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Sleep Doctor
#1
Sleep Doctor
Went to my sleep DR. a couple days ago for 6 month check after starting cpap. I told him I am still not sleeping but a few hours then waking up every hour or so all night. I feel tired all the time.
I asked if anything in my data showed the same thing, because my AHI every night is great. He said:" We don't get any of that data, the DME gets that, for him to see it he would have to request it, and it would be a lengthy report of many pages."
He had no idea what my AHI was.
He suggests a sleeping pill.
This is such a racket. I have only talked to DME one time since starting, and that was to order a mask cushion.
Why am I paying this douchebag?
For all the people that say you shouldn't adjust your own pressure because you should let the experts do it. They can kiss my arse.
The only person paying attention to what is going on with my sleep is ME.
I have received more care from members on this board than from people I am paying.
End of rant.
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#2
RE: Sleep Doctor
I fully appreciate your frustration and hope things work out. I assume you have to use this doctor? I would be looking for another, because while I understand there are situations like this, my experience with my sleep doctor is completely different. I wish you luck in resolving it.
I am not a Medical professional and I don't play one on the internet.
Started CPAP Therapy April 5, 2016
I'd Rather Be Sleeping
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#3
RE: Sleep Doctor
(04-29-2016, 10:09 AM)I_will_never_sleep_again Wrote: Went to my sleep DR. a couple days ago for 6 month check after starting cpap. I told him I am still not sleeping but a few hours then waking up every hour or so all night. I feel tired all the time.

I had the same problem, and still do after 4.5 years of therapy, but the magnitude of the problem has decreased as my body and mind get used to the fact that after decades of doing it, it's no longer necessary for my mind to wake up my body so it can breathe.

Quote:I asked if anything in my data showed the same thing, because my AHI every night is great. He said:" We don't get any of that data, the DME gets that, for him to see it he would have to request it, and it would be a lengthy report of many pages."

Get a new doctor.

Quote:He had no idea what my AHI was. He suggests a sleeping pill.

The doctor I switched to checks my data at every visit. She prescribed trazodone as a sleep aid. I take it only when I need it. Sometimes I have to take it to fall asleep, but usually when I do take it it's because I wake up and need it to get back to sleep.

What I have to do when the problem is really bad is get out of bed and read until I get sleepy. I used to have to do that more than once a week. Now it's very rare. I can't remember the last time I had to it!

I know it's hard, but you just have to be patient. Meanwhile, find a good doctor who can help. It brings peace of mind.
Sleepster

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#4
RE: Sleep Doctor
If the DME gets anything like the level of detail I see on MyAir, they are not getting a lot of detail either. Though MyAir does at least show the average AHI.

I plan on printing out SleepyHead details for a few representative nights and taking those with me. I will also prepare a graph of how all the diferent types of events change over time. (How: export entire daily history as a CSV file. This gives you the counts of each type of event for each day. Import into a spreadsheet, remove columns you don't care about (like those that are all zeros), then plot in a line graph against date. It looks like the attached. It will be better once I have two months of data in there.)


Attached Files Thumbnail(s)
   
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#5
RE: Sleep Doctor
This is a very typical path and has many causes, for me my Doctor tried and then turned it over to me by giving me permission to adjust anything I wanted to. That was my last visit with him.

Part of my problem was that insurance considers SA treated when your AHI is below 5.00001 "most" of the time and mine was. I was not sleeping through the night, up every 30-60 minutes all night, every night. I was compliant because without CPAP I would not sleep at all. So from the insurance point of view and a little for my Doctor, it was your compliant and at the right number-so we're done, right? So frustrating.

There seems to be a target window to get this thing "fixed" where you can make changes and get doctor visits and then they just say " Hey this is the best treatment, it has a high failure rate, and you must just fall into that rate". Done.

For me I pushed (doctor actually asked me what machine I wanted) for Aircurve VPAP (BiLevel), I had two sleep tests only because I insisted "I am NOT SLEEPING". Repeated over and over to my Doctor. Got the VPAP and better, but still not sleeping well. I had been playing with humidity, temperature, and EPR settings and now I was at PS 4, which is like EPR of 4.

My therapy settings have not changed since day one, my AHI is fine since day one.

The Aircurve has more settings than the Airsense. Timin, Timax, cycle & trigger sensitivity. After adjusting all of these I now get 3-4 hours of sleep at a time, get up only once or twice all night and feel so much better.

Your SA sounds like mine. They will not drive your therapy so you "feel better", only you can do that. You must do that. Don't give up until you have tried everything that can be tried right up to a full blown ASV machine if you have to. This is your life and your sleep.
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#6
RE: Sleep Doctor
I-will-never-sleep-again... Welcome to the "CHOIR".. a lot of us have sung that song. YOU are your very best health care provider. Do what you think is best for your own benefit. If it takes adjusting your own pressure, then do it. Don't like the service you get from your MD..Fire'em..
Yesterday is history; Tomorrow is a mystery; Today is a gift; Thats why its called "The Present".  
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#7
RE: Sleep Doctor
I bring the monthly summary report (page 1) from Sleepyhead and my SD card to my sleep doctor at each visit. We talk about the numbers and how I have been feeling. He always takes the report and puts it in my records. The only thing I have sent to my DME is a check for the deductible from my insurance.

Homer

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