Top Topics
Recent Topics
It is very easy to get panicked when reading one's own imaging reports. Agree with the earlier poster that this information is best understood through a discussion with your physician. The body has many anatomic mysteries, not all of which require treatment. I too panicked over a report that ended up to be nothing more than an anatomic presentation that is slightly different than what is normally seen--but nothing to require treatment or even to worry about. Good luck and do have a conversation so you have all the information and either be put to ease or have a plan if necessary.
Thank you wiredgeorge and BrainsNeedSleep. I did see this mystical explanation from ResMed and I will be contacting them directly. I did actually email the cpap technician at my physicians office with the past two weeks' worth of leaks, which are concerning, and she returned my call to tell me not to worry about it since my pressure is only 10. I am going to get to the bottom of it and appreciate both of your responses. I work in an peripheral role in medicine and I am quite disgusted by how sleep apnea patients are often left to their own devices to try to figure so many things out. This is most certainly not how other chronic conditions are managed. Not only are the treatments difficult to assimilate to, understanding whether or not they are working and what needs to be adjusted should not fall on the shoulders of the patient. I am not sure I would understand how to read the sleepyhead data yet I am wondering if I need to move to this next step since it appears questionable the reliability of the my air data. This is a condition that one is informed of by the data as well as how you feel. Thanks all for listening.
My sleep medicine physician, who is also a surgeon, has told me exactly what sleep tech has shared here (above) about surgical approaches to sleep apnea.
I am still concerned about these ResMed readings because my machine shows a green light on mask fit and then when I check my numbers online the next day, my mask leak is enormous--as high as 40 m/L, which is way above the guidance of keeping leaks to less than 24 m/L. This doesn't jive; I called my provider and the technician told me not to worry about it because my pressure is only 10. This makes no sense to me.
Here's an earlier link to this topic with some evidence-based links. This looks like an area where much more research is needed:
https://myapnea.org/forum/does-treatment-of-sleep-apnea-influence-body-weight
I am also concerned about this; these numbers seem way out of wack since this software change.
Hi Diplomatic--
Your doctor is correct and I have walked your path. It can, indeed, take 12 to 18 months for people to be able to fall asleep with the machine. People's individual responses do vary considerably. I encourage you to continue to try to work with it and try to increase your time a bit each week. This can be very challenging for some of us but it is worth the journey to improve your health. Also, try to have it on right before you go to sleep to acclimate yourself to the way that it feels. Good luck to you.
Hello HonestRaspberryWildcat--First, welcome to this board. I also had extreme fatigue the first year on cpap. Here is what I have been told and what I can share. People's response time to the machine can vary widely. I had extreme fatigue also and had a complete second opinion on my apnea, despite great faith in the first MD. Both told me that some people respond immediately to treatment, some take a few months, and some may take even longer. I am clearly in the latter camp. Be sure to go back to your prescribing physician and talk with them about excessive daytime sleepiness. Also, I do suggest you get a physical and get some bloodwork done so other causes of fatigue can be explored and ruled out. I don't know where you live but there may be a sleep apnea support group that you could explore. Try to take some small steps each day about getting out of bed and out of the house, even baby steps, and this will help. Best of luck to you.
Sledhead--I, too, have struggled with this issue. Here's what I have been told by two physicians about this. There are three categories of patients on cpap--those who feel fantastic the very first day with the machine, some who feel better within a few weeks or months, and then others who may take even longer to overcome the residual affects of previously untreated sleep apnea. My thought is twofold: one--keep doing what you are doing and give it some time, and two--check with your general physician to see if some bloodwork can be done to rule out other sources of fatigue. Good luck to you!
The results from the full lab are likely to be more accurate and comprehensive than what you would receive from a home study. If I were you, I would ask the doctor about getting a new sleep study in the lab so that you have recent data. If your doctor wants you to use the cpap there is a reason. You will gain health by getting back on it and you likely need new data for the doctor to determine the proper settings. Good luck!
