(12-10-2016, 08:36 AM)jspence Wrote: ... I just completed my second sleep study and am looking into getting a CPAP machine....
The information I was given from my first sleep study was that I sleep 52% of the time on my stomach and I have 0 events per hour, 16% on my side where I have 44 events per hour and 32% on my back where I have 101 events per hour.
The second study results ... I'm just reading off the form they sent to the store that sells the CPAP machines.
12 cm of H20 DD
AHI 61.0
Low SpO2 80%
Hi jspence,
You have Obstructive Sleep Apnea which is unusually strongly positional. You need an Automatic (self-adjusting) Positive Airway Pressure (APAP) machine.
Do not accept less than an APAP machine which reports the breakdown of central-nervous-system-caused apneas versus airway-obstruction-caused apneas ("Central Apnea Detection") and which records your airflow waveforms ("Flow" is the rate of airflow entering or exiting our lungs and being able to see the Flow waveform is sometimes important for finding and fixing problems).
A few people have OSA equally bad in all positions. Many have OSA in all positions but much worse in some position (usually when sleeping flat on the back).
In your case, apparently the OSA completely disappeared when sleeping on the stomach. But please understand that the first study (the "diagnostic" study) was based on a single night; on a different night the results might not have been quite as good for sleeping on your stomach. But likely the results would be nearly as good for sleeping on your stomach. Unfortunately, it would be nearly impossible to keep yourself from turning onto your side while asleep. Your OSA is very serious when on your side and even worse when on your back.
Your insurance might not cover an APAP machine unless you ask your doctor to write a prescription giving a range for pressure, such as 9-13 cm H2O instead of your present prescription which is a fixed (manually adjusted) pressure of 12.
APAP machines cost only a small amount more than CPAP machines and can all be set to operate in fixed-pressure CPAP therapy mode, so it is not that an APAP machine can't be set to your present prescription of 12. In the USA often the insurance company doesn't care (covers the same price) for an APAP machine versus a CPAP machine, and it is merely the (lying) company trying to sell us the CPAP machine which claims they cannot legally sell an APAP machine unless the doctor changes the prescription.
Important info about different machine types:
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...ne_Choices
Take care,
--- Vaughn
The Advisory Member group provides advice and suggestions to Apnea Board administrators and staff on matters concerning Apnea Board operation and administrative policies. Membership in the Advisory Member group should not be understood as in any way implying medical expertise or qualification for advising Sleep Apnea patients concerning their treatment.