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Indeed, it sounds like rain out (condensation in the CPAP tubing and mask). Gradually lower h your humidity level by 1 step at a time until it stops. Alternatively, if you have heated tubing, turn up your tube heat level.
I think they cost $2000 more because where I am, in Australia, they do. That's just how it is. I often advise people that they can get equipment much cheaper by ordering online from America but, in Australia, if you buy local (as many people do) you will pay through the nose for an auto. A fixed pressure machine is $1000 - $1500 and an Auto is around $3000. Obviously that is in Australian dollars.
What is the leak level in L/min? The score is a bit meaningless. Generally, if your AHI is low (and 1 is very low) and it doesn't bother you, I would say not to be concerned about the leak. If it's not a problem it's not a problem.
Simply put, you have relatively mild obstructive sleep apnoea that is worst on REM sleep (which is very common). When they put CPAP on you part way through the night you got much better. You got more REM sleep (also common) and you stopped snoring. Ignore the sleep efficiency statistic, it is not important. Your impression of being awake all night and exhausted at the end are not unusual. Don't worry about it.
Do you have any specific questions?
In Australia, and I would assume this is the same in the US, a tech is not legally allowed to give you the results of your study because they are not qualified doctor, so you will probably need to wait until you speak to you doctor. But when you do speak to you doctor, make darn sure they answer ALL of your questions, and if you don;t understand the answers keep asking until you do. They get paid a ton for their job, so you make them do it right.
Don't worry if the tech came in to check a sensor. This is quite normal and doesn't mean anything.
Whether you have central apnoea, obstructive apnoea, both or something else is not something you should be overly concerned about. It is basically all treated in a very similar manner (from your perspective anyway), and the negative effects if untreated are very much the same. What you describe about drinking is more indicative of obstructive apnoea, but opioids could go either away (or possibly even both).
If you have questions about your results when you get them, feel free to ask.
How long it takes to feel the difference varies greatly from one individual to the next. Some people feel great improvement after one night, some a week or 2 and in some cases it may be as much as a year or more. It is usually easier to loose weight with CPAP, and occasionally some people rapidly lose a chuck of weight (usually if they have severe odoema), but in most cases it is as Snuffie describes. It is worth remembering that weight loss is the only know cure for OSA (and it doesn't work for anyone).
Hi Hans01,
The way you quote your AHI is a little confusing but even 17 events an hour is enough to have a large impact on both your health and quality of life. If your events increased when you are on CPAP it sounds very much like you may have central apnoea which would require some sort of Bilevel device for treatment (BiPAP, ASV, etc). Did you have a proper monitored sleep study with your CPAP on?
You are very welcome. It is a pleasure to be able to help people. I figure that, after so many years in the field, I have all of this ver specific knowledge bouncing around inside my head and it may as well be helpful to someone.
Most airline want a letter from a Dr (not necessarily a sleep specialist) that verifies your CPAP machine as being a prescribed medical device (I assume a prescription would cover this). Otherwise they can get touchy about letting you bring a strange box full of wires onto a plane. Also, ring the airline and ask them about their policy on CPAP machines. Some will let you use them on the plane. My sister-in-law used to get a special seat with extra leg room just so that she could use her machine. And my wife would get to sit next to her as her "carer". My sister-in-law didn't need a carer, my wife just wanted the better seat.
While I appreciate your confidence in my experience, I don't have nay magic solution for this problem, although it is very rare to be more tired with treatment than without over a year later. This could mean that OSA isn't the only thing making you tired. You could look at iron levels and thyroid function, both of which can be corrected without too much difficulty. We also have some patients who have narcolepsy and OSA, so you could check that out.You might notice that I don't bother talking much about idiopathic hypersomnolence because that is medical jargon for "you're sleepy and we don't know why" so it's not much of a diagnosis.
EB1979, while it's possible your setting are wrong, this is unlikely given your the AHI reported by your machine. I never use the smiley faces as a measure for leak, but go by the numbers (leak rate in L/min), however it is no surprise that you could pull your mask off and still get smiley face for leak, because I would assume this is based on the average leak level for the whole night which could still be fine, despite a minute or 2 of extreme leak. If your pressure is 6 that is very low and you really should not need to have your mask or chin strap tight enough to cause discomfort. If your nasal pillows are hurting your nose you could try a different mask. I assume you have the ResMed AirFit P10 (based on the fact that your other gear is ResMed) which is not adjustable. An adjustable mask like the Nuance may give you better results. The Brevida is a little chunkier but very gentle on the nostrils because is inflates itself to fit your nose rather than relying on pressure from the straps. Or, you could look at the DreaWear under nose mask which doesn't have the prongs to seal against your nostrils (Google a picture to see what I mean). Your Chin strap also shouldn't need to be super tight at such a low pressure. It will only stop your jaw sagging but it won't necessarily stop air puffing out between your lips. If there is a leak the machine will usually compensate by blowing more air, which can cause the phenomenon you describe of the pressure increasing to an unwieldy level. Or do you have an auto CPAP? In that case there could be something you could do with the settings to help.
Sorry I haven't been much use. It is often hard to nail the problem down without being hands on.
