singingkeys

I guess the other thing that I've been pondering is...how do people get "used to" the fact that they are relying on a machine to get proper sleep every night? I'm not married, but plan to be at some point. I'm sure that's a big factor for many people. Probably takes a while to get used to having something crammed into the nose (nasal pillows) or pressed tightly against the face (mask), I would imagine. Then you have to keep up with how old the machine is, if the power will stay on during storms (though I understand that some have a backup battery), etc. How do people keep alert enough to drive during the time when they're getting used to the CPAP, for instance? My AHI is considered "mild"...but I'm definitely not alert enough to drive. I work on large machinery at a manufacturing plant and I find myself having trouble staying focused in general to watch the machines that I'm supposed to be watching. I just get distracted by the wrong things and it is because my sleep is so horrible. From what I've read, it takes a while to get used to this.

What's cm as a rating? Centimeters? Cubic meters?

Is that cleaning once a week and just a wipe down or do you soak the hose/mask and fill the tank to sit for a little while before wiping it down?

The odds of getting the clinic to help me with settings are probably going to be low given that they don't want to help unless I buy one from them for like $1,800. I see the Air Sense 10 online for as low as $600, but of course I would still need to get the mask and such.

I'm looking at getting the ResMed Air Sense 10 in the near future. It looks like my doctor is willing to write the prescription based on my 18.1 RDI and 4.7 AHI. Pretty sure that it is Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome that has been causing me fatigue and poor sleep all the way back to early teenage years. Sleep efficiency was listed at about 40%. for the first sleep study that only resulted in under 3 hours of sleep. I feel like a truck ran over me in the morning, basically. Don't want to get out of bed, exhausted whether I sleep 6 hours, 8 hours, 10 hours or 12 hours. I feel a little better with more sleep, but still exhausted all throughout the day. I fall asleep in my computer chair a lot, sometimes as a passenger in a car, don't have enough cognition to be confident that I'm not going to crash into someone while driving, etc. I'm still going to see about having another sleep study because I want to make sure this isn't something like Central Sleep Apnea. SPO2 drops aren't going that low (typically low to mid-90's).

I'm investigating odd "jumps" that don't occur that frequently throughout the day. If something brushes/touches my hair, for instance...my whole upper body reacts with a "jump" that comes from what I believe to be my back area. Neurologist said I'm fine and everything seems normal. She said to get an MRI of the back for that, which I will do at some point, but I seem more twitchy like that when I'm really tired. It makes it worse for some reason.

I'm curious how the autoramp settings work. Does it start out on a very low setting adjust itself up until it feels no resistance and stops at that setting?

I'm reading conflicting reports all over the place about what it can and can't monitor. What things can it monitor?

The Air Sense 10...some people say it is hard to clean the tank. I have seen lots of commercials with what I felt was scam-like products for "cleaning" the mask, tubes, etc. Some kind of device that you just attach the mask/hose to and run something through it for a while to "clean" it. Realistically, what are the chances of getting sick over different time intervals?

I got a call back from the sleep doctor's assistant regarding the prescription for a CPAP. She said they do a 3-night trial "to see if it will even work" for it, but she wasn't sure of what the cost for that is. From what I understand, a lot of people seem to indicate that it can take up to 2-3 months to even start feeling effects from using the CPAP in some cases, so that 3-day trial isn't worth squat. She said I could buy the ResMed Air Sense 10 from them, but it is about $1,800. Or, she said I could buy it online, which I would certainly choose to do because I have seen some sites where it is only $500 - $700 for a brand new one. She also stated that it doesn't matter whether I have insurance or not because most insurance companies do not acknowledge UARS as an actual condition and therefore won't pay a dime for it. That's a little disappointing. I'm going to save a bit of money back and decide in the near future what would be best to do.

I'm also a bit confused as to how...if I pay out of pocket for this stuff, doesn't that go towards my deductible or do they just cast off the whole thing? Seems like that should count for "out of pocket" expenses towards my deductible since I would be paying for everything.

I guess I'm going to have to do all of my setup and configuration for myself, anyway...they don't seem to want to do anything but write the prescription and pretty much indicate that I'm on my own for everything.

Are we somewhat certain that a CPAP should help or should I start saving for another sleep study which will probably be around 2 grand or so before buying a CPAP?

At this point, assuming that they're going to be willing to give me a CPAP...I'm trying to figure out whether to go for full face mask or to try the nasal pillows first. I've read through some of the posts on this board and a lot of people seem to say that nasal pillows are the most comfortable for those with mild OSA/UARS if they don't have mouth breathing issues. Others say that the hole that you're supposed to exhale from is typically so small that they feel like they're suffocating/drowning and many discussed trying to enlarge it so that they could exhale better.

As I became older, I started to notice these things more prevalently, but I suspect they started around my pre-teen or early teen years. School was awful, I couldn't concentrate and I was exhausted all of the time. Now when I wake up sometimes, I "know" a general idea as to why. It is either OSA or UARS. I wake up an awful lot every hour due to what feels like my airway narrowing/shutting and I make an odd noise each time I wake up. I did it this morning, actually. However, I suspect that my O2 isn't dropping because I wake up immediately as the airway shuts either fully or enough to make it too hard to breathe and the brain wakes up the body for more lung air pressure (which I understand to be the RERAs). It happens either mostly or completely when I'm on my back. So I'm waking up who knows how many times per night, but not having my airway shut for the length of time that many OSA people seem to have to cause their O2 to drop. I still have similar effects with slurred speech and feeling "too tired" to want to do anything in general each day. For me, I cannot enunciate my words without really trying when I'm tired. I definitely can't focus enough to drive until I get this under control. As long as I stay moving, I feel tired, but energetic. If I had a desk job, as the sleep doctor told me, I'd be snoozing quickly.

