Dr. Dylan Petkus reviews Trevor’s incredible journey where he was wrestling with his CPAP machine to now where he is sleeping easily and quietly without it.
00:00
Dylan Petkus, MD
Hey, everyone. This is Doctor Dylan Petkus here today. And today I want to share with you a very awesome journey of one of our most favorite clients. And for all of our clients who may watch this, you’re all my most favorite. Just like everyone does not have favorite kids, they’re all your favorite, right? So, in all seriousness, I want to, you know, talk about Trevor’s journey in dealing with sleep issues, sleep apnea, and where he was, and just kind of going through all the stages so that everyone out there can be, you know, understanding. Like, okay, you know, this is what it looks like to go through this process and be able to really know at the end of the day there’s a lot more hope than you may think and be able to overcome these issues and reclaim your life from sleep apnea.
00:51
Dylan Petkus, MD
So first, I want to thank you for being here. Trevor, thanks for joining us.
00:55
Trevor
Yeah, of course.
00:57
Dylan Petkus, MD
Awesome. So we’ll just start with the hardest questions possible. So tell us a bit about, like, when did you first start to notice, like, something’s off with my sleep here. What was that like for you?
01:10
Trevor
Yeah. So for me, it was I was noticing a gradual change in the way that I felt when I woke up. And that was mostly easily described as brain fog, fatigue. And that just naturally got worse and worse. And then I actually started noticing that I was waking up with a start in the middle of the night and trying to figure out what that was, looking for terms that describe that, and went to the doctor and got a sleep study done. Unfortunately, the doctor didn’t follow up with me as he should have. I spent over a year, I think, or maybe six months, just waiting to hear more about my results. And when I found out the results, it was that I had sleep apnea and mild sleep apnea.
02:19
Trevor
And so that was what explained why I was waking up in the middle of the night. That just generally got worse and worse over time until I was waking up with the feeling seconds before waking that I was going to die. And so it was just a moment of, I’m going to die, and then you’re awake, and it’s just the weirdest feeling. It’s almost. It happens so fast that you don’t even have time to get scared about it. You just wake up realizing that it was just waking up from sleep with a sleep apnea event. But it was still just still terrifying, still felt really hard on my body. I started feeling chest pain in the mornings and throughout the day, heart palpitations.
03:07
Trevor
And I also figured out that I had mold in my house, that was possibly the main contributor to the issues with my sleep, because it was in the bedroom. So, of course, you go down the road of going to the sleep doctor, getting set up with a CPAP. I live in Alaska. I spend a lot of time outdoors. I spend a lot of time camping. And the idea of being attached to a machine every night is probably, for me, more horrible than most, just because I love the freedom of going camping and just being able to just go anywhere and stay in a tent and be comfortable doing that. And then all of a sudden, now you’re basically having to connect up to an electric device that has to be plugged in or charged. So that was pretty devastating to my life. And.
04:06
Trevor
Yeah, and then other devastating. Part of being diagnosed with sleep apnea and getting on a CPAP is the understanding that no matter how much research you do online, that CPAP is the gold standard for dealing with sleep apnea. And there’s really no, there’s no hope for getting off it because it’s just part of the medical industry is just to keep you on the sleep apnea, the CPAP bandwagon forever. That’s where I came from before I met you, doctor.
04:45
Dylan Petkus, MD
Yeah. And that’s such a super common thing, except the Alaska part. That’s not a typical part of everything. Although I’m not sure if there’s. I haven’t looked at the geography of sleep apnea, but maybe I will after this. But, yeah. Being able to have that journey where, like I did for mine, I’m sure many people, you have the start to show up in your life, get the sleep study. And then, like, it kind of goes into that. You go into the algorithm, if you will. Here’s your CPAP, and enjoy. Oh, thanks. This is the best. Yep. Well, you can have, like, a nasal pillow if you want. Oh, great. It’s like, thanks. Even better. And one thing that I’m always curious about, because I know for me and my journey, I was a bit of a pusher. Just keep going. Keep coffee.
05:32
Dylan Petkus, MD
I had a certain point. I was like, all right, I need to really tackle this a lot more head on. What was that for you? Whether it was sometimes people read something on Google, sometimes they have a really bad day, or someone in their family even mentions that, like, what was that for you?
