Hello my name is Charlene. I'm a 41 year old wife, mom and veteran with a FT career. I was just diagnosed with Sleep apnea through VA about 3 weeks ago and on week 2 on my mask. The day I heard the reality behind it all had me heartbroken but I started praying and took it for what is was worth. I'm just glad it was caught in due time.
Good for you Charlene! And thanks for your service from a fellow vet! (US Regular Army 1971-74). I have never been to the VA but it looks like they got on the sleep apnea issue quickly. Therapy is a process and the benefits and effect will greatly improve if you stick with it and improvise, adapt and overcome as they say. It takes some time to learn what works best for you and self education is the best way to expedite the effectiveness of your therapy!
Was diagnosed with sleep apnea back in 2001 but choose not to do anything about it. Fast forward to last year when I couldn't stay awake for nothing I finally went to my doctor told her my problems and she ordered a sleep study. They woke me up after 4 hours and said my sleep apnea was life threating AHI of just over 113 and that they wanted to put me on a cpap and titrate it right then and there. Maxed out the first machine at 20 so they got a BIPAP and pumped it up to 25 and now I sleep with a average AHI of around 5-6. I feel amazing!! I've been using it now for the past 7 months and can't imagine trying to sleep without it. I've had a lot of people ask me if I'm overweight as my AHI was so high, I'm not overweight at all I'm 5'9" and weigh 145 lbs so for a guy I'm pretty thin. Glad to be part of this group and to see so many doing well.
Good for you! I too fell asleep during the day at non-opportune times; like when using power tools and riding a motorcycle. Not to mention snoring through all the sermons at church. Therapy fixed that for me like it did for you and I also needed the 25 pressure. I have a second BiPap machine now and have tried it with both the inhale and exhale set to 25 and it makes little or no difference. The machine needs a new blower motor as it goes into a wailing banshee mode after about and hour (noise come through the air tube) and wakes me up it is so annoying. I am going to get the machine fixed when I get some spare change... bought it as a "travel" machine. It is a ResMed S9 VPAP Auto and works fine otherwise. Anyway, you may want to keep track of blood oxygenation using a PULSE OXYMETER (see Amazon). I have one that records blood oxygen and pulse during the night so I can monitor if my O2 levels drop; mine were in the low 70s for extended period and that may be one of the biggest threats to your health associated with sleep apnea.
Diagnosed January 2017. I am 73 yo, active (hiking, gym, Tai Chi and Aikido), but I have COPD, which aggravates the situation. My main sleeping problem was not Obstructive apneas, but hypopneas. I learned to "belly breath" from pulmonary rehab, and it is also taught in Tai Chi and Aikido. When I fall asleep, my breathing becomes shallow, and my SpO2 tanks. Have switched to Bipap which helps a lot, and recently started adding just a little O2 to the CPAP hose and now my SpO2 rarely drops below 88% at night. (Runs 94-98% during the day. ). Still working on getting ideal settings to improve SpO2 at night, but is sure a lot better than the precipitous drops I had before.
Welcome. The O2 component in therapy adds another variable that will make your therapy solution more complicated. Getting your O2 up a bit will likely be a challenge you will have to figure out through some experimentation. I guess the bipap helps establish a sleep rhythm to overcome the shallow breathing; not sure about martial arts breathing techniques working while you are asleep. Do these help? How many hypoapnea events are you still experiencing? Do you think adjustment of O2 supply or pressures will get you to normal SPo2 level?
Well, you are right that the breathing techniques don't work when sleeping. With just APAP, pressure range 8-17, I still had SpO2 events below 80%. Since going to Bipap, with pressure 10-19, plus 1l/h 90% O2, my SpO2 has improved to average 92-93% with no events below 85%, (rarely below 88%), so it has helped.
Hi im carol mom of 4... youngest is 2.5 yo girl who is having apnic episodes in her sleep. Terrified she will just stop breathing. Hubs took her to EENT today and she will have to do a sleep study. My hubs said MD told him "condition where brain doesnt tell you to breathe at night". Anyone else have a little with this? Carol
Hi - so sorry to be seeing this so long after you posted the original remarks. Hopefully you have it all worked out now. There are several different types of "not-breathing" that happen at night that I know of: central apneas are periods of no breathing without any effort to breathe -- your body just sort of hangs out waiting for the signal to take in the next breath. obstructive sleep apnea is characterized by airway collapse, like trying to suck a milkshake up in a collapsed straw -- there's lots of effort to breathe, but no air can get past the collapsed part. Hypopneas may mean more than one thing, I think, depending on who is defining the word. My understanding is not only slow or shallow breathing, but also a partial collapse of the airway so that breathing is impeded but not entirely cut off -- this makes your body work harder to suck that milkshake through what little space is left in that collapsing straw. There are many different reasons for each of these. Centrals can turn into obstructions, too, making it even more challenging!
