[Diagnosis] New here- questions for follow up visit

[Sleeprider]

I have no idea what their recommendations for therapy are, however, the apparent complex apnea is worthy of a discussion with your specialist, particularly if the therapy recommendation is CPAP. You may walk in there and find that they plan to start you on ASV or have a plan to further evaluate your situation. My suggestion is that you listen to the doctor and if the subject of complex apnea is not raised pretty quickly that you initiate the discussion expressing your concerns. A question you can ask is, why did sleep study not progress on to evaluate bilevel and ASV when you clearly did not tolerate CPAP? If you do a search online for "CPAP titation protocol" you will find many results that describe how a titration study is supposed to progress.

If you are prescribed auto cpap, then be prepared to look at the data, and take early action to point out the problem if the CA events continue to be prevalent. Regardless, you will still face the need to get accustomed and comfortable with the machine to be able to fall asleep just like everyone else. You need to accomplish that regardless of what machine you use, so be sure to find a mask interface you can live with. That is usually the biggest challenge for patients. Hopefully your doctor can get the technical stuff like CA sorted.

[caretothepeople]

Make sure your sleep doc is certified with either The American Board of Internal Medicine or American Board of Sleep Medicine.

The American Sleep Apnea Association has a check list of questions to ask at your follow up about the sleep test and next steps for treatment. If you go to their site and search "Check list of things to ask your sleep doctor and CPAP provider" the article will come up. This might be helpful to print out and bring with you to the appointment.

-M

[SpeedyD]

I have no idea what their recommendations for therapy are, however, the apparent complex apnea is worthy of a discussion with your specialist, particularly if the therapy recommendation is CPAP. You may walk in there and find that they plan to start you on ASV or have a plan to further evaluate your situation. My suggestion is that you listen to the doctor and if the subject of complex apnea is not raised pretty quickly that you initiate the discussion expressing your concerns. A question you can ask is, why did sleep study not progress on to evaluate bilevel and ASV when you clearly did not tolerate CPAP? If you do a search online for "CPAP titation protocol" you will find many results that describe how a titration study is supposed to progress.

If you are prescribed auto cpap, then be prepared to look at the data, and take early action to point out the problem if the CA events continue to be prevalent. Regardless, you will still face the need to get accustomed and comfortable with the machine to be able to fall asleep just like everyone else. You need to accomplish that regardless of what machine you use, so be sure to find a mask interface you can live with. That is usually the biggest challenge for patients. Hopefully your doctor can get the technical stuff like CA sorted.

True about my titration. In fact, I fired that sleep clinic.
I am quite worried about the whole mask thing. Need a full mask.
Hubby orders us a new King bed... Maybe we will both improve our sleep.!

[SpeedyD]

Hi SpeedyD,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Hang in there for more suggestions and answers to your questions and much success to you.

Thanks. I look forward to not feeling half dead in the mornings!