Hi Sally, As above says, a home study is fine just to find out if you have Sleep Apnea, but to get accurate results and fine out a lot more you really need to go for a Sleep Study at a Sleep Center and get a Titration study done. Make sure you get a copy of your results as well. It might help if you loose weight, but not always, there can be other factors effect it as well. I would put your health first and get this done and if a cpap machine is required, go for it. Get an APAP (automatic) machine. It is easier to get on with and if set up correctly will help you in your treatment. Trouble is at the moment, you might not feel like doing much as you may be quite fatigued at the moment, the cpap will help get your energy levels back. This will help you get up and go to help you loose weight. More energy and feeling better, the world will look a better place.
Hello Frustrated, sorry, I couldn't remember you user name!
I think o2 levels should be checked and if anyone has concerns there are o2 monitoring machines that can work with some ResMed machines and some others, but a good stand alone machine that can record your levels through the night will be of good use. If your pap machine shows you are having centrals, it might be a good clue that your o2 levels might be low while this is going on. It is best you see a doctor that is dealing in Sleep Medicine and not ENT. A lot of people get sent there at the start, but if they see no problems they should send you to a Sleep Doctor, Pulmonologists, Neurologists, I don't know what the set up in the USA in, but here there are doctors that do nothing else but sleep medicine and have their own Sleep Clinics. The smaller hospitals tend to have them attached to Chest Clinics as do some larger hospitals. Well done on spotting your o2 levels are low. I have not checked mine in ages, maybe I should. If your low o2 levels are due to Central Apnea;s you might need a more specialised machine. The ResMed Airsense 10 Autoset I think is one of the best machines around at the moment. You can get o2 fed into your mask, however, if it is centrals you are having and a lot of them, then you might need a more specialised machine to try to stop the centrals form happening, or at least stop them from lasting for so long. It is nice to see someone taking an interest in their own treatment. Did you have foggy heads in the morning or did you just keep an eye on your o2 levels?
I don't know why the doctor thinks Prozac will help you, I thought it might have made things worse! If you are slightly overweight, loosing the excess might clear it all together, in a lot of cases it will, but not all. I did not see your sleep study, so it will depend on what type of Apnea's you are having. Obstructive or Central? Did you get a report from your sleep study?
2 is very good, you just have to learn to keep your mask on all night. If you ever find you have taken it off, just put it straight back on again. Eventually you will get used to having it on. As for gulping air, I don't have an answer for that. Yet.
Hi Catherine, Prior to being diagnosed I used to dose off while waiting for something to happen or while waiting for something. It never happened while I was busy thinking about something or while driving, but if the TV was on and I was not interested in when was on, I would be asleep in no time. I don't think I could sit through a meeting before I was on CPAP, but after I got the machine I was determined it was going to cure my fatigue and cure it did, though I had a bad time with masks at the start. It was early days for CPAP and the choice of masks was not very good. After I found a mask that worked for me I never looked back again, I have never had fatigue since I started using cpcp.
HI = Hypopnea Index
AI = Apnea Index
AHI = Both combined.
It might be that you are one of these people that is going to benefit from a more specialist machine than a straight forward cpcp or apap. Sleep clinics will always try (or should I say insurance companies) will always try the cheaper option first. If this does not work, they will then try the more expensive machines. This is what I have been told anyway, as I live in a country with an easier health system I have nothing to back this up with. However, this appears to be the general opinion of how it works.
ResMed changed the way they work it all out last year, so this will affect it a bit.
They can though there is a soft nasal pillows the Swift FX, they have a softer feel to them. It may be an old type of nasal pillows they are using or just a generic shape to their face.
It would depend what she meant by "respiratory disturbance"? It could be a cough, sneeze or centrals or a few other things. She is the one with the data of your sleep in front of her. Assuming the machine had a data card in it.