It seems we need a good glossary of terms on this website so that we can link to definitions here on the forum.
My youngest is in her 40s and I am not sure sleep apnea was recognized as such when they were small. At least two of my 3 daughters are on some sort of PAP therapy. The condition you describe is called hypoapnea. Sielke in a previous post in this thread sort of described this as very shallow breathing; it can happen to the point where there is no breathing. OSA or obstructive sleep apnea means that some part of the anatomy gets in the air passage and this can be fixed mechanically. The hypoapnea means a person just quits breathing and I can't say why this would happen.
I don't know your insurance status, obviously but I would attempt to get to a pediatric facility that specializes in sleep disorders as I suspect it would be more useful than talking to a regular sleep doc. If you google "pediatric sleep specialist near me" or something of the sort, you will see that it is fairly common in most big city areas. The MD your hubby chatted with may be one of these gurus or may be pretty much the same as my primary care physician and not know much about sleep disorders; I don't think this is something that is a major part of the generalist education. Good luck!
Howdy, I'm Mei. 39, FT accountant and mom of 2. Diagnosed: Mar 2017. AHI: 54.8
I actually work in the sleep industry (but not as a clinician of any type), so I was not at all surprised by my diagnosis, but was very surprised at how difficult it has been to get things moving on therapy. Round and round with Insurance not covering most of the diagnostics, then round and round again with them not covering therapy. So short-sighted of them! Guess they'd rather wait for me to develop heart disease, diabetes and brain dysfunction where I'll be a thousand times more miserable and cost them a thousand times more money to "treat" <grumble grumble>.
Anyway...After hearing that my AutoPAP "trial" was going to cost about $1000, I tracked down a gently used ResMed S9 AutoSet (with humidifier) with only 116 hours on it and purchased it along with a new hose, mask and air filters for $300. Last Wednesday was my first night and, BOY did it suck. I'm a mouth breather, so I have a full face mask. I kept feeling like I couldn't exhale and inhale properly and it was causing panic attacks. Tried a different mask starting on Saturday and things are a bit better, but still working out kinks.
Looking forward to continuing this journey with the support of this forum. :)
I had issues with my insurance company regarding anything more than a bottle of aspirin. I worked for the Fed and am part of the govt employees health insurance group and am subject to picking only a couple plans in my local area. Came down to HMO or PPO and I went with the HMO (same company by the way). I never had many health issues and as I got a tad more geezerly and more medical issues started to surface, it was clear the HMO was a miserable idea. HMO is MANAGED health care and guess who does the managing? That's right, the company and they always opt for CHEAP. They did authorize a sleep study and subsequent medical equipment after extended arguing with them and making appeals.
I decided to pick up a "spare" machine (I need a Bipap which complicates things as I require 25 pressure). I bought a used S9 which turned out to be a waste of money. The blower motor starts howling after an hour of use and a replacement costs $150 which is more than I paid. I am saving my money for a newer machine and now know to check hours of use (didn't know that was on the machine) before jumping in for another craigslist machine.
Hopefully you have some sort of prescription so you know baseline settings. Hate to have to experiment.
Hello all!
I'm Mike, 43, happily married for 17 years with three kids (ages 5, 12, and 15). Lifelong sleeping problems. Always had a stuffy nose, later learned I had a deviated septum and a doctor told me once that there was something about the way my tongue is usually positioned and makes breathing more difficult. Definitely a mouth breather. Have a rough time at the dentist because I don't breathe out of my nose well. Can't take more than a bite of food without taking a drink. Always was a snorer, until a couple of years ago when my wife said I stopped snoring. Now I find out that wasn't a good thing, because stopping of the snoring most likely coincided with the worsening of my apnea. For 15 years, I worked a swing shift and got home after midnight, so I just crashed from exhaustion and wasn't really aware of what was going on while I was sleeping.
Starting maybe three years ago, started having various health problems show up. Low thyroid. Low testosterone. Low Vitamin B-12 and Vitamin D. High Blood Pressure. High Hemoglobin and Hemocrit, which I just discovered is because of the low oxygen levels in my blood. Went to various specialists... cardiologist; neurologist; oncologist, all to explore various weird lab results that kept popping up. My list of prescriptions increased to six. But nothing was working.
About eight months ago, I started waking up in the middle of the night gasping for air. Every night, I had dreams that involved suffocation, drowning, being buried alive, etc. Pretty horrific all around. I became so afraid of going to sleep that I would prop myself up and some nights would literally slap myself when I started to doze, just to avoid dozing off. Things that used to work to help relax me.. benadryl, a couple glasses of wine, only made things worse. The breathing problems started happening in the daytime as well, so I thought maybe I'd become asthmatic.
