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New to APNEA and few questions
#31
RE: New to APNEA and few questions
one thing about being undecided.... if the apneas are actually interfering with you ability to think clearly, if you are confused, disinterested, just realize these are some of the symptoms. barring that, you may find yourself waiting until the accident, or the heart attack or stroke. if it gets that far, you'll cobble up the remains and surely have to make life changing decisions at that point.

keep on seeking.

QAL
Dedicated to QALity sleep.
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#32
RE: New to APNEA and few questions
(02-19-2015, 01:30 PM)retired_guy Wrote:
(02-19-2015, 12:58 PM)centex99 Wrote: All good advice... still undecided.

It's not a lot different than quitting smoking. If we have been told to quit smoking, we commit to doing it, and do whatever it takes to get it done. Or we don't. We might decide that smoking can't be "all that bad" when it comes to our health and ignore the risks. After all, many of us are truly indestructible, aren't we? One thing's for sure: if we decide that "Well, I'll skip a cigarette or two and see how it goes....." we will not quit.

There's not a lot of difference between what smoking can do and what untreated apnea can do. They both can cause our life to go up in smoke.

So it's wonderful if the apnea isn't causing you serious heart, kidney, gizzard or other problems yet. Check back with us when it does, we'll still be here.
Excellent analogy!!
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#33
RE: New to APNEA and few questions
I agree completely with the analogy and the concerns/etc. My only question/concern right now is are my levels high enough to warrant and see any benefit from the treatment. For instance, I'm not sure that medicare would approve it based upon my results.
Right now, I'm leaning towards getting the machine and trying it out for at least a few months to see if I see any improvements in my sleep, health, etc.
I'm looking for advice from those who had minimal symptoms and mild conditions who have started therapy. Have they seen improvements/etc. Without a doubt if I had seen more symptoms and had higher results, I would be 100% on board with treatment.
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#34
RE: New to APNEA and few questions
So, if you do intend to try it out, on some sort of monthly rental basis, be sure be warned against the RedMed models that have the all-in-one humidifier. I have read lately that DMEs get to charge you the whole cost of the humidifier (because the insurance won't rent the humidifier). And, that would be ok if it were a real, distinct, device. But, in these models, you can't get the machine without the humidifier. It is a racket, so I would get one with separate humidifier. Unfortunately, the one that you were looking at (Airsense 10 Autoset) has this dreaded feature. It would be just fine if you were sure you would continue, but crummy to get a large bill (well beyond your $250) and not be able to get a refund of the money should you decide it isn't worth your time to continue CPAP.

I hope this makes sense.

QAL
Dedicated to QALity sleep.
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#35
RE: New to APNEA and few questions
I'm going to get my unit on Thursday and start using it/see how I feel. I did buy a CMS-50D+ pulse oximeter to use as well... recorded one night and attached below... seems ok, but could use improvements. Will record another night or two this week before Thursday and then record a few nights with the CPAP after I get it...

[Image: spo2%2Breadings.jpg]
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#36
RE: New to APNEA and few questions
the adjusted index (1/hr) of 21.3 under SpO2 banner can be used as a rough estimate of the untreated apneas per hour. From that alone, your sleep study should have shown between 16 and 30 per hour average, and you would be diagnosed with moderate obstructive apnea, with a nadir of 85.

Well your doc says you scored 16 AHI. So, they are right in line.

If you use the oximeter while also using your CPAP machine, you should see the number of SpO2 desaturations drop from 150 (the above report) to around 30. Your AHI should drop from 16-25 to 4-6 events per hour.

Good luck.

QAL

by the way - you had 7 times last night when you had low enough O2 in your blood to cause cell damage. not as bad as some but the emergency alarm would sound and nurses would run to your side to administer emergency care if you were in a hospital setting, but they would only have had to come running 7 times. you had at least 50 times that your sleep was disrupted, many of them you don't remember, but maybe a few you did. yeah - you gotta stop that.
Dedicated to QALity sleep.
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#37
RE: New to APNEA and few questions
The Dr said my AHI was 6 and RDI was 16... Does RDI or AHI more better represent events?
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#38
RE: New to APNEA and few questions
oops - yeah. AHI is just the scorable events. RDI includes not quite scorables. but, your SpO2 shows you definitely have enough desaturations to expect RDIs being nearly scorable.

no doubt that you have 150 desaturations, and most came from halting breathing.

QAL
Dedicated to QALity sleep.
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#39
RE: New to APNEA and few questions
So, got the machine and a Quattro FX mask today... hopefully tonight goes well...
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