DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am an 81-year-old grandmother in excellent health. I weigh 103 pounds. I mentioned to my doctor that I feel a little tired after yardwork and dancing a lot. He sent me to a pulmonary man. After wiring me up, this doctor said I had sleep apnea. I followed his advice and got a mask and CPAP machine. I could not tolerate the mask. A smaller one, confined to the nose, hurt me so much I cried. I wish I had kept my mouth shut.

The test giver said I could die in my sleep. That sounds a bit drastic. – F.B.

ANSWER: With sleep apnea, people have recurrent episodes in which they stop breathing for 10 or more seconds during sleep. These breath-holding spells disrupt sleep and leave the person tired during the day. They also lower the blood’s oxygen content, which, in turn, can raise blood pressure and stress the heart. The typical sleep-apnea patient is overweight and a loud snorer. Snoring stops, of course, during the periods of no breathing.

The basic problem is one of redundant tissue in the back of the throat that obstructs air flow into the lungs. A continuous positive airway pressure – CPAP – machine delivers air under pressure to the patient, and the pressurized air make it through the throat. CPAP masks come in many shapes, sizes and materials. Perhaps trying a few others would make this an acceptable treatment. Tiny adapters called “pillows” fit into the nostrils and substitute for a face mask. Sleeping on your side can cut down on the number of apneic spells. You have to wedge pillows against your back so you stay on your side.

You don’t fit the profile of a sleep-apnea patient. Your complaints don’t suggest sleep apnea to me. In fact, you’re much more active than I am. Why not ask the family doctor to intervene here? You might not need all this equipment that has turned a good life into a not-so-good one.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I think I have a serious problem. I have been taking my temperature three times a day – once in the morning, again in the afternoon and before I go to bed. It’s never 98.6 (37 C) (normal). Often, it’s 99.4. I feel OK, but this fever must indicate something is wrong. Could it be a sign of cancer? What kind of doctor should I see? – R.W.

ANSWER: Put your thermometer away. You’ve made temperature-taking an unwholesome compulsion.

Back in 1868, Dr. Carl Wunderlich, a German physician, took the temperatures of many people and came up with the idea that 98.6 F (37 C) was normal body temperature. The whole world adopted this teaching, and it persists to this day. It happens not to be true.

Body temperature fluctuates throughout the day and night by as much as 0.4 to 2.8 F (0.4 to 1.2 C), and rarely does it remain at what Dr. Wunderlich called normal. It drops to a low point around 6 a.m. and peaks between the hours of 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Stop taking your temperature. You don’t need to see a specialist. You’re making Dr. Wunderlich regret he ever undertook his study and wrote a paper about it.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My husband is 47. He drinks six days out of seven. He drinks three glasses of wine or beer plus a couple of little liquor bottles, and he’s getting worse. The slightest comment starts him off, and he is loud and uses bad language until he falls asleep. He wakes the children, 4 and 5 years old, just to talk to them. I love him dearly but worry about what alcohol is doing to his body and mind. Please inform him of what alcohol does to him. – J.A.

ANSWER: Your husband fits the criteria established by the National Council on Alcoholism for defining an alcoholic. He cannot control his drinking. He indulges in behavior that upsets the family. He’s in denial about it. Other people have established the following criteria for alcoholism risk: 15 drinks a week (eight for women) or five or more drinks in any one day (four for a woman). A drink is 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of whiskey.

Excessive alcohol impairs thinking and memory. It weakens the heart and leads to abnormal heartbeats. It can inflame the pancreas. It’s a risk for esophageal cancer. It can so badly scar the liver – cirrhosis – that the organ cannot function.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My doctor has diagnosed my foot pain as fat pad atrophy. He did not have a lot of advice on what to do. Is there anything to do for it? – E.V.

ANSWER: The fat pad is exactly what it sounds like – a pad of fat beneath the heel bone. It serves as a cushion. You have to use a substitute for your normal fat pad. Well-padded running shoes cushion the heels. So do visco-elastic heel pads. “Visco-elastic” refers to material that dissipates force when body weight lands on it but which can spring back to its original shape. Brands of visco-elastic heel pads include Cambion, Bauerfeind and Gelwear. There are others.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Readers may also order health newsletters from www.rbmamall.com