Perhaps I never focused on the sleeping problem enough when talking to my doctor, because I had so many other health problems and we were exploring all these possibilities. But finally one appointment he asked if I'd ever had a sleep study. Lifechanging moment.
Did the overnight PulseOx first, got it on a Friday and wore it pretty much all weekend. When the results came in, the respiratory therapist actually hand delivered it to my doctor because the results were so concerning. Average oxygen saturation was in the 80%, but numerous times it dipped into the mid 60s. Then came the overnight sleep study, which confirmed what we already knew. AHI was 47, but the length of each event was particularly troubling-- most were over 30 seconds. Apparently this is why my oxygen saturation was so low. I wasn't breathing for a full 23 minutes each hour.
I'm now 10 days into using my first CPAP machine. Going OK. I've been able to tolerate the mask for an average of about 4 hours per night, which is all I'm sleeping. My AHI is down to about 5 (last night it was 6), which isn't as low as I'd like but it's a start.
Now my biggest concerns have to do with damage that's already been done. Has my heart been damaged? Will I have memory or other neurological problems as I get older? Will my hormones return to normal after a few months of CPAP? Who knows but I'm happy to be heading in a healthy direction, at long last.
You are on the right path as far as sleep apnea therapy goes but could use some improvement. How are you monitoring therapy? With an average AHI of 5 there is still room for improvement. The positive air pressure is supposed to mitigate airway obstruction and while it won't eliminate obstructions completely plus the machine that records AHI may have some false hits for various reasons, seems you could improve that number a tad. If the number stays where it is, talk to your doc about pressure adjustment as this is a mechanical issue and after you have completely adjusted, your pressure level may need to be adjusted.
As far as damage from apnea in the past, well, there is nothing much to be done if there is so I don't worry about this issue. My breathing stopped for far longer than 30 seconds and my SPO2 was down into the low 70s for LONG periods. I bought a PULSE OXYMETER on amazon:
Good luck and document progress and key on successes.
Hi, I was just diagnosed with moderate OSA and got my CPAP a week ago. I got into all this initially after ending up in the ER with chest pain and palpitations. $2000 in co-pays later I found out my heart is fine but my family got in an uproar because I snore super loud (over 60 decibels which is fairly embarrassing) and my daughter says I stop breathing so I broke down and went in to the sleep doctor. I was desaturating down to 72%.
I feel somewhat better as far as sleepiness, but have been having a lot of problems with dry mouth and can't tighten the straps much because when I do the air feels as if it's coming out my eyes. This has happened in the past when I have bad allergies and blow my nose too hard. Getting my respiratory therapist to believe me was a major struggle but I go in next week to try a mask which covers my eyes too to see if that helps. I was determined to do this anyway - I've never been sick, so ending up in the ER was a major wake-up call - and then hearing about Carrie Fisher dying of sleep apnea just sealed it for me. I have to make this work as I'm not interested in dying just yet. ;)
Anyway, that's how I ended up here, looking for help. I didn't expect to find a forum! Nice to meet all of you.
pattyloof, Welcome. By the way, there are LOTS of forums. This one is one of the better forums as the people who participate here don't try and play amateur doctor and give BAD medical advice. Nor is there talk of religion and politics and such. This is not the case on all the apnea forums. When you do get advice, keep in mind that the symptoms and effects of sleep apnea vary GREATLY from one person to the other and you will get a wide divergence of views and advice. Since this stuff is coming mainly from amateurs like myself, all should be weighed carefully. People's stories can give you insight on your own path to more effective therapy as some will have experiences that parallel your own closely enough to where the story can prove helpful.
The mask you have now probably isn't right. You didn't mention what type mask but that really doesn't matter in diagnosing WHY you have dry mouth and air in your eyes. If you have air in your eyes, this is because the mask isn't sealing great. This is caused because full face masks MUST have the proper sized cushion and even then will leak a little air your eyes. The fix for that is the mask pad.
http://remzzzs.com/nasal-liners-type-ii-resmed-fisher-paykel-respironics/
They make these things for many full face masks and once you put one between your mask cushion and face, the air in the eyes thing goes away. These mask pads are essentially tee shirt material cut into the shape of the mask cushion they fit under.
The dry mouth issue is because your mouth is open at night. You need to figure out how to shut it while the mask is on. The mouth opens when the jaw goes slack. In my case, this meant a full face mask which is supposed to fit UNDER my lip would ride up and end up in my mouth. I use a "bite and boil" $2 mouth gaurd to keep my jaw from going slack. Others actually tape their mouth and some use straps that go under their jaw. When your mouth opens, it gets dry AND you will burn through the water in your chamber in no time. I keep my humidity set to almost nothing and the water in my chamber lasts for days. I don't get dry mouth anymore.
