11-10-2015, 02:18 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-10-2015, 02:20 AM by tiredofbeingtired.)
RE: Need help interpreting SP02 report
Well just as an update I eventually had a real sleep study and was diagnosed with mild/moderate sleep apnea (AHI 9 overall and 23 during REM sleep). They also noted an abnormal sleep architecture with excessive deep sleep suggesting sleep deprivation. So take that primary care physician that didn't even want to do the test.
Anyway I've been on CPAP about three weeks now and it has radically changed the way I feel. Used to sleep around 10 hours a night, get up to pee all night, have a headache throughout the morning, be tired all day and need an afternoon nap, and have difficulty concentrating.
Three weeks into it and I'm averaging 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night. Wake up feeling good, concentration is noticeably improved. Depression and anxiety have improved as well. I've had this just sort of constant anxiety with me my whole life and overnight it's just gone. Crazy. Systolic blood pressure is down 10 points as well, though frustratingly I'm still slightly hypertensive.
I've played with the CPAP quite a bit and have settled on a pressure of 11, which gets me an AHI in the 1-2 range. If I lower it to 10 I seem to trade a couple central events for obstructive events. Since the obstructive events all seem to occur around the same time each night (towards the end of the sleep cycle where you would expect to see REM sleep), and the central apneas are random, I decided better to go with additional central events that are less likely to interrupt REM sleep.
Also no issues related to tolerating the CPAP (except for some pressure on my nose from the mask), though I'm considering consulting a maxillofacial doctor to see if I have an airway that could be significantly enlarged with surgery. To get such a brutal surgery though I'd want it to both have functional and cosmetic benefits, so if it can do both of those I might consider it.
Anyway, good to have my life back. If anyone is young, fit, thin, and doesn't snore, don't let your doctor tell you you can't have sleep apnea.
Anyway I've been on CPAP about three weeks now and it has radically changed the way I feel. Used to sleep around 10 hours a night, get up to pee all night, have a headache throughout the morning, be tired all day and need an afternoon nap, and have difficulty concentrating.
Three weeks into it and I'm averaging 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night. Wake up feeling good, concentration is noticeably improved. Depression and anxiety have improved as well. I've had this just sort of constant anxiety with me my whole life and overnight it's just gone. Crazy. Systolic blood pressure is down 10 points as well, though frustratingly I'm still slightly hypertensive.
I've played with the CPAP quite a bit and have settled on a pressure of 11, which gets me an AHI in the 1-2 range. If I lower it to 10 I seem to trade a couple central events for obstructive events. Since the obstructive events all seem to occur around the same time each night (towards the end of the sleep cycle where you would expect to see REM sleep), and the central apneas are random, I decided better to go with additional central events that are less likely to interrupt REM sleep.
Also no issues related to tolerating the CPAP (except for some pressure on my nose from the mask), though I'm considering consulting a maxillofacial doctor to see if I have an airway that could be significantly enlarged with surgery. To get such a brutal surgery though I'd want it to both have functional and cosmetic benefits, so if it can do both of those I might consider it.
Anyway, good to have my life back. If anyone is young, fit, thin, and doesn't snore, don't let your doctor tell you you can't have sleep apnea.
