Hello Guest, Welcome to Apnea Board !
As a guest, you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use.
To post a message, you must create a free account using a valid email address.

or Create an Account


New Posts   Today's Posts

[Diagnosis] PLM vs RLS vs moving around to relieve pressure on injured joints.
#1
PLM vs RLS vs moving around to relieve pressure on injured joints.
Can a sleep study differentiate between PLMs or RLS versus purposeful movements such as small stretches or shifts in position a side-sleeper makes to relieve pressure on her arthritic hips and knees and injured shoulders, situations already aggravated from then-recent snow shoveling and worsened by an uncomfortable bed and particularly awful pillows at the sleep lab? Its not a regular problem, and it doesn’t happen if I stay attentive to daily exercise, but there are periods where I slack off and then have to do some big chore and am, then, achy and again aware I need to be attentive to daily exercise.

But, getting back to the apnea-related question … Can a doctor know whether movements during sleep latency, at arousals, or after arousals, are caused by disorder-related sensations versus injury-related pain?

The sleep specialist didn't want to see me before the study. I concluded that possibly he didn't have an opening and I should proceed w/the study and just see him afterward. But afterward he was not available for an appointment or on the phone. During my repeated calls, and quizzings, a couple of people on his staff did read a little from the study to me, but would not give the report to me. I was told that my AHI was 6.1, in alarmed tones as if that is dangerous. I did not know how blessed one is to have an AHI of only 6.1 until I became aware, on Internet, that so many apnea patients wrangle with such much higher AHI levels. On another attempt to get help/info, a staffer told me she read that the doctor was concerned about significant limb movements. When I was finally lined up with another doctor in the practice, he gave me the report and I saw that the 1st, diagnosing doctor’s finds that I have an apnea condition requiring treatment due to a significant PLM arousal index of 9.1, that CPAP may resolve this, but if not, I should seek direct treatment for what he terms a limb disorder. He, however, has no knowledge of my medical history except that I was referred to him to screen for apnea having been diagnosed a week prior with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. And that I am 61, post-menopausal, overweight, my neck size is 16.25 inches, and I have high blood pressure. I have no clue if he noted or if it was at all important that I have not ever had any of the daytime sleepiness issues that were asked about in a pre-study questionnaire. He has no knowledge of the history of arthritis or injury or that these were recently aggravated and causing pain at the time of the sleep study.
Post Reply Post Reply
#2
RE: PLM vs RLS vs moving around to relieve pressure on injured joints.
Hi FormerFed,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Hang in there for answers to your questions and much success to you with your CPAP therapy.
trish6hundred
Post Reply Post Reply
#3
RE: PLM vs RLS vs moving around to relieve pressure on injured joints.
Yes, they definitely can. Typically PLM is sudden and quite jerky vs the more gently shifting in one's sleep. And RLS movement will happen just prior to falling asleep vs while you are asleep.
PaulaO

Take a deep breath and count to zen.




Post Reply Post Reply
#4
RE: PLM vs RLS vs moving around to relieve pressure on injured joints.
Thanks, trish6hundred - I wish you well in your adventure, too!
Post Reply Post Reply
#5
RE: PLM vs RLS vs moving around to relieve pressure on injured joints.
PaulaO2, Thanks! That helps me understand the report a bit better, and helps me better understand aspects of the graphs, also, though if I'm understanding both correctly, the graphs do not altogether track with the report summary. Will get some time on the new doctor's calendar to explain things to me. When we met he had not yet seen the studies or the 1st doctor's reports - they were not in my file - so we talked about the info the nurse had downloaded that morning from the ResMed data card and he sent someone to get the report info for me from the sleep lab.
Post Reply Post Reply
#6
RE: PLM vs RLS vs moving around to relieve pressure on injured joints.
PLM *might* start out as gentle-shifting if it is in relation to an apnea event. It is your body trying to wake you. The movement gets more intense and violent as the event continues. You may see a note about that in the report linking the PLM to events.
PaulaO

Take a deep breath and count to zen.




Post Reply Post Reply


Possibly Related Threads...
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Moving from Dreamstation to Aircurve PartsGuy 9 600 02-22-2024, 10:31 AM
Last Post: Sleeprider
  Isn't Resmed's Expiratory Pressure Relief really Inspiratory Pressure Support?? Reznik 122 18,641 12-09-2023, 12:54 PM
Last Post: Kathy14225
  Moving From RM S9 to Airsense10 -- Great Discomfort hypnos 3 409 11-10-2023, 08:51 AM
Last Post: DaveL
  Any downside to using static pressure vs range pressure? hejohoo 6 923 09-08-2023, 11:50 AM
Last Post: Gideon
  Apnoea when moving between sleep stages? lindylou 2 442 08-11-2023, 12:37 AM
Last Post: lindylou
  [Treatment] Koala1 - Moving to Resmed, aerophagia, please help with optimization koala1 101 7,191 05-27-2023, 03:52 AM
Last Post: koala1
  [Pressure] Pressure suggestions to reduce ear pressure? rv88 0 646 05-24-2023, 05:43 AM
Last Post: rv88


New Posts   Today's Posts


About Apnea Board

Apnea Board is an educational web site designed to empower Sleep Apnea patients.