The astronaut mask you are looking to get may not fix your mask issues. Since I don't know what pressure your prescription indicates, I can't give any advice as to what mask you might want to try. If you have a real high number, a nasal mask won't seem like a good idea but if your pressure is pretty low, perhaps nasal is the way to go. Good luck.
I just got my total face mask and last night was MUCH better. Best event score yet!
I had a question: how does the mouth guard keep your mouth shut? Is this something used along with something else? I feel confused.
pattyloof, Can only speak of my personal experience here. My mouth opens when my jaw relaxes and drops back. The mouthguard fits of upper and lower bites and keeps this from happening very effectively for me at least. My mouth comes open without the mouthguard not for breathing but just because my jaw relaxes at some point. The main issue with that is that when my jaw sags a bit, the bottom of my mask ends up in my mouth without the mouthguard creating a HUGE leak and this is one thing that will wake me up.
Thanks for the welcome.
I'm a mouth breather at night so I have a mask that covers my mouth and nose. I don't know what my pressures are - I'm supposed to see the RT on Monday so I might ask about that then. Hopefully the total face mask will help with the problem, which is air coming up through my tear ducts.
I got some eye ointment which helps some, and some dry mouth rinse, which I'm not sure helped or not. I'm also working on increasing the humidity in my room. Last night wasn't so bad as usual so there seems to be some progress.
One day at a time I guess. I never thought I'd be on a machine for the rest of my life so it's an adjustment for sure.
pattyloof...welcome. I have found Xylimelts to help greatly with my dry mouth. It is a tablet that will stick to wherever you want it to be inside your mouth. It will slowly dissolve during the night and stimulate saliva to remove that dry mouth issue.
I tried that whole face mask and really liked it a lot. My problem with it was the fact my face is too narrow for it to work well without leaking. I especially liked the fact I did not feel the air blowing into my sinuses.
For extra humidity I have the HC150 external humidifier hooked up along with my units humidifier. I need that extra push of moist air. Many do not like humidity at all! We each have to find that balance that works best for us.
Hi everyone I'm Charles 39 yrs old and diagnosed with Sleep Apnea Aug 2016. I am currently using a Dream station Auto CPAP , and Fisher and Paykel Full Face Mask. The difference using the CPAP is night and day, and I really feel so much better....SO much better that I have completely cut caffeine out ! I have tried ,and found Remzzzzs mask liners work very good for me . After reading alot on the cushions for the Fisher and Paykel, I'm wondering if I'm not doing something correctly. ALot of users say they can get 3 months + out of this cushion. Whereas I can barely get 1 month :\ . I wash the humidifier reservoir, and the mask every day so I know it's clean. I understand it's a YMMV type of thing, but I thought using a liner would help some. Does anyone have any suggestions on this ? Looking forward to getting to know everyone :) Thanks for your assistance :)
Not sure why you burn through cushions. One month just doesn't seem right. I almost never wash tubing or the reservoir but do was my mask cushion daily using mild liquid hand soap. I use an F&P Amara View full face and the current cushion is well over a year old. You must not be using the Amara View as I doubt they would work with mask pads; I used pads with a Simplus mask I also have and those cushions lasted a long time. What and how are you doing your cleaning?
Hi , I am Chin, 36 years old male, diagnosed with OSA in Jan 2017. I have AHI of 17. I use resmed CPAP machine, pressure of 7 (mm?) with nasal pillow currently and a mouth tape. Seems that I clench my teeth like crazy when I can't breath properly in sleep and that is playing badly with my dental root canals and crowns.
Thanks for providing this forum where there is so much knowledge and it is great to see and learn from people who are in similar situation.
I have used the football mouth guards when I first started using CPAP. There are also appliances your dentist can make for you. There are several links on this site regarding dental devises. Also, a dentist, Dr Tony Soileau, is a member of the forum. He is most helpful when it comes to dental appliances. You can put his name, or 'dental appliances' in "search" at the upper right of the page and all sorts of links will pop up.
got diagnosed a few weeks ago. I had 57 sleep disturbances per hour and my blood oxygen dropped to the low 60s.
First night with a cpap was last night. Nose pillow mask . . .not over the mouth. they offered me a chin strap to keep my mouth closed, but I don't need it. My friends might differ . . . . :-)
First night was pretty easy. I am told it takes a while of using the cpap to have the hugest benefits be felt. I felt fine this morning . . .
gained a ton of weight when I stopped smoking 15 months ago . . hoping that when i lose that I can maybe lose the machine. if not, no biggie . . . i just want to be well rested, and i think my data was showing that I clearly wasn't. LOL.