05:49
Trevor
I think it was just the realization that even with the CPAP, I wasn’t feeling good, and I was still just having poor sleep, because you either have poor sleep with sleep apnea, events, or you can have poor sleep because you have this air being forced down into your lungs, which is just not comfortable. And I. I was still, you know, it was better than no CPAP, but it was still not good. I still felt pretty bad. And knowing that there was really nothing that I was doing to improve it over time, it was probably just going to get worse. And I was. I felt like I was too young for this. I felt like there’s got to be something out there. So I kept looking and I looked everywhere I could.
06:36
Trevor
And until I found your program, there was nothing even close to being hopeful that I found.
06:46
Dylan Petkus, MD
What were some of the other things?
06:49
Trevor
I’m sure you’ve had patients tell you that they bought a didgeridoo and started playing the didgeridoo. It seems ridiculous, but I like the didgeridoo after all, as it turns out. But it wasn’t enough to help me, significantly. So I was doing things like that. I was, you know, I was doing a lot of healthy things in my life, like sauna and cold plunge, things that, I know that you are recommending in general to people as well, but it just wasn’t enough to really get my health back on track without your program.
07:25
Dylan Petkus, MD
Mm. Yeah. Yeah. And then speaking to that, like, when you first saw us, which was probably, you know, in very high credibility places like Instagram, probably. At least it wasn’t TikTok, right? What were kind of the first thoughts? Because it is a. It’s a bit of a stark contrast to go from, you got to wear this thing, and then I’m over here saying, you don’t. What were your initial thoughts when you first learned about us?
07:59
Trevor
I mean, I have to admit that I was extremely skeptical at first, and, I’m a skeptic by nature, and so when I saw your posts on Instagram, I started following you. And even after following you for a while, I’m like, I still don’t feel like I’m ready to get in touch because it just didn’t. I tried to find other information about your program, and I couldn’t really find anything that could verify people’s experience very well. So it just actually took me to the point where I was just like, I have no other options. Here’s a guy that keeps on coming on my feed saying he can help me. Maybe this is not real, but I’m desperate. I’m going to try. And that’s where I actually, I got your ebook and went through that, and it’s still kind of, like, not really sure still.
08:59
Trevor
And then finally, it just got to the point where, like, I have nothing to lose. I haven’t seen anything else even relevantly, even, even relevant to getting better. So I gave it a try.
09:13
Dylan Petkus, MD
Gotcha. And then. So, working through a lot of uncertainties there, as many people do, because, let’s be honest, it’s the Internet, and it’s 2024. We could be AI right now. Wrong. That’s actually a scary thought. That’s why you move your hand over here because then the eyes don’t mess up. That’s how you know now that people are now aware of that. So, skepticism. Yes, always. Good. And then in terms of when, like, we first spoke on the phone, I know you said, like, being driven to, like, yes, I gotta fix this. But what, like, what happened in that conversation where, like, that gave you more certainty of, like, okay, this can help.
10:02
Trevor
I think some of the questions that I asked you were helpful, including, like, your success rate with getting people off of CPAP from your program, which I found really hopeful when I found that out. And just your general positive outlook on, you know, whether you could help me or not. You know, I think. I think that was what made me pretty hopeful.
10:35
Dylan Petkus, MD
Gotcha. Awesome. Okay, so then you decide to join the team. Makes it sound like an action movie now, but I guess it is. Then, like, as you were in there and you’re like, okay. And then all these sessions and all these things and my personalized all this different stuff, what were some of the first initial signs you were like, okay, I made the right decision. Cause whenever you’re like, you, like, really anything, whether you get married, you go to a school, certain career path, or is that first sign you’re looking for, like, am I on the right path? Like, what? What was that for you?
11:12
Trevor
For me, it was pretty early on in the program, some of the changes that I made to my lifestyle to help me sleep. So I guess there are two issues that I’ve, that I was faced with. Number one was not feeling the sleep pressure to go to sleep and having very inconsistent sleep pattern. And then that, coupled with the sleep apnea, just made for a horrible sleep hygiene. So the first thing that I noticed was my sleep pattern started to become very consistent. And that was probably within the first week or two where the protocols that you laid out in the first couple of weeks had me wanting to fall asleep at 9:00 or 10:00 at night. And it’s just never been the case for me.