If the sleep study wouldn't have shown anything, my primary care doctor would have followed up with an endocrinologist. I had already been to a neurologist, had all common blood work, thyroid checked, etc.

Even if CPAP seems to improve it, I may follow up with another sleep study without CPAP and bring my readings from the CPAP to have them make sure it is working and nothing else is going on.

There are a number of exercises you can do to attempt to strengthen/tighten the loose muscles in the throat, tongue, etc.

https://www.cpap.com/blog/exercises-alleviate-sleep-apnea/

Oh yeah, a fair warning...they're not very comfortable. My finger and wrist were irritated all night and I wanted those things off from them. If you move around too much, it will lose the reading and look like it spiked way high or low and really it was just your finger/hand moving. So you can get false readings that way.

I ordered one online for like $90. Wristwatch-type with the finger sleeve. SPO2 did not drop much and stayed in the mid-90's to upper 90's. I saw that my heart rate spikes all over the place after several hours of sleep, however. So if I have OSA, it isn't badly enough to do anything but wake me up since oxygen levels aren't dropping much. It seems to be the RERA's from REM sleep that make me feel miserable. Waking up 18 times per hour even when you aren't stopping breathing is awfully tiring for in the morning.

Sounds like you would benefit from an O2 monitor. If you got the one you can sync with the computer, it will be very helpful.

March 2018 had a sort-of sleep study. Only slept for 2.75 hours for the whole study, it was after 11pm before they got the electrodes on me, the lady was unprofessional and I hated the whole process because it shouldn't have been that way. With that being said, that 2.75 hours showed a 4.7 Apnea-Hypopnea Index. 50 "breathing events" as RERAs resulted in a Respiratory Distress Index of 18.1. Sleep doctor read the results, said I 0.3 away from mild sleep apnea and said, "Want to try a CPAP?" I declined. My ENT doc later did a CT scan of sinuses, found deviated septum and enlarged turbinates. She felt that fixing those would help my sleep issues, so I had surgery in July 2018. My airways are physically larger and less obstructed now, so I do breathe better and it doesn't take as long to breathe in/out, but my sleep is still horrible. Sleep efficiency was listed as 40.3%. I'm still thinking that I have either Obstructive Sleep Apnea or Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome. I understand that some clinics won't even acknowledge or treat UARS. Some nights I feel much more comfortable sleeping on my stomach or sides and don't wake up as much or at all as I do compared to on my back. When I breathe out sometimes during the day, I feel a little flip of tissue or something in the upper part of my throat and it makes a sound like it blocks my airway for maybe half of a second or less during that sigh. That happens rarely, so I suspect maybe OSA when sleeping. No drop in SPO2 levels noted and the doctor seemed to think that was good.

I contacted my sleep doctor/clinic today to see if they'll write me a prescription for ResMed Airsense 10 based on my 18.1 RDI from my previous sleep study. If they're willing to do a trial first, I'm all for that. I just got new insurance through a new job, so new deductible and all out of pocket. My previous insurance at the job that I had before had the deductible met, so they paid for the study, doctor visits, etc. Probably would have paid for CPAP, but I had to take another job. When the sleep doc reviewed my study results earlier in the year after the study, he asked if I wanted to try CPAP, but the ENT wanted surgery later in the year, so I declined. Obviously, surgery hasn't helped the sleep issue. I have informed the clinic of this and and that I have a new job/new insurance. Waiting to see what they'll do. Today I felt short of breath and just yawned all day every x minutes. My breaths never seem deep enough and do not satisfy the feeling to take even deeper breaths. Just sitting in my computer feels like my lungs just do not want to take full breaths and instead just want to take these little lazy/shallow breaths and sometimes feel "too tired to breathe" at all and would rather stop and rest if I didn't make them take deeper breaths. I guess I would say that my natural breathing feels shallow if I don't force myself to take deeper and longer breaths. I have felt that all day long today and I'm not sure if it is just because I haven't slept very well over the past x days or what. My resting heart rate is about 110 sometimes, as well. Feelings of "heat/pressure" in the face and hands, but blood pressure is not high and around 120/80 when I check it. If I bend over, it feels high, however...I'll feel pressure increase in my face and hands while bending over to pick something up from the floor. Also, when I'm tired like this, my lips are exceptionally red as if super chapped (but they aren't). There just seems to be more blood flowing through them or something. I fall asleep in the passenger seat of a vehicle on a 10-15 drive. The bumps make me sleepy. I fall asleep in front of the computer, on the couch while watching tv, etc. I'm 36 and it has been this way since I was likely a pre-teen. School was awful. Some days I'm so tired that my words seem slurred and I can't speak properly. Are any of these symptom that you've experienced before getting on CPAP with OSA/UARS? Family just doesn't understand and it is driving me crazy. "Just go to bed earlier and get some rest!" I want to scream, "I DO go to bed and it isn't freaking restful! My sleep is not like your sleep!"