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Curious about using cpap: is it necessary?
#11
RE: Curious about using cpap: is it necessary?
Consider the severity of the symptoms and extrapolate from there - mild SA may be handled by positional changes or appliances, but it may not. The more severe, the more likely that CPAP is the least intrusive therapy. If this is the case, then you would be well advised to learn to love the hose. If you have the money for further testing, then do so if you think it will reveal that you don't need to go on a PAP, but my guess is that may be chasing a Chimera, unless the original testing was somehow wrong. More likely you are having adjustment problems. There is no evidence that side sleeping deals with apnoea, unless the symptoms are so mild to begin with that the mere shifting of position is enough to deal with the matter. Should that be the case and you are experience what is called a positional apnoea, and it is not severe, it may well be that an appliance is all that is necessary, something that resembles a mouth guard that prevents your tongue from sliding back to block your throat - this does have some success, but only if that is the problem. You would need to further test for such things.
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#12
RE: Curious about using cpap: is it necessary?
(11-20-2013, 02:26 PM)DocWils Wrote: Consider the severity of the symptoms and extrapolate from there - mild SA may be handled by positional changes or appliances, but it may not. The more severe, the more likely that CPAP is the least intrusive therapy. If this is the case, then you would be well advised to learn to love the hose. If you have the money for further testing, then do so if you think it will reveal that you don't need to go on a PAP, but my guess is that may be chasing a Chimera, unless the original testing was somehow wrong. More likely you are having adjustment problems. There is no evidence that side sleeping deals with apnoea, unless the symptoms are so mild to begin with that the mere shifting of position is enough to deal with the matter. Should that be the case and you are experience what is called a positional apnoea, and it is not severe, it may well be that an appliance is all that is necessary, something that resembles a mouth guard that prevents your tongue from sliding back to block your throat - this does have some success, but only if that is the problem. You would need to further test for such things.
Thank you for your input & honesty. I was told I have mild sleep apnea, but that if I lose weight, that it is possible I would not have to use the CPAP. My goal is to lose the weight & re-test as soon as I can (10 lbs down so far - 20 to go). I am having a hard time sleeping comfortably, so my quality of life has been diminished; but I do not dismiss the fact that I should stick with it, however groggy & miserable I feel in the morning, which did not occur before the CPAP. I never had problems with being tired during the day or having no energy. This started when I went to a Cardiologist because I was worried about pinching pains in the chest area, (which eventually turned out to be a pulled chest muscle.) I have been going through every test in the book since then, including the sleep study, which I did sleeping on my back because of the mask. My other tests are all "normal".
Again, thanx for helping me understand how all of this works.
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#13
RE: Curious about using cpap: is it necessary?
(11-20-2013, 10:52 PM)apibrgr Wrote: I was told I have mild sleep apnea, but that if I lose weight, that it is possible I would not have to use the CPAP. My goal is to lose the weight & re-test as soon as I can (10 lbs down so far - 20 to go).

You don't need to wait until you take another test, and you don't need to wonder if you need your CPAP machine when you're sleeping on your side.

You have a fully data-capable CPAP machine so you can look at the data and see how many apneas you are having. Moreover, the machine you have will adjust the pressure upwards if it's needed to clear your collapsed airway.

If your pressure is rising above the minimum of 4 cm, then you pretty well know you need your CPAP machine. If you set it at a fixed pressure of 4 cm and you experience more than 5 events per hour (AHI 5 or greater) then you definitely know you need the machine.

Once you get used to your CPAP machine you'll also notice a difference in how you feel if you go without it.

If you have a AHI less than 5 at a fixed pressure of 4 cm, and you feel you don't need your CPAP machine any more, then you can go ahead and do another sleep study to confirm that it's no longer needed.


Sleepster

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#14
RE: Curious about using cpap: is it necessary?
Welcome to the forum!!! We are glad you joined us!!! Welcome

You have already gotten some good advice from others in this thread.

Will losing weight get rid of your sleep apnea? Maybe? I lost over 100 lbs and hoped I would lose the machine. Was not successful.

Hang in there.
INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#15
RE: Curious about using cpap: is it necessary?
Weight loss can be successful in curing mild OSA, but it has not been shown to be as successful in more severe cases where a great deal of weight must be lost. The reason, so it has been surmised, is that the fat build up in the neck is the last to go, and once the laxity of the tissue has been induced it is very difficult to get it to retone, hence the current suggestion to combine weight loss with toning exercises, particularly didgeridoo playing, and this has been show to have some efficacy.