12:10
Trevor
I’ve always wanted to stay up till midnight, and then the next day I’ll be tired and go to bed at ten, and then the next day it’ll be 02:00 a.m. And just all over the map. So that was the first noticeable change to my health, is that my sleep hygiene was becoming much cleaner. The second thing that I noticed was within. I think it was actually within three weeks, maybe in the fourth week. I felt like my sleep was so solid that I was taking my CPAP off at night and feeling pretty good with it off. And then I asked you and Doctor Molly about whether I should continue doing that. You said I should, and I haven’t put my CPAP on since then, which I was blown away by how early that is.
13:05
Trevor
I don’t know how common it is, but for me, I was like, this is incredibly powerful, what we’re doing here, and it’s having a real effect on my life. And keep in mind, I’m skeptical, so I’m aware of the placebo effect and have a science background, and I tried many times, just, hey, I feel decent right now. I’m going to try taking my CPAP off before your program, and it never worked out for me, not even for a single night. So this was clearly something that was real and was a positive change in my health.
13:41
Dylan Petkus, MD
A lot of that was like you putting in the work. And so, as you know, we work together because there’s like, the different categories of things, like the breath work, you know, environmental changes, nutrition, circadian rhythm components as well. I feel like I’m missing something. Nervous system a little bit. So out of all those, especially in that, like, first initial stage, what do you feel is, like, the most helpful for you?
14:13
Trevor
The breathwork, but, I mean, it seems like it’s the entire package that’s probably working for me, but those would be the things that I would guess were the most powerful because my breath hold was not good and improved pretty drastically, really quickly. And that seems to make a difference.
14:34
Dylan Petkus, MD
Nice. Nice. And then. And then even going in the journey, because a lot of times I’ll say, like, it’s. We try to make it as simple as possible, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s easy. So while working together, what were some, like, maybe a challenge that you had, whether it was with the breath work or something else, and, like, how. How were you able to move through that more easily?
15:00
Trevor
So I think it’s important to point out that your program is not easy. It requires a lot of lifestyle changes. And the one thing I’ll say about the way you guys approach your program is that you’re really good at supporting people to make those changes. And you also understand how difficult it is for the average person to make these types of changes. So you really take care of both sort of the medical health aspect of it and also sort of the mental lifestyle aspect of it hand in hand, which I think is probably why I think your program was very successful for me, is because you married those two so well.
15:49
Trevor
And so the things that maybe I struggled with would be I did not plan to start your program at the most ideal point in my life where I had all this time to write in my journal, think about these lifestyle changes, do all the extra things that you need to do. It was actually in one of the busiest times of my life, moving to a new house. My work was exceptionally busy, a bunch of other things going on, personal life. And so that was not a very good strategy on my part, in the sense that I didn’t have the timing great, but because you guys did such a great job with your program, I did great with all that going on in the background. And I would also just say that, in hindsight, I would have started your program as early as I could.
16:49
Trevor
You know, it doesn’t matter what’s going on in my life because I, I was off the CPAP, and I was feeling so much better so early on that even though, yeah, it’s hard to wrap your arms around the program when you’re really busy, but you’re feeling better and you’re sleeping better, so it helps to do that. So I would definitely advise anyone thinking about starting the program to just do it as soon as you can because, you know, I did it during probably one of the busiest times of my entire life, and I have no regrets about that.
17:25
Dylan Petkus, MD
Yeah. And that’s such a good lesson to share because sometimes I’ll joke with people, they’re like, well, I have this and that coming up, like, oh, like, well, let me know when you’re on a tropical island and there’s nothing else going on, like, there’s always going to be something. And I think really as a testament to you, like, being able to do that during, like, the busiest time, then allows you pretty much, like, at all other times, like, you’ve built so much muscle in being able to chisel out the time and prioritize, you know, what you’re able to do for your health. So that whether it’s a business thing or anything, else, like, you’re able to still take care of yourself and not go through the cycles people go through.
