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My Titration study did not go well.
#1
My Titration study did not go well.
I did a titration study last night for OSA and it was a awful experience. To start things off the headgear thing they used to keep the mask on was not big enough nor was the mask that they used. The tech apologized but they only had medium head gear and the mask just didn't fit well at all. The tech was very nice but I could tell this is a unfortunate, yet common theme there. So none of it really fit well and to top it off my aniexty kicked in when she turned the machine on. I believe it was a respronics dream machine. She said she had it on the lowest  setting of 4 and she had the expiration thing that makes you feel more comfortable when you breath,  on 2 yet this was not at all comfortable to me. But it took a long time to get this appointment made so I decided to fight through it. 

At this point it was around 840 pm. So I laid in bed for hours fighting my aniexty and watching calming videos on my phone trying to relax. It was brutal.  I felt I was on the verge of having a major panic attack for hours but at times I would be able to calm myself down but my aniexty was never far away. Every few hours I had to go to the bathroom and the tech would come in and disconnect me so I could go. She clearly could tell I was having a difficult time and sympathized with me. She said off hand that it was a shame people couldn't have more time to prep themselves with a mask at home to get use to it. I agree. I felt I needed a lot more time with the mask and the air pressure so I would not experience crippling aniexty all night. Or maybe I'm just not cut out for this, time will tell. I finally fell asleep around 230 am. I woke around 40 minutes later and the air pressure had increased a lot and I had difficulty expiring. My anixety went through the roof and the tech came and in and I went to the bathroom. When I came back the air pressure was still set high and I couldn't take it. She lowered it but I just couldn't take this misery anymore so around 330 am I gave up and went home. 

I'm feel pretty depressed now. I bought a used machine and I should get it in a few days. Maybe over time I will be able to acclimate myself to it, or maybe not. I just don't know. But I know I never want to feel like I did last night again. That was one of the worst experiences I've ever had in my life.
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#2
RE: My Titration study did not go well.
If you got a machine that has data we can help get you dialed in. I never did a titration study, and your description gives me all the reasons I need.
Sleeprider
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#3
RE: My Titration study did not go well.
Your experience is not uncommon. Both my separate sleep study and titration were absolutely worthless in terms of simulating any normal sleep. I completed enough of the study to get my CPAP Rx and I have found that information on the forum often exceeds that provided by many physicians and sleep technicians.

Grab a copy of OSCAR and post your results to see if the community can help you dial-in your machine.

Best of luck.
"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius
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#4
RE: My Titration study did not go well.
Hang in there, your body will thank you for it. I've never had issues with insomnia or anxiety until the night of my first sleep study. Luckily, I was able to doze off long enough for the tech to see 45 obstructive and 6 central apneas. The community here will certainly be able to help you get on the right track.
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#5
RE: My Titration study did not go well.
I totally get it.

Personally, I'd report the sleep clinic to your insurance and tell them they did not do their job. I'd tell my insurance to 1) encourage them to not use that sleep clinic again, and 2) to perhaps contest the charge and not pay for it.

Also, I'd write a review on Yelp, and include the info you wrote here. Other potential customers/patients should know about this, especially since it seems this isn't unusual for this clinic.

As far as *you*... I'd encourage you that this was NOT an okay experience for a sleep titration study.

1) A pressure of 4 is so little, most/many people feel air-starved at such a low pressure. I sure did. Once I moved up to 6, it was much better.

2) It takes some getting used to, yes, you're right. BUT I personally feel it takes some coaching. The tech should have been giving you tips on getting through it. When you get yours at home, you can practice, and also you can tweak the settings until you find a comfortable setting. (And we can help!)
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#6
RE: My Titration study did not go well.
Yeesh! A mask that obviously doesn't fit, panci attacks, and settings that either starve you for air or wear you out with the effort of exhaling. It pains me to hear about such an awful introduction to therapy for your apnea.

You mentioned that you have a used machine coming. Do you also have a mask on the way?

When all your gear has arrived, try setting it up and using it during the day while you do something you enjoy -- watching TV or reading, for example. Work on mask fit, and look for videos on line about how to adjust the particular mask you have. Like Hydrangea, I would recommend setting your lowest pressure at no less than 6, to avoid the air-starved feeling. You might even prefer 7. And just to get going, you can cap the maximum pressure at a level that doesn't overwhelm you. Again, just to get going, use the settings on your machine to provide a lower pressure when you exhale.

Once you have Oscar up and running, and are downloading your data, the experts here can take a look and guide you to the settings that will address your apnea while allowing you the comfort you need to persist in treatment. And please post again with any additional questions you may have in the meantime. There are a lot of people here who will help you.
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#7
RE: My Titration study did not go well.
(10-20-2019, 10:41 AM)Dormeo Wrote: You mentioned that you have a used machine coming.  Do you also have a mask on the way?

OP has another thread, which this should probably be merged with.
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#8
RE: My Titration study did not go well.
(10-20-2019, 10:41 AM)Dormeo Wrote: Yeesh!  A mask that obviously doesn't fit, panci attacks, and settings that either starve you for air or wear you out with the effort of exhaling.  It pains me to hear about such an awful introduction to therapy for your apnea.

You mentioned that you have a used machine coming.  Do you also have a mask on the way?

When all your gear has arrived, try setting it up and using it during the day while you do something you enjoy -- watching TV or reading, for example.  Work on mask fit, and look for videos on line about how to adjust the particular mask you have.  Like Hydrangea, I would recommend setting your lowest pressure at no less than 6, to avoid the air-starved feeling.  You might even prefer  7.  And just to get going, you can cap the maximum pressure at a level that doesn't overwhelm you.  Again, just to get going, use the settings on your machine to provide a lower pressure when you exhale.

Once you have Oscar up and running, and are downloading your data, the experts here can take a look and guide you to the settings that will address your apnea while allowing you the comfort you need to persist in treatment.  And please post again with any additional questions you may have in the meantime.  There are a lot of people here who will help you.

No I don't have a mask yet. I used a Dreamwear full face mask for the study. That is the only mask I have ever tried on. They had me wearing a medium size headgear which was too small, but I think maybe a large size headgear in the same model might work well. The mask itself seemed pretty good but it was just too small. The medium wide size was good if it were bigger overall. I like how the hole for the nose was bigger in the medium wide. But overall it was just too small. The large was too small as well and the hole for the nasal part was way too small on the large and she said there wasn't an extra large. I would get lots of leaks when I moved in the bed or moved my mouth any. The tech said they had some other full face masks but they covered more of the face and she was concerned that I would have more anxiety with it. So when I heard that I didn't protest. I already had enough anxiety. Normally I don't have anxiety and I was kind of looking forward to doing this to hopefully get better. But this titration thing freaked me out terrible. Hopefully I'll be able to get a hang of this on my own, at my own pace. Do you have any full face recommendations?
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#9
RE: My Titration study did not go well.
“ Do you have any full face recommendations?” I don’t, but honestly what makes a mask the right one for your particular face contours, sleep position, and sensitivity to various possible annoyances— those are the factors that count.

Does your sleep place give you opportunities to try masks on? If not, google “cpap mask return insurance policy” and you will see a few options that might work for you.
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