This is not to discourage you to lose weight, or give you an excuse to not lose it - getting down to a good BMI is very important as you age, and it extends your quality of life, and possibly your life itself. Being toward the fit and thin side has been shown to stave off a myriad of problems of the ageing, and even if it does not help cure your OSA, it should still be undertaken for a all the other problems of ageing. You don't have to aim for model thin, but you do have to aim for a reasonable BMI.
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#16
RE: Curious about using cpap: is it necessary?
When I look back at the history of my headaches it leads me to speculate on the relationship between OSA and weight management. I was always skinny and weighed 165 lb (75 kg) when I was in high school and reached my current height of 6'-2" (1.88 m).

I started developing headaches when I injured my throat at age 24 by slamming it into a steering wheel during an automobile accident. The doctor diagnosed me with a sinus infection and gave me the usual meds. Sinus infection cleared up and the headaches went away. At age 28 I stopped working as a carpenter and went back to college. Gained weight and the headaches came back.

At age 30 I graduated and went back to work as a carpenter for about a year. Lost weight and the headaches went away.

At age 31 I started working in the same profession I work in now. My days of working as a carpenter were over, and I started on a life-long journey of weight gain. I soon weighed 200 lbs, the headaches returned, and didn't go away until 2 years ago when, at an age of 56 and a weight of 235 lb, I started CPAP therapy.

These observations lead me to conclude that there is a strong correlation between my weight, my headaches, and my OSA.

I now weigh 250 lb. Perhaps if I lost 60 lb, that's 25% of my current weight, I could get off my CPAP machine.

I hope that one of these days I'll decide to do it. My BMI is 32 kg/m².

Sleepster

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#17
RE: Curious about using cpap: is it necessary?
So much information and so much to learn about this condition! It's stuff that the doc never explained, but you bet, tomorrow, when I go see him, I'm going to have him explain more of this to me.
I still don't know how to tell what the AHI is or how many events are happening from the readout on my machine, though. Would that be the numbers that are under "90%Pressure"? For instance, the readout for last night was: Day 1 0:0 / Day 7 6:2 / Day 30 6:6. What do those numbers mean? The "Therapy Hours" readout for last night is: Day 1 0:0 / Day 7 6:06 / Day 30 6:18. I don't quite understand what they mean, or which of those numbers is the AHI (because the readout does not say "AHI").
Thanx
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#18
RE: Curious about using cpap: is it necessary?
Not sure how to read those numbers, either.

You should be able to scroll through the menu items and find 7-day and a 30-day average AHI. Also a percent time in large leak.

What you can do is get the free SleepyHead software so that you can see all the details.
Sleepster

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#19
RE: Curious about using cpap: is it necessary?
I never felt tired either prior to using the CPAP nor felt like sleeping on the spots or had problems driving. I just used to push myself and carry on. I took some naps here and there caused I thought was due to boredom but in reality it was due to the poor sleep I was getting. Lets just say if I had 5 hours of sleep without CPAP compared to 5 hours of sleeping with CPAP. Without CPAP. I have to literally push myself through the day but with the same amount of sleep with CPAP. I am all good to go.

You wont notice major changes straight away but you will feel the small changes that occurs.

I sleep on my side with the full face mask and before using CPAP. I used to wake up and cough often and have dry throat but with CPAP. I dont cough and I am mouth breather nor do I need to wake up in the middle of the night to go pee.


All these minor chagnes you will notice and they all add up.

I have been on the CPAP for 3 weeks now with my own machine. It has been an expensive process from testing, doctor appointment, to trailling the machine, and getting my own dent my pigg bank massively but it is worth it in my opinion.

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#20
RE: Curious about using cpap: is it necessary?
(11-24-2013, 09:18 PM)boar Wrote: I never felt tired either prior to using the CPAP nor felt like sleeping on the spots or had problems driving. I just used to push myself and carry on. I took some naps here and there caused I thought was due to boredom but in reality it was due to the poor sleep I was getting. Lets just say if I had 5 hours of sleep without CPAP compared to 5 hours of sleeping with CPAP. Without CPAP. I have to literally push myself through the day but with the same amount of sleep with CPAP. I am all good to go.

You wont notice major changes straight away but you will feel the small changes that occurs.

I sleep on my side with the full face mask and before using CPAP. I used to wake up and cough often and have dry throat but with CPAP. I dont cough and I am mouth breather nor do I need to wake up in the middle of the night to go pee.


All these minor chagnes you will notice and they all add up.

I have been on the CPAP for 3 weeks now with my own machine. It has been an expensive process from testing, doctor appointment, to trailling the machine, and getting my own dent my pigg bank massively but it is worth it in my opinion.

Thanx so much for sharing your experience and for your encouragement. Right now, I've found that if I turn the machine off about an hour before I need to get up, I can fall back asleep for that hour & not wake up groggy and with a headache. I've been on the machine for 2 weeks & started doing that after about a week of feeling awful when I wake up. Something's gotta give, so I am going to ask the doc tomorrow.
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