1. Shaquille O’Neal. At over seven feet tall and 325 pounds, Shaq was unrivaled on the basketball court using his shear brute force, but during his sleeping hours things are a little different. In a video produced by Harvard Medical School’s Division of Sleep Medicine, Shaq’s girlfriend describes being woken up multiple times in the middle of the night because of his loud and incessant snoring. And then it gets even more scary and intense when his chest becomes still and he stops breathing for multiple seconds. After a one-night polysomnographic sleep test, doctors diagnose Shaq with a moderate form of sleep apnea. Doctors then have Shaq fitted for a nasal CPAP mask to wear when he sleeps. After starting CPAP treatment, Shaq reports getting a little more than 7 hours of continuous sleep per night, which is a revelation, and his basketball game and love life (Shaq adds with a wink) is better too.
2. Amy Poehler. This famed Saturday Night Live player and Parks and Recreations star has racked up 15 Emmy nominations. 15! Just recently Poehler released her memoirs – entitled Yes Please – and in it she admits to suffering from sleep apnea. Indeed, she describes her sleep problems in this way: “I liken it to what it must feel like to walk on the moon and cry the whole time because you had heard that the moon was supposed to be great but in truth it totally sucks.” In fact, her whole family experiences loud snoring that can, at times, sound like choking – sound familiar? Literally sick of not having answers, Poehler visited a sleep doctor in Beverly Hills. What she found out was shocking: she wakes up about 20 to 30 times per night and only enters REM sleep for a few minutes at a time, which would explain the extreme daytime sleepiness. After her diagnosis, Poehler stuck to CPAP treatment “religiously,” but then hid it in the closet, which is a huge mistake. For the sake of her ability to make us all laugh, we hope she does stay compliant – and we hope that anyone that suffers from sleep apnea stays compliant to CPAP treatment. There’s no doubt about it: CPAP will save your life.
3. Aaron Taylor – Two-time All-American Aaron Taylor spent most of his professional football career as an offensive guard – shielding the quarterback and the linebackers on the defensive line. These days, Aaron Taylor is a family man, college football analyst, and sports reporter. However, Taylor was always feeling tired and groggy during the day – it was starting to affect his job, his love life and his relationships. In fact, he was waking up with bruises on his sides from his wife elbowing him all night. Plus, his memory was off and when he tried to recall names, football plays and other information – his mind would go blank. This motivated Taylor to get a sleep test. The fact that his friend – the late great football legend Reggie White – died with an unused CPAP machine by his bed also inspired him to get help. A sleep study would eventually reveal that he stops breathing for a collective 45 minutes per night – that would be multiple times per hour. Today, Aaron Taylor is fighting his sleep apnea with a nasal pillow mask and he is getting his life back, which is great for him and his family. He is even a spokesman for the use of CPAP and urges anybody that may have any obstructive sleep apnea symptoms to get tested right away.
4. Regis Philbin. Emmy award winning television personality Regis Philbin has been making people laugh for decades, but what has not been funny is his ceaseless, disruptive snoring. In fact, it is the snoring that has been a constant source of contention between Regis and his wife for multiple years. A lot of married couples report snoring as a major source of contention – they just don’t fight about it on a morning talk show for millions of people to see. And she wasn’t the only one that was worried – he was worried too. Regis reported waking up intermittently throughout the night, which was affecting his life in myriad ways. After visiting a sleep lab in New York, Regis realized that he wasn’t really waking up – he was having severe apneatic moments that were making him feel like he was waking up. What was actually happening is that he was being torn from REM sleep, which is the deepest and most important sleeping stage. With an official diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea, Regis’ doctors offered a nasal CPAP mask. If Regis sticks to CPAP treatment, his snoring will subside and so will his obstructive sleep apnea symptoms – so he can get back to doing what he does best: entertain people.
5. Roseanne Barr. She has a voice that you would recognize anywhere, she starred in one of the most popular sitcoms in television history, and she has obstructive sleep apnea. In an episode of Roseanne’s Nuts – a reality show on the Lifetime network that features her life on the macadamia farm she owns in Hawaii – Roseanne’s boyfriend is not getting enough sleep on account of her loud snoring. Her boyfriend, along with her son Jake, urges her to get help. After visiting a sleep laboratory, Roseanne is diagnosed with sleep apnea and starts undergoing CPAP treatment. There is a good chance that Roseanne Barr is still crazy as ever, but she is probably sleeping a lot more deeply and not keeping her husband up with her loud snoring – all thanks to CPAP treatment.
*While it is believed that each of the individuals listed above has sleep apnea this is a informational piece of content. No person or persons listed above has endorsed Easy Breathe, Inc. or the products we sell and we have no intention of implying that. We hope you enjoy.