18:08
Dylan Petkus, MD
Like, oh, well, March and May were busy, and then I was healthy and June, but then, you know, July 4 happened. Like, you know, you’re able to really carry that very well. So that’s awesome there. And then in terms of then, like, since getting off the CPAP and, like, building up from there in terms of, like, your sleep quality, your energy, what, like, what have been some of those, like, those moments you’ve noticed where people kind of have as a distinction points, you know, because we can talk about, like, oh, yeah, you know, your sleep tracker, blah, blah. But it can be as simple as whether, like, yeah, I get to 08:00 p.m. And I’m, like, still alert. So what were some of those for you as you went on?
18:51
Trevor
I can’t understate the joy of sleeping without a seatbelt. There is, there is something about being attached to that CPAP. And I think I actually, as a patient, was able to deal with the CPAP well, but physically speaking, but mentally, it felt like a handcuff attached to my face. And I. So, I mean, that’s just such a powerful experience to get off that thing that it almost overshadows everything else in terms of, like, what’s the real impact in your life? That is the main one. The other ones are just not dealing with brain fog anymore, not feeling chest pain and heart palpitations anymore, which is just a. A scary thing because you know that your heart is stressed and there’s not much you can do about it.
20:01
Trevor
And this was happening with the CPAP on, so to be able to wake up and feel rested. It’s pretty awful feeling to wake up and feel tired every day after day, and going to bed knowing that you’re probably going to feel the same way in the morning, maybe worse. That’s horrible. So those are the things that really are impactful and that all stems from just being off the CPAP and getting a good sleep cycle going.
20:31
Dylan Petkus, MD
Nice. Awesome. Awesome. Do you still have it in your closet? Did you return it? Where is it?
20:38
Trevor
I almost took your recommendation to reverse the motor and turn it into a vacuum, but I have it. I have it somewhere. I’m hoping that it’ll just collect dust to the point where I’m ready toss it out.
20:53
Dylan Petkus, MD
Gotcha. We should have another program called the you can convert into a dustbuster. I think that would be good. Might as well might as well at that point. Awesome. So, yeah, so thanks so much, Trevor, for sharing your story. Because when, like, saying, like, you can get off your CPAP, that just seems like the craziest thing because we’re told all the time, like, it’s the only way. It’s the gold standard, yada, yada. And then, like, being able to have someone, well, I guess there are two people, me and you, on this screen here. So two out of 2100% of this audience has gotten off their seatbelt. It’s possible. Okay. And it’s not the easiest thing in the world because it’s not just as simple as doing a little bit of breathing or eating more broccoli.
21:49
Dylan Petkus, MD
I wish it was that I would have a broccoli farm. That’s how that would go. But the fact of the matter is, it does take work, it does take dedication. But something that I’ve always appreciated about you, Trevor, is beautiful. Being able to, like, look this problem in the face and have a very real open conversation, like we just did about this, and, like, do it a way where, like, it’s like, okay, here’s the problem, and let’s do something about it. Okay.
22:16
Dylan Petkus, MD
It may be something where you’ve gone through, because I’m sure, as in your journey, you went through, like, CPAP, and you probably looked up a study over here, then you probably looked at that study over there, and then, like, you kept going, and then, like, to get here where, you know, I’m sorry, I don’t have a big organization like Resmed or Philips to back my research studies. Those are CPAP manufacturers, everyone. But being able to have the experience of that, is so important. And so I really want to thank you for sharing that glimpse of what is possible to give people hope because the research is very clear that out of 100 people who started CPAP, 70 of those hundred people will hate it. Okay, we’re the silent majority. Okay? You’re the guilty majority.
23:02
Dylan Petkus, MD
If you go to your doctor and you tell them that, and they make you feel like the worst person ever, how dare you not use your CPAP? But there’s a reason it doesn’t work for everyone. And being able to have more options is so important for your best sleep, your best health, and your best life. So I want to thank you, Trevor, for sharing your story and your journey, and, you know, wish you the best of continuing not to know exactly where your CPAP is.
23:30
Well, yeah, I want to sincerely thank you for the impact you’ve had on my life because I see my life going two ways, with the CPAP and without. And I’m really glad I got to take the without fork because I don’t think I would have had the quality of life that I would have hoped for if I was on the CPAP for the rest of my life. And I really have sincere thanks for you and Doctor Molly for what you’ve done for me.
23:59
Dylan Petkus, MD
Thank you. Thank you. Really appreciate that. Awesome. All right, everyone, thanks for watching, and we will see you somewhere sometime soon. All right, bye.