleep disorder is: No matter what time I get to bed I feel like crap when I wake up, so what's the point of going to bed early when there's no relationship between one and the other?

I do sleep better with the CPAP. It's not a cure; periodically I still get insomnia, and periodically some allergy will swell things up and cause me to dream I can't breathe. But at least I feel reassured that I'm getting enough oxygen to my brain the majority of the time.

[bresue]

36. From what I researched on the surgery the prognosis is poor

And very painful usually having to be repeated in the future.....

[Hekate]

38. Thanks. I have a real aversion to the idea of that surgery.

[QED]

9. I couldn't get through the night at the testing center.

I tried 3 different masks and went into a panic attack each time. They concluded that I needed it but I just couldn't do it. So I need to love 40 pounds. Ugh.

[whathehell]

14. Just curious..

Did you try the nasal pillows? I couldn't tolerate the mask, but I can sleep with the pillows.

[spinbaby]

15. That was my experience, too

I didn't think I could adjust to breathing through my nose but adjusted to the pillows quickly when I couldn't tolerate a mask.

[QED]

17. No one told me about pillows!

do you have a link to more info?

[bresue]

37. I use the pillows...mask increased my annxiety and I could not get to sleep

[bresue]

22. I had to resort to a prescription sleep pill

to override my panic with the mask.

[onecent]

41. So Do I, and I haven't used it since I was being watched by Medicare.

I'm 72, I've live this long without it....It's crappy on your face....can't watch TV while going to sleep, the glasses dont fit
over the mask...

I HATE IT...and will never use it, ever.

Nice to see someone else doesn't like it....

[csziggy]

20. My cardiologist is the one who is getting me tested

Although I had complained about shortness of breath, lack of sleep, and chronic tiredness, my family practice doctor never had my heart checked or recommended testing for sleep apnea. Finally the physician assistant in the office heard a heart murmur and sent me to a cardiologist.

First thing the cardiologist set up was the preliminary test to see if I might have apnea - indications are yes and I am waiting on the pulmonologist's office to call to set up the night sleep study. I was told it takes at least three months to get an appointment for the sleep study.

After three months, I have finally gotten the MRI scheduled to find out what is wrong with my heart in two weeks. I probably have a congenital defect in a heart valve that after 65 years is finally developed enough inefficiency to be a problem. Mom's valve defect took 88 years to cause problems so I'm ahead of schedule.

[Chemisse]

28. I call mine my sleep machine.

I just couldn't bring something into my bedroom that would make it seem like I was in a hospital room.

But I like dream machine even better!

[Doreen]

5. My ex husband needs a CPAP on the days he does not have cannabis.

He has a CPAP that is good for side sleepers but he would rather have cannabis.

[JenniferJuniper]

8. I haven't seen the report

but I'm curious as to how they concluded sleep apnea played such a direct role in an undetermined death that involved heart disease and "multiple drugs".

[ozone82]

18. Opiates And Apnea Can Be A Fatal Mix

I have severe apnea, and chronic back pain, and am only allowed nothing stronger than Norco 5/325MG. Anything stronger, and I run the risk of suffocating in my sleep, CPAP or no CPAP.

]https://www.statnews.com/2016/06/14/opioids-overdose-heart-death/


And this may prevent me from having heart valve surgery, the pains meds that I would have to take when I come home (Morphine Sulfate 40mg) may kill me, go to sleep, suffocate.

[roamer65]

19. Toradol.

Very powerful pain killer that is not an opioid. It's in the NSAID class. Ask you doctor about it.

We tried it after my colon resection surgery, but my kidneys didn't like it. You may be different. It worked really REALLY well when I had it, but I had to go to opiates due to the kidneys.

It's the drug the NFL'ers abuse to keep playing, sad to say. It's that powerful.

[ozone82]

23. Thanks! Will Ask My Doctor Monday! n/t

[SleeplessinSoCal]

10. Flying nonstop London to LAX is over 11 hours.

I would take drugs if they were available.

[No Vested Interest]

11. I love my CPAP, and haven't been without it one night since testing 13+ years ago.

I was in denial that I had sleep apnea, but my physician at the time insisted I have the testing.
I used to startle awake, apparently from lack of oxygen.
Now I sleep soundly, awakening only for a bathroom run, but usually back to sleep quickly.

There are many newer style appliances for those who have trouble with the mask; there are also inserts for the mouth, though I believe that would be much more annoying for me.

Though excess weight is often an indicator of the need for a CPAP, I have two slight, slender female friends who have the need as well. It may be that age plays a part in the need for this breathing assistance.

[Chemisse]

30. I've had mine for about 12 years and I love it.

I won't even take a nap without it.

[forgotmylogin]

34. Excess weight is one factor,

but I think it all has to do with how "relaxed" your muscles go during sleep to collapse and close off the airway, especially if you breathe through your mouth. Muscle relaxants and painkillers can intensify muscle relaxation and exacerbate the problem.

If Fisher was known to have sleep apnea, and a bad heart due to all the damage done to it over the years, and perhaps took a pill to sleep on the flight, it all could have contributed to her breath stopping and causing her to die.

[No Vested Interest]

40. I agree. nt

[RainCaster]

12. It took me 6 months to adjust to my CPAP

But it was worth it.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

13. Oh, good.

I don't know a lot about those machines, and so I'm very glad to read your comment.

[Hekate]

35. Same here. Months. One of the things I did at the beginning that helped accustom me to the feel...

...and sound was to set it up by my computer at home, put the face mask on, and start it up. Then I would proceed with whatever keyboarding task I had for awhile.

[Nac Mac Feegle]

39. It took about 3-4 days for me.

When I did the sleep test, I didn't want to leave. It was the best nights sleep I'd had in years. I had to eat sunflower seeds to keep from falling asleep while driving, my wife was hitting and kicking me because of the snoring, and I was always tired.

That machine was retired after 10 years, and still is my emergency unit in my work truck, in case I get stranded somewhere.

The trick I discovered with the mask was to see how loose I could make the straps and still have good deal, while lying down.

[MoonRiver]

24. I think it's pretty obvious she overdosed.

Sleep apnea would, of course, make things worse. R.I.P.

[Chemisse]

31. You're probably right.

The sleep apnea adds a positive spin.

[LOL Lib]

32. Yet Donnie 2 Scoops celebrated another birthday...

You just know 2Scoops has obstructive sleep apnea.